On Mar. 24, 2015, only a couple of days after returning from spring break, a group of Connecticut College students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the New London community, gathered on Williams Street for the unveiling of the new Southeast Area Transit (SEAT) bus stop. The new bus stop, which can take riders into New London as well as neighboring towns such as Norwich, is one of the many new initiatives furthering integrating Connecticut College into New London. Speakers at the event included President Katherine Bergeron, New London Mayor Daryl Finizio, SEAT Bus board member and former mayor of New London Margaret Curtain, Community Learning Coordinator in OVCS David Cruz, and SEAT Bus General Manager Michael Carroll. Vice President for Administration Ulysses Hammond gave introductions.
Cruz, a New London native, saw the need for a bus stop to aid in transportation between the College and community, and called the decision to forward with the initiative a “no brainer.” Virginia Gresham ’17, Senior Fellow for Resource Management in the Office of Sustainability, assisted Cruz in the planning of the new SEAT bus stop last spring and attended senior administrator meetings with him. She told The College Voice that, though the new stop is officially open to the public, more will be coming to encourage people to use the bus, including both a physical and digital copy of the bus schedule, and GPS tracking of the bus which can be viewed live on SEAT’s website.
Mayor Finizio spoke about the new stop as a way to “continue to building on our partnership” between New London and the College, and to the importance of “rebuilding the Williams Street corridor.” Carroll added that he “hope[s] it’s a long lasting relationship” between New London, Connecticut College and SEAT. President Bergeron, who discussed taking the bus while living on the West Coast, agreed that the creation of the bus stop will help the College and the community to continue coming together. With an affordable rate (a ride is just $1.50), hopes are high that the bus stop will not only become a practical and integrated service, but will also encourage students, faculty and staff to explore surrounding towns and villages.
This year has been a big year for students involved in the Office of Sustainability. Grisham explained that four other students involved in the Office attended over spring break the Eco Practicum in New York City, a conference involving multiple workshops designed for giving students interested in sustainability leadership training and ideas to bring back to their institution. These new initiatives include the donation of all the old furniture from Shain Library to local non-profits, to the announcement from the Office of Sustainability that the College will host the 2015 Student Sustainability Leadership Symposium in the fall semester.
