The Richard Alsina Fulton Center for Sustainable Living (FCSL)

In 1994, Wilson’s Center for Sustainable Living was established in conjunction with the academic program in environmental studies (see Environmental Studies program description). Generously endowed in 1999 in memory of Richard Alsina Fulton, a devoted environmentalist and farmer, by his wife, Susan Breakefield Fulton ’61, the main purpose of the Fulton Center for Sustainable Living (FCSL) is to create programs that contribute to the development of a more just and sustainable society by furthering the understanding of the relationships between humans and the natural environment.

The FCSL cooperates with the environmental studies department and other academic departments to provide hands-on learning opportunities related to sustainability issues. Areas of interest include food production, alternative energy, recycling, composting, ecological stewardship and community building. Facilities available for student and public use consist of a historic barn, passive solar greenhouses, solar electric demonstration units, interpretive wetland and nature trail, and organic gardens—all located on the scenic 100-acre college farm.

The FCSL supports and promotes sustainable agriculture through a model community-supported agriculture (CSA) program in which community members pay the farmer an annual membership fee in return for a weekly share of produce during the growing season.

Additional components of the FCSL include the Robyn Van En Center, serving as a national clearinghouse of CSA information; and a campus composting project wherein food, animal and yard wastes are combined to produce fertile soil amendments.

On campus, the FCSL regularly hosts workshops and events to stimulate discussion of sustainability among the entire college community.