This is not about us versus them; this is not about Library versus Garden because we deserve both! This is about Laney’s and the Peralta Colleges’ integrity.
This is about educating and supporting our students in becoming successful sustainable leaders and not paving down their hard work.
This is about bringing people from all regions of the campus ToGather in health and happiness.
This is the true symbol of a Green campus.
This is a living laboratory that our faculty, deans, and students use every day of the week.
This is a sacred site to the Ohlone people’s and a sacred site to the many who grow their food here now.
In fact this is the only place on campus that you can find Organic and non GMO food feeding hundreds of people.
Why weren’t students and faculty included in the planning of the new swing space proposal?
This is an opportunity for Laney to collaborate across differences to find a sustainable solution for both the gardena and the library.
Sadiq Ikharo invited us to come up with some viable proposals since the current one is not going to work.
These are some key points…
1. These plans are completely new and were not discussed or created with any faculty or student representatives. Charles Neal the energy and environmental manager for the district was also excluded from planning of the current proposal.
2. The architects said that their proposed garden beds would give us more space then we currently occupy, however Joshua Arnold PhD student at UC Berkeley in Argroecology, food policy, and environmental management showed that those numbers are incorrect and we in fact would be loosing several thousand Sq ft.
3. Sadiq Ikharo said that they will not be doing an environmental impact assessment and will be exempting the district from it. We must take a closer look to make sure that Laney is not disturbing our extremely fragile estuary ecosystem.
Thank you, and please reach out to me with questions or concerns!
Marley Benshalom is a student at UC Berkeley. E-mail her at mbenshalom11(at)gmail.com.