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Group was delighted to learn about the arboretum, located in the middle of a Columbia neighborhood
February 3, 2009
Charlie Adams, left, with members from the SC Chapter of the
National Student Speech Language Hearing Association
at the arboretum.
In Washington, Barack Obama helped paint a homeless shelter. In Columbia, Arnold School students and faculty members helped landscape a downtown arboretum.
The president-elect got a lot of media attention for his efforts. No one paid much attention as the university group of nine shoveled and raked.
However, that was fine with the USC group. Just like Obama, they were intent on doing their part on the Martin Luther King Day of Service. Established by Congress in 1994, it is a national day of community service grounded in King’s teachings of nonviolence and social justice.
The Arnold School members hail from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, where seven of them are members of the S.C. Chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, said Dr. Charley Adams, a clinical assistant professor and the group’s faculty advisor.
Chelsea Contini pushes the
wheelbarrow,
while Kim Hufnagel
and Heather Franklin look on.
King Day found more than 400 USC students, faculty and staff working at local nonprofit organizations, including Hope World Wide, Reliant Hospice, Harvest Hope Food Bank and the Salvation Army.
Moreover, the work at the W. Gordon Belser Arboretum was just one of more than 12,000 King Day service projects nationwide, more than double that of 2008, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual observance.
The arboretum, operated by the USC Biology Department, is a heavily wooded ten-acre site on the east side of Columbia. It sits in the middle of a residential area near the intersection of Devine Street and Beltline Boulevard.
The site was a 1959 gift to the university by W. Gordon Belser. A prominent Columbia attorney and naturalist, Belser studied biology at USC.
“I had seen it before, but I don’t think any of the students knew anything about it. Initially, the prospect of working outdoors on a cold, damp day was not so well-received, but once we got into it, we all had a great time and learned a lot,” Adams said.
Dr. Pat DeCoursey, a faculty member of the Biology Department, introduced the group to the facility and explained the lay of the land that features nine different ecosystems and a wide array of plant and animal life.
The site is an obvious choice for university research, but it also serves as a sanctuary/retreat for students from the Departments of Religion and Philosophy,” DeCoursey told the students.
The group enjoyed a Domino’s Pizza lunch while
seated on logs arranged in a circle to encourage
meditation and spirituality interaction.
The group enjoyed a Domino’s Pizza for lunch, seated on logs arranged in a circle to encourage meditation and spiritually interaction, Adams said.
“It was a great experience,” said Stephanie Day, a first year COMD student and vice president of the NSSLHA.
“We had to dig through some hard dirt to plant trees and uproot some ivy, but it wasn’t too hard. I think a lot of us are interested in working on the same project next year,” she said.
Other members of the group included NSSLHA President Katie Reynolds, and officers Kim Hufnagel, Chelsea Cortini, Shannon Batson, Katie Kramp and Heather Franklin.
Jamie Archer, a clinical instructor and a new member of the COMD faculty, also joined the work detail.
