What is the Big Event?

The Big Event began at Texas A&M University in 1982 when student leaders saw a need to give back to their surrounding community of Bryan-College station--a community that continually supported their university. Joe Nussbaum, vice president of the Student Government Association at Texas A&M took the initiative to make others aware of this need, and after a passage through the student senate, The Big Event was born. After 24 successful years, The Big Event is now an annual event at more than 60 major universities across the nation.

The program has not only seen tremendous national growth since it's beginning, but also tremendous local growth at the University of Oklahoma. OU held it's first official Big Event in the Spring of 1999 after it was adopted by the University of Oklahoma Student Association, the official student government of OU. Along with many other major universities, The Big Event has become a prominent and lasting tradition at OU and continues to grow each year.

Each year in early spring, thousands of OU students unite in this unparalleled effort to say "thank-you" to the Norman-Oklahoma City area for the unsurpassed support they show to our university. As the official day of community service at OU, The Big Event strives to strengthen our friendship with our surrounding community.

Numerous admirable and essential community organizations benefit from The Big Event through the services that we provide--services that can only be provided by dedicated volunteers. We are proud to better the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people that rely on the services and facilities at which we volunteer. The Big Event can be summarized with this simple phrase, "lend a hand, change a life."

The 2011 Big Event broke records with student attendance. With each year, The Big Event continues to gain tremendous momentum by attracting more volunteers, and in turn, providing more assistance in our community.