The Grass is Greener on the Other Side

Here is the first of my responses to Ken's Ten Things we all should know...

The original conception of the college was a fine one indeed. It would have been wonderful to have the college planted with native plants and grasses found in the Pine Barrens. Had this been done from the outset then I believe a different aesthetic could have been established and might even have been award winning.

I would strongly encourage the college now experiment in this area, committing itself to making a gradual shift over to this plan, maybe making a commitment to converting a certain amount of square footage of the grounds to these alternative plantings over a period of years.

The reason that this should be a gradual process, I think, is that we are competing with other colleges who, like ourselves, cater to people who have a certain aesthetic. This is how a college should look – lots of lawns on which gentlefolk might have wonderful tea parties! But challenging this aesthetic, and announcing that we are going on an alternate route, could work to our advantage. We could get national attention for the college if we made a grand announcement that by a certain date we would have removed grass from the college (except on the athletic fields). If we lead, others may follow, and we could even have this named the Stockton, or South Jersey, aesthetic.

Of course, how we would handle golf courses (at the newly acquired Seaview Hotel) in such a case (even though the athletic exception was in place) would be an open question!

A final point: it would be worth actually determining how much of the campus is devoted to green lawns, and how we compare with other colleges in this regard. Looking around the campus I am struck by the fact that we have less terrain devoted to grass than many of the colleges with which I am familiar. If this impression actually reflects reality, it would be worth considering whether or not this is a result of the original vision being put in place and perhaps having an impact on what we did over the years.