Freshmen and their parents flooded campus Sunday, celebrating and preparing for a new school year.
Organized by the University Secretary's Office, Freshman Family Day is an annual event that attracts about 5,000 people, said Donna Hoff, program specialist at the office.
The event allows students and parents to explore UNM and get a glimpse of what is to come in the next few years for the students' academic careers, she said.
Offering free food, a "class crawl" and a movie on Johnson Field, the event offers students and parents a fun-filled day, freshman Karissa Abrams said.
"It's a good opportunity so that you can get to meet people," she said. "And parents get to see what their kids are going to be going through."
Starting at 4 p.m. and ending after sunset, this year's busy evening was put together by three staff members, three work-study students and 35 volunteers from all over campus, some who have been volunteering since the first Freshman Family Day, Hoff said.
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Freshman Family Day started in 2004 and began as a spur-of-the-moment event, but in recent years it has grown. With help from a Family Day committee and guidance from the President's Office, the Secretary's Office is in charge of both the academic ceremonies and the Duck Pond activities, Hoff said.
The day begins with a welcome ceremony in Popejoy Hall, which Hoff said is one of the most important parts of Family Day.
"The academic part of it that we do in Popejoy introduces students to an academic environment," she said. "It introduces them to going to a ceremony and what's going to be expected of them. It's kind of an extension of orientation."
Along with the emphasis on scholastic issues that Family Day provides for attendees, it also includes extracurricular activities.
"This year we have jugglers, capoeira - which is a Brazilian martial arts dance - we have sumo wrestlers, a kids' jump, and we have two face painters," Hoff said.
She said that over the past five years, Freshman Family Day has grown into a well-organized and well-funded event that continues to get positive responses from everyone who attends.
"(Parents) like being able to spend the last day before their child is going to start classes doing something fun with them and doing something on campus where they can see where they're going to be, what the environment's like and how people are treating them," Hoff said.
Deran McKeen, part of the department of Strategic Planning for the hospital, said he loves volunteering for Family Day.
"It's nice to see new faces," he said. "This will be my fifth year doing this."
