The Green.
The University of Delaware has bright, well-kept lawns across the entire campus. When the weather is warm, plenty of students, locals, and tours center around it. It is a social hub, a study lounge, a place to sit between classes, and so much more. These lawns are at the heart of most groups of buildings on campus, providing students with an accessible green space (even if it is artificial), unlike many city schools and urban areas. Lawns aren’t unique to the University of Delaware, but access to this greenery adds to the charm of this campus.
While it does unify the campus, we have to wonder the value of the upkeep. Lawns are a greenspace, but maintaining that greenery does not help fight climate change like one would hope. The UD Green requires a lot of watering, which is usually wasteful, and mowing, which releases more greenhouse gasses into the air. The Green is one case of preservation of green space that might be more harmful than it is worth. Then we have to find an accessible, appealing greenspace that doesn’t hurt our environment in return, which is easier said than done.
Margaret Armstrong