In an annual Earth Day tradition, the University of Miami community took their lunch breaks lakeside on Wednesday and surrounded Lake Osceola in a symbolic “hug” along its shores.
This year’s Hug the Lake event had some new participants: President-Elect Julio Frenk, his wife Felicia Knaul, and their daughter Mariana, who all wore Hug the Lake T-shirts that were handed out at the event. They joined President Donna E. Shalala, Sebastian the Ibis, and others on the Lakeside Patio Stage.
As more participants filed out of the Student Activities Center, residential colleges, and classrooms to completely surround the lake, members of the Federación de Estudiantes Cubanos (Federation of Cuban Students) sang the UM alma mater to kick off the event.
Now in its ninth year, Hug the Lake was organized by UM’s Random Acts of Kindness and was sponsored by Green U, Housing and Residential Life, UM’s Patti and Allan Herbert Wellness Center, the Student Center Complex, Earth Alert, and the William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development.
Hug the Lake 2015 took place as UM celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Whitten University Center on Wednesday with a special diving demonstration at the UC Pool, music, giveaways, free food, and more.
