When Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and 1964 alumna of Benedictine College spoke on campus on January 28, she talked about taking action.  In her presentation, “Leadership, Activism, and the Benedictine Spirit,” Maathai used story-telling, humor, her Benedictine education background, and a lifetime of learning to encourage everyone to do what is right, regardless of politics.

During the program, the college distributed more than 1,000
9-inch Norway Spruce seedlings to those in attendance.  The seedlings came with instructions on how to care for them and a message to plant them on National Arbor Day, April 27, 2007, in honor of Wangari Maathai.  Benedictine College students from the Biology Department did just that on Friday.

“This is something important, and it’s being done to honor our friend and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangai Maathai,” said Trevor Wild, student body president and a junior biology major at Benedictine.  “Her Green Belt Movement has planted millions of trees to help the environment and we’re just trying to do our part.”

The students planted 10 trees beside Westerman Hall, the science building that houses the Biology Department.  The college has more than 150 additional trees that will be planted “nursery style” and tended for two to four years, then transplanted around the campus.
“We wanted to do something that would make her message come to life, literally,” said Steve Johnson, communications director for the college.  “We wanted to do something that made people take action…actually have to do something.”

Maathai once said, “To plant a tree is to plant hope in your life.”  She started the Green Belt Movement in 1977 after conducting research that linked problems within the Kenyan economy and society to deforestation.  The group has planted more than 40 million trees in the last 30 years, and has brought environmental issues into the realm of world politics.  Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts to promote democracy, peace and sustainable development and is the first Peace Prize winner to have an environmental focus.