Mountaineer Parents Club Summer Send-Offs are currently underway across the U.S. enabling West Virginia University families and students to connect in their communities.
For the past two decades, Mountaineer Parents Club chapters all over the U.S. have been hosting Summer Send-Off picnics to welcome new and returning students to WVU. However, Sabrina Cave, executive director of the Mountaineer Parents Club, wants all Mountaineers to know that they are invited to the send-off events, including parents and other family members, prospective students, alumni, and friends.
“The Mountaineer Parents Club Summer Send-Offs are a great way for WVU families and students to network prior to the fall semester beginning,” said Cave. “We have amazing parent volunteers that plan these events in their hometowns and we support their efforts.”
Representatives from the University are available at each event to talk about life at WVU and answer questions. In addition, the WVU bookstore donates a $200 textbook gift card to be given away at each event to one lucky student in attendance.
Many first-year students will have already attended New Student Orientation, so a Summer Send-Off is the perfect time to continue forming new friendships with fellow Mountaineers. The informal gatherings take place across the country and are designed to ease the anxiety of leaving home, foster a sense of community, and to celebrate being part of the Mountaineer family. It’s also a time for parents to build their own support system as families embark on this new journey together.
Michael Garcia, the current Mountaineer Mascot, has attended Summer Send-Offs in the past and plans to attend a few this summer as well.
“WVU is well known for fostering strong relationships and Summer Send-Offs present a unique opportunity for me, and other University representatives, to begin forming these lasting relationships with new students and their families,” said Garcia. “When students get here in the fall, they know my name and see me as a friendly face around campus.”
“This is something that all families and students look forward to,” said Cave. “A real-live person from WVU gives parents and students an opportunity to meet and get to know just one more person from campus. This type of outreach shows how important our parents are to us at West Virginia University.”
Send-Offs have been taking place since June 28 and will continue until August 9. There are 21 events scheduled throughout West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois.
The Mountaineer Parents Club, which was started in 1995, is an organization designed to foster success by connecting parents and family members to the West Virginia University student experience. The Club it has more than 20,000 members.
For information on dates and locations for Summer Send-Offs, please visit the Parents Club website.
-WVU-
ta/7/31/15
CONTACT: Sabrina Cave, Mountaineer Parents Club
304.293.2506; sabrina.cave@mail.wvu.edu
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