Big Man on Campus was back in full-swing this past week as University of Denver student organizations participated in the annual philanthropic competition. As of Monday morning, Chi O and Undergraduate Student Government took first place for point counts; Alpha Phi and Delta Chi were in second; and GPhi and ZBT landed in third place. For the overall competition, Alpha Phi won Big Man Queen and Beta won Big Man King. 

The weeklong event is hosted by Delta Zeta to raise money for the Starkey Hearing Institute. As a community-based hearing healthcare group, Starkey supports international hearing medical missions to over 70 countries. Last year, Big Man and Delta Zeta raised approximately $18,000, setting high hopes for this year’s event.

Fundraising kicked off on Monday with Penny Wars. Members of sorority and fraternity teams, as well as Undergraduate Student Government, donated pennies and dollars to gain equal value of points. Silver coins were considered sabotage, allowing teams to negate point accumulations for their competition. 

After a week of tabling and food fundraisers, the teams then went head-to-head at the Saturday basketball tournament. Representatives could bet up to 7,500 points on a team of their choosing; G-Phi and Pi Kappa Phi ultimately claimed the basketball tournament title. 

Big Man concluded the following Monday evening with a pageant at the Sturm Davis Auditorium. After nominating a Big Man King or Queen, the teams selected the respective winners who will now be featured in the sorority and fraternity composites for the next year.

Jacey Carlson, a Senior Biology and Spanish Major from Tri-Delta Sorority, was excited for the annual competition. As a way to socialize and get involved with other campus groups, Carlson explained how Big Man allows people from all walks of student life to get involved.

“There’s definitely an outside perception that [Big Man] can be toxic because it is a Greek Life competition. But, overall, it brings energy to campus so hopefully it will be fun.” 

According to Carlson, Big Man also encourages interconnection between sorority and fraternity chapters to best support their respective philanthropic efforts. For Carlson, this “bring each other up” mentality is the foundation of Big Man and has been an element of the weeklong competition missed in past years. 

“Freshman year, it didn’t happen for me. Sophomore year was totally virtual. And last year [Big Man] came back for real, but we didn’t know what to expect. It’s funny, this being our final year, I feel like this is the first time we are really experiencing [Big Man].” 

Emblematic of DU’s supportive campus community, Big Man on Campus raised approximately $13,000 in support of the Starkey Hearing Foundation.