Tree Campus Higher Education®

Whitworth has garnered Tree Campus Higher Education® recognition for four consecutive years (2018-21). The Arbor Day Foundation selected Whitworth for its commitment to effective urban forest management.

The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals.

Whitworth 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 a campus tree program
• An Arbor Day observance
• A student service-learning project

Currently, 393 campuses across the United States hold this recognition.

"Recognition as a Tree Campus USA honors the hard work of the past and inspires us to continue this work into the future," says Caleb McIlraith, Whitworth's campus arborist. "At Whitworth, we are fortunate to inherit a landscape that has been shaped by the conservation efforts of our forebears. Ponderosa pines tower over campus because they have been valued, advocated for and preserved as Whitworth has grown and expanded. We also inherit the responsibility of continuing this legacy by protecting these living treasures, planting more trees, educating our community about our current environmental crisis and developing leaders who will take what they learn at Whitworth to the front lines of climate change all over the world."

The Arbor Day Foundation is the world's largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. Its Tree Campus Higher Education program began in 2008 to encourage colleges and universities to plant trees on their campuses. More information about the program is available at arborday.org/programs/tree-campus-higher-education.