There’s a new “Old Willow tree now standing on the Old Main lawn after Penn State students, staff and their families gathered Friday to watch EcoAction plant the fourth generation of the tree.
Grace Wills is the president of EcoAction, Penn State’s oldest environmental club. In her speech, she announced other Penn State campuses will be able to plant the other willow trees they grew from the last Old Willow’s cuttings.
“Truly uniting Penn State as one big community,” Wills said.
Old Willow’s history dates back to 1859 when it’s believed it was brought by Evan Pugh, Penn State’s first president. Even though there’s no proof, it’s said he used a cutting from English poet Alexander Pope’s garden.
Tom Flynn is the Manager of Grounds Services for Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant. He said although that’s a cool story, Old Willow also represents the diversity of tree species on Penn State’s campus.
“From a teaching and learning aspect, I think it’s important to have this particular tree here,” Flynn said.
Derek Kalp is a landscape architect at the Office of the Physical Plant and the advisor for EcoAction. Kalp drew the original Old Willow and invited people in the audience to sign their name on each branch as a memory of this ceremony.
The last Old Willow fell in March 2021 because of strong winds. The Office of Physical Plant was able to save tree cuttings they used to grow the fourth generation of Old Willow for the past three years.