The litter created from college parties surrounding Shippensburg University is not a new phenomenon — but the initiative to clean it up is. SU campus and Shippensburg Borough have joined together in the Community Connection Initiative to make this happen.
The initiative began this past summer when the Connection Office at SU spoke with several members of the community, local officials and business owners on how the program can get involved with the rest of Shippensburg. It became a major topic once it was mentioned that many areas of off-campus student housing accumulate more trash than others. These places include Richard Avenue, Queen Street, High Street, Fort Street and housing on Britton Road.
The plan to clean the streets is an extension of the “Clean Sweep” program that occurred during this year’s Welcome Week. Students cleaned up different streets in Shippensburg, and this became the foundation for this new mission.
They are calling the project the Community Connection Initiative. Both the connection program and Career and Community Engagement Center are working together to better these places.
Ann Wendle, assistant dean of students and director of drug and alcohol services at SU, is one of the many involved with the initiative.
“Shippensburg University is part of the community and it is effective to participate in activities that impact the borough and the township in positive ways,” she said. “It allows students to give something back to the community and the community gets to see the positive things that students do.”
Numerous student organizations sponsor the program and do what they can to get others involved. The Engaging Service through Action Living Learning Community, Phi Sigma Pi, Student Senate, Phi Beta Lambda, ROTC and the geoenvironmental club all play a role. Residents of Richard Avenue have also conducted their own clean-up, which allowed the Community Connection Initiative to move on to other areas such as Queen Street and certain commuter parking lots.
One more cleanup is scheduled for Nov. 15, sponsored by the Student Senate, and three more will be held in the spring.
“It models something small that anyone can do to help out, and promotes collaboration,” Wendle said. “It brings a small part of the community together, which allows for greater opportunities.”
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