Irving, TX (Nov. 5, 2021) – Approximately 270 students, faculty, staff, and alumni will gather on Saturday morning, Nov. 6, to launch the first-ever UD Big Event, a day of community service to neighbors in need in the City of Irving. 

The 8 a.m. kickoff will feature brief remarks from Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer, UD President Jonathan J. Sanford, PhD, and Interim Provost Tammy Leonard, PhD.

UD’s first Big Event, modeled after the first ‘Big Event’ started in 1982 at Texas A&M, was entirely conceived and organized by students. Aubrey Wieberg, ’24, a UD sophomore studying Politics, brought the idea of starting the event at UD last summer. 

“A large part of a Catholic identity is the idea of service, of loving your neighbors,” said Wieberg. “The Big Event is an opportunity to, literally, give back to the community -- starting at households in Irving. We’re the University of Dallas, for Irving.” She coordinated with the City of Irving to identify 40 service locations in the city, ranging from local schools and churches that needed minor repairs or cleaning, to private homes of elderly residents for yard work.

“What a wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and put our Catholic faith into action,” said President Sanford. “This day of service is a reminder that we live, as a UD community, within a larger community of Irving and that, as Catholic social teaching instructs us, we have an obligation to serve those around us who are in need.