Meanwhile, the Quad was filled with the soundtrack of laughter and high fives as bean bags flew through the air and a giant Connect Four game crowned another winner.

For Charity Kuchyt ’07, director of conferences and events, the Big Bobcat Welcome is the perfect time for families and alumni to relax and reconnect.

“It’s the kickoff for the whole Bobcat Weekend,” Kuchyt said. “We know a lot of people are traveling long distances from out of state, so we want to give them a chance to get out of the car, meet up with their student and have some fun playing lawn games like cornhole.”

For Shanna Krizan, of North Salem, New York, the trip to Hamden was a chance to reconnect with her son, Oliver, a first-year student in the School of Computing and Engineering.

“It’s been a great experience so far. The drop off was way better than we expected. It was very smooth,” said Krizan, joined by her other son, Daniel. “The campus is really beautiful, especially this time of year.”

Oliver Krizan has already hiked to the top of Sleeping Giant — twice. In fact, he climbed the winding trails on back-to-back days earlier this fall.

“It was just something I wanted to do. It was fun,” he said, looking at his mom and smiling.