The ACTION Committee at NC State hosted the 12th annual Big Event in historic Reynolds Coliseum. The event, which featured a big screen viewing of the N.C. State vs. UNC-Chapel Hill men’s basketball game with giveaways, raffles, and a halftime shooting contest, garnered much student support and may have even topped last year’s attendance totals, according to Jay Dawkins, student body president and the event’s master of ceremonies.
While event planners were unsure about exact attendance numbers, Chris Austin, the assistant director of Health Promotion, said the turnout was slightly better than last year, but noted that students also came in much earlier than in years past.
“People didn’t trickle in,” Austin said. “They came early and were in their seats by tip-off.”
Austin felt the turnout and excitement for the event was likely due to the men’s basketball team’s recent success.
“[Winning] the last few games brought in more people, I think,” Austin said.
But Taylor Muir, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, said the event’s varied publicity likely led to the high attendance.
“I got an invite on Facebook and saw flyers, and heard people talking about it and asking if I was going,” Muir said. “[Word] got around pretty well.”
Muir, who attended last year’s away game against the Tar Heels, said the event was a good uniter of the student body as it “helped bring everyone together,” which is exactly what Austin’s vision for the event has been since its beginning.
“We just provide an alternative to a sports bar,” Martin said. “A majority of undergrads are underage, so we provide an exciting way to view the game.”
And that’s precisely why so many students came out, according to Katelyn Burgee, a freshman in biology.
“It’s such a big game,” Burgee said. “I wanted to watch it with a bunch of spirited people.”
The crowd, estimated to be over 2,000, certainly showed spirit as fans cheered and yelled at the 16×20 foot screen throughout the broadcast of the game, even booing a commercial intended to persuade college hopefuls to consider attending Carolina.
The game-like experience is what brought Kathryn Kay, a sophomore in microbiology, back to the Big Event this year for the second time.
“Just to see the game on a big TV with cheerleaders and the band, it’s awesome.” Kay said.
Despite the turnout, ACTION committee student representative Matt Garcia said he’d like to see even more students filling Reynolds.
“It would be nice to see Reynolds full,” Garcia, a junior in sport management, said. “But some people couldn’t come because of classes and exams.”
Still, Austin said attendance dwarfed a recent year’s event when scheduling restrictions forced the Big Event to show the Wolfpack’s away game against Wake Forest instead of Duke or Carolina.
“[Planning] has been harder since we lost the home and away with Duke,” Austin said, referring to the ACC’s realignment and rescheduling back in 2005 that prevented the “Big Four” from playing each other twice each season. “People just don’t seem to hate Wake.”
