Southern Lights has been an ongoing tradition on Missouri Southern’s campus for eight years now. Administrators would light the tree and sing a holiday song.

In the past, it’s been a night that puts students in the mood for the holiday season by featuring all of the season’s staples: hot cocoa, apple cider, lights, cookie decoration activities and a horse drawn carriage that students can ride in — all free of charge.

This year, however, the school seemingly forgot the most memorable part of past years: the tree.

Every year around this time, students would know the end of the semester was near when they walked through the Oval and saw the giant, immaculately decorated tree, but that is no longer the case.

Instead of the classical tree approach, the University decided to adorn the lion statue with a wreath. Yes, a wreath. Nothing quite screams ‘tis the season like a lion with a wreath around its neck.

It’s not that I have a problem with the lion and the wreath. It would have been a neat idea as a complementary piece to the campus holiday celebration, but as the staple? We don’t believe it makes the cut.

Simply put, we would like to see the University return to the more classical approach next holiday season. The wreath was a neat gesture, but it just doesn’t reflect the mood of the season like a tree would.

As the old saying goes, “If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it.” This can be applied to a number of facets in life, including this scenario. The tree symbolizes the nearing of time spent with family and friends that a wreath doesn’t quite accomplish.