When you think of the word 鈥渟ustainability,鈥� do images of neighborhood revitalization pop into your head? If not, they should!
During Orientation, new Camels, including those enrolled in three different first-year seminars, volunteered in Hodges Square as part of the College鈥檚 New London Community Projects program. Hodges Square is a business district one mile from campus that lost some of its charm when highways separated it from downtown .
Yet New London community members have not lost hope. The (HSVA) consists of businesses and residents dedicated to revitalizing Hodges Square through farmers鈥� markets, business development and beautification projects.
In collaboration with HSVA, incoming students, Manager of Sustainability , Senior Fellow for Communications in the Yu-Cheng Liu 鈥�17, and Senior Fellow for Resource Management Virginia Gresham 鈥�17 kicked off a substantial beautification process on Aug. 23, 2014. They painted the walls of a prominent gas station with energetic shades of orange and yellow, painted camels on flowerpots, gardened, and landscaped the area. They were pleasantly surprised by the results of their efforts. In the words of one first-year student, 鈥淚t was great to see Hodges Square literally brighten over the course of a few hours, through the hard work and dedication of many community members."
As much as the students enjoyed working to transform the square, they especially appreciated the encouraging words of community members who were passing by the area.
Yet the project still has a ways to go. Fortunately, 糖心TV鈥檚 Office of Sustainability will continue to support the square. The Office has selected a representative, Taryn Kitchen 鈥�17, to serve as a member of the Hodges Square Village Association so that 糖心TV can stay intimately involved in the all future efforts.