FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas will make a place in the Campus Arboretum near Old Main and Gearhart Hall for a World War I Memorial Tree. The two-year old willow oak will be planted at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 17 on the lawn east of Gearhart Hall. The ROTC Color Guard and a member of the Arkansas Forestry Commission will participate in the ceremony. Everyone is invited to attend.

The Arkansas World War I Centennial Commemoration Committee, in collaboration with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, is planting a WWI memorial tree in each of Arkansas’s 75 counties before the centennial observance of the war concludes at the end of 2018.

Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, is a member of the committee. The U of A has been chosen as the recipient of the memorial tree for Washington County.

"Through the organizational effort of the Arkansas World War 1 Commemoration Commission, and the generosity of the Arkansas Forestry Association, we're able to plant this tree in the Old Main Arboretum in honor of those Arkansas citizens, and in particular those citizens of Washington County and the University, who gave their service to the nation in the First World War - in many cases, giving their lives to the cause of world peace,” MacKeith said.

“This is additionally meaningful to the Fay Jones School, as our 2013 alumnus Joe Weishaar is currently designing the national World War I memorial in Washington DC, and as the plaque honoring those University students who gave their lives in service can be found in our building, Vol Walker Hall."

A total of 71,862 Arkansans served during World War I and 2,183 died while in service.