The campus arboretum personnel do include certified arborists, so we're sure they're available for the grounds crews to consult if they have concerns about tree health (or they monitor the trees periodically themselves, we don't know since we're on an off-campus facility here at HGIC). With young trees, branches (especially those lower on the trunk) tend to be temporary, as they are shed over time as the tree matures, so their structure doesn't always have a great impact on the tree's prospects long-term. The minor bend visible in the photos doesn't look concerning, and the wood can even-out as it increases in girth as well as the tree ages. Rarely are tree trunks very straight, and when we see wild canopy trees like Tulip Poplar growing that way, it's often because they were originally growing up with more limited overhead light from a more forested habitat that was then altered by development and tree removal. This is one reason many trees on the edge of a roadway (the Inter-County Connector, for example) look very straight-trunked and bare-branched over much of their lower trunk; the tree has only recently been exposed to more light on that side, and grew up surrounded by other trees, which forced it to focus its growth directly upwards in order to compete for light. A Tulip Poplar tree growing from a young age in a field with much more light and room to spread tends to have a more broad canopy, although yes, different tree species do have some inherent differences in their overall branching pattern and mature canopy width.

As for leaf and branch breakage, that is likely physical damage induced by either human interference (maybe someone accidentally ran into the tree or hit it with a frisbee or something) or by wildlife. Squirrels, for instance, will gnaw off branch tips (even if they don't wind-up collecting them) for use in nesting. Plus, their teeth are perpetually growing, so they need to gnaw periodically to keep them worn-down. The inner bark on tree wood can also be a source of moisture and nutrients.

If you would like to mention your concerns to the campus arboretum personnel and share your photos, you are welcome to use the contact info. on the linked page to reach out to them. (They don't use the Ask Extension platform, so we can't have them directly join this conversation.) HGIC does not have certified arborists on staff, so we defer to the assessment of arboretum arborists or specialists in cases of tree health.

Miri