Meet the sapling: Bravery and new beginnings with Emily Rodriguez ’26, the forty fifth Stanford Tree

Mascots play an indispensable position on any college campus. Past entertaining at sporting video games, they facilitate dialogue with the scholar physique. Of all mascots, although, one absolutely stands out for its potential to hype up a crowd with unparalleled spontaneous, funky vitality — the Stanford Tree.

Final Saturday, Stanford’s unofficial mascot formally inaugurated its forty fifth inheritor: Emily Rodriguez ’26. Her rollout marked the top of Tree Week, a yearly custom throughout which potential “sprouts” vie for the approval of the outgoing Tree with a sequence of calculated hijinks termed “stunts.”

Every Tree serves a one-year time period. Each Spring a brand new Tree is born, whereupon they’re required to entertain at common rallies and sport occasions by Fall, Winter and the next Spring. They don the tree costume till it’s time to pick out their successor.

From the preliminary group of 14 that attended the data session, three decided sprouts selected to take part within the tryouts this Spring. Rodriguez attributed the dropouts to the big time and vitality calls for of the place. To her, the singularity of the position makes it well worth the sizable dedication.

“Even when meaning I’ll in all probability must miss out on a few issues my sophomore 12 months, then so be it, as a result of that is an expertise that only a few folks on this campus will ever get to have,” she mentioned.

Rodriguez had explored a handful of various golf equipment and actions earlier this 12 months as a freshman, however none of them managed to seize her pleasure and dedication on this manner. That modified when a good friend instructed her in regards to the Tree audition course of. Intrigued by the phrase “audition,” she inquired additional; the remainder is historical past.

Tree Week is something however a standard audition. Final 12 months’s Tree, Jordan Zietz ’24, was chargeable for judging the sprouts’ stunts. Zietz described trying to find a sure enigmatic “vitality” — a high quality innate to anybody who has borne the beloved go well with in generations previous.

Stanford’s mascot embodies zaniness in nearly each facet. Its cartoon-like look and vibrant, eccentric dancing are the signature companions of the Leland Stanford Junior College Marching Band (LSJUMB). The band itself has even been dubbed the “most banned marching band.”

It comes as no shock, then, that Tree stunts are an invite to strive nearly something. It’s mentioned that there are solely three guidelines: don’t go to jail, don’t go to the hospital and don’t mild your self on fireplace. In accordance with LSJUMB director Russ Gavin, new security measures have been carried out in recent times. Sprouts should now signal a conduct settlement, which discourages stunts involving hurt, shows of wealth or gratuitous vulgarity.

Rodriguez selected to loosely heart her stunts across the theme of “The Lorax.” Her debut stunt was a hatching scene through which she emerged from a cardboard field labeled “Egg” and recited the Dr. Seuss character’s iconic line: “I’m the Lorax and I converse for the timber.” She made true on her promise the next day by following Zeitz round and repeating no matter he mentioned. Her favourite stunt concerned singing “I Need It That Approach” by the Backstreet Boys in the midst of a CS 106B lecture, a category that she was not even enrolled in.

Zietz was most impressed by Rodriguez’s closing stunt. In reference to an inside joke with mates from house, Rodriguez swam round an inflatable pool with actual cockroaches, ate just a few after which proclaimed that she had saved New York Metropolis. Finally, Zietz mentioned one essential consider deciding on her to be his successor was “selecting somebody who embodies this sentiment of ‘F*ck it we ball.’”

Relating to the within joke behind the stunt, Rodriguez mentioned, “You’ll simply must be left questioning.”

Zietz believed {that a} Tree will need to have a real, deep care for his or her neighborhood. As Tree, “You’re the bodily embodiment of the spirit of Stanford and the scholars right here,” he mentioned.

The Stanford neighborhood welcomed Rodriguez’s new position with a wave of social media congratulations. Rodriguez mentioned she discovered notably enthusiastic help from her communities in Casa Zapata and the Central American Pupil Affiliation (CASA). Being of Nicaraguan descent, she feels proud to be Stanford’s first Central American Tree.

Gavin was likewise gratified by her choice. Recalling Dahkota Brown ’20, who made historical past as the primary Indigenous Tree in 2017, he famous that the Tree has the facility to symbolize totally different features and experiences throughout the pupil physique.

Rodriguez described herself as an introverted individual, regardless of proof suggesting the opposite. In accordance with Rodriguez, the loopy Tree persona is just one other facet of her character.

“That’s what this week was for me — simply pulling that character out of myself,” mentioned Rodriguez. “I must proceed to be that manner so long as I’m on this tree go well with.”