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Volunteers from across the college came together June 11 to help beautify the Utica campus.

The assignments ranged from repainting lines on campus parking lots to removing old computers and desks from the gymnasium of the former Hinds Agricultural High School. Despite the searing heat of the Mississippi summer, faculty and staff from multiple campuses and even some former students worked together to spruce up the campus ahead of the fall semester.

“I wanted to come out here to give back to my alum school. I loved being here and I wanted the future generation to have the same experience that I did,” said Desharra Stamps, 2021 Utica Campus graduate and valedictorian who was among those cleaning out the old gym.

Planning for the cleanup day was a joint project between Utica Campus Student Services Dean Sharon Alexander and the Executive Leadership Team. The day also happened to coincide with National Make Life Beautiful Day, also celebrated June 11. “I thought why not make our Utica Campus more beautiful than what it already is. We have faculty and staff here polishing the gem that is the Utica campus,” Alexander said.

ELT members helped organize and assisted in the effort.

Sherry Franklin, Vice President of Instruction, Career and Technical Education, was eager to come out and get her hands dirty. “Beautification Day has allowed us to invest back into ������. That was one of the initiatives that I started when I came down here and I am just glad to see Dr. Vacik continue on and want us to invest in what we already have which helps the community continue to support what we are trying to do,” Franklin said.

Hinds President Dr. Stephen Vacik spent cleanup day planting flowers around various office buildings.

“It shows the investment of our people in what we do,” Vacik said. “It is difficult to ask a community to invest in us when we don’t invest in ourselves and I think this shows how much everyone cares about this campus and the college as a whole.”

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  Sherry Franklin, Vice President of Instruction, Career and Technical Education, cleans up around the Technology building.

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  DeSharra Stamps, a 2021 Utica Campus graduate, helps move old desks out of the old Hinds AHS gym.

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  Hinds President Dr. Stephen Vacik cleans out a flower bed in front of the Administration building.

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  Utica Campus Academic Dean Marquise Kessee helps clean up the old Hinds AHS gym.

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  Student Services Assistant Eliza Samuels and Assistant Housing Director Melva Burks repaint lines near the Student Union for Beautification Day.

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  Student Activities Director Keith Williams Jr. and Head Basketball Coach Jonathan Nevol put old computers on a truck for removal.