Letter: MCLA Campus Garden Gone Without Explanation
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To the Editor:
Spring is here. Sadly, the MCLA Campus Garden, formerly located next to Smith House, is gone.
In late August of 2015, the vegetables and flowers were pulled out, the native perennial shrubs and ancient flowering cherry dug up, the bird bath and stone bench memorials removed, and the entire area planted with grass seed. What was once a diverse ecosystem is now just a lawn.
It is not clear why or how this happened. Students, staff, and faculty who had been involved over the years were not informed that this was planned, nor were the uprooted flowers and native perennial shrubs offered to the community for replanting. Presumably all the plants were thrown away.
MCLA is probably one of the few liberal arts colleges in the country without a campus garden. I've heard that a new space may have been identified and that a few students may be considering a garden project but that it will still be without financial support. It is not at all clear that this project will happen without compensated coordinator and some serious commitment from the college administration.
Since 2008, the campus garden, also known as the Meditation Garden, had been a place of peace and beauty and provided food for students, other volunteers, and food pantries. Former education professor Emily DeMoor initiated the project. Over the years, a memorial stone bench was added as a senior project by an education student. The class of 2013 purchased and dedicated the bird bath to a student in their class who died while enrolled at the college. Students planted flowers to commemorate loved ones. Native perennial shrubs were purchased along the south border to attract pollinating insects, replacing the historic privet hedge. Each spring, students started vegetable seedlings in the greenhouse and transplanted them into the garden. On service days, students and community members cleaned up the space.
Coordination and hands-on work by students, staff, faculty, and community members was an entirely volunteer commitment. The tools, seeds, plants, benches, and bird feeder were either donated or purchased with funds from students, staff, and faculty, the Student Government Association, Aramark, or the Environmental Studies department.
In truth, it has not always been clear to what degree the administration supported the campus garden. On more than one occasion, top administrators said that they wanted to pave it over as a parking lot for Admissions. Last fall, I contacted the interim president and a vice president to ask what happened. I was not given an explanation for why the garden was removed or why it happened without any notice or a plan for relocating the flowers and shrubs. I was informed that the bench would be placed in a nearby location. The bench has indeed been placed nearby but without the flowering hostas planted by the student years ago.
The garden was part of the environmental sustainability plan for the college through the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment. Reading back on meeting notes from 2010 about the initiation of the Meditation Garden, I was amazed at the amount of effort, care, and sustained attention that was dedicated to this little piece of land.
It is hard for me to believe that the garden was taken out so quickly and without campus community input. Surely this is not a way to honor the work and dedication of students, staff, faculty, and community members. I had hoped the removal was just a mistake or a misunderstanding, but this does not seem to be the case.
The waste of energy and money and the loss of this little haven of peace and symbol of campus sustainability at MCLA are sad and the garden will be missed.
Caroline Scully
Adams, Mass.
Scully is the former coordinator of the MCLA Berkshire Environmental Resource Center
Tags: MCLA, school garden,
