Photo courtesy of Jackie Chalghin.
As Conn returns to full capacity for the Fall 2021 semester, expecting the masses to once again gather on the green under the waning summer sun, various campus improvements will welcome students back. Bolstered by last spring’s record-setting donation from the Hale Family, who have now invested $50 million into the future of Conn, and with student life and sustainability in mind, the administration has planted thoughtful touches around campus as a continuation of the Strategic Plan.
Situated between 750 acres of diverse flora throughout our Arboretum and the Thames River, Conn’s location is one of its greatest attributes. This summer’s work has highlighted the importance of prime real estate, looking to enhance the natural attributes that Conn possesses. To further the connection between campus and the Arboretum, Williams Street, which lies on Conn’s western border between Harkness Chapel and the Arboretum, has received a makeover. To create a more direct and accessible link, sidewalks and pathways have been added leading directly from Tempel Green to the entrance of the Arboretum. Additionally, Williams Street has been fitted with a faux brick raised crosswalk and bike lanes.
Rounding off the opposite side of campus, Conn’s waterfront has undergone a transformation to continue on the path toward competitive success, a key factor in the ongoing Strategic plan. Conn’s Sailing and Rowing teams will, ahead of the Fall 2021 season, launch boats from new docks. The docks, however, are just the first step in a plan for a revitalized waterfront, which will feature “a new waterfront center to support sailing, rowing, marine science and outdoor recreation; a second turf field; and an event plaza,” according to the college.
The main campus, which lies between the borders of the Arboretum and the Thames, will feature new sustainably focused items. Freeman House will now be home to a Smart Flower, described by Rich Madonna, Vice President for Finance and Administration, as an “innovative product that opens like a flower to absorb sunlight to be converted to electricity.” The Smart Flower, a sculpture-like contraption, has solar panels for petals and will produce 5000 kWh of renewable energy each year. The contraption is not only flowerlike in design but also in action, blooming and soaking up the sun during the day, while rotating to maximize sunlight depending on its position in the sky, and finally folding up and retracting at night.
The Smart Flower comes on the tail end of Conn’s recent success in sustainability, having been awarded the 2021 Stars GOLD rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), building on its previous silver rating. This prestigious award recognizes strides taken by the college to improve its sustainable practices, and places Conn in the top 15% of over 1000 institutions that have been rated by the AASHE.
Furthering its central focus on sustainability, Conn has also improved the way in which students dispose of anything from an old notebook left over from the spring to a to-go cup from Coffee Grounds. Through the installation of Big Belly Smart Waste and Recycling products, disposal on campus will become far more efficient. The new trash cans, like the Smart Flower, rely on solar power to differentiate them from a conventional can, using solar to assist in compacting deposited trash for cleaner and enhanced storage, as well as to limit overflow by alerting staff members when they are full. Of equal importance, these are also closed trash cans, opened either with a lever or by stepping on a foot pedal. This will work to prevent squirrels and our other furry friends on campus from wreaking havoc among our trash.
While masks, testing, and other protocols associated with our ongoing tussle with the pandemic will remain, the fall will be brightened up with new additions to campus to enhance student life and continue Conn’s commitment to building for a sustainable future.
