Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Osazuwa Okundaye [Click to enlarge]

We're college students, so it's understandable if we're not quite the philanthropists we would like to be. Dearth of time and money is basically written into the definition of student, leaving few convenient opportunities to give back to the community. Luckily, Texas A&M provides a neatly packaged solution that can, not only alleviate your guilt, but replace it with a warm feeling of self-righteousness.

Big Event, A&M's gift to the world, started in 1982 as a way for the A&M students to express their gratitude toward the greater Aggie community. Luckily, a goal as lofty as thanking an entire community for fostering an environment of scholarship and support can be easily accomplished one day out of every year. That's good news for many of us.

Maybe it's not that simple. Let's delve deeper.

Throughout the day, Aggie volunteers assist residents of the Bryan-College Station community with a variety of tasks. Local residents fill out a job request form and Big Event participants are assigned to those tasks come March 28. These tasks, which are up to the resident's discretion, can range from yard work to basic construction; basically, anything they need a little extra help with. By signing up at http://www.bigevent.tamu.edu/, you too can have the chance to be a part of Texas A&M's big "thank you" to its community and spend a day (minimum of four hours, or resident's approval) helping make it a better place.

By abstaining, you become a heartless monster bent on not only destroying the foundations of Aggie service, but also eating children.

The growing ranks of Big Event volunteers, which reached 8,000 last year, make those who choose to serve their community through less ostentation ever more conspicuous. Mention that you have a problem with Big Event and you may soon become a pariah. It's a good thing I'm not doing any such thing.

Rather than point out and cringe at the thought of Big Event becoming the beacon of Aggie service, we should take steps to harness what draws students to it into a more significant community response, particularly one that lasts longer than 1/365th of the year (being generous).

Continued...

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