Julius Olsen Honors Program Celebrates Earth Day with Service Project

(ABILENE, Texas)–Students from the Julius Olsen Honors Program organized an on-campus service project that coincided with Earth Day to educate HSU students on the damaging effects of climate change. On April 22, the program’s service committee set up a booth in Moody Student Center to provide students with environmental education, and on April 23, the committee hosted a pot painting party on Anderson Lawn, where students could purchase a small pot to paint. Honors students will plant succulents in these pots and deliver them to a local nursing home in the coming weeks.

The honors program at HSU is designed to expand student’s thoughts and encourage them to think through challenging subjects. Second-year honors students are required to take Honors Discourse in Applied Science and Mathematics, and the topic varies by year. This semester, honors students have studied climate change and environmentalism, which inspired Rylee Powell and Chanae Pitts Richardson to educate their peers and host an event to honor Earth Day on campus.

“The main purpose of the Earth Day Information Station is to offer students resources about Earth Day, the environment, climate change, and ways that students can be green-friendly. Many college students have opinions about these topics but may not necessarily have the information, research, or data to support their viewpoints,” says Molly Warren, Administrative Assistant to the Honors Director.

She continues, “at an age where students are voting and making their voices known, it is important to not only understand these topics but to also have a reliable foundation of support. The service committee hopes that providing resources to the HSU community will raise awareness and education and encourage dialogue about these topics within the student population.”

Chanae Pitts Richardson, who is the head of the Julius Olsen Honors Program service committee, explains, “from the beginning of the semester, the service committee has wanted to do something with a local nursing home. Many times, elderly people in nursing homes can grow discouraged and purposeless. Giving a person something to care for, even a small succulent, not only places some responsibility upon their shoulders, but greenery also brings people comfort.”

One study, published in the Journal of American Society for Horticultural Science, found that when allowed to care for a houseplant, the involved older adults showed higher rates of activity, more social connections, and a heightened sense of responsibility and self-worth.

“Honors is so excited to serve the community in two ways – awareness and education, and the ‘gift of life.’  The succulents we’re giving to senior citizens give them something to care for and bring comfort and joy a unique way.  It embodies the great commission – do for others what you would desire that they do for you, one day,” says Pitts Richardson.

In 1970, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced that on April 22, America would partake in a “national teach-in on the environment.” A staff of 85 promoted the first Earth Day, and on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans participated in marches, rallies, and demonstrations that supported the health and sustainability of the environment. Twenty years later, Earth Day went global. Today, Earth Day is the largest secular observance in the world and is recognized by over one billion people each year.