St. Thomas Family Weekend saw a surge of visitors on campus as families came to see students and participate in university-sponsored events, ranging from bowling to a lunch with President Julie Sullivan.

The weekend activities began Friday, when parents had the opportunity to observe classes and attend information sessions. Among the weekend’s highlights was astronaut Jim Lovell’s speech, which more than 600 people attended. Families and others filled Woulfe Alumni Hall to hear Lovell speak about commanding Apollo 13 through an oxygen system failure and bringing him and his crew all the way around the moon and home safely.

Lovell pulled up a picture of Earth from orbit to illustrate the feeling of being in space.

“If you put your thumb up, you can completely hide the Earth from yourself,” Lovell said. “You get a feeling of how insignificant we really are when you can hide the Earth with your thumb.”

After the speech, more than 200 people waited in line to get a picture with the captain.

Saturday, events ranged from undergraduate research presentations to tours of the artwork in St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel. Sullivan spoke at a luncheon in Woulfe Hall, and the Summit Singers gave an a cappella performance after her talk. That evening, PULSE dancers performed highlights from their spring show.

Family Weekend administrators tried to incorporate as many popular student activities into the weekend as possible.

“We want to (have) a lot of options and then allow families to pick and choose what is interesting to them,” Rachel Harris, interim associate Dean of Students, said.

Families could end the weekend by watching the Twin Cities Marathon, attending Mass in the chapel or having brunch together.

For most families, however, the events were secondary to the time spent with each other.

“I haven’t seen them much in the last month,” freshman Julianna Wheeler said. “My little sister was super excited about coming and seeing my dorm.”

Elena Neuzil can be reached at neuz3833@stthomas.edu.