Cal Poly student-run arboretum gets $1 million gift. Here’s how money will be spent
Cal Poly’s Leaning Pine Arboretum has received a $1 million donation from a former provost to help make the facility more accessible and increase educational opportunities, the university announced Monday.
According to a news release, former provost Kathleen Enz Finken and her husband, Gerald Finken, donated $1 million to the Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science’s arboretum, which acts as a “living classroom for students, faculty and the community.”
The Arboretum, which was founded 50 years ago, is a student-managed botanical garden on Cal Poly’s campus that showcases the plant species of five Mediterranean ecosystems.
It features “a vast array of curated collections of flowers, plants and trees and provides an opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience in a thriving living laboratory of worldwide plant species,” according to the release.
University representatives say the facility’s continued operation “is not sustainable under the college’s current budget scenario” and that infrastructure and accessibility improvements are needed.
The Finkens’ donation will “help fund the further integration of the arboretum into the fabric of the Cal Poly community through increased access, improved directional signage, programming and opportunities for education, while serving as a regional draw for visitors to the Central Coast and those within the horticulture industry,” according to the release.
The donation was made in the name of Andrew J. Thulin, who has been dean of the college since 2013, according to the release.
“While the arboretum is personally important to Gerald and me, it will be upgraded as part of a larger enhancement to the college’s student-learning facilities, all of which will stand as a testament to the leadership of Dean Thulin and the support of numerous generous donors for many years to come,” Kathleen Enz Finken said in a news release.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 2:09 PM.
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