Virginia Tech tops nation in tree planters, wins free trees
Virginia Tech ranks No. 1 in the nation when it comes to Tree Campus USA tree planters.
More than 900 Virginia Tech students, alums, donors, and supporters signed up to become tree planters at the Arbor Day Foundation website, more than any other Tree Campus USA college or university. By finishing with the most tree planters, Virginia Tech won the Tree Campus USA Root for Your Home Team contest and will add more beauty to its campus in Blacksburg, Va. Virginia Tech will receive $2,500 in free trees to be planted in the spring from Tree Campus USA, a program of the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation that is supported by Toyota.
When individuals sign up to become a tree planter, they will be the first to learn about tree-planting opportunities in their area, receive monthly updates on ways to make a positive impact on the environment and will be eligible to participate in other contests at the Arbor Day Foundation website.
The contest allowed only Tree Campus USA colleges and universities to win free trees. Last year, the Arbor Day Foundation recognized 74 schools as Tree Campus USA institutions.
To become a Tree Campus USA college or university, a school must meet five core standards of tree care and community engagement. Those requirements are: establishing a campus tree advisory committee, providing evidence of a campus tree-care plan, having dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree plan, observing Arbor Day, and offering service-learning projects aimed at engaging the student body.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
Related Links
- Virginia Tech named Tree Campus USA site; Arbor Day Foundation, Toyota Celebrate with tree-planting event
- University receives 2009 Governor's Environmental Excellence Bronze Medal for Campus Tree Tour 2008 Event
- University recertified as a Tree Campus by Arbor Day Foundation
- Full list of Tree Campus USA schools
