Poetry Tree Tradition Marks Arrival of Spring

You can always tell when spring has arrived. Green grass. Singing birds. Bare feet. And the Poetry Tree.

Every spring, the weeping cherry tree between the corner of Main Hall and the Sundial sprouts green leaves, pink blossoms and verse. Students and faculty use ribbon to hang copies of their original and favorite poems to the tree’s branches.

Jim Peterson, an accomplished poet, playwright, novelist, and Randolph English professor, likes the tradition. “Poems and creativity are as organic to our lives as leaves are to trees. The impulse to shape our thoughts and feelings into a written form that can be shared is one that many people have, and the poetry tree provides them with a non-academic, non-threatening way to do it. And besides, it's just fun.”

Like the origin of many campus traditions, the history of the poetry tree is a bit mysterious.

Retired professor Mary Brewer Guthrow ‘65 places it back as far as the 1960s. “My best memory is that my professor, Margaret Raynal, hung the ‘Loveliest of Trees’ by A.E. Housman out there every year and then other poems from other poem-hangers appeared.” 

Like spring blossoms, however, the beauty is short lived. When the rains came this year, the ink ran, obscuring the words. If you look closely, though, you can still make out a phrase on one stained parchment... “Vita Abundantior.”

Fifth annual Symposium of Artists & Scholars showcases student and faculty work

Randolph College’s own Jim Peterson will kick off the fifth annual Symposium of Artists & Scholars April 18-19. Peterson, an accomplished poet, playwright, novelist, and Randolph English professor, will present “The Dynamic Stall” April 18 at 7 p.m. in Nichols Theatre.

Peterson has published four full-length collections of poetry, the Man Who Grew Silent, An Afternoon with K, The Owning Stone, and The Bob and Weave. He has also authored three chapbooks and a novel, The Paper Crown. Peterson’s poetry has appeared in several prestigious journals, and he has won awards including Benjamin Saltman Award from the Red Hen Press and a Fellowship in Poetry from the Virginia Arts Commission. His plays have also been produced in college and regional theatres. During his 15-year tenure at the College, Peterson has served as the coordinator of the creative writing program, the visiting writers series, and as the College’s writer-in-residence.

Randolph’s Symposium of Artists & Scholars spotlights student and faculty research and projects from a variety of academic disciplines and provides students with the opportunity to present the results of their research, scholarship, and creative work to the public.

The scheduled presentations cover everything from “The Antioxidant Power of Pomegranate Juice and Juice Mixes” to “A Local Food Economy as a Solution to Lynchburg’s Food Desert: What Role Can Randolph College Play” to “Developing a Synchronous Puppet Control System for Avenue Q Puppets: Puppet Fabrication and Control System Design.” Many of the projects were supported by the Randolph College Summer Research Program and the Randolph Innovative Student Experience (RISE) Program.

Student presentations begin after the keynote address April 18 and continue Friday. For a complete schedule, please see http://www.randolphcollege.edu/x14435.xml.