Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, Saint Xavier University (SXU) is built upon servitude. As such, the University strives to honor and implement the Five Critical Concerns set forth by the Sisters: Earth, Immigration, Nonviolence, Racism, and Women. One way that Saint Xavier addresses these is through the Mercy Scholarship Program, where recipients explore and participate in one of the Concerns. Five SXU students were chosen as recipients for the 2019-2020 academic year: Emily Malchow, Tess Bowens, Rachel Garcia, Xanthia Gaines, and Corina Salas. This team unanimously selected Earth as the Critical Concern they were most passionate about contributing to.

 

In Fall 2019, a Three-Step Sustainability Plan for the SXU grounds was proposed by Emily Malchow, and the team worked to develop it. The Plan is aimed at responding to Earth's needs by utilizing the seventy-four acres on the SXU campus in the most sustainable way possible. While the Plan is intended to assist SXU with long-term sustainable practices, emphasis is placed on Step 1: establishing a certified butterfly garden on campus. As a result, the concept of the Mercy Monarch Garden was born.

 

Blending the Sisters' national Monarch Milkweed Project with the local need to protect the endangered Karner blue butterfly—a native to Illinois—the team conducted on-campus observations and research. Results indicated that converting one of the SXU quads to a Mercy Monarch Garden will provide safe habitat for both monarchs and Karner blues, as well as other important pollinator species. 

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Additionally, since both populations and habitats of pollinators are in decline, the Mercy Monarch Garden will contribute to increasing biodiversity, population, and habitat of native pollinators and plants, reduce the University's pesticide use, preserve natural spaces in Chicago, and—most importantly—demonstrate a tangible, sincere effort to address the climate crisis by adopting sustainable practices.

 

The image above is designed by Tess Bowens, and exhibits what the Mercy Monarch Garden could look like if the team is granted permission from Saint Xavier University administration to move forward with the planting process. To access the full Recommendation Report by Emily Malchow, click below.