On a day usually set aside for rest, University students scrubbed and painted overpasses and city walls, hoping to make Baton Rouge shine.
Student Government invited more than 100 University students Sunday to its first Graffiti Bust campaign. Students cleaned up about 15 different locations in Baton Rouge, painting over graffiti in some places and cleaning it up in others.
Emily Burris, SG’s co-director of service, said the project is part of an ongoing effort to clean up some of the graffiti in Baton Rouge.
“We need to remember that LSU is much bigger than this campus,” Burris said. “We need to do our part to make things better in Baton Rouge.”
Burris said students cleaned locations on River Road, Third Street and the downtown entrance to Interstate 10.
“We contacted different student organizations and offered this as a chance for a service project,” Burris said.
Burris said SG did not want the project to exclude students who are not affiliated with a student organization, so SG recruited in Free Speech Alley to encourage all students to come.
Colorado Robertson, president of the College Republicans, said his organization participated because he thinks it is a good opportunity for students to clean up the city they live in.
“We are about helping people, and Graffiti Bust is doing just that,” Robertson said.
Burris said the project’s eventual goal is to paint murals over the places that used to contain graffiti.
Robertson said, “It’s really going to look good after everything is finished.”
Burris said the project is part of Mayor Kip Holden’s “Can Do!” anti-litter campaign.
“We asked the mayor’s office the best way we could give back, and they gave us this idea,” Burris said.
Burris said SG has also been working with the Community-University Partnership to make Graffiti Bust successful.
CUP is a University organization that works with officials in Baton Rouge to clean up areas of the city.
Sheri Thompson, assistant to the vice provost of Academic Affairs, said Graffiti Bust is a way for the University to achieve that goal.
“The University has a history of not being a good neighbor, and we want to change that,” Thompson said. “It’s about matching the needs of the community with the resources of the University.”
Burris said she hopes Graffiti Bust becomes an annual event, allowing community improvements to continue in the future.