Looking Back: A tree grows on campus

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In this photo from the 1980s, the Mount’s Tri-Beta (Biology) Honor Society is seen planting trees in front of Aquinas Hall. The building looks a little different from what we’re used to today, and with good reason: This photo was taken about two decades before the Kaplan Family Math, Science and Technology Center Atrium was built, extending the footprint of Aquinas Hall and providing more classroom space.

In the Fall 2024 semester, dedicated Mount students planted a pair of new trees on campus, just as their predecessors did all those years ago. But this time they had the help of Bishop Dunn Memorial School principal Nancy Benfer’s second grade class and the college’s facilities workers.

The team of freshmen and faculty were from the college’s First Year Experience (FYE) program. They planted the trees, one maple and one Yoshino Cherry, outside of Bishop Dunn Memorial School.

The trees were placed in the same area where another had once stood years ago; a tree that Benfer, a 2004 graduate of the Mount, and Mike Daven, longtime professor of Mathematics and an FYE faculty member, have fond memories of.

In addition to Daven, the Mount faculty and staff who made the event possible were Michael McGuire, assistant professor of History and Political Science, and James Phillips, associate professor of Theatre at the Mount.

The second graders and the Mount freshmen helped to shovel and rake the soil around the new trees. The second graders then took field notes and drew pictures, capturing their perspectives and memories of the event. 

It’ll be around 2038 when the second graders of Bishop Dunn graduate from college. Should they attend the Mount, they can visit their trees and take photos with their family on graduation day. 

Maybe one of those pictures will find its way into an issue of the Mount Saint Mary College Magazine in the future, in an article looking back on when the trees were first planted in 2024.