Mel Pardock – Staff Writer

As of Tuesday, October 12th, the arboretum located on Gustavus’ campus has been renamed from “The Linnaeus Arboretum” to “The Arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus College.” This name change came after a process of deliberation that involved campus associates, a look into historical perspectives and collaboration with Swedish historians, and board conversations. The Board announced the creation of the Linnaeus Deliberation Circle in December 2020, and the circle has since done a deep-dive into how the values of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus compare and contrast with the core values of Gustavus: justice and community. President Rebecca Bergman discussed this name change in an email sent to the student body on October 18th.
“Carl Linnaeus, an 18th-century Swedish botanist, is best known for creating a classification system for all living things – both plants and animals – that is still used today. His classification of humans (Homo sapiens) into four “varieties” became, over time, one of the origins of scientific racism. While the word “race” has not been found in any of Linnaeus’s writing, he based his four “varieties” of humans on geography, skin color, and perceived physical and moral characteristics,” President Bergman said.
The push to rename the arboretum began in June 2020, when student organization the Radicals generated a petition calling for the removal of Linnaeus’ name from the arboretum, which gained over 200 signatures from students, faculty, and alumni. As concerns of racial injustice grew in the summer of 2020, the push became even larger. By the end of the year, an email had been sent from the Radicals to leaders, who generated ideas about how to approach the issue, and Board of Trustees chair Scott Anderson appointed Siri Erickson and Ron White to co-chair the Linnaeus Deliberation Circle. The chairs worked with the Deliberation Circle to generate ideas, then the chairs presented these ideas to the Board of Trustees in May 2021. A timeline of these events can be found on the Gustavus website.
“The circle’s work started in January of 2021, meeting January through May. We did a lot of research, took additional input from students, the national advisory board of the arboretum, faculty, and from a lot of alumni, connected with scholars of Linnaeus in Sweden, did some digging through the Gustavus archives to see how the arboretum came to have Carl Linnaeus’ name on it, and we did a lot of listening and research as well as deliberation. The Circle’s job was to generate different decision making scenarios for the Board of Trustees to consider,” Circle co-chair Siri Erickson said.
This name change has been vital in fostering a more inclusive, accepting community on the Gustavus campus. In a 2020 resolution on racial justice and inclusion, the Board of Trustees resolved to affirmed the college’s commitment to racial justice and inclusion, as well as work alongside President Bergman and her cabinet to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive Gustavus community. The change of the arboretum’s name has continued this resolution.
“If we are to create a welcoming environment and a sense of belonging here at Gustavus, now that the Linnaeus name and bust have been removed from the arboretum, we believe that we have now created a space in which we all have that sense of belonging, irrespective of your identity,” Circle co-chair Ron White said.