The Stanford tree turns over a new leaf
Last Sunday, Ruby Coulson ‘27 was named the 46th Stanford Tree, Stanford’s unofficial mascot. Coulson is the first Tree to cheer Stanford on as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which the school will join in August 2024.
The Stanford Tree came into conception in 1975 amid a heated debate over what Stanford’s new mascot should become after the previous one, the Stanford “Indian,” was removed due to public outcry. The band brought forth many individuals dressed up as potential mascots — a french fry, a steaming manhole, a pencil — before the Tree was ultimately chosen to become the iconic mascot it is today.
Emily Rodriguez ’26, the Tree for the 2023-24 school year, said, “[Coulson] is going to have the entire opportunity to create whatever identity she wants for the Tree for them. She could straight up reinvent the entire Tree and they [the ACC] would have no idea that anything has changed.”
Determining the new Tree is a week-long annual event called “Tree Week” which begins after Dollie Day, when the Leland Stanford Junior University Band (LSJUMB) chooses the new Stanford Dollies. For Tree Week, participants vying to become the Tree perform various stunts to prove their commitment to being the iconic Tree. This year as a part of Tree Week, Coulson slept in a tree for 12 hours as her stunt.
Coulson’s roommate and friend Bertha Gonzalez ’27, who is a beat reporter for The Daily, said, “It was really, really cold. It was in the low 50s, maybe 40s at night. So I got her a blanket and a pillow. I got her some noodles and some tea.”
Coulson, however, described sleeping in the tree as “amazing.”
“I feel like the band and the Trees have got it [Tree Week] down to a really good art so that it’s really fun and worth it,” Coulson said.
Students consider each new Tree as part of a larger family, with the new Tree being birthed by the previous year’s Tree. Coulson said, “The Trees really know what’s up. Mother Emily, grandfather Jordan, great grandfather Grayson.”
This year, as incumbent Tree, Rodriguez chose her successor. “I really wanted to pick someone who embodied the nature of the Tree. The charismatic crazy-like personality of the Tree will really uphold these ideas,” she said.
Being the Tree extends far beyond just being a school mascot. Jordan Zietz ’24, who was the Tree before Rodriguez, wrote to the Daily, that “being Tree means being able to wear a 45-pound aluminum frame and spin past the physical limits of the human body. It means being unbound by limitation completely, to be utterly unstoppable in theory and practice.”
Part of the Tree’s iconic legacy rests on the costume itself, which is an open canvas for each new Tree. Traditionally, the new Tree designs the costume over the summer, molding the Tree into a reflection of its own personality. They then express the spirit of Stanford and themselves at every game. In response to many student inquiries to keep the Tree green, Coulson assured that the construction and build of the Tree and its shape would remain the same.
The Tree is truly an embodiment of what it means to be at Stanford. Grayson Armour ’23, the Tree before Zietz, said, “I’d argue it is the most fun thing anyone could do at Stanford. It embodies the freedom of the university and the free-spiritedness.”
Over the years, Stanford’s administration has taken more steps to control the Tree, including suspending the Tree for a period of time in 2022 after the then-Tree Zietz held up a banner reading “Stanford Hates Fun.”
Though the mascot is a highly visible unofficial mascot for the University, it is officially under the jurisdiction of the Leland Stanford Junior University Band (LSJUMB). “I think the administration has not been cognizant of the fact that students value [the] freedom [of the Tree so deeply,” Armour said. “I feel like the Tree plays a vital role in the ecosystem here at Stanford because we are a very visible example of that principle.”
Coulson will soon step into that very role for students, which Rodriguez believes she is more than prepared for. “Ruby did a great job of showing her grit and character. And a lot of personality. She’s super eccentric and bubbly and I just knew she would get along really well with groups of students,” she said.
This is an energy Coulson already brings to her dorm community, as described by Coulson’s Resident Advisor Lindsey McKhann ’25 — “Ruby is so so committed, definitely a beating drum of activity within our dorm so it makes perfect sense to me to now be that same heartbeat for all of Stanford as our mascot,” McKhann said.
Students on Fizz, an anonymous platform for university students, are singing Coulson’s praise. One anonymous user wrote, “Everyone loves Ruby. Ruby is the best.”
However, being the Tree is a huge time commitment, having to travel alongside all of the sports teams. Coulson however, plans to manage time by taking 12 unit quarters and having the Tree as the main extracurricular. Coulson said, “The Tree comes first. And 12 units come as a sacrifice for that. Maybe that means I’m like a super super senior as well. My time here is fluid.”
Coulson also hopes that her time as the Tree will teach students at Stanford how to have fun again. “I just think we really need to Roll Card a lot harder… Stanford students don’t know how to have fun, we are an amazing school that deserves to be considered competitive in the ACC and that we work hard play harder,” Coulson said. “We really need to Roll Card.”
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