The Sycamore Trust takes its name from the "Guardian of the Grotto," the ancient tree standing watch over the Grotto that, according to legend, reaches with its gnarled branches toward God in prayerful memorial to the innocent Indian murdered where it took root.

As this sentinel is perpetually protective of the Grotto, so, too, have Notre Dame alumni been protective of the school’s formative heritage as it is adapted to the challenges of each age. At the heart of that heritage are Notre Dame’s Catholic identity and its sustaining relationship to the Church, even as institutional links have been dissolved.

There is more about the landmark sycamore tree in Dorothy V. Corson's The Spirit of Notre Dame: Its History, Legends and Lore.