10-20-98

OHIO STATE STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

	COLUMBUS -- Some 2,000 Ohio State University students, 
faculty and staff will spend their morning serving others in 
Columbus and Illinois as they join the nation in making a 
difference on Oct. 24.

	As part of the National Make a Difference Day, 100 students, 
faculty and staff will travel to Evanston, Ill., to perform 
community service before the Ohio State football game against 
Northwestern.  Students will participate in trash cleanup and 
site revitalization, and volunteer at various community 
organizations such as shelters for people with HIV, the homeless, 
families, and battered women and children.

	“I look forward to working side-by-side with students from 
both institutions,” said Ohio State University President William 
E. Kirwan, who will participate at the Northwestern site. “Ohio 
State’s increasing focus on community service will have lasting 
effects in Columbus and other communities, and it is an important 
component of the educational experience.”

	Several hundred more students, faculty and staff also will 
volunteer in Columbus to clean litter and trash in the area east 
of High Street in the ninth High on Pride University District 
Clean-up.

	Greg Lestini, a student participant of Ohio State’s Make a 
Difference Project, said participating in a community service 
project such as Make a Difference has a positive impact on 
student life both socially and academically.

	“Nothing can complement an academic experience better than 
exposing students to community service.  Students can take that 
experience and put it to use in their careers after graduation,” 
Lestini said.  “It helps to give them a more rounded college 
experience.”

	Those who want to be a part of the national Make a 
Difference Day effort at Ohio State can participate in the High 
on Pride project.  The cleanup was initiated in 1994 as part of 
the university’s ongoing effort to improve the quality of life in 
the areas surrounding the Columbus campus.  This fall, High on 
Pride has been designated as one of the official Make a 
Difference project sites.

     Working in two-hour shifts from 9 to 11 a.m. and 10 a.m. to 
noon, volunteers will pick up litter, remove bulk trash, sweep 
streets and sidewalks, and collect recyclables in the streets, 
alleys and other public areas in the neighborhood directly east 
of campus. The project includes some 267 city blocks with 33 
miles of sidewalk and more than 67 miles of roadway.  The north 
boundary is Blake Avenue, the south is Ninth Avenue and the east 
is the railroad tracks.  The western boundary is North High 
street and the Ohio State campus.

	High on Pride’s efforts last spring removed more than 103 
tons of trash and litter from the areas north of the campus.

	“High on Pride has been very successful in building 
relationships between students, faculty, staff and community 
residents that instill the kind of pride and belonging that leads 
to a closer community,” said Tina Love, director of special 
projects for student affairs and chair of the organizing 
committee.  “I anticipate this cleanup to continue in community 
building.”	

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Contact: Tracy Stuck, director of student activities, (614) 292-
8763, for Make a Difference project; and Tina Love, director of 
special projects for student affairs, (614) 292-9334, for High on 
Pride.