Initiative to benefit housekeepers

Every day, students and faculty enjoy clean lecture halls and campus facilities, but the hard work and the efforts of UNC's housekeeping staff often remains unnoticed and unappreciated.

Keepin' It Clean, a new initiative organized by the Campus Y and the N.C. Fellows leadership program, seeks to change that atmosphere.

Janaka Lagoo, a member of the N.C. Fellows leadership program, said Keepin' it Clean has a dual purpose: to educate students about being more responsible with trash and to give housekeepers more time to take part in programs that develop vocational skills.

"Keeping our campus clean is one of our responsibilities as students," Lagoo said.

Students need to become more aware of the litter they leave on campus and show more respect for the housekeeping staff and other members of the campus community, said Campus Y Director Virginia Carson.

"As members of a community, students need to do more about picking up their trash in the classrooms," she said. "I really think it's a matter of being a member of the community."

When maintenance staff members clean lecture halls, they always are faced with more work than necessary because of students' trash, said William Burston, director of Housekeeping Services.

"The big problem is it just requires the housekeepers to do more work," he said.

He added that there is an eating and drinking policy in the classrooms that often is not enforced, and that students should either not eat in classrooms or throw away their trash.

Carson said the program started from a conversation about what students and faculty could do to make life better for some of UNC's lowest-paid employees.

"There were small and simple things students could do that would actually make a big difference for housekeepers," she said.

Lagoo said that in addition to keeping the campus beautiful and clean, picking up trash saves time for the housekeepers.

The Campus Y offers classes for UNC employees who want to improve their computer skills, and a large number of housekeepers take advantage of the program, Carson said.

"The housekeepers will have more opportunity to get a better education and more vocational training," Lagoo said.

Students can become involved in Keepin' it Clean by buying a T-shirt, putting up fliers and working with a program called Adopt-a-Quad, in which students clean up the campus.

"There's going to be a kick-off at the start of spring semester and an effort for greater awareness," Carson said. "Students can literally just pitch in for themselves and their friends and raise the awareness of depositing trash."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.