Work Day 2023: A Day of Change and Community at Warren Wilson College
The Echo | April 6, 2023
Warren Wilson College (WWC) began its annual Work Day on April 6 at 8:00 a.m. While overcast skies cast a shadow over the hundreds of acres of land, no shadow was cast over the spirit of students, staff and community members as Work Day projects began.
Breakfast was served in Murphy’s pasture where the dairy cow regularly grazes. Gladfelter dining staff provided a continental spread.
Work Program Office director Paul Bobbit gave an overview of what the day’s schedule looked like. Interim President Bill Christy gave an address, stating that Work Day is the “best day of the year.”
Though the work projects primarily need physical labor, Bobbit stated that Work Day was not only for work of the hand but work of the heart.
Assistant Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, Josh Arnold, said that Work Day has a larger meaning.
“Work Day to me means community, or solving problems, or doing projects together,” Arnold said. “I think the thing for me that is most exciting about Work Day is seeing students from across campus come together.”
Freshman student Ruby Catterson, who was helping mulch the hammock area, said that “Work Day is about building community, meeting new people and coming together as a school for a greater purpose — it's like, when we work together we’re able to be part of something bigger.”
Catterson said that they were excited to see the results of the projects around campus.
“I’m really excited to see the mulch done and laid out because I feel like this part of campus has been kind of neglected,” Catterson said. “It's a place that a lot of people use and a lot of people frequent and enjoy, and I’m excited to see care brought back in the space.”
While helping to cut rebar outside the library steps, sophomore student Wyatt Edmondson said that “Work Day is the only time that Warren Wilson is really Warren Wilson anymore, so it’s fun.”
A similar sentiment was shared by junior student Mac Clarke.
“Work Day means a day of no classes, or homework — but also an opportunity to make serious changes on campus,” Clarke said.
Work Day projects included the following: Jensen trail beautification and stream correcting, donor-focused thank-a-thon, washing windows around the dining hall, carving out a small trail in front of Gladfelter, beautification of the Sage Circle smoke-hut, mulching the exercise area by the pedestrian bridge, beautification of the Swannanoa River trail and more.
For those who have participated in Work Day before, this event can provide an opportunity to lead a project.
The thank-a-thon was hosted by Erika Orman Callahan. This year, she was joined by alumni relations manager Marley Fischer, who stated that the thank-a-thon is an opportunity to send thank-you notes to donors who provide monthly gifts to the college.
“It’s giving an opportunity for students to connect with donors who are regularly interacting with the college and giving gifts,” Fischer said. “It’s an opportunity to thank the people who are especially giving recurring monthly gifts.”
Transfer-junior student Reanna Loganzo shared that the thank-a-thon is an opportunity to share her personal experiences.
“I chose this project because I really enjoy — I write thank-you cards to my friends all the time, I just think it’s fun,” Loganzo said. “I’m a transfer student so I’ve tried to go to school multiple times and haven’t found the right section for me, but when I came to Warren Wilson it was a home for me. When I came here I was like, ‘this is where I belong,’ so I want to thank people for contributing money so that I can go here.”
Giving back to the college was a theme shared throughout Work Day participants, no matter the location of the project.
First-semester freshman Zeke Kelly shared his experience working on the Jensen Trail.
“It’s definitely hugely community-based and I really like that aspect of Warren Wilson,” Kelly said. “I like working with others and I like working with a group of people who just want to do good on their campus.”
Kevin Kehrberg, a faculty member in the music department at WWC was helping wash the windows surrounding Canon Lounge and shared how he thought his project helped.
“It provides clarity both literally and figuratively,” Kehrberg said. “You can see the beautiful scenery, and it's a heavily used space where great things happen in terms of co-curricular activities and speakers and I always love being in there and drinking in the scenery.”
First-year Ben Hofert participated in his first work day.
“So far I've seen a really strong emphasis on community and working together with folks,” Hofert said. “It just seems like a really awesome chance to collectively get a bunch of work done for the school. It's a really interesting mix of trying to have fun and still get things done.”
Hofert and the others in the library were working to sort and catalog a large number of donated albums to make them available to students.
“This is a project I've been working on for the whole semester, so just having a bunch of people come out and help with stuff like this is going to be a game changer for how much we can get done,” Hofert said.
Music faculty member Phil Jameson was in the library aiding with the project dedicated to cataloging thousands of LPs.
“There’s some amazing stuff here, I think LP recordings are incredible,” Jameson said. “With these, if you scratch it, it might have a little pop, but the thing is still basically playable. The fidelity is better than CDs. Cassette tapes erode over time, these things don’t.”
Sophomore Azriel Morgan shared why they also signed up to work on cataloging records.
“Mainly, I just really like records,” Morgan said. “I have two at home and I love working with them, the actual records themselves, and record players.”
Senior Liv Lemire explained their interest in the project to beautify the river trail.
“I spend a long time on the river trail, and I think this is an activity I would have done in my free time,” Lemire said. “I think picking up trash can be kind of fun. It's a fun way to walk around with friends and scavenge a bit and then it makes the space cleaner and it has an immediate effect.”
Andrew Axelrod expanded on the river project jokingly sharing his frustrations.
“The river has been dirty for years, it’s been filled with gross, slimy shit,” Axelrod said. “If I’m being honest, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired from going into that lake…river. This is the kind of fun you can expect from work day.”
Other project leaders, such as Eric Griffin, shared that Work Day is an opportunity to complete work that reaches beyond crew capabilities.
“The goal here is multi-faceted,” Griffin said. “This tree is an old white oak that’s been here for a long time. You can see in the soil here that the roots spread out as far as the branches go, maybe even farther. This area’s been neglected for a while. Mulching helps kind of absorb some of the pressure from foot traffic and will allow the soil to decompress.”
Work Day also provides a nostalgic element for Griffin.
“It’s good to see everyone coming out and coming together to accomplish a common goal,” Griffin said. “It would take my crew multiple days to do this, but with all these people here coming together with good music, breakfast and everything that involves Work Day, reminds me of my old days when I was a student before COVID-19 and whatnot.”
Observed neglect and campus beautification are common themes that influence campus leaders to create Work Day projects. An area of neglect that was noticed by Freya Bairdsen and Fran McDaniel is the foot-traffic-formed trail in front of Gladfelter.
“When it rains this trail gets so slippery,” Bairdsen said. “I’ve slipped on the trail — you come and you see the skid marks, see the struggling. You see people slip and step off onto the edge of the trail onto the grass so I’ve been watching it get wider and wider. It seemed like it needed some love.”
Rachel Kerr is the assistant director of global engagement and was working on Cowpie Lawn.
“Right now, that is what the community represents for me,” Kerr said. “From the very beginning of my time at Warren Wilson, us coming together and doing this kind of work, for our community and for our campus, is the most meaningful representation of what a community is.”
Community-mindedness and the importance of working together for a common goal were themes shared among the Work Day participants — new and old.
![Ruby Schober-Colburn is a freshman at WWC and is on Athletics Crew. She was working on a mural in CIAC for work day. “I think it [work day] represents everything Warren Wilson is,” Schober-Colburn said. “Which is working together with a tea](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6131386715416f7b05a173d2/1680793121521-CHVE34VL9Q1RMRCQ339I/DSC05314.JPG)
