Many students have noticed the red X’s on the trees while walking to Malone for lunch, but few know what they actually mean. We decided to find out.

Every tree marked with an X is going to be cut down. There are 74 trees coming down, with 125 new trees being planted, all being native species to Georgia. The goal of the project is to flatten the area so that the quad is accessible to everyone and to build a field, a more inviting place outside of Scott Hall and Pressley Hall so that more people can interact with each other. This project will impact Westminster graduations, student life, and accessibility. 

Keith Evans, the President of Westminster, explains that the construction plan looks to the future. “We’re going to build a new building. It is expected to open in January of 2026. What we’re going do is take Scott Hall, which right now sits down in the ground almost in a hole, and the new building will come up out of that ditch,” he says. “It’s going to house a whole bunch of things right now that are in borrowed space like robotics, WCAT, art studios . . . and bring them all together into one innovation center.”

Evans says the primary reason for losing the trees is the landscaping. “We are essentially going to reshape the quad to get all of the little hills and valleys out of it because right now the quad is not accessible for people who have a mobility challenge,” he says. “Right now the land drops about 11-13 feet from the top of the quad to the end of the quad, and to create something that’s accessible, it requires bringing a lot of field dirt and flattening it all out. The trees here are kind of in the way of it.”

However, the new construction isn’t the only reason for the trees getting cut down. According to Evans, most of the trees getting cut down are dying or not healthy. “The trees are growing so close together that some are winning, some are losing, some are more healthy than others,” he says. “Planting new ones will give us more ways for the trees to grow and thrive.” 

Evans believes that the existing trees, especially the pines, are not very healthy, and they make him worried whenever he sees them. “One of the things about those pine trees [that] makes me nervous every time I look at them [is] they have very shallow roots,” he says. “If the grounds were to get wet and the wind blew, I don’t think they would make it. You would never plant pine trees like that in a space like this, and the higher up the canopy the less space there is. Now [the pine trees have] really outgrown the space.”

However, some students question the plan. 8th grader Mary Adelaide Gump, a member of the Green Council student leadership group, believes that cutting down this many trees will harm Westminster rather than benefit it. “There is nothing we can do to stop it [the trees coming down] at the moment,” she says. “I believe that it is not a wise decision to remove the trees on campus as it is one big giant drawing factor that we have so much wildlife on campus. It’ll take away some of the ambiance of the campus especially as they continue to make it more modern. I feel as though there is definitely a way we could have worked around to keep at least some of them alive. I am glad that they are replanting, but saplings really do not have the same environmental impact as [full-grown] trees. It won’t be the same until at least a couple of years when they grow back.”

The goal of this project is to flatten the area so people can interact with each other more easily. Evans adds that right now most students don’t appreciate the outdoor space that they have and use it as a highway rather than a hang-out spot. “This area will end up with two large grass patches which are intended to invite students in,” he says. “The way the quad is working—you have this beautiful outdoor space, this beautiful weather, this beautiful day, what do you see people doing out here: just going to and from class. It’s kind of sad, like why aren’t they hanging out here?” Evans’s vision is to have students playing and hanging out outside with friends and enjoying the space. He wants people to interact more and not just use the space in front of Pressley and Scott Hall as a walkway.