More than 1,200 guests are registered to attend Family Day on Saturday. Online registration is closed, but families can still register to participate on site.
With nearly 5,000 students living on campus at UT Dallas, it’s no surprise that a record number of parents and siblings this year are eager to see what the campus has to offer during Family Day on Saturday.
Attendance at the event has grown nearly 40 percent over the past two years, said Dan Long, director for New Student Programs.
“Having more students enrolled helps, but Family Day is growing faster than the enrollment growth,” Long said. “It may be a shift in the type of student we have now — more traditional and residential students. Their families are interested in events like this.”
More than 1,200 guests are already registered to attend this year’s event. Online registration is closed, but family members can still register at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the first-floor lobby of the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building. Registration is $25, with free admission for students and children younger than 12.
Registration includes a Family Day T-shirt, a catered lunch, family friendly activities, live music, and admission to afternoon and evening soccer games against the University of Texas at Tyler. The UT Dallas women’s soccer team will play at 5 p.m.; the men’s soccer team will play at 7 p.m.
A morning welcome program in the ATEC Building lecture hall will feature greetings from University President David E. Daniel; Dr. Gene Fitch, dean of students; Brooke Knudtson, Student Government president; and Dr. Kenneth Pugh, clinical associate professor at the Callier Center.
Meanwhile, New Student Programs will offer a sports clinic in the Activity Center for children ages 5-12.
Family members can have lunch at the Family Day Tailgate, participate in Family Day activities, tour campus with their student or visit Richardson’s Cottonwood Art Festival, about 3 miles from campus. Also, members of the internationally renowned UT Dallas Chess Team will take on all comers at Chess Plaza on the South Mall.
The Student Wellness Center and Recreational Sports will sponsor family friendly competitions, and the Office of Student Volunteerism has organized Scarves for the Homeless, at which guests can help decorate fabric pieces that will be made into scarves. The service project organizers hope to donate 100 winter scarves to area agencies that serve the homeless.