Service: A Core Value of President Obama and Texas A&M

Last Friday Texas A&M University had the honor of hosting President Obama. We rearranged our bus schedules, closed buildings and streets, and even sent the campus landscaping guys on a last minute quest to beautify all of the trees, bushes, and flower beds surrounding Rudder Auditorium (seriously, did anybody see those guys on Thursday afternoon? It was like a giant swarm of pruning shears had descended upon central campus!).

Honestly, when I first heard President Obama would be making a visit to Aggieland, I was more than a little worried. I cringed and recalled the infamous "Anti-Obama Carnival" of last October. If a small group of students can stir up such a huge mess of negative publicity , what would those same students do when actually sharing their hometown with the man whose photograph they threw eggs at?

(Source - more pictures at this link)

But this time, it wasn't about politics. It wasn't about the economy, or foreign policy, or health care. Instead, Preisdent Obama was here to speak about volunteerism, a cause that draws us all together. The President's visit was about serving others, something the Aggie family holds near and dear to our hearts. In fact, "Selfless Service" is a tradition here at A&M. It's one of our five Core Values, and it's the meaning behind one of the five stars on our Aggie Rings. Even the Cornerstone Program cites a "service component" as part of its purpose.

Sometimes Texas A&M gets criticized for sticking to our traditions. We get called "closed-minded" or "stuck in our ways." Admittedly, I was once wary of the tradition and apparent "brainwashing" as well, but after two and a half years as a student, and two years as a Fish Camp counselor, I'm here to tell you that at Texas A&M, our traditions are meaningful. Tradition in Aggieland is about something bigger than ourselves, and I'm proud to be a student at a school that teaches much more than academics.

I could cite many examples of this, but (in order to prevent this blog post from being way too long for any sane person to read) today I'd just like to talk about a tradition called Big Event.

(Source)

Big Event was started in 1982, and has been going strong ever since. As the country's largest one-day, student-run service project, Big Event allows Aggies to make a giant impact on our community, and to say "Thank You" for the support we get from Bryan/College Station residents.

One of my past Big Event groups, what a great way to serve our community!

Students can sign up individually, with friends, or with an organization. Last year over 12,500 students worked on over 1,200 projects (painting, landscaping, cleaning, etc.). Big Event is expecting around 14,000 students and 1,500 projects for the next Big Event, happening March 27, 2010.

Amazing traditions like Big Event embody the Texas A&M Core Value of "Selfless Service," and make me proud to be an Aggie. I'll leave you with a couple of quotes about Big Event from the Points of Light event President Obama spoke at last Friday:

I know this is one of countless ways Texas A&M is performing selfless service, and I know that is why President (George H. W.) Bush chose this outstanding university for his library.

-President Obama

I salute Mallory Myers and Big Event, a wonderful program exemplifying selfless service, as does the entire student body of Texas A&M.

-Former President Bush