This weekend marks the 42nd annual Whole Earth Festival, a celebration of peace, ecological sustainability and community. It’s one of the few times of year when Davis’ creative, countercultural energies — the ones that push us to think outside our own everyday boxes and envision the world as it could be — are front and center.

As the university embraces these festivities, another embodiment of this spirit is under threat. The Domes (Baggins End) community is a 39-year-old housing cooperative where students learn to lessen material consumption by forging close ties to one another. Together they grow and share food, and have recently built a straw-bale green house and community meeting room.

The community is slated to be bulldozed this August. Student Housing has failed to properly maintain the structures. Now, rather than perform the required repairs, Student Housing has decided the Domes are not worth maintaining.

As a former resident, I can attest to the amazing power of this place. Not only was it a supportive home while I earned my Ph.D., but it clearly shaped my intellectual development. Learning to cultivate organic gardens at the Domes greatly aids my research on access to local and organic food. And facilitating community meetings helped me learn to create rigorous yet supportive college classrooms.

Students, faculty and other Davis residents have offered an alternative plan to repair this inspiring place. All that remains is for the office of Student Housing to agree.

This weekend, while celebrating the Whole Earth Festival, take a moment to think about what it would feel like to live in a place that cultivates peace, ecological sustainability and community as a daily practice. And if that seems like something you’d like to support, write an email to Chancellor Linda Katehi ([email protected]) and Vice Chancellor Fred Wood ([email protected]). These individuals have the power to ensure that the Domes’ legacy continues.

Alison Hope Alkon
Stockton

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