The decision to close the current location of the Burning Kumquat garden was made this spring, after members of the club found out in January that their space overlapped with the South 40 residential hall construction project. Following discussions with the facilities and Student Life departments, it was decided that there is currently no location for the garden to relocate to. 

On April 16, Ed Soltero, the Assistant Vice Chancellor and University Architect at WashU, signed a statement announcing the closure and sent the email to members of the Burning Kumquat. 

“After careful consideration and evaluation of potential relocation sites, university administration has determined that it will not be able to support this initiative at this time,” the statement read.

Soltero proposed other paths forward, specifying collaboration with the sustainability department through one of their capstone classes.

“The faculty that leads the Sustainability Exchange has graciously offered to host a project focused on the Burning Kumquat and student-run gardens during the Spring 2027 semester,” Soltero wrote.

Throughout the decision making process, senior Eden Naureckas, the co-president of Burning Kumquat, communicated with WashU’s facilities department through email exchanges and in-person meetings. 

“Facilities have been much more helpful as a partner and seemed like they were, they said that they were like scouting locations out for us and really trying to find us a place. But the message that we ended up getting was actually from Student Affairs, but sent by way of Facilities,” Naureckas said. 

In the message, Student Affairs explained that they wouldn’t help support a temporary relocation.

“Given the scope and importance of this effort, it was concluded that a temporary relocation of the garden would not be in the best interest of either the university or this student-led program,” the statement read.

Naureckas said that she felt that this decision came from the administration’s lack of investment in the club, rather than the project’s feasibility. 

“From our understanding, the final decision to not give us a place came not from the logistical impossibility, but more from the fact that WashU, on an administrative level, decided not to prioritize us,” Naureckas said. 

The initial goal of the discussion in January was to relocate to a new area, which is different from the response that the club received. 

“And we are also kind of concerned about them following through on this idea that they are going to give us a place, but just pushing it down the line,” Naureckas said. 

The Burning Kumquat club was founded in 2007. Members have worked on projects such as collaborating with dining hall partners and supporting community fridges. Naureckas expressed disappointment over the news because of the legacy it would be abandoning. 

“We are obviously very disappointed,” Naureckas said. “I just can’t speak highly enough of the 20-year legacy that the garden has had and how many people on campus have volunteered with us or worked with us or come for just one work day,” she said. 

The Burning Kumquat has considered other steps to continue the program, currently working with Ibby’s and Sodexo, the on-campus caterer for the Danforth campus, to find an alternate solution. Many of the current plants could be relocated to the Ibbys’ garden. 

“We are in conversation right now with Ibby’s Garden and the Sodexo team. We are currently working out some sort of situation where we could help them tend to that space for something, or an outlet for gardening in the next year,” Naureckas said. 

Lucy Baldwin, the media coordinator of the Burning Kumquat, talked about the specific logistics of working with Sodexo. 

“Sodexo has been very excited to take our transplants. Various stuff that we have from previous years, or that we planted early this spring. […] There are tomatoes, peas, and cucumbers,” Baldwin said.  

Naureckas emphasized that the Burning Kumquat will continue to advocate with the goal of gaining a permanent location.

“We have a great group of underclassmen who are taking over the leadership of the Burning Kumquat,” Naureckas said. “They are all super passionate, dedicated people who are not backing down in terms of fighting for another place for us to go and continuing this dialogue with the administration.”