No other campus at Rutgers can boast about the things that make the George H. Cook Campus special. Where's Passion Puddle? Cook. There would be no Rutgers Day without Ag Field Day, held on Cook. And no other residence can replicate the special experiences of the students at Helyar House. Read about the things that make the G. H. Cook Campus unique.
Ag Field Day
In the land-grant tradition of 'ag' schools, Cook College continued to showcase its research and outreach to New Jersey residents at the annual Ag Field Day held each spring on the George H. Cook Campus. Established more than a century ago as an outreach event for New Jersey farmers in the early 20th century, Ag Field Day endures to this day as a unique part of the universitywide Rutgers Day celebration.
Alpha Zeta
The Fraternity of Alpha Zeta, the national honor and service fraternity for agriculture and environmental studies, was founded at The Ohio State in 1897. It elects to its membership only those students who have exhibited evidence of leadership and who rank in the upper two-fifths of their class after completing three full terms of college course work. The founding of the Cook Chapter of Alpha Zeta dates back to 1922, when several senior agricultural students introduced the idea of forming an honorary agricultural society at Rutgers on the heels of the establishment of the College of Agriculture in 1917. Succeeding cohorts of students built on Alpha Zeta's historical roots in agriculture to include the school's evolution into environmental sciences and more, but the fraternity always remained faithful to the ideals of leadership, character, and service.
More contemporaneously, the Cook Chapter has recognized a student from each class with a highly coveted "Student of the Year" award and selects a "Teacher of the Year" from among the tight-knit Cook faculty. In 2009, the Alpha Zeta Teacher of the Year Award was named for beloved AZ alumna and two-time winner, the late Barbara Goff, who was an extraordinary teacher and mentor on the Cook campus for 33 years until her passing in 2006.
Passion Puddle
Passion Puddle has served as the backdrop to countless Ag Field Days and graduations. The lawn surrounding this beloved pond has provided a relaxing place to study, relax, or people-watch on many a warm spring or fall afternoon. It is, quite simply, the emotional heart of the campus. We all know the legend that the person with whom you walk around Passion Puddle three times is the one you will marry. Did it come true for you?
The Cook Farm
Cook Farm has long been a place where Animal Sciences majors could hone their skills, like Rebecca Potosky (CC'07) did, gaining hands-on experience caring for the animals at the farm. Rebecca has worked at the Cook Farm since she graduated from Cook College and had a front-row seat with Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway in the Round Barn to talk about Rutgers' land-grant roots and the unique opportunities experience-based education provides students.
Helyar House
Helyar House is a unique cooperative living community on the George H. Cook Campus where house members come together to work, live, and learn in a more affordable on-campus residence. At its heart, Helyar House is a community that provides a family environment in which its members – undergraduates at SEBS and its precursors, Cook College and the College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies – have a much greater responsibility for self-governance.
Rutgers Gardens
Rutgers Gardens celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2016, seeing many changes through its 100-plus years. Several of these transformations took place during the Cook College years, from the dedication of the Holly House and Bruce Hamilton's tenure as director to the building of the Alumni Pavilion, the first Spring Flower Fair and the creation of the Tribute Gardens (or as alumni have come to know it, the 'Big Chair Garden').