TWU inaugurates Jeff Robb Outdoor Classroom

Nov. 7, 2022 – DENTON – Texas Woman's University celebrated one of the people most responsible for TWU's butterfly garden when it held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the Jeff Robb Outdoor Classroom.

The outdoor classroom is named in honor of Jeff Robb, TWU legal studies professor, lifetime lepidopterist and initiator of the butterfly garden. Robb passed away in 2017.

"What started as Jeff's dream is now a magnificent reality," said Camelia Maier, PhD, professor, herbarium director and chair of the garden advisory committee.

In attendance at last week’s ceremony were Robb's wife, Lybeth Hodges, PhD and professor of history and director of teacher certification program, and his daughters. Speakers included Maier; TWU Chancellor Carine M. Feyten, PhD; and Claire Sahlin, PhD, Cornaro professor, and associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

Heavy rains forced the ribbon cutting indoors.

The outdoor classroom has benches for 24 students and work tables, situated in the 7,000-square-foot garden on the TWU campus.

The Dr. Bettye Myers Butterfly Garden, situated in the Monarch butterfly migration pathway, is a campus landmark. It's a venue for educational, research and outreach activities helping students and community members find solutions to environmental issues.