Members of the tight-knit Howard University Halo Garden community were shocked to find their garden behind Howard Plaza Towers West destroyed after spring break. What used to be plant beds, adult trees, and tile artwork, is now only mounds of dirt and ravaged roots. 

The garden, which started its bloom in 2010, was home to students interested in horticulture and collaboration while also providing various members of the Howard community access to fresh produce. 

Camryn Curtis, the community affairs chair of the organization, recalls the moment she found out about the garden's destruction.

“My heart just dropped,” she expressed. “It didn’t feel real to me, it still just doesn’t make any sense.” 

Curtis said the first thing community members wondered was who would do this. 

According to their press release on the matter, members of Halo G.R.E.E.N were notified by Howard’s Office of Sustainability that work needed to be done within the garden due to the rodent problem in the Towers West before the destruction. However, the office assured them the trees would not be tampered with and nothing would happen without their consent. 

“We feel very misled, betrayed, and lied to,” Curtis continued about the Howard administration. 

Despite reaching out to them multiple times, the organization has no concrete answers about why the garden was uprooted unexpectedly. 

The only information they have received from the administration has been about the location of uprooted plants and decorations. 

Halo G.R.E.E.N’s executive board was told trees had been chopped up and thrown away, in addition to crops and flowers which included marigolds planted in memory of fellow bison Mycah Shaw who passed away in March of last year. 

“This shows a clear lack of transparency and accountability,” Curtis shared. 

According to the organization, the administration said they did not know if they could guarantee a public apology. 

Still, the support of Howard’s student community has remained unwavering amid the destruction of the community garden. 

“I’ve seen support from every facet of the community. From old friends, current members, people passing by the garden, my family at Sankofa, Howard Alumni, and the alumni who helped build the garden,”  said President of Halo G.R.E.E.N, Zoé Coker. 

“Multiple parties are deeply concerned about what has occurred. They are concerned about the true direction that Howard is moving in,” Coker continued. 

Coker hopes to utilize this momentum to continue to make the campus a more environmentally friendly space.

“When we approach green spaces, we need to do more than collab for an event on the Yard, said Coker. “We need sustained initiatives, genuine ties within the community, and consistency. The community can help by finally accepting the fact that Howard University can inflict harm upon its students and surrounding community, and it’s not a new thing.”. 

Currently, the community has been working to remove the remnants of the garden and move them to Sankofa, a restaurant down the street from campus on Georgia Avenue, which was a suggestion from the cafe’s co-founder, Khazmik Sankofa. 

Regarding the garden’s original plot next to Towers, the Howard administration has advised the Halo G.R.E.E.N that they may need to utilize rat poison to address the rodent problem. However, rat poison would “render the soil unable to support plant growth or crop production” according to their most recent post on the organization’s Instagram page.