More than 500 students at TU foster social change in the community

Impact TU, formerly known as The Big Event, provides opportunities for students to engage with local partners committed to fostering sustainable communities

By TOWSON UNIVERSITY on April 18, 2024

Students cleaning up flower pots in uptown Towson.
TU students clean up flower pots in uptown Towson during Impact TU, formerly known as The Big Event. (Alexander Wright | Towson University)

Towson University’s The Big Event has a new name: Impact TU. April 20 is the first Impact TU event, a day in which more than 500 students do hands-on work around the community to foster social change. Projects are focused on environmental sustainability, economic security, social well-being and civic engagement. Project sites are on campus and in the Towson–Baltimore area.

This year, the Office of Civic Engagement & Social Responsibility (CESR) at TU, the champions of Impact TU, are adding an educational component to help students understand the value of community engagement.

“With the name change, we’re introducing the idea of ‘local action for social change’ and how students can use today as a building block for creating positive change in the TU community,” says Romy Hübler, director of CESR. “We want the students to understand that to achieve sustainable communities, everyone must feel like they matter, and we have to work together to take care of each other.”

Throughout the TU community, TU students will be cleaning up streams and parks, planting flowers, pulling weeds and so much more to make visible impacts around neighborhoods.

To help students understand the importance of their work, student site leaders (located at each site in the community during Impact TU) will help their group reflect on their experience. They will discuss the importance of working with community members and explore what roles students can play in local change efforts.

“We want students to contribute to the health and well-being of our communities,” says Shannon Cheek, coordinator for student community engagement in CESR and leader of Impact TU. “The additions of educational and reflection components to Impact TU will help strengthen our students’ connections to the local community.”

For more information, visit the Impact TU site. 

For media inquiries, Jamie Abell.

About Towson University
Towson University is Maryland’s university of opportunities. With more than 150 years of experience pushing possibilities, TU is a nationally recognized leader in inclusive excellence, social mobility, research and discovery. As the largest university in greater Baltimore, TU’s momentum is always accelerating, with nearly 20,000 students and 200 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in the liberal arts and sciences and applied professional fields. Located amid one of the East Coast’s cultural and economic epicenters, TU is a beacon and powerful catalyst in the Mid-Atlantic, partnering with hundreds of businesses and organizations, impacting communities and fueling change. TU meets the holistic needs of each student to achieve success, a result of a deeply inclusive culture with a focus on equity among all students, faculty and staff.