Cleanup Brings Students Into Laramie Community
Despite the sporadic snow, the UW community came together to clean up Laramie in the Big Event.
The Big Event was originally an event from Texas A&M since 1982 according to the Big Event website. The University of Wyoming has been putting on this annual event since 2013.
The Big Event aims to promote unity between the UW students and the larger Laramie community through “one day to express their gratitude for the support,” according to the Big Event web page.
Service, Leadership and Community Engagement Office, or SLCE coordinated volunteers who spread out throughout the larger Laramie area, including the WyoTheater, Regency retirement home, and Walmart.
Staff and students alike volunteered at the Big Event, coming together to clean up the community. Although it was the first snowy day in Laramie, spirits were high with many of the volunteers who were able to stay warm,
“It was really fun… we finished right as it started to snow,” said freshman Katie Bolden, who sat with master’s student Tess Tracy as they ate their lunch provided by the coordinators in the Union. Both were first-time volunteers with the Big Event.
Bolden is part of a sorority, Alpha Phi, and signed up as part of the volunteer hours that the sorority recommends.
“But it was really fun. I recommend it. We also got extra snacks,” said Bolden.
Bolden and Tracy worked at the Regency Retirement home, clearing out juniper bushes. Not all volunteer activities were your typical outdoor cleanup.
DeeDee DuPleissis and Nichole Lumadue, staff members at the University of Wyoming, stated they helped sort marquee letters and do other general chores at the WyoTheater. Dupleissis works as a communicator for WyoActs, and Lumadue is a faculty advisor for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Neither staff member is originally from Laramie but volunteered with this event nonetheless.
Lumadue found the event through searching for volunteer opportunities for the students in the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and enjoyed volunteering for the Wyo Theater. She volunteered to be a site leader, meaning she oversaw the work at this particular location.
“I was actually really excited that I got stationed at the WyoTheater because I saw it before it transitioned to the new ownership,” she said. She said she remembered seeing movies in there.
DuPleissis also enjoyed the opportunity to be in the theater, saying she is a big fan of movies and theater.
“This is a little step to maybe revitalizing it, and maybe selling it and maybe reopening it in the future. I would be so happy to have been a tiny, tiny part of that,” she said.
DuPleissis expressed positive feelings about the community.
“I’ve been here for a year and a half, and I always find that for a town that’s small, there’s so much going on, and a lot of it does originate at the University,” DuPleissis said.
This sentiment aligns with the core values that SLCE outlines on its Big Event page. According to their webpage, the Big Event focuses on creating the “unity that results throughout the community.”
