It’s easier for some parents to attend the weekend’s festivities because they’re just a hop, skip and a jump away.

For some NIU students, their parents are already on campus. Employed by NIU, these parents live in DeKalb and nearby towns, and they don’t have to travel through dozens of cornfield-laden roads to see their kids this weekend.

These parents also get to see their kids more often than other parents because they are studying and working under the same roof.

But closer isn’t always better. Some parents are getting involved with the weekend’s festivities, but many can’t because of schedule conflicts.

Mary Jacob, chief clerk for NIU’s Governmental Publications Library, said she has attended past events, like the football game, but can’t this year because she’ll be out of town for another son’s wedding.

Her son, Chris, is an NIU student and her husband, Norbert, also works at NIU as the manager of the Insurance Office.

Although they live in Sycamore, she said they don’t see Chris very often. “We don’t see him a whole lot but probably more than we would if we lived in Chicago or somewhere not as close.”

Yorgos Kourvetaris, a sociology professor whose daughter is a student here, said he will be out of town on business this weekend.

He said the weekend is not as meaningful for students like his daughter as it is for those who have parents they don’t see often. He said he does not get to see his daughter as much as he would like because of busy schedules.

Carol Deemer, coordinator of NIU’s Continuing Education, has a son, Robert, who is an NIU student that lives at their home in DeKalb.

Last year, they didn’t attend the events because they were out of town.

However, she said the weekend is an “important” one. “We’re very involved with what our kids are doing,” Deemer said.

She said she hasn’t had a chance to plan which activities they’ll participate in and it will depend on her son’s schedule.

NIU student Laura Callary, whose father is a linguisitics professor at NIU, said the weekend is “not that big of a deal” because her parents live here.

Callary said she and her parents are planning on going to the football game Saturday, and last year they visited the Honors Open House.

NIU student Lori Benbow said her parents, both employed at NIU, are taking her out to dinner. She said that they might as well get together since everyone else does for the weekend.

Because Benbow’s parents live in Cortland, about five miles east of DeKalb, she said she sees them and talks with them often.