Campus Day has taken new direction. This year, a lot of the work and projects will be done on campus instead of out in the Indianola community. The reason for bringing projects back to campus is to promote pride in this tradition and place the focus on campus beautification.

“We are trying to get away from just raking yards and put more back into on-campus activities,” sophomore Eric Adams, co-chair of Campus Day, said. “While there will still be some raking, we feel that it is time to change the traditional Campus Day and make it more exciting and more visible to all students.”

The theme of Campus Day 2005 is, “If you got it, flaunt it.”

“Simpson is one of the only colleges in Iowa that has a day dedicated to campus and community improvement, and we believe that it’s something to be proud of,” Adams said.

The Campus Day committee is aiming to build off last year’s “Last Great Rake” accomplishment and get more students and faculty involved than ever before.

“Our ultimate goal is to get as many people involved as possible,” junior Erin Disney, co-chair of Campus Day, said. “It is one of our two campus traditions and we want students to take pride in it.”

Campus Day is slated for April 13. It was purposefully scheduled during Greek Week in hopes to get more participation from the Greek community.

“We hope to grow on last year’s success, and with the new planned activities and on-campus direction of this year’s Campus Day, hopefully we can keep progressing,” Adams said. “Since Campus Day is in the middle of Greek Week, the students involved in Greek life can help give us a big boost in participation.”

The changes made to Campus Day are unsettling for some upperclassmen.

“The idea about bringing all Campus Day activities closer to Simpson College campus is a joke,” senior John Soenen said. “It is nothing but free labor for Simpson. We should be helping the community of Indianola, those who actually need help, especially the elderly.”

The community of Indianola embraces Simpson College, and Campus Day has often been looked at as a day to give back.

“It puts a good image out there when Simpson students go out into the community,” senior Katie Skinner said.