The TIGUrS garden on the U of M campus will host its annual Earth Day celebration Wednesday.
The student group, UMpact is urging students to speak out against moving the campus garden to pave a parking lot Wednesday night at the student government Town Hall meeting.
The campus garden, TIGUrS, could be moved to make room for parking spaces, which is something UMpact is trying to prevent from happening.
“The only reason the garden works is because it’s in a central location,†Laurel Cannito, president of UMpact, said. The University of Memphis’ administration is considering turning the garden into extra parking.
Administration has asked student government to review the idea. The town hall meeting is an opportunity for students to tell U of M officials know how they feel about moving the garden.
David Zettergren, vice president of business and finance, has told The Daily Helmsman that any decision on relocating the garden will be made after receiving feedback from student government.
It has already been confirmed by Tony Poteet, assistant vice president of Campus Planning and Design, in an email to the Helmsman that the area where Richardson Towers used to stand will eventually be converted to more parking. Jared Moses, president of student government, has said his roleis to be a representative for the students, and the student government will make their decision based on the students’ feedback given at the meeting.
The garden is part of UMpact, which carries out green projects for the campus and offers green volunteer opportunities around campus, including at the TIGUrS garden.
UMpact has passed around a petition to keep the garden where it is, which has gained more than 1300 signatures, and the TIGUrS Garden Twitter page started the hashtag #preservethegreenspace, to spread the word about the garden’s situation.
They’ve also shared a survey on their Facebook page about the campus garden. Cannito said paving over the garden would not significantly improve parking.
“If it’s general parking, it serves less than .009 percent of the students,†Cannito said. “If it’s priority parking, it’s even less than that.â€
Cannito also said it’s sad that the first thing to go when space is sustainability, and asked students to tweet President M. David Rudd with the hashtag #preservethegreenspace.
The student government town hall meeting will take place on Wednesday in the UC Ballroom.
University of Memphis health studies students Anna Vo and Alexander Schyer work with the plants in the Tigers Initiative for Gardening in Urban Settings (TIGUrS) community garden. The garden itself is a product of the “Green Fee,†and celebrated on Tiger Blue Goes Green Day. This day annually celebrates a variety of projects and initiatives that aim to conserve natural resources and introduce the concept of sustainability to students at the U of M.
