College of the Ozarks hosts Family Weekend 2024

POINT LOOKOUT, MO — College of the Ozarks hosted Family Weekend, Friday-Sunday, Oct. 4-6. Family Weekend provides students the opportunity to share their College experience with their families by having them join for a convocation, community, and student events alongside them.

“Family Weekend is a great way for students to share their college experiences with their families,” said Dean of Students Ryan Knight.

Family Weekend gave students and families a chance to make life-long memories on the College campus. On Friday, the weekend started with students and registered family members attending a convocation featuring America’s Got Talent winner, Dustin Tavella.

Families visited dorm rooms, enjoyed meals prepared at the Pearl Rogers Dining Center, and attended numerous sporting events throughout Saturday. The College also featured CatChats where students and their families could hear from faculty and staff on how to discover students’ vocational callings. Dr. Brad Johnson, College of the Ozarks president, presented “Light the Way,” a 10-year plan for the College. Saturday evening ended with “breakfast for dinner” featuring live music, smore’s, and a drawing for prizes. Sunday, students and their families attended chapel in the morning and had one more chance to walk around campus before saying good-bye.

“Family Weekend is an exciting experience for students to share College of the Ozarks with the people they love most,” said junior public relations major Micah Jacobs. “It is a blessing to be enrolled in a school, and assisting with an event, that puts such an emphasis on the value of families. I loved being on the convocation team and having the ability to assist with Family Weekend. I had the opportunity to promote the convocation speaker and set up the meal with the administrators. It was a special experience to be part of the student body as we made memories together.”

About College of the Ozarks

College of the Ozarks is a private, Christian, liberal arts college, located in Point Lookout, Missouri, on a 1,000-acre campus. Christian values, hard work, and financial responsibility comprise the fundamental building blocks of the “Hard Work U.” experience. The College earns numerous accolades yearly, including No. 2 Best Performers on Social Mobility-Regional Colleges in the Midwest and No. 4 Best Regional College in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report for 2024-2025 and No. 3 Best Bang for the Buck by Washington Monthly, 2024. To achieve its vision, the College pursues academic, vocational, Christian, patriotic, and cultural goals. These goals are mirrored in School of the Ozarks, a laboratory school that completes the K-college model.

The Keeter Center — the College’s award-winning lodge, restaurant, and conference facility — earns awards consistently, including the TripAdvisor Best of the Best Award 2024 and the Readers’ Choice Awards 2023 from ConventionSouth magazine. The Keeter Center features historic lodging, fine dining, and meeting rooms. With more than 350 student workers, it is the largest workstation on campus.