‘That’s what UNK is about’: Lopers give back to community during annual Big Event

April 22, 2023 Tyler Ellyson

Members of UNK’s Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity pick up trash at the Kearney landfill during The Big Event. Nearly 600 Lopers participated in community service projects across the city on Saturday.

KEARNEY – The temperature was a chilly 32 degrees when they gathered Saturday morning at Cope Stadium on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus.

Factor in the blustery north wind, and it felt even colder.

None of that mattered to the nearly 600 students who got up early on a weekend to participate in The Big Event.

“The best part about it is you’re with a lot of your friends, a lot of your brothers, so that makes it 10 times better,” UNK junior Nathan Platt said. “If I was out here by myself, it would be pretty miserable.”

Platt and 10 other members of the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity battled the less-than-ideal conditions while picking up trash on property around the local landfill. The group had about 20 large, black bags filled by 11 a.m.

“One of our pillars is citizenship, so we try to give back as much as we can,” said Platt, a finance major from Omaha who serves as the fraternity’s president. “This is a great way to get everyone together and help out the community that supports us.”