Collegiate Times

In an effort to save the Stadium Woods, the Virginia Tech Environmental Coalition will be having one of the many 300-year-old white oaks named after comedian and television host Stephen Colbert.

The event will occur on Tuesday, May 1 at 4:00 p.m. behind the Washington Street tennis courts, and is expected to last about 45 minutes. 

The coalition’s intention for the event is to bring more attention to its campaign to save the Stadium Woods, which is in danger of having a significant chunk torn down to make way for a new indoor practice facility for the athletic department.

The Virginia Tech TV crew will be among the media covering the event.  It was hoped the Colbert’s camera crew would be able to attend, but schedules have made it unlikely and VTEC is prepared to have video recordings of the event sent to them.

“I highly doubt they’ll be here as of now, but we’ll have crews out there taking footage of the event,” said Erica Largen, junior environmental policy & planning major and President of the Virginia Tech Environmental Coalition. “Everything that’s shot will be sent to their studio in New York.  They seem really excited to see what we’ve got.” 

Colbert himself will not be in attendance, as he is expected for the live recording of his show that night in New York. 

The official title of the tree will be “Quercus Omnipotens colberticas,” translating to “almight Colbert oak.” With the recommendation for the location of the practice facility being selected on June 1, Largen has high hopes for the publicity gained by the naming, and what it could do for their cause. 

“We’ve gotten a lot of positive response from the student body on the Facebook event page,” Largen said. “Students want to preserve the tradition that the woods are apart of.”

A version of this article appeared in the May 1 issue of the Collegiate Times.