CPB hosts sibs & kids weekend
By Kim O’Brien
Staff Writer
The University of Indianapolis Campus Program Board hosted the annual Sibs and Kids Weekend Feb. 22-24. The event is designed to connect college students with their families.
“It’s really a way to bring older students and younger kids together to catch up and talk in a place that’s not home,” said CPB Welcome Events Chair Heather Larsen. “They get to see what it’s like to be on campus, the buildings and what college is like in general.”
According to Larsen, younger siblings are usually involved, but nieces and nephews have been included as well. This year 100 students preregistered.
This year’s $20 registration fee included entrance to the Late Nite event on Friday, a UIndy basketball game against University of Wisconsin-Parkside and a show by mentalist and hypnotist Michael C. Anthony.
The events throughout the weekend were free to UIndy students with their student IDs. Friday’s Late Nite theme was “When You Were Young,” and it featured many different activities and games for both students and their visitors. These included an obstacle course, a Velcro wall, inflatable toys, human bowling, a cake walk, giant Twister, musical chairs, spin-art, a sno-cone maker and live animals to pet and hold.
Students also had the opportunity to receive a free Build-A-Bear. The first 400 registered received a voucher to participate in building their bears during the basketball games on Saturday.
Some participants also were able to go to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on Saturday morning. Larsen said 66 people purchased tickets at a discounted rate of $6.
“That’s not something we do every year,” she said. “Those tickets are normally $13.50, and we thought it was a good idea to give people more options.”
According to both Larsen and Interim Student Activities Coordinator Amanda Mueller, the Sibs and Kids Weekend usually has included a Friday Late Nite activity, Saturday afternoon men’s and women’s basketball games and some sort of entertainment on Saturday evening.
Mueller said it’s a little difficult to determine when the weekend officially began.
“We know it happened in February of 2003,” she said. “In the year of 2002 it was planned, but cancelled.”
Mueller said the weekend has always coincided with a basketball game.
“At one point it was planned with Pack the House Night and the Alumni Chili Cook-Off, but Athletics decided to move that into January when no one’s really here,” Mueller said.
Mueller said that CPB wanted to keep the February date to give themselves time to plan the event and send invitations to families over the winter break.
According to Mueller, the event also serves as a way for students’ siblings to plan ahead.
“It gets the younger kids involved and thinking about college,” she said. “Maybe even UIndy.
