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Planting a legacy at SMSU

The Southwest Minnesota State University Class of 2018 has looked to its past to create a lasting legacy — planting trees on campus grounds — just like they did 50 years ago

Photo by Jenny Kirk An array of Southwest Minnesota State University faculty, staff and 2018 graduates were in attendance at a 50th anniversary tree planting ceremony recently, much like occurred 50 years ago when the college was established in southwest Minnesota.

MARSHALL

The past, present and future were harmonized in a special tree planting ceremony last week on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

Mirroring the planting of trees on campus more than 50 years ago when the university was founded, the SMSU Class of 2018 chose a 50th anniversary tree planting celebration as this year’s Graduate Gift Project.

“It’s a pretty cool thing,” committee member Tanner Skillings said. “We discussed it with the fellow group members and it was something we thought was not only pragmatic, it was also realistic. We thought we could raise the funds to do the planting project now, like they did 50 years ago when the university opened and the first trees were planted. For us to do this to coincide with the 50th anniversary is pretty special.”

SMSU President Dr. Connie Gores said graduation time was an appropriate time to hold the ceremony.

“I think this is really exciting,” Gores said. “It shows that the Mustang way is carrying on for 50 years now, where some of the original class, faculty and staff planted trees. And now, here it is the 50th year and these students are carrying on that tradition. They are planting the seeds of our future. And a number of these students just graduated. They are Mustangs of today and tomorrow.”

While the 50th anniversary tree planting ceremony took place on May 9, it was originally planned for April.

“We wanted to do the planting ceremony around Earth Day, but we had two feet of snow at the time,” Skillings said. “The ground was also frozen under the snow, so it didn’t work out the way we’d planned. But it worked out well anyway. It’s something we, if we’re lucky enough to be here for the 100th, it’s something you wouldn’t miss.”

Erik Vogel, director of annual giving at SMSU, was the first to speak at the tree planting ceremony.

“Our office — the SMSU Foundation — has focused on trying to engage our graduates with a special class project,” he said. “We started the Graduate Gift Project (GGP) back in 2015, and we’ve done it each year since.”

Eight seniors made up the 2018 GGP committee.

“These seniors are chosen to be committee members for their leadership abilities by faculty and staff members,” Skillings said to those in attendance at the ceremony. “We’d like to honor each committee member who spent a lot of time and a lot of effort communicating with family, friends, faculty, staff and fellow graduates.”

Along with Skillings, a master of business administration graduate, the committee members include: Meredith Hyatt (chemistry), Amber Volkmann (communications studies), Nikolay Ivanov (computer science), Amelia Marroquin (hospitality management), Michael Dombrowski (psychology), Jeff Pryor (master of science education) and Christian Skillings (master of science education).

“I just find it really rewarding because I’ve been at SMSU for five years, and being able to give back and do something that means a lot to the university — like they did the first year — then doing it 50 years later is an amazing thing to be part of,” Hyatt said.

Hyatt said committee members were very dedicated and that the meetings were productive.

“We met probably every other week for about four months,” she said. “We were trying to decide what we were going to do. Then after we decided on this, it was just fundraising and trying to get people to donate, which worked out very well.”

Tanner Skillings noted that this year marked the highest level of GGP support to date.

“We had a lot of support from faculty and staff here on campus,” he said. “It’s the most support we’ve ever had, so thank you to each and every person who contributed.”

Skillings said Foundation Executive Director Bill Mulso was instrumental in sparking the tree planting idea as well as offering matching donations up to $3,000 from the Foundation.

“We’re very thankful to Bill for putting that forward,” Skillings said. “We originally thought it was just going to be a student funded initiative. But Bill was generous enough to throw in some extra funds for the project.”

The hope is that graduating seniors will give back someday in the future if they’re able.

“It’s a way to get graduating seniors introduced to the Foundation and the world of philanthropy because they’re becoming alumni now,” Skillings said. “We want to keep them involved with the university and also give them an opportunity to support future Mustangs. It’s something we really do appreciate and something that students appreciate.”

Skillings said SMSU is extremely proud to be recognized as having the highest giving of any other alumni network in the Minnesota State system.

“Once a Mustang, always a Mustang,” he said.

So far, a total of 22 trees — 11 St. Croix Elms and 11 Burr Oaks — have been donated to SMSU through the Graduate Gift Project. Just prior to the ceremony, nine of the new trees were planted in a half-circle formation around the central grass area, which is the site of the old F Hall and is across from the Campus Religious Center along Birch Street.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to get more trees on campus,” SMSU Grounds and Roads Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Jennings said. “Barring any storms, they should outlive all of us.”

Jennings said the university has lost trees over the years, due to storms, disease and construction.

“My goal has always been to replace two for every one we take out,” he said. “This will go a long ways toward that. Money is tight right now and my budget doesn’t allow for a planting project of this size. So without these funds, we wouldn’t have gotten these in.”

Jennings said the cost of an individual tree was roughly $130.

“We got them from Greenwood Nursery,” Jennings said. “They gave us a pretty good deal.”

Two additional trees were part of the tree planting celebration. Jennings, Vogel, Gores and Mulso joined the committee members in planting the first one.

“Hopefully in 10-15 years, they’ll provide nice shade and this will be a nice area for all the various little booths and things we do with move-in day,” Jennings said.

Recent SMSU graduate Aaron Lange helped plant the second tree.

“Trees are pretty symbolic of the university, obviously with the growth aspect of it, so it’s really cool as far as being able to see these trees grow — like the graduates have seen themselves grow over the last four years,” Lange said.

After both trees were planted, there was talk of how it must have felt to plant trees 50 years ago along with hopes and dreams that went with it. Just before the gentle rain fell, a big group photo took place.

“I think it’s really cool seeing the historical photos from the early days when they were planting trees,” Christian Skillings said. “You know, you walk around campus and you don’t really think at one time, somebody planted every tree that is here. It’s cool to be in one of the photos that is around 50 years from the time the first ones were planted.”

According to a story in the Lyon County Independent, a site dedication and tree planting ceremony took place for the new institution — called Southwest Minnesota State College back then — in late September 1966.

“Our primary purpose today is to say thank you to all those people in the 19-county area whose efforts and sacrifices have made Southwest State a reality,” said Dr. Joseph Rossillon, director of instructional resources for the college.

Dr. Bevington Reed, chancellor of the State College Board said he hoped young people would leave their mark on the area served by the new college.

“The first class in particular has an awesome responsibility,” he said. “It is up to them to establish the lasting traditions of this institution.”

Jim Wetherbee served as master of ceremonies that day. Dr. Howard Bellows, the first president of the college on the prairie, also shared a few comments: “One year from today, students will arrive. One year from tomorrow, the doors will open on a new institution of higher learning in the state. All we can say is thank you to all those who have turned a dream into reality.”

Marion Shane, dean of the faculties, talked about the connections people had to the college and put out a challenge to future students.

“Everything that we have done has been in service to this area,” Dean Shane said. “The focus of this service is the student. What he does and what happens to him determines the success or failure of any institution.”

Shane called the planting of tree on the college site a physical symbol which the students themselves could take part in creating.

Marshall High School senior Jane Marcotte planted the first tree, which was presented to her in June by the first lady, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson. Serving as the state president of the Future Homemakers of America, Marcotte was attending a conference on natural beauty and conservation in Washington, D.C., when she received the donated tree from the former president’s wife.

Several other dignitaries followed in turn. Of the estimated 1,000 people who were in attendance in 1966 were high school students from 41 different high schools in southwest Minnesota. Led by two or three from each school, they were able to plant trees on the site that represented their communities.

Rodney Belsheim and Becky White represented Marshall Public School, while Sue Stumm and Tom Como planted trees in honor of Marshall Central Catholic. According to the 50-year-old reports, other high school students planting trees in recognition of their communities included: Tom Sorensen and Susan Jacobsen (Tyler), Chris Caugherty and Linda Warner (Hendricks), Paul Trautman and James VanVooren (Lake Benton), Leslie Kor and Diane Hartzell (Lynd), Karen Gossen and Tom Guttormsson (Minneota), Curtis Jensen and Carol Fisher (Ruthton), Randy Noble and Beverly Mack (Ivanhoe), Robert Fenger and Jacquelin Gregoire (Cottonwood) and Byron Griesnewic and Debra Knudson (Balaton).

SMSU staff Pam Gladis and Marcy Olson were instrumental in finding the old newspaper articles and photos. Along with the 1966 site dedication and tree planting — reportedly a grove made to form an “L” shape at the intersection of state highways 19 and 23 — there were also campus beautification projects in 1970 and 1971.

With the new trees being planted at SMSU, the hope is that they’ll last another 50 years. With the support of others, the Class of 2018 has currently raised $1,284. Their goal is $2,018.

“We’ll be taking donations yet throughout the summer,” Tanner Skillings said. “Obviously, we bought some trees now, but we’re going to continue purchasing them as the funds come in. And if people have trees they want to donate, they can do that as well.”

Skillings added that people can donate in honor of someone.

“About half of the people who donated did so in honor of somebody,” he said. “A lot of professors, including Emily Deaver, did that. She donated in honor of all the environmental science graduates. So that’s a pretty cool thing.”

A lot of people were inspired to donate $20.18 in recognition of the Class of 2018’s effort. To find out more information or to donate, go to: https://facebook.com/smsu2018ggp/ or https://give.smsu.edu/campaigns/class-of-2018-graduate-gift-project.

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