After months of waiting, a quarter slot turtle food dispenser on turtle bridge between the E. Craig Wall College of Business and Prince Lawn was reinstalled after a vandalism incident last fall.
The Coastal Sea Turtle Club, along with the Student Government Association’s funding and support, set up the feeder and will work to maintain it if further problems arise.
The idea originally came about in 2016 and was created in memory of the club’s first adviser, late marine science professor Eric Koepfler. It was also dedicated to supplying joy and a service to both visitors and animals at the bridge, before earlier instances of vandalism ruined the original memorial.
The individual responsible for the turtle feeder vandalism is still unknown.
Senior Taylor Garretson, president of the Coastal Sea Turtle Club, and junior Lilianna Giuffrida, vice president, continuously supervise the area to ensure these problems will not persist in the hopes of getting another feeder.
“My goal as president this year is to get it across to our students destroying the turtle feeders. They are destroying school property, and they are not getting anything out of it, and it’s wrong,” Garretson said.
Although there is currently only one turtle feeder, as opposed to the previous two, there is now a surveillance camera closely aimed at the feeder as a precaution and safeguard against further destruction.
“I do hope they stay in good condition,” Giuffrida said. “It is such a hassle to have to keep fixing them, and I don’t really know what the appeal is to destroy them and why they do it, but I hope the camera will make a difference.”
First-time turtle feeder Casandra Ferry, a junior transfer student and criminal justice major shared her thoughts on the situation.
“It took away time to relax and free time to feed the turtles because technically, these turtles are family at CCU,” she said.
