Between August 2023 and June 2025, the Baylor Community Garden (BCG) has involved nearly 4,000 students, faculty, and staff in its programming and events. It has become a vital center of an edible learning landscape on campus with multiple connections to the wider work of Waco's Sustainable Community and Regenerative Agriculture Project (SCRAP) and other community organizations. The creative leadership of Andrea Valdez (Program Manager 2024-2025) was crucial to remarkable growth in 2024-2025 in partnership with the Environmental Humanities, the Office of Sustainability, and other Baylor schools and departments, notably the College of Arts and Sciences and the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.
Click here for brief video of BCG flourishing, accomplishments, and media coverage in Fall 2024.
Click here for full report of major recent milestones.
Highlights from the 2024-2025 academic year include . . .
- Regularly involved 17 student groups from across campus in volunteer programs
- Supported 13 class projects and directed student projects from disciplines as diverse as Environmental Science, English, Engineering, Social Work, and Sociology
- Hosted 14 workshops and tours for classes
- Supported 7 additional partnerships with Baylor organizations ranging from Student Government to Chartwells Dining and community organizations ranging from Church Under the Bridge to Creative Waco
- Held 8 events cultivating kinship and compassion with the living world in partnership with Environmental Humanities and the Office of Sustainability, such as Celebrating Our Kinship with Creation, Wings of Migration: Monarchs and Cultures in Movement, and Pollinator Appreciation Day
- Organized 3 community and school educational tours for participants in La Puerta's Health Course directed by April Strickland, Better Living for Texans Extension Agent; K-12 students from The Humanist Academy in Dallas, TX; and agricultural leaders in the community and surrounding region for April 22 symposium with nonprofit Global Revive
- Offered 3 additional community workshops and outreach events on composting, container gardening, and reducing food waste in partnership with Baylor departments, McLennan County Master Gardeners, and Chartwells Dining and Moonshot Composting
- Created a pollinator garden that secured certifications as a conservation site by Texan By Nature, a Monarch Waystation by Monarch Watch, and contributed to Baylor’s certification for Bee Campus USA
- Contributed to Baylor’s recognition by Tree Campus USA through the installation of a new orchard
- Established a greenhouse and embarked on a mural creation project in partnership with Creative Waco through funding from Student Government
- Created an internship opportunity for a graduate student from Sierra Leone, Paul Conteh, in partnerships with the Theology, Ecology, and Food Justice program
- Created an adopt-a-bed program for 12 students to register for care (and supervised training) in growing their own food, generating a wide variety of culturally relevant produce grown by international students
- Diverted thousands of lbs. of food waste to create compost that nurtured 30 culturally and seasonally relevant varieties of produce
- Provided fresh produce to the Store, Baylor’s food pantry for students, and increased distribution and garden education outreach to community organizations, such as Family of Faith Worship Center and Isaiah 117 House
- Renewed and reorganized a sister garden at Teal Residential College
- Mentioned in 18 stories in Baylor and Waco newspapers, media outlets, and radio stations