Robert Morris University’s Resident Housing Association has a full three days worth of fun planned for this year’s Siblings Weekend.
The RHA is encouraging Siblings Weekend attendees to tag their photos with #BobbyMohana and look out for the “Siblings Weekend 2017” geo-filter on Snapchat for this weekend’s Hawaiian Luau theme.
The weekend will begin with students and siblings checking in on Friday night in the PNC Colonial Cafe from 5-8 p.m and late check-in will occur from 8-10 p.m. Festivities will occur immediately after check-in at 7 p.m. in John Jay Gym with laser tag and paint night. At 11 p.m., John Jay will switch over from laser tag to dodgeball while the Lilo & Stitch movie “Lights, Camera, Ohana” plays in Hopwood Hall.
This Siblings Weekend’s big event will be the luau hosted by John Jay on Saturday from 5-9 p.m. which will include:
-Polynesian dance show at 7 p.m
-How To Open a Coconut Demos
-Henna tattoos
-Caricature drawings
-Prize-winning pineapple ring toss and limbo contests
-2 dozen tropical birds
-Face painting
-Sand art
-Snow cones
-Photo booth
-Balloon art
-Tiki bar
-Velcro wall
Apart from the luau, Saturday plans also include two viewings of Disney’s “Moana,” a magic show in Hopwood Hall, a tiki bonfire at Nicholson’s fire pit and a Hawaiian dinner at Romo’s Cafe.
On Sunday morning from 9-11 a.m. RMU students will say goodbye to their siblings at the Farewell Family Breakfast.
This year, the RHA took a different approach to Siblings Weekend.
“We kind of changed it to appeal to an older sib more this year, because the average sib is upwards of 15 and up,” said RHA President and Main Chair, Vincent Passerini. “So we kind of made it less playing little games and more of events to go and do things at.”
The committee is made up of Passerini and co-chair Jessica Bauer, as well as nine other members that have been working on the event since December and are ready for this weekend to finally come.
“My brother is coming and it’s very exciting,” said Sunday Events Chair, Elizabeth Postle. “I’m looking forward to showing him what everything is like and who everyone is and like, ‘This is who I’m talking about.’”
232 students are registered to attend the event along with their siblings making the suspected attendance to be around 500, beating out last year’s 130 registered students.
“It was really cool to see the list keep on growing, to see how many people signed up,” said Registration Chair, Sarah Jackson. “That gets you excited to see how many people are going to go.”
According to the committee, the Siblings Weekend is a rewarding event to be a part of. When a sibling visits their sibling during the event, they gain an understanding of what their sibling’s life is at college and a connection, said Passerini.
Postle said, “It’s one of the most rewarding events on campus. Even to just go to it, you can see how many people it reaches and it’s just so much fun and to be a part of planning it makes it that much more fun and that much more worth it.”
