Students garden their way to new understanding
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.– A student-led stewardship initiative on the Rutgers George H. Cook Campus that inspired the Foran Stewardship CourtyaCrd has sparked a day of planting and pruning as part of the 4th Annual Scarlet Day of Service on the Rutgers-New Brunswick Campus on Oct. 9. Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., the student interns and volunteers will be preparing their adopted courtyard, located between Foran Hall and the Cook/Douglas Lecture Hall, for the change of the seasons.
The primary goal of the Foran Stewardship Courtyard initiative is to create a space where people can enjoy a special, natural space to do work, to unwind and release stress, and to connect with the natural world. The bulk of the fall semester’s work in the courtyard is being done by 10 student interns from Rutgers’ School of Environmental and Biological Sciences who are earning college credits for planning and executing the many aspects of creating and maintaining a garden space. Their diverse tasks include identifying plants and animals present in the courtyard, mapping the Foran courtyard and adjacent rain gardens, and doing the physical labor in the garden.
The catalyst for the stewardship initiative and the formation of the student internship to maintain the courtyard is Priscilla Hayes, who directs the university’s Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group (SWRRG). But Hayes, who started the stewardship program as an adjunct to her SWRRG responsibilities, is quick to point out that the interns and their ideas shape the design and the development of the courtyard.
“I wanted to have a way for students, faculty, staff and other members of the community to come together to steward the resources here,” Hayes said. “I wanted to give all of us the opportunity to learn from doing because, for me, that kind of learning has been the most lasting.”
Hayes also wanted students to have a better sense of the efforts of the many departments, including Housing and Residence Life, and Facilities and Capital Planning, in making the physical space they inhabit during their years at the university pleasant and comfortable—and to respect that effort with more personal responsibility and stewardship.
The interns wish to create a space that the Rutgers community can enjoy, take pride in and that will spur interest in the environment. “Working in the Foran Stewardship Courtyard gives me the opportunity to get involved and to learn outside the typical classroom setting,” said Kimmy Dalton, a student volunteer who, along with her colleagues, dedicates her time as to make the courtyard not just a pass through, but a special space for all to enjoy.
Nicholas D’Arcangelis, another student volunteer, created a Stewardship Courtyard blog to which other students are contributing photos and observations, hoping that others who visit the courtyard will do the same. For more information, or for any questions, contact Priscilla Hayes at hayes@aesop.rutgers.edu.
Media Contact: Priscilla Hayes
732-932-9155, ext. 233
E-mail: hayes@aesop.rutgers.edu