The controversial diversity and inclusion Christmas tree sponsored by Marietta College has been removed from East Muskingum Park.

The institution’s president, Bill Ruud, informed alumni via email Tuesday before sharing the same message as well over the same social media platforms that were home to the initial backlash of the tree.

“Clearly, we missed the mark in choosing this medium to have a serious discussion about inclusivity and we apologize,” said Ruud in the letter. “We have decided to remove the tree from the display. We are an educational institution, and like our students, we are always learning.”

Many of the social media responses called the Christmas tree “tone deaf” or demeaning of the focus of the Black Lives Matter movement, including both alumni of the institution and non-affiliated residents of the Marietta area.

One comment threatened to burn down the tree.

Another thread challenged alumni to use the timely dialogue as an opportunity to reinvest in human capital by sending diverse students to consider the school.

Similarly, Ruud encouraged the college community to continue pioneering the “courageous conversations” which were the intent of the tree before its removal.

“I hope you will join us by being an active and productive participant by sharing what you are doing in your daily lives and in your workplace to help your community create a diverse, equitable and welcoming environment for people who face discrimination,” he wrote.

One alumnus shared how he hopes to use this event as an opportunity to further the discussion concerning inclusion and equity within his professional roles.

“The company I work for and its partner companies are involved in the nonprofit space very heavily so I sell a (customer relationship management) alumni database [to] education institutions and hospitals/healthcare, that sort of thing. Then we have a consulting company that’s a close partner of ours that does a lot of implementation work for us and consults with all sorts of partner groups and nonprofit groups so obviously inclusivity and diversity and all of these issues are very hot topics in the higher ed and nonprofit world,” explained Mark Connors, 53, of Derry, N.H.

Connors said at the onset of the resurge in the Black Lives Matter movement this year, his colleagues likewise looked internally for reflection.

“Despite being a very diverse company already and thinking that we’re doing a good job on sensitive topics [leadership considered] well you know, maybe we’re not as good as we think and we should probably take this moment to reevaluate,” he explained.

Then, what they call the “JEDI Team” was born.

JEDI stands for Justice, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Connors noted to an alumni group that he sent the article in Monday’s Times edition on the tree’s backlash to that team, encouraging reflection.