More than 70 organizations and 1,400-plus students gathered at College Green Sunday afternoon to clean up Athens.
After registering in front of Scripps Hall, participants walked to College Green, where President McDavis started the event with a pep rally to kick off the ninth annual Athens Beautification Day.
“Are there any Bobcats in the house?” said McDavis, receiving a thunderous cheer in response.
Students then joined their project groups to head out and clean streets, houses, and public venues in Athens, said junior Mel Ruberg, director of Athens Beautification Day.
Ruberg, who has helped with Athens Beautification Day for three years, took over as director this year and spent the past four months organizing the event.
In an attempt to draw more volunteers and sponsorship, the event joined forces with OU Student Senate and Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful, an initiative that is run through Wayne National Forest and is a part of the larger Keep America Beautiful program.
“OU definitely gave the most money. President McDavis said, ‘Whatever you need, we will get it for you,’” Ruberg said.
This year’s beautification day received more than $10,000 in donations from places such as uFUND and the city of Athens, not including the free transportation OU provided for certain projects as far as Stroud’s Run.
uFUND is a group that takes the money raised from student judiciary fees and uses it to create alternative “re-education” projects.
“This is at the core of what this university is about – it’s about students giving back,” McDavis said.
In his speech, McDavis stressed that giving back to the community, whether it be in Athens or wherever the participants will live in the future, is an essential part of the community.
“I think it’s important to keep the campus clean and pretty especially because our campus is so socially active,” said Rebecca Zook, a freshman studying journalism.
Zook’s group traveled along Congress Street, as well as the neighboring streets, cleaning yards, taking out trash and doing other work around the house.
According to a Wayne National Forest representative, Athens picked up 25,000 bags of trash alone last year.
jr200009@ohiou.edu
