April 2007

CAMPUS NEWS

Get Down, Dirty, and a Little Greener at Campus Beautification Day

Going green is increasingly becoming a large part of AU’s short- and long-term goals. For the past 13 years, the AU community has been encouraged to help beautify campus as winter fades away and the warm spring weather rolls in. On Campus Beautification Day, approximately 700 faculty, staff, students, and alumni volunteers will get their hands dirty planting flowers, collecting trash, and spreading mulch.

This year’s 14th annual Campus Beautification Day on April 10 will also emphasize sustainability through AU’s adoption of the Talloires Declaration, a 10-point action plan used to guide colleges and universities as they incorporate sustainability and environmental responsibility in their daily activities.

“Coupled with our biodiesel vehicles, materials recycling, green building design for the new SIS building, arboretum status, and other initiatives, adoption of the Talloires Declaration is an exciting example of our commitment to environmental sustainability,” said Interim President Neil Kerwin, SPA/BA ‘71, in a recent campus memorandum.

Following a morning of potentially grass stain-inducing fun and hard work, Campus Beautification Day participants will enjoy a barbecue lunch and witness a signing ceremony for the declaration in the Woods-Brown Amphitheatre. AU’s signature will add it to the ranks of approximately 300 other universities from more than 40 countries as a university seeking more sustainability from itself and campus vendors.

AU is moving forward in its efforts as students push for campus-wide sustainability for food, energy, and the environment. Eco-sense, a student environmental activist club, challenged AU to purchase at least half its energy from wind or other renewable sources by 2012. Their voices have been heard by more than just AU administration. The National Wildlife Federation honored AU and its students for this ambitious green goal.

Continuing with the nature-oriented theme on Campus Beautification Day, students from Horace Mann Elementary School’s kindergarten and second grade will volunteer on April 10 to pot plants that will be used for the Media Production Center’s new green roof, expected to be installed this summer.

Come to your alma mater on Tuesday, April 10 and help beautify AU’s Brandywine Building, Tenley campus, or various areas of main campus. All registrants will receive a free T-shirt and bottled water at check in, in addition to a barbecue lunch. The rain date is scheduled for the following day, Wed., April 11. For more information, contact Katherine Kirlin at 202-885-2431.

-Tara Shlimowitz ‘08

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