MOUNT VERNON – Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) was recently honored with the 2020 Tree Campus Higher Education recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.

This is the university’s second endorsement from the foundation.

“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 MVNU’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. MVNU 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 are so excited and honored to once again receive this recognition,” said Justin Nowicki, chairperson of the MVNU Campus Tree Advisory Committee. “MVNU has a beautiful campus, and that beauty is largely thanks to the forward-thinking folks who filled this campus with trees. We hope to honor that legacy by ensuring MVNU remains a Tree Campus for years to come.”

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 collectively planted 39,178 trees and engaged 81,535 tree planters, helping the foundation work toward these critical goals.

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

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, four-year, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional-age students, graduate students and working adults. With a 327-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth, and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education both in-seat and online to more than 2,100 students from 42 states and nine foreign countries.