Our Campus Canopy
Sarah Jannings ’25 traces the roots of her senior comprehensive project to the prescient words of Saint Mary’s President Katie Conboy at Convocation 2021: “Branching Out and Staying Rooted.” Jannings’s project, the campus Dedicated Tree Program, is rooted in the rich history of Saint Mary’s College and extends out to tell the stories, share the histories, and preserve the public memory of alumnae, professors, family, and friends whose plaques grace the 642 dedicated trees on campus.
“Through my research on the trees, I have felt a closer connection to that speech, especially looking back on my experience at Saint Mary’s. I have branched out while staying rooted here,” said Jannings, who graduates in May with her degree in Communications and Environmental Studies. Seniors are required to produce a senior comprehensive project as the culmination of their education at the College. These projects highlight student proficiency in research, writing, and applied knowledge that potential employers and graduate schools look for in successful candidates.
Jannings began her interdisciplinary project—a showcase of Saint Mary’s as a living laboratory—at the suggestion of her academic advisor, Susan Mancino, associate professor of communication studies, in the fall of 2024. “Building upon the GIS (Geographical Information Systems) mapping work of Sally Geislar, assistant professor of environmental studies, Mancino and I began by meeting in the archives on a weekly basis to articulate the archival collection alongside the quantitative spreadsheet data on the Dedicated Tree Program,” Jannings explained.
Jannings received support for her project through the Maryjeanne R. Burke and Daughters SISTAR Award and from Jill M. Teifenthaler ’87 through the Office of Academic Research, Grants, and Sponsored Programs at Saint Mary’s College.
Once Jannings set roots in the project, she branched further by gathering stories and memories of the dedicated trees. She explained her process: “Throughout the months of October and November, I conducted a total of 18 oral histories. That entailed interviewing members of the Saint Mary’s community, family members, friends; anyone who was connected to the Dedicated Tree Program.”
Jannings’ project aligns with the vision of Sister Madeleva Wolff, CSC, the third president of Saint Mary’s, and her mission to make the College a place of beauty and learning, since both connect us to story and memory. In her 1959 memoir, My First Seventy Years, Sister Madeleva recalled her days as a young girl, climbing apple trees and diagramming wildflowers in her native Wisconsin. In the volume, she declared that she “lived to learn, and so lived richly.”
He made the place like a gem and you can still see that.
- -Margaret Bonadies Blonigan ’81,
of her father, Joe Bonadies
To that end, Sister Madeleva brought to Saint Mary’s the first and longest-serving Superintendent of Grounds, Joe Bonadies. Bonadies brought with him his experience in botany, horticulture, and plant pathology. Together they created a place of beauty for generations to enjoy, a place to create memories and share stories of their own. In collecting her stories, Jannings spoke extensively with Bonadies’ daughter, Margaret Bonadies Blonigan ’81, who said of her dad, “he made the place like a gem and you can still see that.”
A poignant story Jannings gathered is that of Sister Karol Jackowski ’69, formerly of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, now a member of the Sisters for Christian Community, and her father, Henry Jackowksi, who has a campus tree dedicated to his memory. Sister Karol had many roles at the College, including residence hall director, campus minister, and Dean of Student Affairs.
During her time as Dean, Henry passed away and donated his body to Indiana University School of Medicine, an uncommon decision in 1983. Since there was no formal burial place for him, then President John (Jack) Duggan offered to plant a tree in Henry’s memory, and he proposed that it be planted outside the window of Sister Karol’s office.
Sister Karol shared with Jannings that her father was a baker at Normal Bakery in East Chicago, Ind., and of how delighted she and her friends were when Henry visited the College with trays of freshly baked sweets. “He may not have a physical resting place in a cemetery,” she told Jannings, “yet his spirit and soul are attached within the place of Saint Mary’s College and his tree.” Forty-one years later, Sister Karol still has coffee and donuts “virtually” with her parents every morning, a tradition that began by looking outside her office window at her father’s dedicated tree.
Another story Jannings gathered elucidates the lasting friendships made at Saint Mary’s. It’s the story of Michelle Coleman Peirona and Sheila Coyne Romanek—both graduates of the class of 1987—and their tree that would not die. During their junior year, the pair purchased a three-foot live Christmas tree to decorate their dorm room for the holiday. The tree thrived for the rest of the school year. With summer break looming, they learned that they could give the tree to grounds services to plant on campus.
“I remember speaking with Michelle,” Jannings said, “and she thought (the tree) would be out on the back 40 and they wouldn’t see it again, but knew it would be taken care of.” Imagine the roommates’ surprise when they returned to campus for senior year and found their humble Christmas tree in a prominent place near Le Mans Hall. “There were many notable figures that had dedicated trees, like past presidents, faculty, and members of the community, so why do we as students have a dedicated tree here?” Peirona wondered happily to Jannings.
Although the original tree is no longer standing, Peirona and Romanek each have their own dedicated white pine tree, planted across from each other behind Moreau Performing Arts Center. Romanek told Jannings the tree is “almost like a time capsule” as it reminds them of their time at Saint Mary’s College. Peirona added, “even after 38 years, ‘the tree that never dies’ continues to live on in a new, memorable way through two separate, dedicated trees.”
After gathering her data and oral histories, Jannings wrote a paper detailing her research project and presented it to the Communications Studies department in December 2024. In late March, she presented a condensed version of her paper at the Eastern Communications Conference in Buffalo, NY. “My paper explores how recognizing the public memory associated with commemorative trees can help guide us in this age that we’re in today, looking at remembering the importance of storytelling and the people that have gone before us through dedications,” she said.
On April 3, Jannings led a workshop and an interactive tree walk as part of the Campus Canopy Consortium event that honored the 70-year-old Dedicated Tree Program. “I’m incredibly blessed to have been entrusted to carry out this research, to be able to truly give a voice to the dedicated trees here in a way that’s never been done before,” she said.
This fall, Jannings plans to pursue her Masters in Nonprofit Administration at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.