Strands of string mark off rectangular patches of dirt between Storrs and Robinson Hall on the UNC Charlotte campus.
This freshly dug, little noticed spot is the site for a new student-designed campus garden, where visitors will find fresh produce and student artwork. Some areas will allow lounging in a hammock or studying at a picnic table, while other ideas include bee keeping and raised flowerbeds for people using wheelchairs.
Co-founders Jake Emerson and Kevin Rodengen see the garden as an opportunity for students to shape a space that meets their needs and the needs of the community.
“This garden will become something that people will share together,” Emerson said. “We want anyone who wants to use the gardens to be able to come together. Even if people do not want to plant, students can use the area as a retreat to study, read, relax, or even as a space to escape for a while.”
To encourage involvement, the students are hosting a build day and social event with music, corn hole, and refreshments on Friday, September 26 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The leaders hope to attract students, faculty and staff from varied backgrounds to the build day and for continued involvement and ideas.
“No matter how crazy or impossible you may think the idea could be, we want to know about it,” Rodengen said. “This garden is going to be whatever the student volunteers want it to be.”
The spot will offer opportunities for volunteering, not just gardening. The volunteer aspect of the area will give a variety of students multiple ways to be involved in the project.
“We want any and all ideas for the future of this space,” Emerson said.
More students are needed to make the garden a reality. Engineering students are necessary to help with structural questions, and architecture students are needed to design a space suitable for the garden.
“This is a great way to bring all the different departments together,” Emerson said. “We also need art majors to help decorate and keep the space looking nice, and eventually business majors to help with the future idea of a farmers market.”
Sustainability is a growing trend across the nation, and this garden could be a impetus for many more on campus. One day this space could possibly be used for people from diverse backgrounds to gain leadership experience through internships or by leading a group on a new project within the garden, they said.
The service project is the first that will remain on campus after its leaders have graduated. “UNC Charlotte has never before seen a permanent project on this campus,” Rodengen said. “This garden will be something that students will be able to work with well after we have graduated.”
The garden will employ one part-time person, who will be referred to as the “Garden Master.”
Initially, Rodengen – a earth sciences major – was inspired to pursue the project while working with an area nonprofit that supplies local produce to people in need. He recruited Emerson, a mathematics major, to spearhead the project with him. The two Levine Scholars and Honors College members obtained service grant money from the Levine Scholars Program to fund the project.
Words: Seth Allen, communications intern
