We attend a school that is trying its hardest to project the image of a suburban campus – perhaps because that is what sells, perhaps because that is what is felt will bring security to the school. The problem with this is that we exist in an “anything but suburban” landscape, something that is achingly clear to everyone who visits or attends, or teaches or works here or exists on campus in any capacity. The disconnect between campus image and campus reality is causing problems. It makes us angry, uncertain and closed off. The spaces that we inhabit shape the way we live in ways we can’t even imagine: a campus that wishes it were something else is going to make the students unhappy or uncomfortable.
I’d like to extend an invitation to all Saint Louis University students, faculty and administrators to attend a small holiday party that I will be throwing on the west side of the Frost campus between Nov. 30 and Dec. 8. This will be an ongoing, circular, continuous celebration— an attempt to bring the school’s community together and to inspire togetherness where once there was separation.
It will be located in or around or somewhere nearby the pine trees that have sprung up where palm trees once flourished, and it could happen at any time of day.
What will we be doing, you ask? This is simple. I, or anyone who wants to, can leave small presents in and around those trees. Do this anonymously. Just leave the gift and move on. You can participate however you’d like and how often it seems like a good idea. One gift is all you need to be a part of this. And when you leave a gift, feel free to take one as well: this is from members of the SLU community to other members of the SLU community.
What should you give? Nothing huge. A penny, even. Just something for anyone to pick up, unwrap, and enjoy. Small favors to bring people together around the trees and towards each other. Think: if you saw a present addressed to anyone (you!) sitting under some random tree, what would you expect to find?
For more information, or if you’ve found a package and want to spread the word, please visit the following URL: http://ileftagiftbythetree.tumblr.com/
Last but not least: I will be documenting this project, photographically in pristine black and white. Each day I will take a picture of the trees – present laden or not – and these pictures will serve as a record not of the people, but of the things that brought us together. I will post the pictures on the blog at the URL mentioned above – will you see the gift you left? The one you picked up?
Why are we doing this? Because we can no longer allow the limits of our surroundings to limit the ways in which we interact with each other. Day in and day out I’ve seen people swerving to one side or another of the planters, avoiding human contact and breaking up the flow of human interaction up and down the place we all call school and some call home. I believe that the anonymous leaving of small gifts will force people to look at the trees and at one another, instead of around the trees and each other.
We can leave gifts for each other on what has become, for me, the very symbol of our campus’ problem: these mysterious pine trees.
We can try to include our fellow SLU students/teachers/administrators in an anonymous gift giving ceremony that will at least start to improve, idealistically, the way we see our campus. We will be forced to look at each other, to look towards the trees instead of around them; to look at our campus and at ourselves. Where can we go from here?
