Dear Orange Friends:
Ruth and I stopped by Walnut Park on Saturday for the family picnic to welcome faculty and staff of color, sponsored by the University’s Faculty and Staff of Color Connection initiative. There was great music, races for the kids and delicious barbecue from BoDean’s Chicken & Ribs, prepared by the owner, Cedric Bolton. It was nice talking to so many faculty and staff and realizing how much they look forward to the beginning of the fall semester and the return of so many students and colleagues.
Many of you will return to campus to find the staff has worked hard to make things better over the summer. Walnut Park is one example. I think you will find things look better on and around the park, from the north end near Hillel, past the Alibrandi Catholic Center all the way to the Lillian Slutzker Center for International Services and Bird Library. It looks better inside Bird as well. I also met University Physical Plant employees Amanda Kennedy, Karen Norton, and Rebecca Vincent who, along with John Fiumara, have been working every day to remove litter and debris from the areas around the park. They are heartened to have noticed that, with the park so clean now, all sorts of people are picking up their own trash—and helping to pick up after others who are not so considerate.
I’ve tried to help by picking up litter as well, each day as I walk to work or walk our dog. I often pick it up from yards where many of us live and work and pass by. I’m hoping that, when all of us return to campus, we will stop passing by litter on our campus and our own front lawns. I think if we all do our part, we will all feel even better about this place.
Chancellor Kent Syverud