The embarrassment of any college ambassador or orientation leader who gives tours of UT is garbage.
Empty beer cans, cigarette butts, paper and discarded textbooks can be found littered around campus. The Student Government Association hopes the solution for the eyesores of campus is its Campus Beautification Committee.
Campus beautification is an integral part of keeping the university clean. SGA organizes different year-round projects, one of which is their biggest project, the Adopt-A-Spot campaign. The campaign is an opportunity for different student organizations to be directly involved with the university. The organizations will donate their time and members by actually adopting a plot of land on campus and keeping it clean by removing trash and debris as well as planting flowers to make each plot unique.
The campaign has been a recurring event on campus, but this year there is a change. Instead of adopting a spot for just a year, organizations will adopt it for three years. Kaylee Vickers, the co-director of Campus Beautification, said the additional years make adopting a spot more intimate.
“Adopting a spot for three years will foster a sense of ownership and pride,” she said.
Accompanying the extra years is the option of a one-time $100 donation for a personally crafted plot sign. It is not mandatory, but a majority of the adopters donated the money. The donations go to making the signs, then to other Campus Beautification campaigns, such as “ZerOne” and “Get Your Butt Off the Ground.” The signs follow guidelines that the university has laid out for placing signs on campus.
Organizations that adopted plots include UT Football, Alpha Phi Omega, Sigma Kappa and Silver Wings.
“The campaign will make campus look nicer,” said Amy Amari, development officer for the community service organization Silver Wings.
This is a reccurring event for the Air Force ROTC group, and this year their plot of land is beside Stokely Athletic Center and Gibbs Hall.
“The sign works. It allows people to know this is our spot, but I do not think that $100 is appropriate,” Amari said. “The sign just does not look like it is worth $100. It could have been better-looking.”
Sigma Kappa has been involved with the campaign for two years and is excited about the signs.
“The campaign is a good way for sisters to be involved with something that will benefit the sorority and the university,” Katie Logan, president of Sigma Kappa, said. “The extra years allow us to see an improvement of our spot and the sign is great publicity.”
However, Logan also believes the $100 donation for a sign is unfair.
“The $100 is easy for us, but for a small organization, it would be difficult,” she said.
Since Adopt-A-Spot began, it increased from 10 plots to 31 plots. While a majority of plots are taken, some still need to be adopted.
According to Vickers, getting the personal signs for the new adopters is uncertain because of “the complications with getting them made,” and said they currently are looking into getting more made if there is a demand for them.
