“This is the second year Catawba College has been recognized as a Tree Campus, and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this distinction,” said Jeff Hartley, Catawba’s Grounds Manager. “This highlights our dedication to creating a vibrant, healthy, and green environment that benefits all of campus.”
A national program launched in 2008, Tree Campus Higher Education, formerly Tree Campus USA, honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and for engaging students and employees in the spirit of conservation. Trees on campus can reduce energy costs for campus facilities by providing shade, reducing severe heat, improving air quality, and increasing physical health benefits for students and staff. Furthermore, trees boost students’ mental and cognitive health, provide a pleasing appearance to campuses, and create shaded locations for meeting and studying.
To obtain this distinction, Catawba College must uphold five core standards for effective campus forest management: maintain a tree advisory committee, set a tree-care plan, verify annual investment in the campus tree program, celebrate Arbor Day, and create an engaging service learning project for the student body.
“Trees have the power to inspire learning and improve well-being,” said Michelle Saulnier, vice president of programs at the Arbor Day Foundation. “By growing campus green spaces, forward-thinking higher education leaders like Catawba College are cultivating vibrant learning communities that also benefit the greater environment.”
Catawba continues to build on its commitment to sustainability. They were the first college in the Southeast to be certified carbon neutral seven years ahead of their 2030 goal and the first campus in the US to add Haven solar shelters to their campus. Catawba added an electric vehicle (EV) charging station for visitors last fall and is in the process of adding additional charging stations. The college recently completed work on a new geothermal system that provides efficient, clean heating and cooling for the Corriher-Linn-Black Library.
To read more about Catawba’s Campus Tree Care Committee, visit their website at https://catawba.edu/treecare/.
You can read more about the Tree Campus designation on the Arbor Day Foundation’s website at https://www.arborday.org/programs/tree-campus-higher-education/#recognizedSection.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation is a global nonprofit inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. They foster a growing community of more than 1 million leaders, innovators, planters, and supporters united by their bold belief that a more hopeful future can be shaped through the power of trees. For more than 50 years, they’ve answered critical needs with action, planting more than half a billion trees alongside their partners. And this is only the beginning.
The Arbor Day Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pursuing a future where all life flourishes through the power of trees. Learn more at arborday.org.
