Editorials

Inequitable traditions at Senior Parents Weekend

February 5, 2015


Last week, the Senior Class Committee hosted Senior Parents Weekend, a chance for seniors to spend time with their parents on campus before graduation. For some families, however, the event is not being a celebration of their time at Georgetown, but rather a painful reminder of the wide socioeconomic disparities between students.

This year, regular registration alone cost $90 per couple, with another $45 for each additional family member. Most egregious, though, was the “Winter Wonderland: 34th Annual Senior Auction” held on Saturday at the Grand Hyatt. For parents and students who wished to go, they must pay a separate ticket fee on top of registering for the weekend. Tickets for the auction cost up to $190 per person, depending on how close one wanted to sit to the stage.

The university has made great strides to address socioeconomic issues on campus with events and programs such as the Georgetown Scholarship Program that are focused on assisting low-income families shoulder the financial burden of a Georgetown education. The SCC also plays a part in this mission. Proceeds from the senior auction help the Senior Class Committee hold events for seniors and, for families of financial need, subsidize the costs of the events it holds during graduation.

In the past, however, the SCC has pressured seniors to attend the auction regardless of whether their parents came to D.C. for the weekend, publicizing it as a time-honored tradition and even calling the event “the biggest party between now and graduation.” This year’s SCC astutely toned down the publicity surrounding the auction. Regardless, the auction remains the crux of parents weekend that, according to the SCC, no one should miss.

Apart from the auction, the agenda of Senior Parents Weekend does not justify the exorbitant registration cost, or even the expense of making a trip to D.C., which some families find hard to afford. Apart from a welcome reception hosted by President DeGioia, the weekend’s other programming, such as faculty lectures, an organized run to the waterfront, and a men’s basketball game screening at the Healey Family Student Center seem like filler events leading up to the senior auction—the weekend’s climax.

Ultimately, the Senior Student Committee needs to make its parents weekend more accessible so that all families and students, regardless of socioeconomic status, can feel comfortable fully participating in the weekend’s events without reaching beyond their means. A lavish party where Georgetown’s elite and wealthy families compete for prizes like a vacation at a French château or a golden Tombs barstool to charitably allow low-income families to attend graduation events cannot set the tone of class dynamics among the Georgetown community.

The Senior Class Committee has missed the mark with this year’s Senior Parents Weekend. The class of 2016 needs to reconsider whether they want next year’s Senior Parents Weekend to be defined by economic privilege or by accessibility and affordability for all.



Read More


Subscribe
Notify of
guest

3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
DJS

I applaud SCC volunteers for putting together an amazing Senior Parents Weekend this year.

If we’re interested in a weekend schedule with additional events and activities for families to enjoy, more senior volunteers need to step up. Join the Committee to share ideas during the planning period, take a shift during registration, help set up the President’s reception, or lend a hand at the auction…there are tons of ways to get involved.

SCC goes above and beyond to make this weekend (and other large-scale events like Dis-O 1.0 and 2.0) happen…and they deserve our thanks. Let’s support SCC, and contribute more of our time and energy to build on the success of Senior Parents Weekend.

KSA

This article is offensive to the Senior Class Committee and the small group of people who worked hard to plan the auction and the parent’s weekend events.

While the article itself makes a fair point that the Auction provides a stark view of the socioeconomic contrast at Georgetown, it is wrong to blame the SCC for this. The Auction is an ongoing tradition that the SCC is expected to plan. It provides funding for free and subsidized tickets to Senior Ball and other graduation events to families who can’t afford it. Would you rather not have Senior Auction (which less than 20% of the class attends) and instead have some families excluded from far more important and momentous occasions like Senior Ball? It is certainly not a binary choice; but instead of using this article to attack the SCC, you should have suggested a couple of these other options yourselves.

gusawebsite

Great article. SCC trolls: I get it, you spent a lot of time planning this. That doesn’t make their point any less legitimate.

Oh and FYI this point has been made A DOZEN TIMES BEFORE so don’t use the excuse that they didn’t come to you with alternatives. You are the SCC, it’s your role to plan these events and think about their context & consequences.