I don’t think I’ve ever thought about a tree as much as I have this past week. They occupy such a massive physical space in our daily lives, especially in the bustling environment of a college campus like ours. Yet, the gifts they give us are often overlooked. That’s why I was originally so surprised to see the Georgetown University community’s genuine disappointment about the removal of the Red Square oak tree — I didn’t know a tree could be so meaningful.
With the seemingly endless construction on campus, I thought the sadness over the famed tree’s removal was nothing more than an extension of the general dissatisfaction over the university claiming more of our campus’s nature. While that’s certainly influencing the student body’s passionate response, another aspect of this tree’s significance lies in what takes place under it.
Student groups that represented opposing political parties or different stances on abortion can all be found tabling beneath the tree. Democrat or Republican, pro-abortion or anti-abortion, the tree seemed to symbolize a place where any opinion could be safely voiced. Most recently, student organizers held a vigil in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance around the tree, reminding us that even those labeled as the “other” by society — the “non-conformists” — are just like everyone else whose ideology finds a home under the tree.
Beneath the tree, we were all the same. As we set up tables to promote views that may seem radically different, we were all alike in our genuine desire to promote what we believe is right. We are all students using a shared space to express the same passion.
The unanimous sorrow among the student body following the tree’s removal shows us just how alike we truly are. At Georgetown, we all come from different places with different backgrounds and have very different — and seemingly irreconcilably opposing — views about the world. Sometimes, we don’t have a lot of common ground to stand on, but our sympathy toward the tree gives us some.
There have been many events that have formed a rift between us — November’s U.S. presidential election comes to mind — leaving communities more divided than ever. The fairy tales told to us by politicians, news anchors or Instagram influencers are that we can’t ever see eye-to-eye with someone across the aisle. Under the Red Square oak tree, that’s not true. No matter what our different ideologies are, we will all miss the tree — and that shared sentiment is enough for me to believe we are all a lot more alike than we think.
As my column comes to a close, I realize that’s been the point of my articles all along. In a diverse environment like Georgetown, where it may feel like we struggle on our own, I wanted to create a space for us to connect over the little things in life. My goal has been to bring people together and help them see a bit of themselves in my relatable experiences, rather than dedicating my energy to swaying people’s opinions on a certain issue.
In the end, the fairy tale we tell ourselves is that we’re all so different and nobody experiences the same issues we do. Our differences — the things that make us special — are indeed things to be celebrated, but they are often used to drive us apart. Because we have different stories and hold different beliefs, we tell ourselves that nobody gets us — but this is one tale that isn’t true.
Although the Red Square oak tree didn’t get a fairy tale ending — stripped of its branches and uprooted in a matter of days — we live with the promise of a new one. The tree might not be the same, but we can still treat the space with the same compassion. We don’t need a specific place or circumstance to come together to make the world feel smaller and more agreeable — we should do that with or without our beloved tree.
So, it’s up to us to plant our own Red Square oak trees — the places where we can come together no matter how different we may seem — wherever we go. We can bring the same passion and mutual respect we once brought to the space to every interaction and conversation. Like the tree that provided us a space to safely express contested or politicized ideas for so many years, we can follow its example — and honor its legacy — by creating our own environments where different ideas are equally welcomed.
And like every good fairy tale character, the Red Square oak tree will live on in spirit.
Dylan Goral is a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences. This is the sixth installment of his column, “The Fairy Tales We Tell.”