EIU Media Relations

Arbor Day Foundation Honors EIU with 2020 Tree Campus Higher Education® Recognition

(Charleston, IL) – The Arbor Day Foundation has once again honored Eastern Illinois University, marking the fourth consecutive year the Charleston, Illinois-based university has earned the foundation’s Tree Campus Higher Education^® recognition for its commitment to effective urban forest management.

“Tree Campuses and their students set examples for not only their student bodies but the surrounding communities showcasing how trees create a healthier environment,” said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Because of Eastern Illinois University’s participation, air will be purer, water cleaner and students and faculty will be surrounded by the shade and beauty trees provide.”

The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. EIU achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project. Currently there are 403 campuses across the United States with this recognition.

“We’re delighted that the Arbor Day Foundation continues to recognize EIU for our commitment to sustainable urban forestry on campus,” said Dr. Ryan Hendrickson, dean of the Graduate School and chair of EIU’s tree advisory committee. “EIU’s efforts, combined with the conservation and sustainability efforts of its local businesses and communities, helps make Coles County an even more inviting place to live, work, and play.”

The Arbor Day Foundation has helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees, and Tree Campus Higher Education colleges and universities invested more than $51 million in campus forest management last year. This work directly supports the Arbor Day Foundation’s Time for Trees initiative — an unprecedented effort to plant 100 million trees in forests and communities and inspire 5 million tree planters by 2022. Last year, Tree Campus Higher Education schools have collectively planted 39,178 trees and engaged 81,535 tree planters — helping the foundation work toward that goal.

More information about the program is available at treecampushighered.org.

For more information about EIU, or to learn more about its growing assortment of programs and services, visit the university’s website at www.eiu.edu, or call EIU’s public information office at (217) 581-7400.

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About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a million-member nonprofit conservation and education organization with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. More information is available at arborday.org.