Tree planted for late students

Around 5 p.m., members of USG and President Michael Hogan gathered around a bare American Basswood tree outside Manchester hall. Though the wind continued unabated, the blue sky and vibrant sun - which had illuminated the rush of the campus all Wednesday afternoon - had long since sputtered away to a dark pallor of baleful clouds.

It was under this shadow that students gathered, sitting at straight attention to attend the dedication ceremony of that tree to the UConn students who lost their lives while attending the university.

The tree, a donation from Operation Services' Landscaping Department, served as a backdrop to speeches from Hogan, and USG officials that had lost friends over the years. The president was the first to speak, calling the erection of the tree a "magnificent gesture," and noted that in a time of potential, like college, the death of a student is particularly shocking.

"Yesterday our eyes were at the sky, and today they are cast on the ground," he said.

Hogan urged students to recall that while the loss of colleagues and friends is harsh, it reminds survivors to be mindful of the present, and where their lives lead.

"Every day our own future grows, just like this tree," he said.

USG President Meredith Zaritheny gave a speech also, recalling her friend Carlee Wines, who had been fatally struck by a drunk driver two years ago. Zaritheny said she hoped the tree would remind students to cherish their friends.

"Friendship, the connections you make; intangible moments like this are the essence of life," she said.

Former USG President Ryan McHardy eulogized USG members Adam Szychowski and Vladimir Voinov, both of whom died within the last two years.

"I hate clichés about life being short, carpe diem, the good die young etc., etc.," McHardy said. "These men were timeless, and of the most unique intellect and character I have ever encountered … I am certainly a better person for knowing them."

McHardy said that he had spent the week trying to find a genuine way to encapsulate his feelings on the dead, and that in doing so had forced him to confront his memories of the two.

"This is why we should be here, to recognize the importance of our mortality," he said. "To concede how silly whatever we are caught up in the moment is, and to live to an even greater degree - enriched by what these people, and now their sacred memories, have given us."

The third speaker, Meghan Perrone, said she did not want to speak for fear of crying, and instead sang "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill, accompanied by External Affairs Chair Seamus Keating on acoustic guitar.

The event ended with the a cappella group Extreme Measures singing "The Riddle" by Five for Fighting, "Sing me to Heaven" by Daniel E. Gawthrop, "And so it Goes" by Billy Joel, and finally, the Alma Mater.

The event was coordinated by student affairs chair Tom Haggerty, who said that a tree memorial had been on USG's schedule ever since Szychowski died in Jan. 2008, but that more pressing matters kept pushing it back. When Voinov died during the fall, the student government pushed the issue to the front of their agenda, but waited until the spring to perform a ceremony.

Haggerty said that while Voinov would have been somewhat amused at the thought of having a tree dedicated to him, and all deceased UConn students, the ceremony was cathartic for students.

"[Events like this] are meant to help the living cope," he said.

As the ceremony ended over the tones of the Alma Mater, the hanging clouds began to leak a thin rain that dryly peppered students, and lightly watered the Technicolor flowers that bloomed at the foot of the bare American Basswood.