Students are working to restore St. Rose’s Garden after several years of inactivity, launching an all-campus effort to restore the space to utilize as a functional garden and community area.
The initiative is being led by members of the Students for Environmental Action and Justice (SEAJ) and the United Student Government’s (USG) Sustainability Committee, amid uncertainty surrounding the current operational status of the St. Rose’s Garden Club. The Garden itself is located outside of the former Office of Disability Services building, behind the parking garage.
According to Vice President of the USG’s Sustainability Committee Ayden Johnson, FCRH ’27, the garden has not been officially transferred out of the Garden Club’s reach, but it has not been actively maintained since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson described the club as “inactively active,” explaining that while it technically still exists, it has not tended to the Garden in recent years.
“There has not been an official transfer of the garden away from the gardening club,” Johnson said in an email to The Ram. “At this time, the club exists, but it does not tend the garden at all.”
In response to the Garden Club’s prolonged inactivity, Johnson, along with SEAJ co-presidents Jenna Cain, FCRH ’27, Elizabeth Barker, FCRH ’27 and student Quincy Biddle, FCRH ’26, decided to move forward with a plan for restoration. Johnson noted that the effort is not intended to permanently take over the garden, but rather to revive a space that many students have expressed interest in using.
“As the leaders of the only sustainability and environmental organizations on campus, we [have taken it upon ourselves] to restore this garden to what it once was,” Johnson said.
Johnson said they attempted to collaborate with the e-board of the Garden Club before initiating restoration efforts. Johnson said that multiple attempts were made to contact the club’s president, but they went unanswered.
“A former member of our restoration team who transferred out (…) was on this e-board and tried to coordinate with the rest of the board, but nothing came of it,” Johnson told The Ram.
Despite this, Johnson reiterated that SEAJ and the Sustainability Committee do not plan to replace or dissolve the Garden Club. Instead, once restoration is complete, the students who had been actively involved in reviving the garden will have the opportunity to assume leadership roles within the club through a formal election process.
“SEAJ and the Sustainability Committee do not plan to take over the garden,” Johnson said. “We are merely getting the club and space back on its feet. We will hold elections among those who participated in the restoration to establish their new e-board for the next academic year.”
Barker said that the idea of restoring the garden has been in development since the fall semester of 2025, initially sparked by conversations with Bechner. Since then, student leaders have been planning a phased approach to address both safety and infrastructure concerns.
“The garden hasn’t been in operation since pre-COVID-19, and it was once a beautiful space,” Barker said. “We’re more than happy to restore it so that students now and after us can enjoy and maintain it.”
Organizers envision the garden as a multifunctional campus space which extends beyond just gardening alone. Planned activities in the renovated space include cleanup days and art events designed to make the area more welcoming and usable. Immediate priorities include both resolving present safety hazards and renovation.
“We’re looking to make the space habitable,” Barker said. “There are some safety things like loose wires and other trash that we’d need to sort out first. The goal is to make it a place students want to go, whether that’s to plant, hang out or compost.”
The first cleanup is scheduled for Feb. 21, with more cleanup and building days planned in future. The organizers invite interested students to participate in the restoration.
