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Schools

Stanford Parents Pouring into Town

Expect an extra 3,000 people in Palo Alto this weekend for Parents Weekend.


A spotlight will shine on Bing Concert Hall on Friday and Saturday as attendees at this year's Parents' Weekend enjoy special tours of the new performance venue as well as a concert featuring faculty and student performers.

The tours and performance are just two of dozens of activities planned for the more than 3,000 family members Stanford expects to welcome to the popular annual event. Parents’ Weekend headquarters is at the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center.

Among the weekend’s popular events is the Entertainment Extravaganza!, sponsored by the Parents’ Club. This year, the event features performances by five student groups: HD, Fleet Street, The Late Quartet, Stanford Bhangra Team and Storm Coming. The Entertainment Extravaganza will wrap up the weekend on Saturday afternoon.

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Provost John Etchemendy will kick off the activities with a welcome on Friday morning and President John Hennessy will hold an always-popular question-and-answer session on Friday afternoon.

Especially popular with parents each year are the Back to School Classes, offered by Stanford faculty members in three sessions on Saturday. The classes are designed to give parents a glimpse into the educational experiences of their sons and daughters, according to Elaine Enos, executive director in Stanford’s Office of Special Events and Protocol.

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This year's classes will focus on such subjects as the ethical and legal challenges of bioscience innovations, foreign policy challenges for the second Obama administration and the future of online teaching and learning. Also offering classes will be Stanford administrators specializing in such student-related issues as alcohol consumption, emotional wellness and study abroad.

Parents also can meet with university representatives Friday morning to discuss particular challenges and experiences of each student class: freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Among administrators meeting with parents will be Rob Urstein, associate vice provost for undergraduate education; Greg Boardman, vice provost for student affairs; Sally Dickson, associate vice provost for student affairs; and Chris Griffith, associate vice provost and dean of student life.

Parents will be treated to other special campus tours on both Friday and Saturday. Tours will focus on everything from campus architecture to the effects of the 1906 earthquake to dorm dining today.

At a Saturday morning Resource Fair, parents can learn first-hand about services and programs at Stanford from representatives of campus departments, including Residential Education, the Student Services Center, Undergraduate Advising and Research, and Public Safety.

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