W&M Weeping for the Weeping Willow

While giving an admissions tour a couple of weeks back, I noticed something missing as I approached the James Blair Hall side of William and Mary’s famous sunken gardens – gone was the gorgeous, protective and all-knowing weeping willow.  In passing, all I could really think about was how one of my favorite campus locations had been forever altered.  Sappy (get it? Sappy… a tree… 😉 as it may sound, I began thinking about all that this towering tree had seen in its time at William and Mary, and more specifically, all it had seen during my four years at the college.

I’m certain it remembers Tropical Storm Ernesto as it briefly turned campus into a lake while also allowing for muddy, sloppy, awesome flag football in the Sunken Gardens; without a doubt, it saluted her majesty, The Queen of England, as she, clad completely in pink and purple, stood front and center in the wren portico; it saluted and thanked former president Mr. Gene Nichol for his wonderful dedication to the College, and followed in a few months with a  warm welcome for Mr. Taylor Reveley, the College’s newest president; I would bet that it never missed a chance to cast a smiling glance across the sunken gardens each year during “Campus Golf” – a beloved and cherished sorority philanthropy event, consistently drawing thousands of students to participate each year; and finally, I’m sure that this tree, once presiding over my favorite spot on campus, witnessed many of my favorite, personal moments over the past few years –  ranging from late night trips to WAWA with my freshman crew from DuPont, to trips to the Wren Building every Wednesday evening to watch fellow a cappella singers perform.

To the newly admitted Class of 2014: find your tree, find your favorite campus location – they will stick with you, I promise.

– Chris Marty ’10