The site of Lindsey Bonistall's memorial tree remains barren after two years of negligent upkeep by the university.
Murdered in her off-campus home over four years ago, Lindsey Bonistall, a university student, was honored with a memorial tree planted halfway between Memorial Hall and the Perkins Student Center in 2006.
While the university's initial act of remembrance for Lindsey and her family was appropriate, the administration's handling of the memorial site since then has been extremely questionable.
If there were ongoing problems with the memorial tree's health why had the university not immediately notified the Bonistall family?
All lines of communication between the family and the administration had ceased. The family was never told that the tree had been removed from the site nor were they aware that a permanent plaque was never erected.
Such acts of complete disrespect towards Lindsey's memory should not be tolerated by the university community.
The fact that the family felt the university was abandoning them once the statute of limitations expired is also unacceptable.
The land meant to act as a symbol in Lindsey's memory now serves as a constant reminder of the university's lack of caring in regards to this sensitive matter.
If the land chosen for Lindsey's memorial site is not suitable for certain types of specific wildlife then a permanent plaque should have been immediately erected in the tree's place.
The least the university can do to remember a student so tragically lost is have her memorial site well-kept and prominently displayed. There is no excuse for Lindsey's memorial to simply disappear from its original site with no explanation given to her friends and family.
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