Petition aims to save Alton Jones summer camps

KINGSTON — An online petition to the University of Rhode Island to keep its W. Alton Jones environmental education summer camps open had garnered almost 5,000 signatures in the week since word came down that URI would close the camps.

Situated on 2,300 acres of pristine forests, streams, ponds, a 75-acre lake, and a nineteenth-century farm, the year-round Environmental Education Center offers summer day, overnight and teen camps, school field trips and events at its Whispering Pines Conference Center.

Kathryn Pope, who initiated the change.org petition, is a North Kingstown native and also works at the camps.

Camp staff got word of URI’s decision on June 10, just a couple of weeks after posting to the camp’s Facebook page that they were “working diligently to try to open camp this summer. While we are inching closer, we still have a number of hurdles to overcome in order to adhere to the newly released camp requirements and to make sure we are able to offer the safest programs possible.”

URI’s reason for closing the camps was because of “financial concerns,” according to Pope.

Official word came down from John Jacques, assistant director of the W. Alton Jones Campus Environmental Education Center.

“After months of planning, evaluation, endless Zoom meetings, creative thinking, and sleepless nights, it saddens me to let you know that Alton Jones will not be able to offer overnight camp this summer,” Jacques wrote in an online announcement. “We learned from the University that we will not be able to go forward with our plans to offer overnight camp due to a number of unresolvable issues. While the University is still considering whether to allow day camps to run, all overnight summer programs have been canceled University-wide.”

The camps’ business office will process full refunds for all overnight camps by June 30, Jacques said. Refunds will be applied to the credit card that was used to pay for camp. Registration fees cannot be applied to 2021 camp programs, he said.

The news came as a shock to staff there.

“As a community, we are distressed and disappointed that such a hastily made decision would lead to the closing of the place that makes many of us the happiest,” Pope wrote.

“Camp is an important place for many, many children. Campers wait all year to return back to W. Alton Jones to take a break from typical life. They look forward to relaxing, exploring, learning, and growing with like-minded kids. Camp is where many people find life long friends,” she wrote. “With the closing of the camp, we believe that the University is ignoring and disqualifying the importance of this statement.”

Jacques said the camp staff was “steadfast in our belief that we could have carried out overnight camp safely, adhering to all of the guidelines and social distancing protocols released by the state, CDC, and the American Camp Association. We know how important it is to provide a safe opportunity for kids to get back outside and away from screens at a place like Alton Jones where they can get fresh air and exercise while connecting with other children.”

This summer the main lodge and cabins of the Environmental Education Center will remain empty and quiet for the first time since being built in 1965, he said.

“Thank you for all your positive support and optimism during such an uncertain time,” Jacques wrote. “We hope that next summer the Environmental Education Center will once again be filled with children, laughter, and outdoor learning and that you will consider being part of our anticipated 2021 reopening.”

On June 12, after some news reports that the Alton Jones Campus itself was closing, Pope received word from Abigail Rider, URI’s vice president of administration and finance, asserting that the W. Alton Jones Campus did not permanently close and that there are no talks about selling the 2,300-acre property. Research activity at the campus will continue, Rider wrote, however she cited the “unprecedented” pressures that the COVID-19 pandemic has put on the university’s finances as reason for the closure of the camps.

“We appreciate that research will continue to happen, but for so many people, the environmental education aspect is crucial,” Pope said.

State lawmakers are trying to close a $235 million deficit this year because of he pandemic, and are facing a $500 million gap next fiscal year, which starts July 1.