Throughout Lafayette College’s bicentennial celebration, first-year convocation and other events, large tents have been consistently stationed in the center of the Quad. But the removal of the tents has revealed sizable patches of dead and missing grass, to the dismay of some.
Replacing the dead patch is nothing new for the college’s landscaping team, according to the Assistant Vice President of Operations, Geoff Labe.
“Our outstanding Grounds team is well prepared to rehab the soil and regrow the grass as soon as possible, as they have done many times in the past,” Labe wrote in an email.
Labe noted that facilities have to rehab the soil anytime a Quad event requires a tent, the typical offenders including commencement and reunion. Proposals for such events include detailed plans for regenerating the disturbed grass, though Labe did not respond to specific questions about what this regrowth process looks like.
Sustainability office members deferred comment to the facilities department.
According to Labe, maintenance of the area will begin this week and the division anticipates “seeing regrowth during the fall,” claiming it is the “best time of year for grass regrowth.”
Some students voiced concerns regarding the current state of the Quad.
Elizabeth Clark ‘28, the secretary of Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection, wrote in a message that she understands “the want to make the campus look special for family weekend, homecoming, and the Bicentennial,” but wishes the organizers “would have scattered the tents or put up less to give the quad a chance to regrow,” in between the recent celebrations.
“I feel like they could have taken the tents down sooner,” Adam Warner ‘29 said. “It’s an eyesore.”
Other students were less concerned.
“I mean, it’s not great to look at,” Tyler Troutman ‘28 said of the dead grass. “But I don’t care, I don’t have strong feelings toward it.”
“The thing I noticed more is March Field outside of Farber, which is my dorm, is completely dead,” he added.
Holly Smyth ‘27 said she was less concerned because the missing grass was “a temporary situation,” adding that she felt “like we’re spending a little less time there now that it’s cooling down.”