Nathan H. Ware
News Editor
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, The College of Wooster, in collaboration with Rooted in Trees, held a tree-planting ceremony in front of the Kauke Arch. The event saw staff, faculty and students from all over the campus community, alongside The College of Wooster Preschool, join in exercise and tree planting.
Rooted in Trees is a Cleveland nonprofit focused on rebuilding the tree canopy in Northeast Ohio, and was founded by Paul Abbey ’73, emeritus life trustee of the College and past president of the Alumni Association.
Steve Crawford, assistant vice president for alumni and parent engagement and advancement services, opened the event with a short welcome address and spoke about the rarity of a “college celebrating the planting of trees.”
President McCall then gave her remarks, speaking about the importance of trees in Wooster’s history. “In the 19th century, people were writing about the beautiful oak grove on our campus … trees are really a part of who we are [as a college].”
McCall also spoke about the establishment of the Tree Conservation Endowment in 1987 and a second endowment established in 2001 in honor of Grace Temposa, a former advancement team member, known as Grace’s Tree Fund. Today, the College has the Commemorative Trees and Benches program, which allows alumni to donate funds in support of planting trees and marking benches on campus to “contribute to the beauty of Wooster’s campus,” according to the College’s website page on gift-giving.
Wooster is one of the few colleges that has an endowment specifically for trees. These endowments have allowed the College to plant an “urban forest,” with roughly 3,000 trees, while meeting all standards set by the Arbor Day Foundation, earning the school the designation Tree Campus USA in 2012.
McCall ended her speech by thanking various campus partners, specifically Phil Olsen, the grounds manager, his campus grounds team and Abbey for supporting this project.
Abbey spoke about his purpose in founding the organization, saying “Rooted in Trees … is all about giving back … about education, tree education, we’re all about community engagement, voila and about getting trees in the ground,” Abbey said, gesturing to the trees to be planted. Abbey then highlighted the scale of the project on campus, which entailed carefully positioning 21 black gum (tupelo) trees, transported from Madison, Ohio, around campus. He described the planting process, including soil preparation, watering and using organic materials and mulch to protect roots and maintain moisture.
Abbey closed by reminding attendees that these trees will enhance the beauty of Wooster’s campus and stand as a lasting environmental and educational investment for future generations.
Carolyn Ciriegio, the vice president of advancement and development, ended the ceremony by thanking Abbey, saying “these trees are a wonderful representation of philanthropy in action. [Thank you] for literally changing the face of our campus today for the better and bringing back this tree canopy to our most iconic building.”
Ciriegio also made note of the importance of community in campus culture. “Philanthropy comes in many, many forms. We’ve got campus partners here today, faculty, staff, students, future students,” Ciriegio said. “So much of what we experience on this campus is because of the hard work of our alumni, parents and friends — or as President McCall often says, these buildings, the activity and even moments like today in these trees represent signs of intergenerational love.”
After a stretching exercise led by Ace Sturdivant ’27, from the Women’s Basketball Team, the attendees were invited to start planting trees by packing down peat and mulch in a circle around the tree.
Many volunteers helped plant the trees and shared their thoughts on the ceremony. Basil Keck ’28, a sustainability intern shared, “I really loved being a part of the tree planting today, it was super humbling thinking about how these trees could be here for a 100 more years and could be a part of thousands of people’s walks around campus. It’s also really nice because you sort of feel like you’re becoming part of the campus itself. It really grounds you, no pun intended.”
Another sustainability intern, Sammy Amier ’26 shared that “[the tree planting] gave me a way to take a break by connecting with nature while also allowing me to be a part of such a special moment to leave a legacy behind during my last year in college.”