Since the Selu Retreat Center's opening in June 1997, community groups and RU organizations have held retreats, meetings and training workshops at Selu. Elementary and high school students, business and industry units, non-profit organizations and churches are among those who find Selu's facilities suit their needs.
From the beginning, Selu's planners have taken great pains to protect the property's plant and animal life and to create a refuge for specific species. Area high school students and teachers helped plant 100 chestnut seedlings on the property in 1997. In that same year, grant funding made possible a meadow of native grasses attractive to locally scarce upland birds.
Students have conducted archeological digs, created maps, surveyed Selu's aquatic insects, wildflowers, amphibians and trees, studied the interrelationships of flora and fauna and created temporary sculptures using natural materials. This 380-acre laboratory brings new meaning to "learning beyond the classroom."