Sorority members from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) participated in a campus-wide cleanup event on March 27, organized as part of a “service swap” to beautify the grounds.
Members of Chi Omega and Kappa Delta devoted their morning to picking up litter around the USM campus. The group met at Spirit Park at 9 a.m. and worked until noon, focusing on areas such as the parking garage, Spirit Park, and other high-traffic spots on campus.
Mary Ivy Bivings, Director of Community Service and Philanthropy, helped coordinate the event. In her role, Bivings identifies service opportunities for members and serves as the liaison between the chapter and their philanthropy.
“When planning this event, I wanted to do something that would be fun for our members, easily accessible on campus so more people could come and overall be able to give back to the campus,” Bivings said. “Joe Paul always says, ‘Leave it better than you found it,’ so cleaning up trash around campus was the perfect opportunity.”
Bivings emphasized that in addition to creating a cleaner campus, the event fostered friendships among participants.
“The campus cleanup itself impacts the community in a positive manner because it is now cleaner than it was before, and we were able to work together to make that happen,” Bivings said. “I also believe that this event could impact the community by promoting positive friendships and ideas about Greek life, and USM overall.”
The service swap allowed members of the participating chapters to connect with each other while contributing to the betterment of the campus.
“I think that events that incorporate multiple chapters like this allow members to make friends outside of their own chapter, and overall, just offer a bonding experience for all members involved,” Bivings said. “At our service swap, I had the chance to talk to girls in Chi Omega that I have never met before and now know and love!”
