In a bid to secure just the second Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification on campus, Mercer announced Tuesday that it would start rewilding the main corridor of the University Center.
The LEED distinction is granted to buildings that provide “environmental and social benefits” to their inhabitants and surrounding communities, according to the organization’s website. College campuses across the nation like Georgia Tech often boast multiple structures with the LEED designation.
Rewilding, a practice that has grown in popularity for its links to increased biodiversity and promotion of native plants and species, has long been eschewed by the Augusta National Golf Club-like Mercer campus.
Since the UC was first opened in 2006, the building and its main concourse that leads past the gym, Chick-fil-A and Panda Express, has largely been unimproved. But in summer 2023, the University’s administration made the decision to remove the mature trees to start the first phase of the rewilding effort.
Will O. Trie ‘27, who “made the easy switch” to biology after flunking his first assignment in the school’s art and design department, said he thought it was no surprise that the school was pursuing the venture.
“Think about the potential for a whole ecosystem in the UC. This could be a game changer for Admissions as they tour the old, boring hallway and show off trees and bushes,” Trie said. "Maybe this will help with keeping people from transferring away after a semester, too!"
After being asked about his experience with the gnat infestation that accompanied the first phase of the project in 2023, Trie became visibly worried that the rewilding experiment would produce a second plague of insects.
Seemingly abandoning his hope for an environmental marvel, the junior questioned whether a LEED designation was “worth eating at the caf” to avoid the flying pests before concluding that he would rather starve than eat another misshapen hamburger patty from the Fresh Food Company.
The next phase of the project, the University said in a press release Tuesday, was to distribute roughly five tons of substrate and vegetation from the entrance of Hawkins Arena to the Farm starting in mid-May.
Members of the MU Botanical Society said they were encouraged by the new direction that Mercer was taking in terms of decreasing the campus’ environmental impact.
“Walking through a briar patch on your way to Panda Express is really unique, and maybe other students are going to transfer away because of it, but I think that’s just something you have to deal with if you want to have an environmentally sound building,” Mary Jane ‘28 said. “It’ll be like being in a real-life terrarium.”
It is unclear whether the effort will actually prompt LEED to reconsider the UC for the recognition.
“I really think the school is leaning too far into this niche ecological project,” Kohl Ash, a spokesperson for LEED, said. “They could have just set up solar panels on the roof that offset the building’s carbon emissions to get one of our certificates.”
Note: This is a satirical piece produced by The Cluster team in honor of April Fool's Day. Thanks for reading!
Porter Osborne Jr., who hails from rural Brewtonton county, is an avid prankster and purveyor of hijinks. The pre-medicine student is a devotee of climbing – always with a companion – to the platform of the Godsey Administration Building's spire whenever he gets a chance.
