2018年12月10日
哥伦比亚,SC – 哥伦比亚大学 has a new club in town, Gardening Club (CCGC)! 哥伦比亚大学 senior, Aaleeyah Brimmer is the founder of the 哥伦比亚大学 garden and member of the CCGC. Since beginning this new initiative, she has enlisted the help of some faculty and staff members on campus: faculty adviser, Dr. Joyce Fields, 哥伦比亚大学 horticulturist, John Long, and ecology professor, Dr. Kirt喜怒无常. They have helped Aaleeyah get this project off the ground and moving in a sustainable direction.
Dr. Fields gave Aaleeyah the outlet to execute her proposal in the LA 301 course, 女性, 领导, 和社会变革, offered at the College. Once the proposal was complete, Aaleeyah reached out to Dr. 穆迪先生. Long to discuss the abandoned greenhouse at the college. When they realized the greenhouse would need $7000 worth of updates, Mr. Long offered Aaleeyah an alternative location.
“Luckily, John Long was already working on building a garden by the president's office. He encouraged me to use the garden he created for the club,” said Aaleeyah Brimmer, founder of the Gardening Club and 哥伦比亚大学 garden. “In addition to plot he already started, Mr. Long imparted some of his knowledge about gardening on the CCGC members, so we could better maintain the garden and understand what produce we were growing.”
On Monday, December 5th, veggies were harvested from the CCGC garden by new restaurateur and community partner, Bonita克莱蒙斯. Ms. Clemons opened a new restaurant, 稀有品种咖啡, 在北门, and utilizes the CCGC produce in her restaurant. Ms. Clemons is no stranger to the good work 哥伦比亚大学 does for the community; she has been a long-time community friend of the PLACE Fellows Program. 哥伦比亚大学 is dedicated to the revitalization efforts of North Main, and hopes many more partnerships will be born from those efforts.
“Eventually I would hope the community garden is more than a garden and it helps to bring the local community together with the school,” muses Aaleeyah Brimmer. “It will help educate and feed the family and students in the area as well as bring valuable resources to those in the area who otherwise do not have the access to fresh produce daily.”
学生, as much as the 哥伦比亚大学 Administration, understand the need to revitalize the North Main area, and they work endlessly towards those efforts by bringing awareness to the needs of the North Main area. The community garden is not the first initiative that has brought the 哥伦比亚大学 community and North Main community together. Mayor Benjamin taught “CC in the City: The Impact of the North Main Redevelopment” class last Spring. 4月30日, 2018, that class hosted the College’s first College + Community event that brought food trucks and a dance celebration to campus.
关于 哥伦比亚大学
哥伦比亚大学 was founded in 1854 and continues to serve as an institution for higher education with approximately 1,200名学生, 女性和男性, in both undergraduate and graduate courses. 哥伦比亚大学 prepares students personally and professionally for success through strong liberal arts and professional programs emphasizing service, 社会正义, and leadership development.