Deborah took her granddaughter, 10-year-old Madison Cooper, to enjoy the serenity of an on-campus yoga class and Gary planned on taking his grandson BB gun shooting — all part of the fun and festivities of Grandparents University, which took place this week on the MSU campus.
MSU Grandparents University is a three-day camp coordinated by alumni relations professionals within colleges and units across campus, in which children ages eight to 12 can explore four different areas of study, Kathryn Reed, assistant director of special events and alumni relations for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said.
The event began Tuesday morning and went through Thursday afternoon. Participants spent two nights in Holmes Hall, attended classes throughout campus and dined in MSU cafeterias.
Reed said she feels the event is important because it provides an “opportunity for intergenerational bonding” and helps “connect families back to MSU and engage them in an academic environment.”
Grandparents University is in its ninth year and Reed said this year there are 1,050 participants from 32 states — with 200 families on the wait list. She said the event sold out within eight hours and 600 people registered in the first 15 minutes.
Out of those 1,050 participants, four made up a complete Spartan family. Grandparents Gary and Deborah Hessler are both Spartan alumni, and their grandchildren, Madison and Bennett Cooper, both hope to attend MSU in the future.
Gary Hessler said the highlight of the event is the opportunity to bond with the grandkids away from electronics and technology, and expose them to interesting experiences.
“It gives the grandkids particularly an opportunity to see what campus life is like and why they would want to attend Michigan State University,” he said. “It’s nice to relive some of the old places, too, for my wife and me.”
Gary Hessler earned his masters in special education in 1968 and Deborah Hessler graduated from the College of Education in 1970.
Deborah said she enjoyed showing the grandkids around and “acclimating them to the college environment.” She also said she has attended the event in previous years and, impressed with MSU’s efforts, wanted to return.
Gary said he hopes MSU continues to sponsor the event, as they have three more grandchildren ages four, six and eight. The Hesslers and their grandchildren traveled about 1 1/2 hours from the greater Detroit area.
Madison Cooper said the class she most looked forward to was extreme dorm room remodel, while Bennett Cooper looked forward to the archery and air aistol/air rifle classes.
Both children said they enjoyed the swimming and diving activities at IM Sports-West, while Bennett was especially impressed with the on-campus dining.
“I’m really looking forward to all the other stuff we have,” Madison said. “It (has) just been really fun so far.”
