Jugglers compromise

The Juggling Club met with administrators this week to reach a compromise about the future of the Willow Garden, located on Willow Street behind Wall Residential College.

The Juggling Club proposed the garden last year as a place to grow fruit trees on campus. One idea behind the initiative was that the club could grow renewable juggling equipment on campus. Members of the club also envisioned the garden as a place where students could propose creative ideas, including science projects and art. The club also wanted to create the garden using student resources and wanted it to be inexpensive, progressive and eco-friendly. It raised $15,000 from several organizations, including Undergraduate Student Government and =the Clinton Global Initiative.

Construction continues on the Willow Street Garden behind Wall.

During summer when Juggling Club president Phillip Schapker received an e-mail from University Architect Collette Creppell saying that the office had received a donation for various projects, including the Willow Garden. This correspondence marked the beginning of a crumbling relationship between the Juggling club and the university architect, said Jered Bocage, assistant director of student programs and adviser to the Juggling Club.

One major miscommunication involved the way the university planned to plant the trees. The administration planned to fly in exotic trees and drill them into the ground, a process that is not eco-friendly, Juggling Club member Andy Menking said. The miscommunication eventually led to the Juggling Club planning a protest during a planting event scheduled for Arbour day.

“We don’t want to protest, but we are planning and prepared if need be,” Menking said. “We will pull our volunteers and have a sit-in in the garden to show that the students are not behind this. [If meetings work out and a compromise is reached], there won’t need to be a protest.”

After a series of meetings this week, the Juggling Club and the administration compromised, and the event should now go on as planned.

“The day will consist of events of a welcome speech and a press conference, Tulane will receive a plaque recognizing us as a Tree Campus, there will be a demonstration about the proper way to plant trees, and then the actual planting will occur,” said Debbie Grant, vice president of communications in the department of external affairs.

Several fruit-bearing trees will be planted in the garden, including satsuma, sassafras, pomegranate and kumquat trees. Menking and Juggling Club president Phillip Schapker said they approved the list.

“A total of 47 trees will be planted during the ceremony,” Grant said. “I think the event is really good. It’s going to look great, and I’m really looking forward to working with the Juggling Club on this wonderful project.”

Lauren Aronson, USG vice president of student life, said that members of both the Juggling Club and USG plan to participate in the planting.
“For me, this was a very promising reminder that the administration is here to help us, and when all the right people have all the right information, both can work together toward a goal that everyone is 100 percent happy with,” Aronson said.

Bocage said he was also happy that the administration worked out the miscommunication.

“I’m really glad to see that student initiatives are being valued as they should be,” Bocage said. “For a while, due to miscommunication, it seemed like the Juggling Club was being cast aside, but once the right people got involved everything turned out okay.”

Aronson and members of the Juggling Club will be meeting with the donor in the next few weeks to discuss both parties’ vision of the plan to make sure that they are compatible.