Frequently Asked Questions
What is Fall Family Weekend?The focus of this event is to welcome the parents, family members, and family friends of our undergraduate students to campus so that they have the opportunity to experience a portion of their student's life at Gonzaga University. To this end, we encourage parents to attend classes with their student and to participate in a variety of academic, athletic, and social events especially designed to give family members a tantalizing taste of Gonzaga.Who Attends FFW?This event has not been designed exclusively for the families of our incoming freshmen; rather, it is an ideal time for the families of all of our students to visit GU. The parents of some of our graduating seniors have just attended their fourth FFW! We have parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents, godparents (and even the family dog a time or two) joining us for this exciting weekend.When is FFW information mailed home?It is our intention to send, by snail mail, the registration material to the parents of all registered underclass students on the 27th of August but this is August 11 and this web site should be up and running by the end of the day. Do feel free to complete your online registration right away - you will get an automatic confirmation that your registration has gone through. I will be sending an e-mail to you (actually I will probably send you several e-mails) as school begins to keep you updated with all of the events which will be added to the original schedule. Do parents need to register for FFW?Yes, parents need to register if they plan on attending any of the FFW events. Parents should register as they are the ones receiving the registration material. Parents can certainly ask their student to see me and fill out the registration form for them but I can tell you (from long experience) that there is no guarantee that the student will actually follow through on this chore! Parents need to have submitted (or mailed) their completed registration form and the fee to us no later than October 9, 2009. PLEASE NOTE: There is a late registration fee of $15 for those people who submit or mail their registration forms after October 9.When should you plan to arrive and leave for FFW?FFW always begins on a Friday and ends on a Sunday. Parents with very flexible schedules will be able to arrive on Thursday afternoon or evening. These parents can probably take advantage of seeing the dress rehearsal of the play on Thursday night and we encourage all parents to attend classes with their student during the day on Friday. Many parents will be arriving sometime during the day on Friday - I urge you to get here in time to attend the Autumn Gala, our kick-off social event scheduled from 4:03-6:00 PM on Friday. Some parents can't get here until Saturday but they know that their student will be eagerly awaiting their arrival. Time to leave? Families usually schedule their departure for mid-afternoon on Sunday - this will allow plenty of time for your student to get studying done for classes on Monday. The dress for this weekend is casual - that includes the Autumn Gala. We say a little prayer for good weather but it has been known to be cold and rainy so be prepared with warm clothes!What does the registration fee include?The $45 registration fee (for a family of 4 including the GU student) includes the family folder (available at the Registration Check-in Room inside the front door of College Hall, the Hospitality Room (endless coffee and cookies all weekend!), the Autumn Gala (choice hors d'oeuvres, wine and punch), Li'l Bulldog activities, Lecture and Demonstration materials, entry to all GU athletic events for the weekend, as well as Brunch on Sunday. This is our fourteenth FFW - and only once have we raised the FFW registration fee and, with careful management, we anticipate charging this same registration fee for a number of years to come.What do we do when we first get to campus for FFW and how do we meet up with our student?If you arrive during the day, you need to go to the 1898 Room just inside the main door of College Hall; this is our Registration Check-in Room and the place for you to pick up your FFW packet. There are lots of chairs in that main hallway - use this as your rendezvous spot with your student which will give you a chance to read the latest copy of The Gonzaga Bulletin (the weekly student newspaper), enjoy a cup of coffee and munch on a cookie while you wait for your student to join you. Make sure that your communicate with your student (before you arrive for the weekend) where and when you plan to meet - we won't know how to reach your student. If you know that you will be arriving after 6:30 pm on Friday, you might ask your student to pick up your family folder for you sometime during the day - that way, you will be ready to go on Saturday morning. While we are attending FFW, can our high school student tour GU and visit the Office of Admission?Yes! If you have a junior or senior in high school who would like to visit with an Admission counselor, tour campus, or visit classes during FFW, contact the Gonzaga Visit Office at visit@gonzaga.edu or call 1-800-322-2584, ext. 6531, to reserve a spot. Reminder: space is limited - so contact the Visit Office NOW and make that appointment!How can we get tickets for the play?The first dramatic presentation of the academic year starts on FFW. You may purchase your tickets online - just click on Order Theatre Tickets to place your order. You may then pick up your tickets anytime 90 minutes prior to performance at "Will Call' in the Magnuson Theatre Lobby (at the east end of the first floor of College Hall). WARNING: the play has traditionally SOLD OUT for FFW, so don't delay in purchasing those tickets. If you are in town early, see the half-price Preview Performance on Thursday, October 22, at 7:30 pm.Are there any activities for the younger family members?Yes, we have a fabulous program called Li'l Bulldog Activities which is designed for children ages 3 to 10 and takes place on Saturday morning when many parents wish to take advantage of attending a faculty lecture and at least some of your students are still asleep. Volunteer GU students spend the morning with the Li'l Bulldogs, the highlight of which is usually the creation of an objet d'art. We don't offer specific activities for siblings in the 11 to 17 age bracket as we have found that these young students refuse to be parted from their college sibling (hard to believe that these were the same kids who sometimes teased each other at home.....).
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