Saint Mary’s welcomed families to campus Friday for the annual Sophomore Parents Weekend. Despite rainy weather and Friday’s breaking news of College President Jan Cervelli’s resignation, students and parents gathered for a variety of activities organized by Saint Mary’s Class Council.
Family members participated in activities spanning from a Saturday brunch to pumpkin painting and carriage rides at Saint Mary’s annual Oktoberfest. These events were followed by a closing mass Sunday morning.
“Our main goal is to have events promoting unity for the school,” sophomore class representative Meg Hemmert said. “This year we have a brunch followed by Oktoberfest, [which was] sponsored by Student Activities Board. On Sunday morning, we have a sophomore class Mass at the Church of Loretto.”
Tom Pantelleria, who attended the events with his daughter, sophomore Emily Pantelleria, said the Saturday brunch was an especially exciting event.
“We got to meet [new interim College President Nancy Nekvasilt on Saturday], which was a relief to us parents,” he said. “We got to talk about the school’s mission of developing confidence and critical thinking amongst the women here. We’re all confident that these young women will grow up to be the next great leaders of our country.”
Many families, including sophomore Alison Schibi’s, arrived on-campus from across the country for this weekend.
“We flew from Kansas, which is always an adventure itself, but it’s always worth it to see Alison,” Kelly Schibi said about her daughter. “Every opportunity to come up and visit campus is exciting because we just love it here.”
Eric Schibi, Alison’s father, said it was an interesting weekend to visit campus after the shocking news of Cervelli’s resignation.
“We are so shocked to hear the news,” he said. “It’s very surprising and interesting that all this just happened.”
Alison said she was “so happy” that she got to spend time with her family.
“I loved having my parents and sister come visit me this weekend,” Alison said. “I know that a lot of sophomore students did not have parents come, so I am very thankful I was able to see mine and spend time with them.”
For many families, the weekend was a special time to relax with their daughters.
“I’m most happy about seeing my daughter,” Geri Pantelleria, Emily Pantelleria’s mother, said. “That’s most exciting because I have missed her so much.”
Emily expressed a similar sentiment, voicing the joy she felt combining her two homes for the weekend.
“I love every opportunity to blend my Saint Mary’s family with my real one,” Emily said. “Saint Mary’s is my second home.”
