SMU Mustang Band leads SMU students, families, alumni and friends to the football game in traditional Mustang March. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)
SMU Student Foundation hosts Family Weekend every year and gives Mustangs the chance to show parents SMU’s college traditions. SMU’s rivalry with TCU, battle for the Iron Skillet and Boulevarding tradition has been a part of SMU culture for years.
For this year’s annual family weekend, Sept 28 to Sept. 30, parents will be able to experience both in an exciting way.
“Boulevarding has always been a tradition of SMU’s and playing our rival TCU has always been an exciting matchup, but being able to Boulevard and watch a competitive game against TCU with my parents in town will be that much more fun,” SMU sophomore Scott Sanford said.
After last year’s victory over TCU, Mustangs are anxious to keep the Iron Skillet at SMU. Wide receiver Jeremy Johnson said he thinks this Saturday’s game will require the team’s best performance.
“It’s going to be very intense. They are going to be seeking some revenge. We just got to play like we know how to,” Johnson said.
Besides the football game, there will be many different events for families to attend, including tours, open houses, Boulevarding and a student talent show. All the events follow the theme, “Boardwalk on the Boulevard.”
“We wanted to incorporate beach and carnival, so the boardwalk was the perfect medium,” Student Foundation Family Weekend Chair Antonea Bastian said.
The weekend will start with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ford Stadium at 10 a.m. on Friday. Afterwards, a variety of events, including an education abroad session, family luncheon, Hegi Career Center open house and Taste of Dallas dinner, will run in Hughes-Trigg from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The night will close with the student talent show in McFarlin Auditorium at 8 p.m.
“The talent show is going to be a really great showcase of some of the amazing, talented students we have at SMU,” Student Foundation member Claire Piepenburg said. “You can be sure that the acts will be the best of the best.”
Saturday will begin with a Panhellenic parent’s tea in Hughes Trigg at 10 a.m. Meadows Museum guided tours will run from 2 to 3 p.m. and be followed by Boulevarding.
During Boulevarding, families can visit Centennial Hall in Hughes- Trigg for an open house and photo opportunity and the Dallas Hall and Clements Hall lawns for a family tent and BBQ.
“Student Foundation paired with U11 to make the first year tent a destination for students to bring their parents so they can experience the tradition and spirit of Boulevarding,” Piepenburg said.
Family Weekend wraps up Sunday with church services at Perkins Chapel at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. CHAS will be also hosting a familia luncheon at noon and Asian Council will host a parents dinner at 6 p.m. in Hughes-Trigg.
