The Big Deal provides fun, free stuff to attendees

University Program Council members hand out free T-shirts to students at the Big Deal Aug. 25. UPC gave away multiple items to students in attendance.

by Josh Skaggs News Editor

Students, faculty and staff at UNA had the opportunity to experience the Big Deal last week. The event allowed the UNA community to meet new people, the organizations and vendors located on campus.

The Office of Student Engagement and UPC organized the event, which is hosted each year as the highlight to Welcome Week.

“It is a kick off to the year,” said Director of Student Engagement Tammy Jacques. “(Students) get a lot of free food, it’s fun and they get to meet new people.

“It’s a fun way to help our new students connect to upperclassmen and others on campus,” she added.

One of the headliners of the Big Deal were the National Pan-Hellenic Council sororities and fraternities.

“The NPHC step show allows us to highlight our historically African-American sororities and fraternities,” Jacques said.

Jacques said this gives the NPHC groups an opportunity to showcase what their groups are about, and get their name out to the student body.

According to Student Engagement officials, the Big Deal allows students to introduce themselves to the university community, as well as the surrounding community.

“I think (students) got the opportunity to experience what the community and the university have to offer,” said Coordinator of Programming Cheryl Mathis. “There is always an opportunity to learn about what’s going on. There are so many stores and restaurants in the Florence community to be interested in.”

“Vendors ranged from Coca-Cola, to Best Buy, to Bed Bath and Beyond to two types of pizza places,” Mathis added.

Mathis said students were very pleased with the free food, and were eager to meet local businesses and see what they had to offer. She also said students were excited about the free T-shirts UPC provided.

Another aspect of the Big Deal that students often look forward to each year is the athletics pep rally.

“I loved that the band was there,” Mathis said. “When I think of school spirit, the band is the core of all that spirit.”