Arboreal anthology
Editor’s note: Thank you to the many alumni who’ve shared memories of trees. We received far more than we could print here, but we look forward to compiling and publishing a larger collection. If you have a tree tale, please send it to us.

There across a broad field, backed by a glorious wood and approached by a walk shaded by huge oaks, stretched our dream-come-true—Glassboro Normal School. From that moment we have loved it—the great white doorway, the imposing tower, the vast length and breadth of our dear school. And even better—the acres and acres of ground, the big trees…Everything so big and open and natural.
–Marian MacFarlane ’24

Inveterate as the seasons, permanent as the stars, the oaks at Glassboro symbolize unchanging fidelity to the ever-changing world which is our campus. They keep their perennial vigil over the work and play encompassed in the memorable years of student life. At every approach to the campus are stationed these towering “temples of God,” from the President’s Walk, past Oak Hall and Laurel Hall to the Administration Building. No campus scene is far beyond the shadow and influence of these mighty sentinels.
–The Oak, 1941

I’m the resident tree hugger. The ginkgo has been part of my life since I was a student—what a magnificent tree. I climbed it to meditate. The foliage was dense, so it was private.

Dr. Sangree gave us taxonomy assignments. He was good at getting you to wonder, creating an appetite for learning. He taught about science and the arts and folklore. He’d ask, “How do you know that?”
–Tom Gallia ’66, ’67

When I started in 1943, the leaves were every imaginable color. We shuffled through them as they piled up around the buildings. During winter the trees were barren and stately. I always thought the campus was conducive to learning because of the trees.
–Angela Lanza Sparacino ’52

At an early date specimens of almost all the trees and plants that would grow in this climate were planted on the campus.

Tradition has it that young maids would sit under the gingko tree and comb their hair in hopes that a dashing and handsome man would come into their lives.
Many of the old oak trees inspired the first writing of the “Alma Mater,” the name of the yearbook and a dormitory.
–Rudolph M. Salati ’43

I remember how beautiful they looked in the fall. We used to go for walks among the trees and plan our future. Trees were a nice place to go sit under and smooch.
–Samuel A. Curcio ’41

I remember the huge oak trees in front of Bunce Hall. On Arbor Day, we collected 10¢ each from each student in their homeroom. With the $2.50 from each homeroom a tree was purchased and was planted on the campus. Each Christmas, a potted evergreen tree was purchased for Christmas Arbor Day. I believe the row of tall evergreens bordering the railroad tracks were purchased this way.

I can remember Mr. Sangree walking around the campus with the biology classes pointing out some of the rare specimens planted. The gingko tree was one I remember.
–Corinne B. Somers ’33

I remember an oak on the hockey field that I climbed one evening just to be alone for a while. A young man and his friends chose my tree to sit under for a little private talk. Mmm, mmm, embarrassing! I was very quiet until they left and study time was well underway by the time I returned to my dorm.

I still love oak trees’ steady structures and orange autumn color.
–Phyllis C. Howery ’44

When my son, Michael, was four, we went to a Rowan doubleheader celebrating 50 years of baseball. Alumni from 1939–1970 were there as well as one of my favorites, Coach Wackar. Towering over Michael, Coach asked, “Would you like to see it snow?” Michael knew snow on a warm April day couldn’t be, but he imagined the possibilities and said, “Yes.” With that, Coach reached up to a flowering cherry tree and gently tugged on a limb. There stood Michael in awe as beautiful pale pink petals began to “snow.”
–Kathy (Chapman) Rozanski ’89

I think I’m older than most trees on the campus!
–Doug Winans ’42

In our campus, towering free
Stands our oak, majestic tree
Guardian of integrity,
Ever strong, oak tree.

Summertime, thy bounteous shade
Wintertime, gray branch displayed,
Pattern for life made clear in thee,
Long-beloved, oak tree.
–Harold F. Wilson from “The Glassboro Oak Song,” 1945

Carlo Ricci ’43 and I worked for Pop Bougher in the Landscaping Department. We got the job of cutting a large tree (that had been sawn down) into smaller pieces. The tree had a diameter of about three feet. So when Carlo and I were on the opposite ends of a two-man manual saw we could hardly see each other. Consequently, we were not cutting in a straight perpendicular line. Dr. Bunce came around and directed us in performing a better cut.
–Walter A. Andruszka ’43

In 1953 I made a special, lifelong friend. She was the beautiful, grand oak tree that stood proudly as a centurion looking over Bozorth Hall. One day in 1985 as I walked to campus I saw a morbid sight. The oak was in large chunks across the baseball diamond. It looked like a graveyard. I told the workmen that she had been my friend forever. I asked if they could cut me a slice of the trunk so I could preserve her as a tabletop. With special treatment from a craftsman, her surface became as smooth as silk. Pieces of bark that had dropped off were replaced like puzzle pieces. Her rings were counted and, unofficially, the oak was 285 years old. She now rests on an octagonal pedestal in my home and is still breathtaking. I’m thankful I was there that day they cut her down, for now I have a reminder of my deeply rooted relationship with the old oak tree.
–Harriet Lockwood Clevenger ’88 from “A Deeply Rooted Relationship,” 1998

Sorry I don’t remember the trees too well. Do you really think that with a ratio of ten women to one man I had time or cared about trees?
–Ezio Baruffi ’49