Collegiate Times

Despite separating from the SGA at the beginning of this school year, the Big Event is thriving in preparation for its 10th anniversary this year. 

Last year, the Big Event applied to be an organization independent from the SGA. The split was finalized at the beginning of this school year and the Big Event became a Registered Student Organization.

“This was a great decision for the long term. In the short term, there have been some challenges. We’re looking to keep an even better relationship with the SGA in future years," said Nathan Lavinka, co-director of the Big Event.

Since the split, nothing in the group's structure has changed. There are still different committees, staff members and an executive branch that oversees the whole event.

The turnout for the Big Event this year is already larger than last year's. As of last week, there were 6,145 volunteers with a goal of 8,000. There are more than 900 projects to be worked on.

“It looks like we’re going to reach our goals and be ahead of last year’s turnout,” said Gavin McDuff, the other co-director of the Big Event.

Although the Big Event did separate from the SGA, the SGA continues to support the program.

The SGA gave money to the Big Event and is considered an official sponsor. According to SGA president Bo Hart, the SGA donated $20,600 to the group this year.

“I think it is going to go very well this year. The Big Event is not tied down to the SGA now. They can flourish and grow and expect lots of participants and jobs. We’re very supportive,” Hart said.

The amount donated to the Big Event was a little less than what was given in previous years, when the Big Event was still a part of the SGA.

“The amount was agreed upon by the (SGA) House and the Senate. It just made us rely more on outside donations more so that we have had to in the past,” Lavinka said.

The SGA had technically overseen the Big Event since its inception 9 years ago, so there were a few challenges for all groups involved in the split. One of the biggest challenges was treating the SGA sponsorship as a corporate sponsorship and treating SGA volunteers as any other student group.

Despite the fact that the Big Event was part of the SGA, the SGA never ran the Big Event. The SGA had directors that sat on the executive board.

“Both groups have grown so large that we outgrew our home,” Lavinka said. “We have more opportunities to expand between being a 501(c)3 and a non-profit organization. The split allows the SGA to focus on governance and less on programming.”

Overall, the transition has proven to be a smooth and successful one.

“Looking back, we have done what was best for the organizations. We hope we can continue to foster positive relationships, and I think we can be here for a while,” McDuff said. 

Volunteer registrations ends Friday. For more information, visit www.vtbigevent.org

A version of this article appeared in the Apr 1 issue of the Collegiate Times.