November, 1958. As Saint Xavier College students walked to class on their new campus, a recently discovered and still unnamed body of water offered a peaceful break on their journey. It would not stay nameless for long.
A college-wide contest was being held to name this body of water, and on November 19, the results were announced. Miss Mary Dean Funk won the competition, and her name “SX Sea” is what the college pond would be called for the next 40 years.
Several names made the runners-up list including Lake Marie, Lake Mercimere (likely referencing the Sisters of Mercy) and Lake Placid (after Saint Placidus). One runner-up name proved particularly prophetic, however.
Miss Mary Ryan’s entry was inspired by her mother’s name—Marian.
April 28, 1999. After several decades of passing from a tranquil recreational pond to a cesspool of pollution and tragedy, SX Sea underwent a rebirth on the eve of the new millennium. Shovel in hand, Sister Marion Johnson broke ground for a pear tree along the university pond which would be renamed Lake Marion in honor of her retirement (Xavierite, 4/03/99).
For 35 years, Sr. Johnson had been inextricably tied with the lake. After its deterioration in the 1970s (as discussed in Episode II), many had given up on restoring the lake to the glory days of the 1950s and 1960s, but not Sr. Johnson.
From the moment pollution reared its ugly head in the lake, Sr. Johnson spearheaded cleanup projects. At one point in the 1970s, she managed to get Ozinga Builders to offer three truckloads of sand to cover the bottom of the lake as part of a reclamation project. Sadly, the lake was deemed too far-gone for this to work.
Former SXC art professor Judith Hensel also joined in the original cleanup efforts in the late 1970s. Volunteers fished out chairs, an old bed and even several pinball machines. At one point during that era, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (A.I.B.S.) also came to SXC in an attempt to clean up the lake (Xavierite, 5/16/80).
In 1980, SXC announced the Lake Improvement Project, a $100,000,000 effort to renovate the area around the lake. Eventually this project resulted in the construction of the various buildings around the lake (Xavierite, 4/01/80).
Overall, Saint Xavier had not given up on its campus gem.
Despite the fact that the core pollution problem seemed irreversible, students, faculty and staff from the 1980s through today continued their cleanup efforts. Throughout these years, additional trees, vegetation and a fountain where added to revamp the lake. Most recently, the Saint Xavier class of 2012 made beautifying Lake Marion its class gift.
When our campus lake was named SX Sea in 1958, it ushered in years of enjoyment for students.
Renaming it Lake Marion in 1999 symbolized a rebirth and conveyed a message that, despite the many problems plaguing those waters, the hope for a new beginning would never die at Saint Xavier.
Present Day. Today, although still polluted, the rich foliage around the lake provides a different type of serenity. For all of the swimming, boating and fishing that went on during the 1960s, Lake Marion at that time was open and barren.
That cozy feeling you get when you stroll on the worn path amidst the tall trees was simply nonexistent back then. Essentially, the lake’s appeal has changed, but it is still one that every one at Saint Xavier can be proud of. Who knows, maybe one day we will find a way to make the lake clean again.
Times change. Students, faculty and staff come and go.
Lake Marion seems to be the one constant on campus. However, I hope that in this series of articles, you have come to see that even it has its own story.
The Saga of Lake Marion
Tony Bara
Viewpoints Contributor
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