Westwood was made a little more beautiful Sunday morning as
fraternity members and community residents participated in
Operation Clean Sweep, a citywide program to remove trash and
graffiti from the streets.
Cleanup teams totaling about 100 members began at the Sigma Nu
fraternity and spread out across the area to help clean up the
streets in the program organized by the Interfraternity Council, a
group that organizes fraternity and sorority events.
“It’s just nice for a great community as a whole to
get together and give back,” said Derrick Klunchoo, the
internal vice president of IFC and a third-year economics student.
“Not only do we show residents we’re responsible, but
we also show the university that we can work together for positive
things.”
The event, sponsored by UCLA’s Local Government and
Community Relations, brought in about five tons of waste that
filled a dumpster truck.
Started in 1999 by Shelley Taylor, founder of the North Village
Improvement Committee and a neighborhood activist, Operation Clean
Sweep has become one of the largest organized fraternity
events.
“Shelley was a long-term community resident and saw how
the community was slipping into decline,” said Scott Carter,
the IFC adviser. “She approached the fraternities and
introduced them to this program.”
Though many programs dissipate after their founders leave,
Operation Clean Sweep has remained strong even after Shelley moved
out of the area earlier this year.
“With her departure we remain committed to the
program,” Carter said. “It’s the
community’s responsibility to keep this program
alive.”
Cleaning the Westwood area was a common way among program
participants to show appreciation for residents’ and
homeowners’ patience during Greek social events that are
sometimes loud long into the night.
“This is just my way of giving back to the community and
improving the area we live in,” said Clay Manning, a
fourth-year history student.
Cleaning up the community also serves to benefit the image of
the UCLA Greek system and help relations with its neighbors, said
Jonathan Parker, a second-year international economics student.
Others simply saw the activity as their duty to the neighborhood
in which they lived.
“We’re students and need to do what’s good for
the future by taking social responsibility,” said Kevin Yeh,
the director of university relations for the IFC and a first-year
political science and economics student.
Village residents voiced appreciation for the cleanup effort
being done on their front lawns.
“It gets really dirty, and whenever I walk with anyone not
from here, they think its really gross when trash overflows from
the trash cans,” said Monica Torres, a third-year English
student.