Campus Curb Appeal
Senior Resident Assistant Chrissy McLenithan and freshman Josh Rundquist help with landscaping at the campus apartments on Oct. 3. Residents raised funds to beautify the apartments with the help of Circle K.
By Stephanie Snay | Distribution Manager
Amongst all the recent campus construction, the campus apartments have been neglected. On Oct. 3, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Circle K, the Residence Hall Association, volunteers, the apartments’ residents and resident assistants landscaped their campus home.
The beautification involved picking up trash, sweeping, clearing debris, taking out dead bushes and putting in mulch. Campus apartment RAs developed this project, and then went to service organization Circle K for help.
“All four RAs really wanted a change out here, said Ben Church, senior campus apartments RA and Circle K member. “We went to Circle K, because we know that they are a service organization.”
When some of the residents heard about this project, they jumped on board to help.
“For the residents, we were just really excited to help and be more proud of our homes,” said junior resident Nick Stewart. “We told the RAs that if they put in the supplies, we would put in all the work.”
Caitlin Mannan, senior and Circle K president, said that Circle K was excited to spend its energy on this project.
“The majority of our service usually happens off campus, though it is part of our mission to do service on campus,” she said. “We recognized this as a huge need, and it fit in so well with our mission.”
Church, Stewart and Mannan all felt that the apartments were in far from perfect condition.
“It’s no doubt that the apartments had been let go for some time,” Church said.
Caitlin Mannan, Megan Beretta, Joanna Lusisi and Ben Church work to distribute so during the beautification
Circle K originally went through the Student Conservation Association to get the money to fund the project and was turned down. They then received support from Mark Weigand, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.
“He is the university staff member who really pushed for the university to give attention to the apartments and forced the apartments to become a higher priority among the school’s top officials,” Mannan said. “He is to be applauded for the voice he gave to this project.”
Weigand described himself as a messenger between the students and the cabinet. He also said that he is very proud of the people coming together for this project, which is a wonderful example of everyone coming together to better the campus.
“Anytime we have projects where we work together, it’s a benefit to everyone,” Weigand said. “The students get to know faculty, and faculty get to know students.”
Kory Vitangeli, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students, made the formal financial request at a university meeting attended by the president, and the President’s Cabinet approved a little more than $3,000 for this project, which was funded by the Physical Plant budget.
“It was impressive that the students put the initiative forward and were willing to work to make it happen,” Vitangeli said. “Because of that initiative, the residence director of campus apartments Brad Dobson worked with the director of the grounds crew of the Physical Plant, Jerry Steckbeck, to make the improvements happen.”
Church said they are planning another project in the spring that will involve planting flowers around the apartments.
“In the end, this will hopefully help others to improve their campus, because they are invested in it,” Mannan said.
Church said he is excited to have his residents proud of the place they live in and is hoping students will be encouraged by this project to go beyond it and know that they can make changes on campus.
“This was a great example of team work across campus,” Vitangeli said.
