Students and faculty invested in the upkeep of campus as part of Campus Beautification Day Tuesday, which AU Director of Facilities Management Willy Suter called a "celebration of the AU community."
Campus Beautification Day is an annual event that generally occurs the week before the spring Freshman Day. Without the day, people would not understand the work that goes into AU's groundskeeping, Suter said.
"We pay tuition money and we sometimes forget how beautiful the campus is," said Joe Vidulich, Student Government secretary.
The day began at 8 a.m. and lasted until a barbeque around noon.
Suter said Campus Beautification Day began in 1991. He said he thinks it was meant to be a way to "get people out in the spring working together."
"[The day] gives people awareness of the work that goes into the grounds and makes them respect the grounds," said AU Grounds Operation Coordinator Stephanie De Stefano. "It's my personal opinion that people [at AU] don't abuse the grounds as much as other campuses."
Volunteers sign up to work at various locations, including the main campus, the Nebraska parking lot, the Tenley campus and near the WAMU building on Brandywine Street. Children from the AU Child Development Center and students from Horace Mann Elementary School also participated.
The work and sites vary year to year depending on what needs to be done, De Stefano said. There is a grounds crew representative at each site who leads the group and explains what needs to be done. Suter said he estimates 450 people volunteered at Tuesday's event.
On the Tenley campus, volunteers made a patio between Congressional and Capital halls, De Stefano said.
Suter said one issue with the day is timing, since students generally start their days later.
"It's unfortunate," Suter said. "I think more students would participate if we had activities later in the day."
Vidulich said he hopes students realize the importance of making the campus beautiful for the Class of 2010 and beyond.
Chad Robinson, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said he wishes the university would have more days devoted to campus beautification.
"Why do they only have us working this day? Why isn't it a more frequent event?" Robinson said. "Why aren't we involved more in the upkeep instead of just the initial planting?"
Colleen Hastings, a freshman in SPA, said she and her friends originally went to the Campus Beautification Day booth on the quad because they saw the free T-shirts and wanted to know how to get one. They planted perennials in the Woods-Brown Amphitheater.
"We did it for about an hour, and it pretty much made my day," Hastings said.
An arboretum tour explained that AU is recognized as an arboretum by the American Public Garden Association because its trees are used for educational purposes and are in the process of being labeled. People on campus are also trained to give tours and talk about the species of trees, De Stefano said.
Green roof plants were also displayed on the quad, which are low-maintenance plants planted on roofs that keep buildings cool and insulated.
They also act as filters so not as much water is wasted and energy is conserved in the building, De Stefano said. The school is in the process of designing use of these plants in the Media Production Center and eventually in the new School of International Service building.
Other activities included a Sustainability Fair sponsored by Eco-Sense. Suzanne Hunt of World Watch Institute and SIS professor Paul Wapner spoke in the SIS Lounge also.
