Little International celebrates 100th year at SDSU

SAGE THOMPSON Reporter

The 100th Little International will be from March 31- April 1 in the Animal Science Arena at SDSU.

Little International is the largest two-day competition where 2,000-plus students compete. The event has 164 people on staff and 40 committees that put on the contest and do the catalog, sponsorships and media. It is an animal science group open to all colleges and has contestants and professors outside of SDSU.

New things this year include sponsorships and committees for the 100th year of Little I. The committees that they have added are risk management and the 100th alumni committees.

Little I also doubled the dollar amount and increased the number of scholarships this year. Usually, Little I gives out three scholarships every year, but this year they have decided to give out four scholarships.

The amount of each scholarship varies. Last year, Little I gave out $2,000. This year Little I is giving out two that are $1,000 and another two that are $1,500.

The prerequisites for each scholarship are, according to 100th Little I Assistant Manager Isaac Berg, “That the student must be attending SDSU in the coming fall, to claim they got to claim that you got enrolled and prove your credits at SDSU, along with proving that you applied to be on staff and that you’re a high school senior.”

The Risk Management Committee is one of the new committees added for this year’s 100th Little I. The Risk Management Committee is responsible for the safety of the event for everyone who attends.

“The Risk Management Committee helps with making sure the equipment staff has various safety training so that at the time of Little I weekend, they can do their jobs safely and efficiently,” Risk Management Committee Superintendent Lucas Tesch said.

The committee also has plans for emergency situations so officials can make sure that everyone is safe if any incident arises.

“We will also be monitoring the show throughout the weekend to make sure everyone is staying safe and address potential issues as needed,” Tesch said.

The 100th Alumni Committee is the other committee added this year. They have traditionally sponsored an alumni event at a pub close to Brookings, but this year officials decided to expand on that. The event is merging the outstanding alumni award with the alumni social to create the “Centennial Social” to mark the 100th Little I.

Previous winners of the round robin can participate in the Alumni Round Robin and the chili cook off. Aside from the social events, alumni haven’t played a significant role. Nevertheless, the staff always invites them to return to Brookings and support Little I.

“Some years we have alumni be the MCs, and they are always up for the distinguished alumni award, which is chosen by the Little I staff,” Supereminent of the 100th Annual Alumni Relations Committee Jessica Kott said.