Cranberry Township native organizes college campus cleanup
At Youngstown State University, students are not only driven by academic goals, they're also passionate about lending a helping hand to the Youngstown community.
Jordan Pintar, of Cranberry Township, a junior philosophy major and YSU's Student Government Association president, helps to organize various community engagement opportunities for the association and its members to participate in.
“One of the first events that comes to mind is the campus cleanups,” said Pintar. “It's a volunteer opportunity for all students on campus to hang out, walk around campus and pick up trash together that immediately beautifies the area. This brings the students together and helps them get to know each other, all while bettering the community and picking up trash.”
So far, the association also organized off-campus cleanups at Wick Park, but Pintar is hoping to expand this effort to the downtown area this fall.
“Another thing we did was bring a Little Free Library to campus,” she said. “We are partnered with the Rotary Club of Youngstown, which is amazing.
“They are a great community partner that cares about education, literacy and reading in our community. It's a really cool project that is a great reflection of what the community is reading.”
Pintar is looking ahead, in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election.
“Since we have a big election year, we are looking to continue our Campus Vote project in the fall,” Pintar said of the association’s involvement in the midterm elections. “We were able to have the mayor, the prosecutor's office and city council members come to campus and answer student questions, which was a really great conversation resulting in a lot of feedback from the people running our city.”
Pintar said the program also will benefit the large percentage of international students at YSU.
“It's a great way to really show what our community does,” she said. “It enables students to recognize those friendly faces whenever they see them.”
Trey Turner is a Master of Arts student in YSU’s professional communication program.
