Story By Jaydin Johnson, Guest Writer
The Center for Sustainability is celebrating the trees at Aquinas College through some friendly community-driven competition.
The Center for Sustainability and the Campus Tree Advisory Committee (C-TAC) have come together once again to sponsor the second annual ‘Tree of the Year’ competition; a competition designed to “support what brings life to our campus and clean air to our lungs.”
“I look forward to this every Fall,” Said Junior, Izabella Britt. “We have beautiful trees all over campus that deserve to be given attention every once in a while. The woods on campus are one of my favorite things about going here.”
The ‘Tree of the Year’ competition encouraged participants to be inspired by the trees and submit writing samples such as poems, short essays, short stories, and more to accompany their submissions. The Writing Center participated in the competition by consulting on the written submissions to inform C-TAC’s vote to name the top three nominees.
“I’ve loved reading all of the submissions and seeing our community come together to celebrate creativity and our campus trees.” Said Senior and sustainability intern, Trinity Reynoso. Reynoso has also been involved in marketing the competition both on and off campus.
The competition officially began with a closed alumni nomination period on September 16, before open community nominations ran from October 2 to October 11. The community was invited to vote for their favorite tree from October 23 to October 29.
The Center for Sustainability and C-TAC are keeping with tradition by inviting the community from neighborhoods surrounding Aquinas College to participate in nominations and voting for the competition.
“While I wasn’t aware of the competition until today, I’m definitely going to cast my vote.” Said Jennifer Stevens, a resident of the Fulton Heights neighborhood just North of Aquinas College. “I walk my dog, Darwin, on campus nearly every day and I’m always in awe of the trees and trails throughout the woods.”
The Center for Sustainability and C-TAC are also emphasizing the importance of native and introduced species during this year’s competition. While any tree on the Aquinas College campus was eligible for nomination, extra points are given if the tree is a native or introduced species.
This year’s top three finalists are all considered introduced species, meaning that they are a non-native species that is not considered to be invasive (harmful). Some introduced species are even beneficial to native ecosystems.
“It’s important for us to highlight non-invasive species when talking about our trees, which is why we award more points to species that aren’t considered invasive. It creates an incentive for nominees to highlight the species that benefit our campus.” Said Trinity Reynoso.
The Campus Tree Advisory Committee doesn’t just sponsor competitions focused on trees. They were established in 2019 to come up with a “comprehensive campus tree care and forest management plan.”
C-TAC also focuses on educating the campus population as to the benefits of trees and giving guidance for future forest planning.
Aquinas College and local community’s votes have been tallied and the Dawn Redwood, submitted by junior Shaily Baynes, is this year’s winner.
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