Two students injured when falling tree
smashes Divinity School window

Photos and story by Skip Anderson

Two students were injured when a falling tree shattered the glass of a second-story Divinity School window Thursday evening. Neither student sought medical treatment for their cuts, which were reported to be minor. Fifteen people were believed to be in the classroom when the incident took place.

An instant later, the tree crashed down upon the rear end of a Mitsubishi Galant, narrowly missing the vehicles two occupants. Neither the driver nor passenger was injured. The heavily damaged car remained pinned beneath the tree in the driveway that separates the Divinity School and the Owen Graduate School of Management. Campus authorities had brought to the scene a large wood chipper to dismantle the tree shortly after 7 p.m.

"It looks like the roots were no longer being supportive and the tree just fell over," said Vanderbilt Police Officer Eugene Kessler.

Moderate rain associated with the tropical storm Isidore fell steadily across Middle Tennessee throughout the day, and by late afternoon the winds had begun to increase, according to the National Weather Service. The tree left a seven-foot-wide, shallow hole where its root system had pulled from the rain-softened ground, apparently causing the mature tree to topple. Local forecasts called for as much as six inches of rain to fall by the time the front pushes through by midday Friday.

Apparently only the top-most branches hit the window, leaving a three-foot, saw-toothed hole in what remained of the double-paned window. Inside the Divinity School, workers swept broken glass from Room 138, located in the northeast corner of the building. Other than the window, the building did not appear to be damaged.

Mark Petty, director of buildings and utilities, estimated the tree to be 40 to 60 years old. The tree is one of a pair Japanese Zelkova trees that stood on opposite sides of the driveway. Petty said he believes one of the two trees may have once been a state champion, meaning it is the largest of its species in Tennessee. The Vanderbilt campus has had at least seven state champion trees since being declared a national arboretum in 1988.

Posted 9/26/02 at 9:20 p.m.

Apparently only the top-most branches hit the window, leaving a three-foot, saw-toothed hole in what remained of the double-paned window.