SEQUIM — Keen eyes might spot a Sequim local supporting her college’s athletes at the Paris Olympics in some fun fashion.
Ruby Coulson, a 2023 Sequim High School graduate, is in Paris to represent Stanford University as the Stanford Tree, the unofficial mascot for the school that’s been an annual tradition since 1975.
The Environmental Systems Engineer major was chosen in late April to be the Stanford Tree for the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) and appear at sporting events.
“I truly had no knowledge [being a mascot] was something I could do,” Coulson said.
Stanford has 60 Olympians this year, including 14 current student-athletes, and alumni Andrew and Nicole Luck have provided funding for Coulson’s travel in conjunction with Stanford. Luck was an outstanding Stanford quarterback drafted No. 1 overall by the Indianapolis Colts in 2012.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” she said of the trip.
“They’ve been working to send Tree to Paris and the Olympics since May, and I’m going to represent student athletes and the school.”
Some of Stanford’s current and alumni Olympic athletes include Torri Huske and now 13-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky with USA women’s swim team, and Asher Hong and Brody Malone with USA men’s gymnastics.
Coulson visited France for the first time Thursday and will spend five days in Paris attending sporting events to cheer on and meet Stanford athletes while doing media appearances for the university.
“I have a packed schedule doing a lot with the Team USA house, like men’s gymnastics and any water sports,” Coulson said.
She’ll also be visiting iconic spots in the country.
Coulson, who is on the school’s equestrian team, said she loves watching gymnastics and is particularly excited to see Stanford alumnus Nayel Nassar competing for Egypt in Individual Show Jumping.
She is especially thankful to the Lucks who helped pay for her trip, saying, “they’re just the best people in the world. I could not have done this without them.”
Look for her on Stanford social media accounts, and tree’s own account @dastanfordtree.
Read more about Stanford athletes and their Olympic schedule at gostanford.com/paris2024.
Why be the Tree?
During her first year, Coulson said she felt a need for the student community to rally more around their successful sport programs as “by basic metrics we are best in the nation for sports.”
“I want to bring back good old-fashioned fun to sports,” she said.
“A lot of students don’t know how to have fun post-Covid.”
Coulson is now Tree No. 46 and won the honor after sleeping in a tree for 12 hours during Tree Week.
“Being Tree is the craziest way to put yourself out there,” she said. “Even in my friend group in Stanford, they’ve started coming to games more.
“When I tried out to be Tree, they helped me along the way.”
As tradition, she’s been making her own Tree to debut at Stanford’s first home football game against TCU on Aug. 30.
She’s been working on her unnamed Tree this summer while living in Sequim and working at the Dungeness River Nature Center.
“I couldn’t do it without my parents [John and Jodie Coulson],” Coulson said. “I barely know how to sew.”
“Mine will not be ready for Paris; it’s a multi-month long process.”
Her design includes working with a local welder, several sewing machines and working with “materials I never knew existed,” she said.
In Paris, Coulson will appear as Herman the Tree, made by Grayson Armour for 2021-22, and she’ll be accompanied by Tree No. 45 Emily Rodriguez.
To travel, Herman’s parts will go in a pole vault bag and a 4-foot-by-4-foot box.
Busy school schedule
For the school year, Coulson will appear as her Tree at least twice a week for 20 weeks with her term ending in April 2025.
Her debut will also be Stanford’s first football game since leaving the Pac-12 for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
She’ll drive back to Stanford on Aug. 27 with her parents for the Aug. 30 game, with another home game the following weekend.
“Once we start, we don’t stop,” Coulson said.
She hopes to travel to each away football game, and she plans to go with the men’s and women’s basketball teams, too.
Being the Stanford Tree is a volunteer position, and she’s planning to take 14 credits in the fall and winter to best manage her busy schedule, she said.
Ruby Coulson of Sequim, seen here standing on a balance beam for a promotional video for Stanford University, will soon travel to Paris to appear as the university’s unofficial mascot the Stanford Tree. She’ll be wearing a costume from a few years ago called Herman, not pictured.
Photo courtesy Stanford University Athletics/ Herman the Stanford Tree made by Grayson Armour appears at a Stanford University football game a few years ago. Sequim’s Ruby Coulson was selected earlier this year to be the unofficial mascot through April 2025, and is making her own costume to wear at sporting events. She’ll wear Herman in Paris for the Olympics to support Stanford athletes.
