Beautification project showcases USM Gulf Park Campus’s deep-rooted connection to Coast
LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) - University of Southern Mississippi President, Dr. Joe Paul, joined Long Beach Mayor George Bass and other community stakeholders in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Friendship Oak Beautification Project on Friday.
The project, vetted by the Mississippi Department of Transportation and approved by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, provides a showcase for the centuries-old live oak located on the front lawn of campus – complete with lights, benches and off-street viewing areas.
It also creates a landscaped platform on what was the foundation of the old Administration Building destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“The tree is over 500 years old – 1487. Columbus was 1492. This oak was already here before he even set sail for America,″ explained Jason Cantu, Architect and Assistant Director for Campus Projects at USM.
“This project connects to the rest of campus. It’s almost the gateway and the Friendship Oak is the first thing that you see kind of welcoming everybody. So, it was really important to do something that was meaningful for the oak, but also preserve the past of campus. So, we included the Administration Plaza which was a building pre-Katrina.”
Cantu, who has been in his role at USM for the past eight years, says more than a dozen visitors stop by each week to enjoy the sights and shade the tree provides.
The new spotlights will provide enhanced safety for those accessing the campus at night. The tree is also flanked by two benches donated by the Gold Leaf Society in Hattiesburg.
Survivor of at least three recorded lightning strikes, the last in 2017, and countless hurricanes over the centuries, the significance of the tree and its deep-rooted connection to the Coast is not lost on Mayor Bass.
“I stood in front of this tree six weeks after Katrina with national news asking me ‘How will the Coast rebuild?’ and I turned around and pointed at the resiliency of the oak, which had every limb stripped bare of every leaf, but there were new buds coming out,” Mayor Bass recounted. “And I said, ’Just as that oak tree is budding, so will this coast.‘”
The USM President also spoke of the tree’s symbolism to the school.
“The historic Friendship Oak just speaks to the deeper sense of Southern Miss grit. Of resilience. Of never giving up and never giving in,” he said. “Now, thousands and thousands of people forever and ever can come walk these grounds – just pulling off [U.S.] Highway 90 – and enjoy the beautiful Friendship Oak and learn more about Southern Miss.”
Those in attendance also celebrated the newly landscaped Administration Plaza, which pays tribute to the original classroom built in that exact spot in 1921, including the floorplan of that building.
“This is a special day,” Dr. Paul told WLOX. “First of all, it’s a beautiful project thanks to Charles Busby, our highway commissioner for the MDOT funding.
“We are standing on the slab of the Administration Building prior to Hurricane Katrina.”
Paul said USM’s presence on the Gulf Coast is vital.
“The University of Southern Mississippi is the only dual-campus university in state and the Mississippi Gulf Coast is not only the fastest-growing area of the state, but there is a tremendous need for college-educated workers.”
Paul also teased a new scholarship program for graduates of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Pearl River Community College, which he says will be unequaled in terms of value.
“We are actively engaged in healthcare here,” he said. “We will start a Physician Assistant Program in late 2026/early 2027, so I see a lot of healthcare development here and certainly all the ocean sciences – huge."
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