By Ripon Media in College Days on August 29, 2016
By: Lauren Hince
What once was a burned down empty lot on Watson Street is now being turned into a new Green Space for both the community and college to enjoy. This new area can be found next to the Ripon College Project Space located at 314 Watson Street, and will serve as a place to sit and enjoy the outdoors.
“[The Green Space] started out as just an idea. At the beginning of the year, everyone decided that we wanted to do more with the school as a group,” says Ricardo Jaimes ’17, co-president of the Environmental Group of Ripon (EGOR).
The organization is a campus group that focuses on sustainability.
Katie Tredennick ’16, another co-president, and Sara Driebel ’16 were the first to come up with this idea.
Driebel says, “Katie and I had the idea for this project and emailed around to gauge interest and plausibility for a month or two. Katie did an amazing job bringing it up to EGOR and planning it out with that group. She really took the lead and deserves the utmost credit for her hard work!”
For several months, the group worked hard on research. Driebel says, “We contacted several community members and had multiple meetings with EGOR to plan our proposal and make a blueprint of the space.”
Once EGOR had everything finalized several students proposed their plan in front of the Ripon City Council, where their plan was approved.
Since then members of EGOR have been working hard to make sure the space is ready for when students move in: scraping paint, planting seeds, and laying mulch.
Jaimes says, “I hope everyone at Ripon College and the residents of Ripon appreciate and enjoy this space just as much as everyone has with the prairie. One of the reasons I chose Ripon College was because of their dedication to the environment and I hope this space correlates with everything else the college is doing to become a greener campus.”
Other members of EGOR echo the same sentiment. MacKenzie Schumatz ’19 says, “The Green Space is important because it shows the impact that students can make if they have the passion for it. The Green Space is also an important reminder of just how important and beautiful the environment is. Having the Green Space right in the middle of downtown will provide people with a convenient opportunity to relax with a cup of coffee from Mugs or a book from the Ripon Public Library.”
Members of EGOR say the important thing about this space is that it is for everyone to enjoy.
Students involved in this project: Sara Driebel ’16, Katie Tredennick ’16, Kelli Walsh ’16, Robert Enright ’17, Ricardo Jaimes ’17, Jacob Baus ’18, Maitlin Arts ’19, Katie King ’19, Rylie Morris ’19, Emily Reichgeld ’19