Contact: Georgia Clarke
STARKVILLE, Miss.āMississippi 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.
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is among 19 U.S. institutions of higher learning being praised for exceptional grounds maintenance. The complete list is found at .
Speaking for the university administration, Vice President for Campus Services Amy Tuck expressed pride in the campus landscape teamās achievement.
āThey work diligently to keep Ļć½¶Ö±²„beautiful,ā she said. āIt is an honor for Ļć½¶Ö±²„ to be recognized nationally for excellence in grounds maintenance,ā Tuck added.
Bart Prather accepted Mississippi Stateās award during the societyās annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Associate director of campus landscape, he is an agronomy graduate of the university.
āThis award goes to those who work for Ļć½¶Ö±²„Campus Landscape, and the Campus Services division as a whole,ā Prather said. āIt is through their hard work and dedication that this award was even possible.ā
Each year, Ļć½¶Ö±²„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 MSUās Campus Services is found at .
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiās leading university, available online at .