A historic planting connecting generations, faiths and countries took place yesterday on Wagner’s campus.
The white chestnut tree, gifted by the Anne Frank Center USA to the Wagner College Holocaust Center, now stands at the campus entrance next to the Union, welcoming all.
On its first day, it did just that, welcoming Barry Nieuwenhuijs, deputy consul general of the Netherlands; Dr. Laura Bairnsfather, CEO of the Anne Frank Center; Rabbi Rachael Houser of Manhattan’s Central Synagogue and a Wagner alum; the P.S. 22 Chorus, which performed as part of the program; as well as students, faculty, staff and Leo Ullman, who helped facilitate the planting.
As a child, Ullman was also in hiding in the Netherlands, like Anne Frank; taken in by ordinary people doing extraordinary things, as he said in his remarks.
Dr. Lori Weintrob and Dr. Laura Morowitz, Wagner professors who run the Holocaust Center on campus, the sapling could find no better home than here on Staten Island, originally settled by the Dutch and now connected with literal bridges to multiple diverse communities.
Weintrob added, “It is a seed for a better world that begins on our college campus.”
That theme of hope and connection carried through the ceremony as student speakers read passages from Anne Frank and Miep Gies, one of the thousands of ordinary Dutch citizens who did an extraordinary thing by helping hide the Frank family and supporting them over the course of two years. The selections were delivered in both English and Dutch, connecting the present to the original writings as they would have sounded almost 81 years ago.
The sapling is a welcome addition to the 105 acre campus.
“It stands as a reminder of hope that this community has for all its students, and that our students have in themselves. It also stands for resilience and standing up for human dignity. Today we plant a living lineage, and we will nurture it as it takes root on campus,” said Wagner President Jeffrey Doggett.
