A number of people have asked whether I placed stanzas of a poem of mine called “Willows” on our doomed trees.

Though I neither placed my verses on the trees nor, for that matter, knew that such an unusual action was to be taken, I feel deeply honored that someone, perhaps a former student of mine, should have taken such a step.

The trees, every one of them, have meant a great deal to me for the many years I have taught at NIU, and I regret profoundly that the university has made a decision to axe them, because they are “dirty” and represent a “danger.”

The first concern is simply unworthy of a university which prides itself on having an attractive campus, the second is clearly preposterous.

I very much hope the university will now stay its hand, and that our students will be permitted the pleasure of living within view of trees as glorious as the willows.

Lucien Stryk

University Research Professor