Alumni giving helps students study Alabama landscapes

Cathy Campbell Gerachis, a graduate of Auburn’s landscape architecture program, knows that travel is a vital part of a design education.

“When you understand that the world is bigger than your own little bubble, it opens up incredible opportunities,” she said. “Travel expands the way you see the world. Experiencing a community’s built environment, roads, hills and valleys is critical to understanding why towns take shape the way they do.”

That’s why Gerachis, who advises faculty as a member of the program’s advisory council, is helping launch the newly established Landscape Architecture Advisory Council Endowed Fund for Excellence, which will offset the travel expenses associated with landscape architecture students’ design studios.

“We are committed to getting our students out of the classroom and into landscapes,” said Assistant Professor Isaac Cohen. “Traveling together with peers and a professor is incredibly valuable. Out-of-state and international students gain exposure to Alabama’s landscapes, while students from our state engage with it in new and meaningful ways.”

Rooted and growing

The landscape architecture program, which is housed in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, offers both a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) and a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) — but it wasn’t always that way.

Gerachis was one of the first Auburn students to graduate with a BLA in 1982. She taught in the program for six years before the BLA was phased out as national trends shifted, creating greater demand for the MLA and a decline in interest for the undergraduate degree. By 2021, Gerachis had retired from her role as director of landscape architecture at Goodwyn Mills Cawood and was serving on the advisory council when the college revived the BLA.

“A lot has changed in the last 30 years — from the rise of environmental education to the growth of degrees connected to it — and landscape architecture has become one of the more interesting paths,” she said. “There are a lot of graduates from the older cohort that are really excited the BLA is back.”

With both the BLA and MLA thriving, the landscape architecture program celebrated 40 years in 2025. Gerachis believes now is the time for alumni to come together to invest in the students who are carrying it forward.

“The BLA is in a great place, with strong enrollment numbers, faculty who have a clear sense of their mission and students who are winning awards, so in my mind, we need to shift our focus to what will enhance the program,” she said.

Learning from the land

The idea for funding student travel first came about as part of a 2024 Tiger Giving Day project. That effort was so successful, both in garnering public support and easing students’ financial burden, that the advisory council decided to make it more permanent by creating the Landscape Architecture Advisory Council Endowed Fund For Excellence.

“The objective is simply to lower the students’ cost to participate,” Gerachis said. “They’re taking at least one short trip each semester, and faculty have identified this as a real need in the program.”

The trips take students across Alabama, from the Black Belt and northern communities like Florence and Birmingham to Gulf Coast locations including Mobile. They spend three to five days immersed in a single location, learning the land by experiencing it firsthand. Along the way, they engage with Indigenous landscapes, cultural sites and the state’s wide range of ecological regions.

“You’re not just learning about landscapes; you’re also learning about the state of Alabama,” said Juwuan Wright, a recent MLA graduate who’s now an entry-level landscape architect at Father Nature Landscapes in Birmingham, Alabama. “You see how they intertwine, and that insight can inform your future work. Landscape architecture tells stories and reveals histories.”

MLA student Cheney McClelland said every bit of financial support helps ease the cost of travel, allowing students to focus more fully on hands-on field experiences that are essential to their education.

“Having the cost of hotels, travel, tours and more taken off your shoulders is huge,” Lewis said. “I work, but with tuition and life expenses, it can be tough to afford trips like these. Our donors’ generosity shows a real commitment to our education.”

Drawing on her years in the profession, time in the classroom and service on the advisory council, Gerachis understands the value of fieldwork better than most. That’s why she’s choosing to support the experiences that leave Auburn landscape architecture students better prepared for life after graduation. 

“No one should think of Auburn as the end, but as the foundation for what you’ll do beyond your degree,” she said. “And as alumni who have earned a living as landscape architects, it’s time for us to give back — we need to take care of our own.”