ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Six weeks into the fall semester, Winthrop University will host students’ parents and family members for the traditional Family Day on Oct. 3.
Organizers look forward to showing off the campus during a beautiful time of year in Rock Hill. “We’ll have plenty of activities for families to enjoy their time together,” said Kanisha Rollings, director of New Student and Family Programs. “We want our students to show their parents where they attend classes and where they hang out with friends.”
Begun by President Shelton J. Phelps in 1936, Family Day was revived in 2007 to become a fun-filled, engaging, and educational event for students and their families. It is one of the first chances families have to visit with their students after the new school year has started.
Family Day Schedule
Check-in for Family Day starts on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 9-10:30 a.m. in the West Center.
Families will receive a warm welcome from Provost Sebastian van Delden and Vice President for Student Affairs Shelia Burkhalter in McBryde Hall at 10:15 a.m.
Guests will then fan out across the campus to participate in one of six different academic showcases.
Between noon and 2 p.m., families are encouraged to make their way to the Byrnes Auditorium lawn for a welcome by President Edward Serna ’02, picnic lunch and musical showcase featuring performances by various bands and musical ensembles from the Department of Music.
During the afternoon, there will be plenty of crafts, classes and other fun activities to enjoy. There will be a 25-foot inflatable of Winthrop’s beloved mascot Big Stuff, renamed “Huge Stuff” for this event, available for photos on the Campus Green. Legacy students and their families can participate in a scavenger hunt held at the Morgan-Holcombe Alumni Center.
Other activities include pumpkin or cookie decorating, caricature artist sketches, a line dance class, lawn games and button making, all on the Margaret Nance lawn. On the other side of campus, the Little Chapel will have an Archives exhibit to show off uniforms, scrapbooks, yearbooks and other memorabilia from Winthrop’s past.
Inside activities include rock climbing and pickleball at the West Center, and trivia/bingo at The Edge in the DiGiorgio Campus Center. Meanwhile, over at the Winthrop Coliseum, there is a 4 p.m. volleyball game versus Presbyterian College and a 7 p.m. men’s soccer game versus Presbyterian.
To end the day between 4 and 5 p.m., families can gather at the Community Concourse to decorate a special keepsake to remember the day.
Off campus, there are plenty of festivals to enjoy throughout the weekend, such as the Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill in York and the Cotton Hills Farm Fall Festivities in Chester. Or, families can take a leisurely walk at the Piedmont Medical Center Walking Trail at Riverwalk along the Catawba River.
Please check out the schedule here. Keep track of what is happening with the social media hashtag #WUFamilyDay2026.
For more information, e-mail the Office of New Student & Family Programs at FamilyProgramsGA@winthrop.edu.
