Grounds maintenance sees national recognition
MSU Campus Landscape staff are pictured with administrators congratulating them for national recognition by the Professional Grounds Management Society. MSU President Keenum (front left) receives a plaque from Bart Prather, associate director of campus landscape. Also pictured are (second row) Amy Tuck, vice president for campus services and George Davis, executive director for campus services; (third row) Victor Fulton, Randolph Calmes, Jimmy Colvin, Melvin Turnipseed, Dashun Blair, Alex Miller; (fourth row) John Rice, James Blair, Willie Neely, Shawn Higgins, Sammy Vaughn, Brandon Hardin; (fifth row) Johnnie Turnipseed, Jimmy Rice, Ivan Harris, Will Lawrence, John Copeland, Dan Whatley; (sixth row) Robert Sawyer, Zeb Rice, Edwin Lindsey, Anthony Johnson, Frank Fulton, Jerry Outlaw and Joey Boutwell. Not pictured are Scott Bolton and Perry Sellars. PHOTO: Russ Houston | Public Affairs
Mississippi State is celebrating a national award for outstanding groundskeeping.
The Professional Grounds Management Society, a Baltimore, Maryland-based organization, recently selected the land-grant institution for an Honor Award in the university and college grounds category of its 2015 Green Star Awards competition.
MSU is among 19 U.S. institutions of higher learning being praised for exceptional grounds maintenance. The complete list is found at www.pgms.org/2015-green-star-award-winners.
Speaking for the university administration, Vice President for Campus Services Amy Tuck expressed pride in the campus landscape team’s achievement.
“They work diligently to keep MSU beautiful,” she said. “It is an honor for Mississippi State University to be recognized nationally for excellence in grounds maintenance,” Tuck added.
Bart Prather accepted Mississippi State’s award during the society’s annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Associate director of campus landscape, he is an agronomy graduate of the university.
“This award goes to those who work for MSU Campus Landscape, and the Campus Services division as a whole,” Prather said. “It is through their hard work and dedication that this award was even possible.”
Each year, MSU plants 80-100 new trees and more than 50,000 daffodils and other color plants. The Campus Landscape staff maintains nearly 1,500 acres of the Starkville campus.
Information on MSU’s Campus Services is found at www.campusservices.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Georgia Clark | Public Affairs
