Meet your big man on campus

Will Sargeant claimed the title of Big Man on Campus on Oct. 24 at Zeta Tau Alpha’s annual male pageant in the Great Hall after weeks of practices and collaboration with the members of Zeta Tau Alpha. 

Big Man on Campus supports the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation, a nonprofit organization which funds educational programs, scholarships and leadership programming as well as breast cancer awareness efforts. 

Sargeant, a first-year environmental science major from Kinston, N.C., decided to participate in the pageant after an older member in his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, encouraged him to compete. 

“I think it’s a really interesting philanthropy event, very different from most philanthropy events that most sororities and fraternities would put on,” Sargeant said. “I also think it’s a really good cause.” 

Big Man on Campus is just one aspect of Zeta Tau Alpha’s annual Think Pink Week, a week dedicated every October — Breast Cancer Awareness Month — to educating UNC students on breast cancer.

What goes into becoming the Big Man on Campus? (Hint: it’s more than just pink glitter.) 

Sargeant and the other contestants participating in Big Man on Campus met at the Zeta Tau Alpha house one or twice a week for about a month prior to the event to prepare for the different rounds. 

Big Man on Campus consists of five rounds: formal wear, group dance, swim wear, talent and Think Pink, when the boys dress up in all pink and explain why breast cancer awareness is important to them. 

But for Sargeant, learning and executing the group dance was the most intimidating task. 

“I’m no avid dancer,” Sargeant said. “It was just difficult to remember what you’re supposed to do when, and it took a long time to learn.” 

Sargeant said one of the most eye-opening parts of participating in the event was witnessing the work the Zeta Tau Alpha members put into making it successful. Preparations for Big Man on Campus began before rush even ended.

“It’s really fun to see guys get into the competition,” said Anna Chesson, Sargeant's coach. “The boys are just ready to win and ready to compete.” 

After sifting through YouTube videos, Sargeant and his partner, first-year Cy Pair, decided to perform a dance routine, shirtless in pink tutus, while holding a beach ball between their chests to the song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” for the talent round. 

“The time we did it on stage was the first time we did the whole thing without dropping the ball,” Sargeant said. 

Sargeant said his experience as a camp counselor at Camp Cheerio, a YMCA camp for children, prepared him for making himself vulnerable in funny skits on stage.  

“I think once you put yourself in that mindset where you’re just out there for everyone to see and you are who you are, it doesn’t really matter what they think of you,” Sargeant said. 

Aarthi Kannan, ZTA's director of philanthropy,  was most excited about the contestants's enthusiasm for the cause. There is a one in eight chance a woman will develop breast cancer, making it a predominantly women’s issue, but Zeta Tau Alpha sees Big Man on Campus as a way to increase awareness and reinforce the importance of breast cancer education to a broader range of people at UNC. 

“It’s important to get everyone to understand the impacts of breast cancer, not just women who are facing it,” Kannan said. “Getting people to reflect on that in a way that’s accessible and humorous is important.”  

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month will end in a few days, but Sargeant's reign is far from over. 

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