{"id":165077,"date":"2020-10-15T07:45:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T11:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=165077"},"modified":"2020-10-16T08:14:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T12:14:30","slug":"campus-welcomes-new-garden-foster-connection-memory-late-swing-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2020\/10\/campus-welcomes-new-garden-foster-connection-memory-late-swing-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Welcomes a New Garden to Foster Connection in Memory of the Late &#8216;Swing Tree&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The memory of an old friend and a peaceful place to sit and connect are the twin inspirations for a small new garden planted Wednesday, Oct. 14 alongside Swan Lake.<\/p>\n<p>The garden brings together two separate student-led initiatives that share common goals \u2013 one aimed at <a href=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2019\/05\/dozens-seedlings-thriving-iconic-swing-tree-descendants\/\">preserving the legacy of the \u201cswing tree\u201d<\/a> and the other for UConn-made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L5fcCb9OLl0&amp;t=28s\">\u201cbuddy benches\u201d<\/a> built to foster human connection. The similarities between the two efforts captured the attention of Sean Vasington, Director of Site Planning and Landscape Architecture for University Planning, Design, and Construction. In his role as University Landscape Architect and member of UConn\u2019s Arboretum Committee, he was very familiar with the \u201cswing tree\u201d story and became aware of the \u201cbuddy bench\u201d efforts when he was asked to find a home for them somewhere on campus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we contemplated the two initiatives with the provost\u2019s office and others, it occurred to me that they each spoke to the well-being of our students and could be more meaningful and memorable if paired. \u00a0Everyone agreed, so we created a very modest plan for a small seating area overlooking Swan Lake with the two benches encompassed by plant beds for two &#8216;swing tree&#8217; saplings and other plantings,\u201d says Vasington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis space could not have happened without faculty interest and student involvement, support from Student Health and Wellness, a financial contribution from the Office of Sustainability, and various resources from Facilities Operations in implementing the plan. During an otherwise extraordinary time in our campus\u2019s history, it was a great pleasure to be a part of this effort,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis project brings a lot of different people together,\u201d says Emma MacDonald \u201921 (CAHNR), an intern in the Office of Sustainability, and member of the Arboretum Committee who has been part of the garden planning process. \u201cI&#8217;m excited for it mostly because it seems like it will be a great place for people to really connect. I\u2019m really excited about the swing trees &#8211; I know a lot of students have an emotional connection and really miss that big tree next to Mirror Lake. I know I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"grey-sidebar floating-sidebar col-xs-12 col-sm-4\">\n  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Remembering the Swing Tree<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As it gracefully reached over <a href=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/10\/reflections-mirror-lake\/\">Mirror Lake<\/a>, the \u201cswing tree\u201d was a well-loved campus spot. Whether decked out in lights for the holidays, or adding leafy shade in the summer, the tree was a beauty. Sadly, after an estimated 70-year tenure, the tree had to be removed in 2019, after its health started to decline.<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons the tree was so treasured is that it was a place for gathering and reflecting. A <a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.uconn.edu\/2018\/02\/09\/a-little-push\/\">journal<\/a> was available near the tree, housed in its own mailbox, for anyone wishing to write down their reflections or encouragements for others.<\/p>\n<p>As it became evident that the \u201cswing tree\u201d was nearing the end of its life, preparations were taken to preserve its legacy. Mark H. Brand, professor of horticulture in UConn\u2019s Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, began propagating the tree and before long, <a href=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2019\/05\/dozens-seedlings-thriving-iconic-swing-tree-descendants\/\">dozens of descendants<\/a> were off and growing. Now two of those saplings are part of the new garden, along with a \u201cbuddy bench,\u201d next to Swan Lake.<\/p>\n<p><\/aside>\n<p>At the time the swing tree was serving as a place to reflect, a movement to help combat loneliness and foster connections was underway, driven by a worldwide, student-led initiative to build \u201cbuddy benches\u201d to support classmates in need. Phoebe Godfrey, Associate Professor in Residence of Sociology, says her fall 2019 Society and Climate Change course decided to build some benches as part of the service learning component of the class.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the past, I have had the students pick small projects and a lot of the projects have focused on the UConn community,&#8221; says Godfrey. &#8220;The way I teach is to build community, because I do not think it is very effective to teach about climate change or structural racism or patriarchy in a hierarchical way. In class, it came up that there weren&#8217;t enough dialogues about climate change and there weren&#8217;t enough spaces to talk about it in intelligent and thoughtful ways.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The buddy benches differ from other benches on campus in that the seats face one another, and Godfrey explains the buddy benches are a space to have a dialogue, whether about climate change or other difficult topics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more connected we are, the more conscious we are about what is going on around us,&#8221; Godfrey says. &#8220;We need a place. From a sociological perspective, I see all things to do with humans as socially constructed, and so, by collectively focusing on a given idea, it can become both socially and even physically real. So if you say these are benches designed to talk about climate change, or racism, or difficult dialogues, and if you designate it, it makes people question and think about the topics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Godfrey\u2019s students constructed the benches with help from Herb Virgo of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.keneyparksustainability.org\/\">Keney Park Sustainability Project<\/a>, who had made similar benches for Keney Park. The wood used to construct the \u201cbuddy benches\u201d was sustainably harvested from the UConn Forest, making the project not only UConn-made, but also UConn-grown.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_165239\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-165239\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-165239 size-large img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/swingtreegarden-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/swingtreegarden.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/swingtreegarden-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/swingtreegarden-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/swingtreegarden-560x420.jpg 560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 640px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 640\/480;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-165239\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students working at the site of the buddy bench and garden (Courtesy of Wesley Ayers III)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The next step was to decide where they would be placed. Thomas Jacobson \u201920 (CLAS) had the idea of creating a garden to house the buddy benches and helped get the project started through a service learning project for Godfrey\u2019s class.<\/p>\n<p>Godfrey connected with Vasington, who convened a committee including faculty, staff, and students to develop a plan. Several locations were considered, but the committee eventually decided a location next to Swan Lake made the most sense.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick McKee, Sustainability Program Manager in the UConn Office of Sustainability and member of the Arboretum Committee, points out that this project unites multiple stories and efforts: \u201cUConn has a commitment to planting new trees, we are an Arbor Day Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/ecohusky.uconn.edu\/tree-campus-usa\/\">Tree Campus USA<\/a> campus, the project also has a health and wellness aspect to it, and of course it aligns with UConn\u2019s general commitment to enhancing outdoor spaces for students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wesley Ayers III, Grounds and Landscaping Manager and member of the Arboretum Committee, says he is excited to have students involved in creating the garden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough spaces like this around campus,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I&#8217;m excited to see the descendants of the &#8216;swing tree&#8217; get used for what it was originally intended for &#8212; as a place for students to come and talk. Now there are benches to facilitate maybe deeper discussions. Next to Swan Lake, it&#8217;s a peaceful place to come and relax.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a project born out of a Service Learning course, the garden is an important example of when time and space are given to students to critically reflect about how course content and current day social dilemmas align, students have the power to create an action out of those discussions,&#8221; says Julia Yakovich, University Director of Service Learning Initiatives in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. &#8220;This is the product of those meaningful discussions. Professor Godfrey created an opportunity through Service Learning to connect students, community partners and upper-level administration with a common goal in mind, and the result is a successful project.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now that the project is complete and the garden is in place, MacDonald hopes the campus community will seek it out and spend some time there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope this serves as a general call for people to come and enjoy the experience, to write in the journal, and know where it is located. The hardest thing for us (at the Office of Sustainability) is getting people to know about the projects we are doing. Go check it out, go have fun, see the garden, and enjoy it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new garden overlooking Swan Lake serves both to memorialize the beloved &#8220;swing tree&#8221; and to foster conversations among the UConn community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":165247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2224,2234],"tags":[2238,931,2239],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2093],"class_list":["post-165077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cahnr","category-university-life","tag-college-of-agriculture-health-and-natural-resources","tag-environment","tag-student-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 12:28:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165077"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165302,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165077\/revisions\/165302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/165247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165077"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=165077"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=165077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}