Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thoughts on Toomer's

One of the pictures taken on the day of my graduation from Auburn University. I'm at Toomer's under the beautiful shade of the Oak trees. 
I just wanted to take a little time to let it off my chest how I'm feeling about the tragedy at Toomer's (and yes, losing an iconic piece of history, of nature, of our Auburn family is in fact a tragedy). Is it a tragedy of epic proportions? No. It certainly does not meet the levels of September 11th, JFK's assassination, the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, or any other event of those nature.

Let me just outline a few of my basic thoughts.

1) I am a devoted Auburn alum and fan.
2) I do not "blame" the Alabama fan population. You will NOT see me saying anything about the population as a whole on this matter. This was clearly an act of a fringe lunatic who does not represent his fan base.
3) I am glad to see Alabama, UGA, and other SEC school fans supporting Auburn. This may seem "trite," but I appreciate the solidarity that we have in the SEC. This recent show of support reminds me of why I enjoy the SEC. It is certainly the conference with the best traditions and deeply devoted fans.
4) I think many Auburn folks are overreacting when they try to compare this to any terrorist action. Be careful of the words you choose. Take time to think about what you are saying.
5) I also think some people are being overly harsh about the event. Auburn fans are allowed to feel outrage. They are allowed to grieve for the loss of a cultural artifact. You don't have to like it, you don't have to agree with it, but show some human compassion and keep your negative energy to yourself.
6) For everyone, perspective is important, but remember, your frame of reference is different from everyone else's, so don't expect people to react the same as you.

With that said, I'm deeply sad that I will never get to show my children the trees at Toomer's. In a way I see it in the same light as endangered animals at the zoo. When a species dies out, I always think about it as one less experience to share with the future.  I know that the brick walls and the eagle statues remain at Toomer's, but the beautiful canopy of leaves will not be the same. Maybe we will be blessed by tiny Toomer's Oak seedlings, but that will take many many years, and lots of work.

I will never forget the many nights at Biggin Hall (for non-AU fans its the arts building by Toomer's) for film class. The one night where I ran out to get a fallen branch to use for our "light study." The Auburn v. Florida game that was an AWAY game, but we still all churned out to roll the tree til it looked like a blanket of snow. Finding a cell phone during said rolling event and getting it safely back to its owner. I'll never forget posing at Toomer's for my graduation photo. Proudly wearing my full regalia and smiling as I finished a huge chapter in my life. Who could forget the crazy pancake people? There are so many memories I have from only attending the school for just a few years. I cannot fathom the memories created in over 130 year span.

In sum, I'm pretty sad about this, but the world moves on. War Eagle!

Toomer's tree

Toomer's tree

2 comments:

  1. I agree with every point that you have made. As an aspiring "classy Alabama" grad/fan, I cannot see how a rivalry btw UA and Auburn-- which I participate in as a sort of sibling rivalry-- should go beyond harmless hijinks and move on to actual destruction. Outsiders must respect the grieving process that will be necessary for losing a cultural artifact, and insiders must grieve in proportion. The person responsible needs extensive psychiatric testing.

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  2. I'm not even asking that the man get a punishment that is outside the scope of the law. If the penalty for a class C felony is up to 10 years, then he should get that.

    Ok, so maybe...just maybe, I think that he also should have a little AU logo embroidered onto his already orange jail jumpsuit...harmless right?

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