STAC Campus a Bathroom For Geese

By Tia Naylor

Students at St. Thomas Aquinas College have all witnessed the infestation of Canada geese. Families of geese swoop onto the college campus to feed on the lush fields of grass and defecate all over the sidewalks.

“It’s like a maze to get to class,” says Desmond Jackson, a junior at STAC. “If you don’t watch your step, you’re bound to step in their green poop.”

You can usually find flocks of geese feeding on the grassy field in front of the Romano Center, where student athletes practice for lacrosse or soccer games. They feast on the grass and strut around campus as if they own the place. Students are frequently halted in their travels to class by the birds, which are considered harmless unless confronted. To some, it is nice to have a visit from the geese traveling south for the winter but for most STAC students, they could do without the birds on campus.

“The sidewalks are small enough. I shouldn’t have to step around bird poop while also trying not to bump into other students going to or coming from class,” said Jackson, who has spent three years at St. Thomas Aquinas College, and noted that the geese have been a problem since he arrived on campus.

The geese use STAC as a bathroom all over campus, but it has not been complained about enough by students for anything to be done about the issue. Students complain about the geese to their classmates but not to the campus maintenance department. An issue so unpopular among the student population should be addressed. Obviously, there is no way to direct the geese to an appropriate area to feast and poop. However, St. Thomas Aquinas College can do a couple of things to keep the campus free of sidewalks stained with geese defecation.

One way to solve the geese problem is to start a club focused on cleaning up the STAC campus. Students who are passionate about attending a clean campus would be attracted to a club of this nature and help reduce the amount of feces seen on campus. A weekly clean up would be satisfactory to lessen the encounters that students have with either stepping in or around geese poop. Another way to solve this problem would be to possibly have the landscaping company get rid of the feces while cleaning up leaves or mowing the lawn. While this may add a surcharge to the bill that the school must pay for the lawn care, it would also help beautify the campus and keep the students from complaining.

No one likes to step in poop of any kind. Therefore, St. Thomas Aquinas College students and faculty should make more of an effort to get rid of the massive amount of geese feces around the campus.

As Desmond Jackson says, “the walkway in front of the school, leading to the Romano center, is practically stained green. There have been too many times where I’ve stepped in a pile of poop while trying to dodge another pile, leaving trails of green as I continue to walk.” Students are fed up with the geese and a change must be made.

Tia Naylor is a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas College majoring in English with a minor in Public Relations. Her future plans: “I hope to pursue a career as an event planner for an entertainment television company.”