Maryville College alumni, students and staff came together from June 10 to June 13 to volunteer around campus for MC’s KT Days.
Named after MC alum Kin Takahashi, the week consists of projects, social gatherings and camaraderie.
Takahashi was MC’s first Japanese student and created a legacy during his time at the college. He was responsible for facilitating the building of MC Bartlett Hall, which began as a YMCA. He organized students and led them in creating over 300,000 bricks using clay from where the building now sits. Those bricks were used to construct the building.
His ability to inspire and mobilize his fellow students left a lasting impression.
This year was especially bittersweet for the returning alumni. While coming together to give back to the MC campus, they were also honoring the life and legacy of Tom Eberhard, a graduate of the class of 1960.
Eberhard, who passed away last year, was instrumental in forming what is now known as KT Days, named after Takahashi.
According to a press release from MC, Eberhard suggested that while not all alumni had the financial capability to donate to the college, they could donate their time and efforts to beautify the campus to make it more appealing to potential students, donors and staff.
Thus, KT Days was born out of the class of 1960.
Last week, down in the MC Woods, Libby Burke ‘65, Lisa Burkett ‘88, Valerie Gako ‘27 and Chemistry Lecturer Danielle Lincoln were out in the mid-afternoon heat removing English Ivy from old-growth trees in the woods.
Lincoln explained that English Ivy climbs up trees, eventually completely covering them, which weighs them down and eventually kills them.
Lincoln said keeping the diversity of the trees within the MC woods was crucial in maintaining the woods’ ecosystem.
“Some of these trees are easily 100 years old,” Lincoln said.
To give an idea of how wide invasive plants can spread, Lincoln explained that when Anderson Hall was first built, English ivy was planted around it. English Ivy currently growing in the Blount/Knox area can be linked back to that original ivy that was planted at Anderson, she said.
While the group of volunteers differed in age and location, all shared a mutual love and care for Maryville College.
Burkett said preserving the woods is meaningful to her because of the time she spent in the woods as a student.
She was the youngest of six in a single-parent household.
“Nobody had gone to college to speak of in my family, nobody had graduated, and so for me, this changed my entire life,” Burkett said.
After a career in Washington, DC, she moved back to Maryville in 2020 and still enjoys taking walks in the woods on MC’s campus.
For Burke, MC reinforced her values on faith and education.
Burke started out as a theatre major at the school, but as many students often do, shifted direction. She spent 32 years as a speech pathologist.
Burke was impressed by MC’s emphasis on the environment and STEM. She described the school as “forward-thinking” and “state-of-the-art.”
Other volunteers were seen repairing signs and making their way to the next project on their list. Other jobs on campus included repairing the Crawford House picket fence, cataloging in the college archives and replacing the College Woods education kiosk roof.
The day ended with a celebratory banquet and well-deserved rest, the volunteers said.
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