By Lili Martinez

Gambier may seem stuck in the middle of a cornfield, but for a handful of Kenyon students, that cornfield will be coming closer to home.

The College plans to purchase a nearby farm on Zion Road Monday where students will live and grow produce for use in Peirce, according to President S. Georgia Nugent. Kenyon will make the purchase in conjunction with the Philander Chase Corporation.

Students will live there, but we will also involve a local farmer so that students dont have the total responsibility, Nugent said. They will be involved to the extent that they want to be involved.

The local farmer will not live at the farm, Nugent said, but will likely be contracted to help out with farm work. As many as four or five students will live on the farm beginning this fall, Nugent said. The details, however, still need to be worked out with Housing and Residential Life.

Students who live on the farm will still be able to walk to classes because the farm is right out on Zion Road. That was one of the great advantages to it its really walkable, Nugent said.

The purchase has been in the works since last semester, according to Nugent. It currently belongs to John Marsh, AVI sustainability director. Marsh declined to comment for this article.

Kohlman said the College may work out some details at the spring meeting of the Board of Trustees, set for April 19-21, so he declined to comment in an official capacity before then.

Nugent lauded Marshs efforts to advance sustainability at Kenyon, saying the farm could be an extension of that mentality. The thought has been that John has really dedicated himself to this local foods project, she said. This is a way of that being carried on.

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