The Daily Gamecock

Green Quad pushes students to engage in a green community

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Every residence hall on USC’s campus are thought of as a community where students can live, work and experience college, but none of them are as sustainable as Green Quad.  

The Green Quad living and learning community facilitates students’ learning about sustainable practices in the quad, while promoting research, teaching and community service through a hands-on learning community. The learning community promotes sustainable living in everyday life and simultaneously encourages a sense of community within the quad.  

Allison Barnabe, a second-year biology student, is a Green Quad Resident Mentor, and she said the apartment-style housing within Green Quad provides a sense of community that she couldn't get anywhere else.

“I really feel like people automatically assume [there are] so many closed doors,” she said. You do have to work at the community a little bit more, but that’s what makes it better.”

Barnabe not only feels close with her fellow Green Quad residents, but she also feels as though she has a chance to branch out and explore different green alternatives while integrating them into her everyday life alongside of her residents.

“It’s cool because we’re self-sustainable,” Barnabe said, “We recycle plastics number one through 10, and we have a compost. We have our own garden in the quad. It’s nice to show people that. It’s a good way to educate them. A lot of people come in and have no idea how to go about sustainability. They’re not opposed to it — they just don’t know how.”

As a Resident Mentor, Barnabe said she feels like she has a chance to share her dedication to both her sustainability goals and personal relationships with her residents.

“It gives you a chance to show that you care,” Barnabe said.

Green Quad also provides a unique opportunity for students of the same majors and interests to interact in a low-key environment and bond over those experiences. And Barnabe said she's  witnessed it firsthand.

“It’s a really good support system,” she said. “There are great connections to make.”

The community holds various events and opportunities for its residents, both social and networking-related. From farm visits to green networking breakfasts, there is always a chance for residents to engage in the community. 

“You get there, and Green Quad doesn’t just let you make the community," Barnabe said. "It helps facilitate it."  


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