Campus Cleanup draws about 350 students

As the crowds thinned and participants marched off to battle for a clean campus, junior Brandon Shore, a member of the Kelley School of Business’ Civic Leadership Development organization, said he was satisfied.

“The weather is unbelievable,” Shore said. “The great turnout I think is also a big plus. We used up all of our bags and all of our gloves. Everything donated was used up, which is amazing. All things considered, I would say it was a success.”

It was the Campus Cleanup, run by the CLD, which took place on Sunday. More than 350 people signed up to participate in the cleanup, from fraternities and sororities to members of the Kelley School of Business and unaffiliated participants.

“People litter a lot,” said freshman Maxwell Ellis. “I’m trying to do my fair share of work to keep the campus beautiful. We don’t want our campus looking (bad). We really want to keep it beautiful. I think that’s the purpose.”

Planning for the campus cleanup project began in late August when Shore reserved Dunn Meadow for the event. He sent out e-mails to organizations across the University and worked with donors to get supplies and money.

“It was kind of a hoping-for-the-best kind of game, just making sure organizations knew about it,” Shore said.

This year was the first time the event has been in the fall. In previous years, it has only happened close to Little 500 weekend.

“We did it this weekend specifically because next weekend is Parents Weekend,” Shore said.

Students had a variety of reasons for attending. Michael Israel, a freshman pledge of Alpha Tau Omega, said he and his fraternity brothers decided to participate to help the community.

“We just thought that every little bit helps and making it beautiful would make it even better,” Israel said.

Many students said they felt the benefits of cleaning the campus are great.
“We get to go around the campus, explore the campus and clean it up,” said Rachit Tibrewala, a member of the Finance Club and CLD.

“We thought it would be a good opportunity to just go around and help around campus,” added sophomore Joey Azin, a member of Acacia fraternity. “Sure, it takes time out of your day. We’re all students, and we’re all really busy. But after you do something like this, it makes you feel a lot better.”