For 32 years, American University has held its annual Campus Beautification Day. For the past three decades, the event has brought together the University’s community members to enhance the campus’ existing beauty.
Since the start of Campus Beautification Day, the campus has had major cosmetic changes. The campus grounds were designated an official arboretum in 2004.
Today, the 84-acre campus is home to 500 species of woody plants and more than 5,000 trees — all of which are open to students, faculty and community members. Best Choice Schools named AU as the fourth most beautiful urban campus in the country in 2021, largely because of its arboretum.
Arboretum Manager Mike Mastrota has worked for the University for nearly 29 years. Since his start, he’s seen a lot change.
“The whole campus has really transitioned,” Mastrota said. “It used to be very unattractive and barren.”
Mastrota said that the enhancements extend past the plants around campus to the pavement quality, light poles and other improvements that make campus more visually appealing. Cleaning up the campus and making it more cohesive makes it more attractive to both current and prospective students.
For volunteers, Campus Beautification Day starts at 8 a.m. on the quad outside of the Mary Graydon Center. Volunteers sign in to get their t-shirt and gloves. They are then assigned an area on campus to begin working. Volunteers can choose from tasks such as planting, mulching, weeding and waste auditing, which is the process of checking what goes into trash, recycling and compost bins.
For the Office of Sustainability and the Facilities Management team, the event starts much sooner.
“To set up, we’re here by 6 [a.m.],” said Mastrota. “We’ve been working on this since the first [day] of the year.”
Volunteers work in their designated area for three hours. After the work is done, they are invited to the Woods Brown Amphitheater for lunch and raffle prizes.
“The lunch is a nice time to come together and acknowledge AU’s accomplishments,” Megan Litke, director of the Office of Sustainability, said. “It’s a really good opportunity for gathering in community after doing some hard work digging.”
Litke said that the tradition brings together groups of people, such as student athletes, faculty and student volunteers, for a common goal of beautification and sustainability.
“I think it’s become a real tradition on campus,” Litke said. “I think it’s a nice tradition that brings together groups of people who don’t normally have the opportunity to work together.”
This article was edited by Conor Gillingham, Marina Zaczkiewicz and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Olivia Citarella, Emma Brown and Ella Rousseau.
