The Student Government Association canceled this year’s Big Event, marking only the second time in the 16-year tradition.
The Big Event is a day of service where groups of student volunteers do yard work for Big Rapids residents. The event was canceled in 2018 due to weather conditions.
For the 2023 Big Event, more than 200 houses signed up, and SGA had difficulties recruiting enough volunteers. Some residents took issue with the lack of communication from SGA, and they received backlash for how the entire situation was handled.
Computer information systems junior Steven Bender was elected as SGA president at the end of February after the previous president resigned and an interim president was appointed. These leadership changes have left SGA with no time to put on the event.
“In terms of the Big Event, we just don’t have time this semester to organize something like that,” Bender said.
Bender said the event started as a way for those who could not do yard work to get help, but as the event has grown, this has changed and “started to become something more than they ever intended it to be.” Their current plan is to revise and re-introduce the event next year with a different and more-clear central message.
Finance and economics sophomore Pedro Saltini is the current director of philanthropy for SGA and participated in the event last year as a volunteer.
“It was a tough year with a lot of stuff going on,” Saltini said. “We have less than two months of the semester left, so it’s better for us to propagate something rather than doing something in a rush that isn’t going to look good for the community or our volunteers.”
Currently, SGA is working to finalize their ideas for a replacement event.
With no official announcement about this year’s event yet, Big Rapids residents have gone to Facebook to voice their concerns and see what’s happening. There has been much speculation about this year’s event after the issues last year.
Laura Anger of Big Rapids helped her elderly neighbor sign up for the event last year, who was looking forward to helping once again.
“My neighbor is 87 and disappointed is an understatement,” Anger said. “The most recent times it was held was awkward as the older demographic didn’t have access or know how to use the QR code sign up and the process was far from smooth.”
Residents also expressed that they’d reached out to SGA for an update about this year’s Big Event with no response. Many are disappointed with the continued lack of communication from the university.
Some student organizations rely on the Big Event for volunteer hours, and SGA is working to create more volunteer opportunities.
Updates about the replacement event and volunteer opportunities will be posted online when SGA decides on one.
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