Campaign raises more than $11,000 for new plantings on campus
LAWRENCE — The Campus Tree Advisory Board at the University of Kansas has more than doubled its spring fundraising goal of $5,000 for Replant Mount Oread, bringing in more than $11,000 during a one-month campaign. The campaign is an effort to involve the campus community in planting trees on the Lawrence campus.
“We were all impressed by the level of enthusiasm people expressed for this project,” said Dale Slusser, assistant vice president of KU Endowment and Campus Tree Advisory Board member. “The fundraising primarily was accomplished through an article in the campus paper, emails, and social media.”
The campaign received a significant contribution from Douglas May and Catherine Schwoerer, both professors in the School of Business, in honor of May’s late father, Wallace May. Wallace May was an associate dean of Continuing Education and an adjunct professor in communication studies. He earned a doctorate from KU in speech communication and human relations in 1978.
“He noted in his memoir that he had planted over 1,000 trees during his lifetime,” May said of his father. “After he retired from KU in 1991, he opened a photography gallery. His first photography show, ‘One Tree, One Year,’ was of the massive Osage Orange tree located on the Campanile Hill as you walk down toward the stadium on the western sidewalk.”
The funds raised through the campaign will be used for the spring Replant Mount Oread event, which will take place at 11 a.m. Friday, April 11. Nine new trees, including Shumard Oak, Village Green Zelkova and Golden Raintree, will be planted north of Stauffer-Flint Hall, near the northwest corner of Watson Library, and along Sunflower Road. The additional funds will make possible more tree plantings in the near future.
The Center for Sustainability is coordinating volunteers for the planting. Individuals interested in volunteering can contact the Center for Sustainability at 785-864-5804 or sustainability@ku.edu, or sign up on the Replant website.