SLU Students Assist Facilities Team With Project to Plant 120 Trees On Campus

12/13/2022

Saint Louis University will have many more trees before the end of 2022. 

Jim Anthony, Grounds Supervisor, said earlier in December, around 120 trees arrived on campus. The Division of Facilities Services team is working to have all of the new trees in the ground planted before Christmas.

Anthony said the bulk of the trees, around 80, will be new trees. The rest will be replacements for trees that were removed. The planting will take place on both the north and south campuses. 

As part of the planting campaign, facilities decided to seek student volunteers. On Friday, Dec. 9, volunteers were asked to show up at the Clock Tower Plaza at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. to learn facts about trees and then head out on campus to actually help plant some new trees. 

Friday’s tree planting also served as part of the University’s efforts to earn its Tree Campus certification. Tree Campus Higher Education was founded in 2008 to make trees and green spaces an “integral part of the college experience.” To earn certification, universities must establish a campus tree advisory committee, present evidence of a campus tree-care plan, verify the plan’s dedicated annual expenditures, and observe Arbor Day. 

The last part of the certification process is creating a service-learning project to engage the student body, which was the goal of Friday’s planting day.

“The whole point of this event is to fulfill our requirements for the Campus Tree certification,” Anthony said. “We’ve been doing events like this for a couple of years now — we’ve done some here and some out in the community at local high schools. We try to educate people on trees, their benefits, and how to plant trees properly so as they move forward in life, they know how to plant one.”

Students showed up to both the morning and afternoon sessions to help out. In total, students helped put at least 15 trees in the ground.

The trees were planted on the DuBourg Hall quad near the Simon Recreation Center and Marguerite Hall.

“Our goal was to get students involved in what Facilities is doing,” said Elizabeth Schwartz, Sustainability Intern with Facilities, who helped organize the event. “I think it was a success — I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. It’s great to see the work that you’ve done be impactful on campus. These trees are going to outlast all of us. It’s a great little way to leave your mark by planting a tree.” 

The students got some take-home information about the importance of trees and a brief discussion about the project. After that, it was time to start digging. Under the supervision of Facilities team members, students grabbed shovels and went to work digging holes. 
“I didn’t really know what to expect coming into, but we had a lot of fun with it,” volunteer Delaney Walker said. “When you’re doing stuff with friends, it’s easy to make it fun.”

Walker was recruited to the event by Schwartz. She met up with other friends and got to work planting a new tree on the DuBourg quad near the Pius XII Memorial Library. Together Walker, Tessa Bellante, and Maggie Schreiber worked to dig a big enough hole and then placed the tree. Afterward, the trio took pictures with their tree. 

“I think it’s really cool because when I was in eighth grade, we planted a class tree, and it’s cool to think that it’s still there now and it’s only been eight years,” she said. “It’s one of those things when we come to visit decades from now, we can be like, ‘Oh my gosh, we planted that on finals week of our senior year.’”

Anthony said he was pleased with the volunteer's work.

“This is outstanding,” he said. “This is what we hoped to achieve. Educating the SLU students will just be fun going forward — it’s always good to have an extra set of hands. For the kids, when they leave here, have something that they took part in. They can leave a little legacy."