LSU Student Government passed a bill to fund the planting of 50 fruit trees around the campus and in a 42-1-1 vote.
Mechanical engineering senior Colin Raby said the idea stemmed from Student Government saying they’ve seen some fruit trees on campus and wondered why there weren’t more. They originally signed a bill in the fall of 2015, allocating $3,300 for the funding and maintenance of satsuma trees, but the money didn’t include the maintenance budget.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the trees were not maintained for over a year and a half because the landscaper didn’t come to campus. Raby said there was also a freeze in 2018 that hit Louisiana and the fruit trees were not being kept up. He said there are around 12 to 16 fruit trees left on campus.
“We really liked the ones that are here so we, the Student Government, decided to try to expand it,” Raby said.
He said there’s been a lot of support from the students, and they’ve been able to work with the facility and landscaping crew to plan, design and construct how the fruit trees can prosper on campus. They also decided on only planting species that were sturdy and strong so that if Louisiana experienced another freeze, they would have a better survival rate.
They are planting many satsumas, such as arctic frost, orange frost, miho and bumper satsumas. They are also planting many fig and kumquat trees. Raby said they budgeted enough money to include five years of maintenance after the trees have been planted. He said the budget for maintenance is around $1,500 a year and the total, with buying and planting, is $11,274.
Raby said that the planting of fruit trees could have a significant impact on the LSU campus. He said it could be a nutritional benefit to students and an aesthetic benefit to campus. He also said they are planting purple and gold fig trees on campus to help show the LSU colors around campus.
“Our campus relies on the beauty of our nature, such as the oak trees,” Raby said.
Raby said students should be able to pick the fruit from the trees and eat them while walking around campus. He said planting these trees integrates a beautiful, edible landscape for the students and faculty of LSU.
Raby said the trees should be located all around campus, from Patrick F. Taylor Hall to the Spruce and Cypress dorms. He said they are still working with the landscaping crew to figure out the logistics as they are hesitant to put the new trees near a site that might be having construction in the next 10 years. He said they are also looking to see where the fruit trees have been planted in the past.
“I like that Student Government is taking the initiative to plan out these things for future generations because we won’t get to eat the fruit,” Raby said.
Political communication sophomore Landon Zeringue said he helped push this initiative forward. He said he felt motivated after reading an article about the fruit trees that died after being planted in 2015.
“I wanted to take this and build upon it,” Zeringue said.
He said these fruit trees could be very helpful in building an edible, sustainable campus. He also said it could be refreshing for students to pick from the trees and eat when it’s a hot day on campus.
Zeringue said he feels these fruit trees will have a positive impact on campus, especially once they start growing and students start being able to pick from them.
He said the trees would also add a pop of color to campus because they will be all different colors and types of trees.
“Now that we have the funding, we have the resources to go forward with the rest of the project,” Zeringue said.
Executive Director for Facility and Proper Oversight Tammy Millican said she serves as the liaison between Student Government and Facility Services. Millican said Zeringue met with their unit in October after he had done research on the previous satsuma trees in 2015. She said he told them he was interested in adding a number of trees to the campus.
Millican said she liked the original initiative in 2015 because it helped address food insecurity for the students on campus. She said adding to the number of trees and grove locations on campus can provide more opportunities for people to eat while walking to class or to their dorms.
“I see these citrus trees as another great way to address both food insecurity and healthy diets,” Millican said.
Millican said that while it is up to Student Government to decide whether they will pass another bill to fund more fruit trees in the future, Facility Services would definitely collaborate with them on that or any other initiative they propose.
