Merry Lea green buildings dedicated on April 8
WOLF LAKE, Ind. – “So why did they use
two-by-six-inch studs instead of two-by-fours?” asks a
student, prompted by the worksheet in her hand. Another student is
figuring out how a ground source heat pump works, and a third has
abandoned the worksheet and asks, “Where can I buy low VOC
[volatile organic compounds] paint?”
These Goshen College students and others in Professor of Biology
Stan Grove’s Principles of Biology class were the first to
study in Rieth Village, a cluster of three earth friendly buildings
soon to be in use at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. The
students were touring the facilities in anticipation of the
dedication of the buildings, which took place Saturday, April
8.
Rieth Village was created to house Goshen College’s
expanding environmental science program and to enable students to
live near the ecosystems they study at Merry Lea, the
college’s 1,150-acre nature preserve. The first resident
students will climb into their bunk beds in May, living on site for
a three-week course in either ornithology or
ecology.
More than 150 students, staff, board members, faculty,
contractors, design team members and friends of Merry Lea attended
the outdoor dedication of Rieth Village. Above them, a 10-kilowatt
wind generator spun in a brisk breeze, and solar hot water panels
on the cottage roofs absorbed the spring sunshine.
Speakers at the dedication said that Rieth Village, with its
energy-saving features, embodies an idea whose time had come. Max
Lake, chair of Merry Lea’s board, said that times have
changed and environmental science is becoming more and more highly
respected. Goshen College Interim President John Yordy, formerly a
chemistry professor at the college, contextualized the Merry Lea
project when he referred to a recent Time magazine cover story on
global warming that admonished Americans to “be very
worried.”
“Rieth Village will enhance Merry Lea’s
contribution to a healthy global environment,” Yordy said.
“[It will] emphasize sustainability, good stewardship and
education. This commitment to be environmentally responsible is
grounded in our call to be stewards of God’s earth, to care
for the earth and to bring rest and renewal to the
land.”
During the dedication service, Merry Lea Executive Director Luke
Gascho announced the new names of the cottages. Gascho and his
staff chose to christen the buildings using the names of soils
found in the surrounding fields, partly because Lee Rieth, Merry
Lea’s founding donor, was a civil engineer and knew soils
intimately.
The largest cottage, encompassing 3,530 square feet, was
christened “Oshtemo Cottage. Its name refers to a deep,
well-drained sandy loam, formed under deciduous tree cover,”
Gascho explained. In earlier usage, oshtemo” was a
Native American word meaning, “head waters.” Oshtemo
Cottage will serve as a classroom building until an academic
facility is added at a later date.
The two smaller cottages, each 2,200 square feet and designed to
house students, were named Pewamo and Washtenaw, also referring to
soils also found nearby.
At the conclusion of the event, those present were invited to
help plant a burr oak tree nearby. Burr oak is a long-lived,
slow-growing native species. Gascho explained that the tree
“will reach maturity only after all of us here are
dead” – a vision to inspire environmental science
students as they seek to be good stewards and caretakers of the
earth for generations to come.
– By Jennifer Schrock
Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an
interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau
Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.
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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential
Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite
tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values –
passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking
and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the
church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term
program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of
Distinction,” Making a Difference College Guide”
and U.S.News & World Report’s
“America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named
Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.