Georgetown University Campus Ministry gathered students for a prayer Nov. 18 to mourn the removal of the willow oak tree in the center of Red Square. 

The Red Square willow oak tree will be removed during Thanksgiving break from Nov. 29 to Nov. 30, following an official tree risk assessment report, conducted by an arborist, that identified significant decay in the tree.

The Office of Planning & Facilities Management said in a campus-wide email sent Nov. 12 that Red Square’s southern half will be blocked off during the tree removal. The area will remain fenced until the replacement tree, currently located by Healy Hall, is transplanted over winter break in December. Wood from the willow oak will be salvaged for future use, such as for furniture and carvings. 

Fr. Greg Schenden, S.J., the director of Campus Ministry who led the prayer, said it is difficult to see the departure of a tree that has forged countless connections with members of the community, also recognizing notes people left on the tree.

“We must bid farewell to this giant willow oak tree here in Red Square, but we also take this as a moment of opportunity — to see the notes already gathered here — to recall the countless fond memories that have been forged under this tree over many, many years,” Schenden said in his prayer. 

Tyler Feichthaler (SFS ’28), an attendee at the prayer, said that since arriving at Georgetown, the willow oak has been a central gathering point for the community.

“I’ve only been in Georgetown for a couple months but pretty much every day, I walk through Red Square and I see the tree and all the people gathered around it,” Feichthaler told The Hoya. “It’s such a nice thing to have because it’s a place anyone can just go to hang out or promote their message and to see it gone is going to be sad.”

Schenden said gathering to pray before the tree’s removal was important to help the community process the change. 

“It was good that we came together because it would have been a terrible shame if we just came back after Thanksgiving and without any kind of news or announcement, the tree was gone — because it was such a fixture of our campus,” Schenden told The Hoya. 

Arborists tested the tree’s condition using resistance drilling, a drilling technique that measures a tree’s density, and found that the structural integrity of the roots as well as its trunk posed risks to individuals standing near the tree and to nearby buildings. 

Carla Tiberi, a landscape architect at Georgetown, said the tree’s decaying conditions currently pose risks during winter time. 

“More likely than not, limbs could fall with the weight of snow or ice and a heavy wind in the winter,” Tiberi told The Hoya. “These limbs are rather large. You wouldn’t want that to fall down on anybody or anything.”

Additionally, Tiberi said that as ongoing utility work on Healy Lawn requires the removal of a beech tree, Facilities has decided to relocate it to Red Square during winter break.

“There’s a beech tree on the east side of Healy Hall that was planted about nine years ago by our facilities crew. We picked out the tree and so that has some sort of connection and significance to us, and that’s in great condition,” Tiberi said. 

Schenden said care for the tree connects to Georgetown’s Jesuit values since Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, sought care for the common home. 

“He wrote an encyclical on care for our common home on the environment, which shows the importance that we place on not just the natural world, but our place in the natural world — not above and beyond but alongside the rest of the natural world,” Schenden said. 

Schenden said this moment provided a crucial opportunity for the Georgetown community to reflect on the tree’s lasting impact.

“It’s important for us to come together in a space, which is a sacred space for so many members of our community over so many years, to be able to come together again in a spirit of gratitude for creation,” Schenden said.