January 26, 2006
Restivo new chair of Beautify Southern Illinois
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Glenn Poshard is stepping down as founding chairperson of the Beautify Southern Illinois Campaign to devote all of his energies to his new role as Southern Illinois University president.
"I am not, however, walking away from this outstanding campaign," Poshard said. "I will continue to serve the campaign as an honorary spokesperson from time to time and as a volunteer."
He announced that Paul Restivo, director of SIU Carbondale's Center for Environmental Health and Safety, has agreed to serve as chairman of the campaign.
"Paul has been an active member of the campaign from its inception and I am certain that Paul can help the campaign continue to grow into the future," Poshard said. "In fact, I have asked Paul to make every effort to expand the campaign into additional areas, especially in communities with a significant Southern Illinois University presence. Southern Illinois University will continue to take a leadership role in this important initiative."
To reach Restivo, call 618/453-7180 or 618/453-7170, or e-mail him at restivo@cehs.siu.edu.
A year ago, Poshard joined with other Southern Illinois leaders to initiate the region-wide "Beautify Southern Illinois Campaign." Hundreds of residents volunteer their time for clean-ups, flower and tree planting, removing dilapidated structures and other environmentally pro-active efforts. In addition, SIUC works with the region's community colleges to conduct a series of environmental education and resource workshops for kindergarten-12th grade teachers. For more information on these workshops, contact Jennae DuBois at SIUC's Center for Environmental Health and Safety at 618/453-7170 or by e-mail at duubois@cehs.siu.edu.
"It is gratifying to see all the tremendously positive work that has been done this year and I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all the volunteers, community leaders and elected officials for all their hard work," Poshard said. "I also wish to express my appreciation to the media in our region for the positive newspaper stories, radio announcements and television coverage of our campaign activities. The media plays an important role in helping to educate our region about the impact litter and neglect have on the life blood of our region's economic future. Media coverage of the positive altruistic volunteerism of our campaign also helps to make it clear that we can all make a difference."
Serving others is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.