I graduated in 1961.  When I started in 1957, UC Davis had about 2,200 students, fewer than my current high school had at it's prime.  I believe I entered the second year that the College of Letters and Science was in existence.  Prior to that, Davis was all agriculture engineering and home ec.  When I graduated in 1961, Davis had grown to about 5,000.

1960 was a leap year.  The tradition was that every four years, February 29 was called "Labor Day".  Each residence unit (dorm floors, fraternities, off campus) was assigned a work party detail somewhere on campus.  I remember some cleaning barns, clearing trash, etc.  In 1960, many residence units were assigned to "plant the arboretum".  

At that time, Putah Creek was a tiny trickle on the outer edge of campus.  It certainly was not a destination or a beauty spot on campus.  It was muddy in the winter and bred mosquitoes in the summer.  In February. the ground was soft from the rain.  That particularly day was cold and drizzly, too.  We were given hoes, rakes and shovels and many trees, some bare root and some in 5 gallon buckets, each an exotic species.  Each residence unit was given a specific area to clean out and plant.  

It was a day of team building and camaraderie that culminated in a campus barbeque on the quad, all of us rubbing sore muscles unused to that type of work.  Even though I don't remember exactly where 5th floor Malcolm planted trees, when I returned for Picnic Day, 2011 to celebrate my 50th year reunion, I walked the arboretum with a sense of pride and wonder about the vision that created such a lovely space on campus so many years ago