Sewanee News

The University of the South is one of more than 60 inaugural members of the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance. Other member institutions include Amherst College, Davidson College, Oberlin College, and Washington and Lee University. The alliance will partner with the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center to offer workshops for faculty and staff and provide access to resources focused on racial equity solutions. 

College students are returning to campus during the last week of January for the start of the spring semester. Classes start Monday, Feb. 1.

Professor Sean O’Rourke and Lesli K. Pace will discuss their companion books Like Wildfire: The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Sit-Ins and the forthcoming On Fire: Five Civil Rights Sit-Ins and the Rhetoric of Protest. Zoom event Jan. 7; registration required.

The Nashville Tennessean profiles the University’s efforts to become a more welcoming place for all. "We will spare no effort to ensure that there is ample space and a warm welcome for anyone who seeks its insights and who hungers for its inspiration," Vice-Chancellor Reuben Brigety says.

Recent Sewanee graduates and English majors Sydney Leibfritz, Briana Wheeler, and Carlos Zayas-Pons, all C'20, have founded a new literary journal called Ample Remains.

To further an initiative toward innovations in teaching and mentoring, the Office of the Dean of the College announces the first round of grants to faculty members for work focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion broadly considered.

The grant will allow Sewanee to develop a Sewanee Public Interest Data Analysis Institute, and to build data analytics and technological capacity to address public health challenges in underserved communities.

Sewanee Dining began using reusable to-go containers at the end of August when students couldn’t all be seated in McClurg Dining Hall due to COVID-19 protocols. The boxes are “checked out” and returned, and over a six-week period kept almost 34,000 single-use containers out of the landfill.

Leadership changes will occur at the end of the year in the Division of Student Life. Dean of Students W. Marichal Gentry, C’86, will leave his position and Nicole Noffsinger-Frazier, C’97, will move into her new role of associate provost for student life and dean of students.

The University is beginning the process of hiring a chief diversity officer who will oversee a new Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

With support from the Board of Regents, the University is convening a committee—composed of faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, trustees, and regents—to examine the use of alcohol and narcotics at Sewanee.

A special small event (masked and outdoors) was held in Guerry Garth to recognize the students who received Advent semester awards and prizes. The awards are usually announced during Family Weekend; this year’s event was livestreamed for parents and for those students who received their awards remotely.

The University is establishing its own testing lab to provide greater capacity and faster processing for COVID-19 tests next semester. Professor Alyssa Summers will be the technical director of the Sewanee Molecular Diagnostics Lab, while both she and Professor Clint Smith will work as molecular lab specialists to process samples.

An initiation ceremony was held on Thursday, Oct. 15, for members of the Class of 2021 who have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

The University of the South welcomes six new tenure-track faculty members this fall, along with three alumni who have returned this year to teach.

A ceremony at the School of Theology honored the Rev. Joseph Green Jr., T’65, H’10, one of the first two African American students to earn a degree from the University of the South. 

Vice-Chancellor Brigety announced that the University will launch a number of initiatives in response to a Board of Regents statement categorically rejecting the University’s past veneration of the Confederacy.

The annual Launching of the New Year took place as a livestreamed event on Tuesday, Aug. 18. The event each year allows the vice-chancellor and student leaders to share news and aspirations for the coming year.

Daniel Carter, assistant professor of environmental studies, has been awarded a 2020 Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award, presented by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to recognize exemplary public service. He is the fifth Sewanee recipient in the last nine years.

The University is happy to welcome students to Sewanee for the fall semester, and our students are excited to be here. This is true even when, as the vice-chancellor says, this semester will not look like any other semester in the history of the University.

The University has decided to locate a new cell tower in the rear tailgate area of Sewanee’s Harris Stadium (football stadium). The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgency to address the inadequacy of cell service on campus. 

All Sewanee faculty and staff members were tested for COVID-19 in late July, prior to students returning to campus. 

Vice-Chancellor Brigety has received letters of congratulation from all four living former presidents. The notes acknowledge Brigety’s personal history of public service. 

On Wednesday, July 8, Vice-Chancellor Brigety shared with Sewanee students, faculty, and staff a statement of support for international students.

Last Sunday, Vice-Chancellor Reuben Brigety was part of Kanuga's new online dialogue series "Face to Face: Conversations from Kanuga." Brigety engaged in conversation with Kanuga President the Rev. Michael Sullivan, T'00, a former Regent of the University. The hour-long conversation covered current topics including racism and injustice now and throughout American history.

On Wednesday, June 17, Vice-Chancellor Reuben Brigety marked his first day in that office with a sunrise Morning Prayer service followed by remarks to the Sewanee family and community.

A brief gathering was held June 16 in All Saints’ Chapel to observe the “Leave-Taking” of Sewanee’s 16th vice-chancellor, following a morning of recognitions by the Board of Regents.

The University of the South is aware of the recent arrest of an alumnus who has been charged under federal law.

The Sewanee Fall Operational Group (Sewanee FOG) has been planning for how the University will operate in the fall. Initial decisions now have been made regarding fall semester start dates and the academic calendar. 

A brief gathering June 16 in All Saints’ Chapel will observe the “Leave-Taking” of John McCardell, Sewanee's 16th vice-chancellor. Reuben Brigety, who was elected the 17th vice-chancellor in February, will begin his first day in office with a sunrise Morning Prayer service followed by remarks to the Sewanee community on June 17.

Since June 1, in the wake of national protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody, Vice-Chancellor John McCardell, Dean of Students Marichal Gentry, the Deans of the School of Theology, and the Office of the Dean of the College have sent messages to students, faculty, and staff. Student organizations made powerful statements of support for racial justice.

A sense of community is at the heart of a Sewanee education, and while in some ways this spring’s forced separation has drawn us closer, our fervent hope is that we will reunite on campus soon. Bringing students safely back to campus is in the best interest of our entire community. As we plan a return to in-person instruction in the fall, we are also necessarily paying attention to making sure our campus and local community remain healthy and safe.

Amy Turner, director of Sewanee’s Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability, gives an update about some of the program’s spring activities, including blazing trails and gleaning greens.

As the COVID-19 crisis stretches on, Sewanee Features has gathered more stories and reflections that offer some unique perspectives from Sewanee students, faculty, and alumni.

Sewanee faculty members have been in the news sharing research, imparting expertise, and creating art. Four professors won this year’s College faculty awards.

The Convocation and Conferring of Degrees for the College of Arts & Sciences and School of Letters was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until the University is able to hold a full commencement ceremony, addresses were given, awards were announced, and degrees were conferred by video.

Vice-Chancellor John McCardell announced the appointment of the Rev. Canon James F. Turrell, Ph.D., as dean of the School of Theology. Turrell is the current Norma and Olan Mills Professor of Divinity, professor of liturgy, associate dean for academic affairs, and sub-dean of the Chapel of the Apostles. 

Following a challenging spring, the University administration is engaged in preparation for the next academic year. Their actions thus far, such as conducting registration for fall classes and holding room draw for returning students, anticipate a normal opening for fall semester.

Dean of the College Terry Papillon has announced that teacher, writer, and editor Justin Taylor has been named the next director of the Sewanee School of Letters. Taylor has taught writing at the graduate and undergraduate levels across the U.S. He is the author of two story collections and the novel The Gospel of Anarchy, and serves as the fiction editor at the Literary Review.

The University Art Gallery and the Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies are pleased to present online exhibitions by the graduating art majors of 2020.

Last August, Vice-Chancellor John McCardell announced his plans to step down from that role at the end of July 2020, when summer programs were expected to conclude. Because of the disruption to the academic and summer calendars caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, McCardell has recommended a change in the scheduled leadership transition; Vice-Chancellor-Elect Reuben Brigety will assume office in mid-June.

As the COVID-19 crisis stretches on, Sewanee Features has gathered stories and reflections from students, faculty, and alumni to offer some unique perspectives on the University and its people during this unprecedented time.

Wilder McCoy, C’20, a natural resources and international and global studies major, has been awarded a prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. His project, “Blue Money: The Cultural Value of Water,” is a culmination of McCoy's two central passions: water resource management and socially responsible investment.

Although students are away from campus and faculty and staff are working largely from home, members of the University community are finding ways to experience the arts separately—yet together.

During these turbulent times, the staff of All Saints’ Chapel offers a series of unique online services through which the Sewanee family is encouraged to watch brief services, find the liturgy and readings, and listen to music.

As part of its virtual visit options for prospective students, Sewanee is now offering online classes from Sewanee faculty, and everyone is invited to sit in. The first group of classes include chances to hike Fiery Gizzard and Bridal Veil Falls with Bran Potter, learn about the Jim Crow South from John Willis, and more!

The University Wellness Center and Counseling and Psychological Services offer several online drop-in programs for the rest of the semester to help students address current challenges and build skills.

Sewanee is the state of Tennessee’s host for a “power dialog” webinar to be held simultaneously with others in every U.S. state plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The Solve Climate by 2030 webinars aim to focus Americans on state-level and local solutions to climate change.

Reuben E. Brigety II, dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University and former U.S. ambassador to the African Union, has been elected Sewanee’s 17th vice-chancellor and president by the Board of Trustees. Brigety is a native Southerner whose life and distinguished career have taken him from the U.S. Naval Academy to the University of Cambridge, and from Africa to Washington, D.C.

The Rev. Peter Gray, rector of the Church of the Nativity in Greenwood, Mississippi, has been elected the next chaplain of the University of the South. The University’s Board of Trustees elected Gray during their meeting on Feb. 28.

Twelve members of the Class of 2020 have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa, joining nine classmates who were elected in the fall semester. An initiation ceremony was held on Thursday, Feb. 20.

Courtney Boucher, C’21, is currently sailing in the Caribbean aboard a tall ship ocean research vessel.

The Sewanee chapter of NAACP in collaboration with the 213-A Leaders Program will host a screening of "Just Mercy," a recent film adaptation of Bryan Stevenson’s memoir "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption." The following day, a panel will be in conversation about the themes explored in the movie and memoir. Stevenson’s story is familiar to many Sewanee students; "Just Mercy" has been the University’s common book for the last two years.

History Professor John Willis and Vice-Chancellor John McCardell have been on the air recently, Willis as part of an episode of WNYC's “United States of Anxiety” podcast and McCardell on KRLD News Radio’s “CEO Spotlight.”

The Carnegie Foundation has selected the University of the South for its 2020 Community Engagement Classification, a designation that indicates institutional commitment to community engagement. Sewanee is one of only 18 U.S. liberal arts colleges focusing on the arts and sciences to receive this designation in 2020.

The American Shakespeare Center will be back on the Sewanee campus from Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 6-8. The visit will include two public performances in Guerry Auditorium as well as theater workshops with Sewanee students.

Winter Convocation was held Friday, Jan. 17, in All Saints' Chapel. New members of the Order of the Gown and many of their friends and families filled the Chapel at the start of a holiday weekend. The Rt. Rev. Phoebe Roaf, bishop of the Diocese of Western Tennessee, gave the Convocation address.

Three distinguished alumni will receive honorary degrees during the University’s Winter Convocation to be held Friday, Jan. 17, marking the opening of the spring semester. Honorary degrees will be presented and about 90 new members will be inducted into the Order of the Gown during the service in All Saints' Chapel.

Sarah Strand, C’21, is currently sailing in the South Pacific aboard a tall ship ocean research vessel in order to explore social aspects of the effects of climate change, seek solutions to the associated problems, and develop skills in the emerging field of environmental communications.

Scientists—including Associate Professor Sarah Sherwood—believe they’ve uncovered the meaning of some of the Moai stone monoliths found on Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island.

Associate Professor of English Kevin Wilson's latest book, Nothing to See Here, has received glowing reviews and a movie deal.

The contributions of Christina Kwauk, C’05, have international reach. Kwauk says her time at Sewanee gave her the solid foundation and intellectual curiosity needed for her work at the Brookings Institution supporting girls’ education leaders from around the world. And the opportunities for travel while at Sewanee (from Ecuador to China to Scotland) helped her understand the perspectives of people from many different backgrounds.

The seventh annual performance of DanceWise, under the artistic direction of Assistant Professor of Dance Courtney World, will feature performances by 19 Sewanee students. The celebration of women through dance is in conjunction with this year’s celebration of 50 years of women at Sewanee.

Historian Margaret Marsh will present the 20th annual Anita S. Goodstein Lecture in Women’s History, “Beyond Infertility: Women and Reproductive Technology from Test-Tube Babies to Uterus Transplants.”

Close to 1,000 alumnae returned to Sewanee Oct. 31-Nov. 3 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of women as students in the College. Their numbers and enthusiasm showed in a constant flow of hellos and hugs, in standing-room-only panel discussions and receptions, and in a sold-out (and then some) gala celebration.

The University Art Gallery presents Allegiance, a quiet and intimate exhibition of complex and beautiful woven textiles by Los Angeles-based artist Diedrick Brackens, on view from Oct. 25 through Dec. 13.

The University of the South will host its ninth annual Campus Gallery Walk. Visitors can enjoy exhibitions, performances, and receptions in the University Art Gallery, the Museum Gallery and the Lytle Reading Room of Archives and Special Collections, the Carlos Gallery, the lobby of Guerry Auditorium, and in Spencer Commons.

The first women entered Sewanee as full-time students in fall 1969, beginning sweeping changes in the College and the community.

The Faces of Sewanee exhibition features the work of student artists, giving them a chance to actively engage in the conversation about representation on campus, particularly with regard to tradition, history, legacy, and storytelling.

Associate Professor of History Kelly Whitmer has been awarded a research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and will spend a year as a scholar-in-residence at the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen. Whitmer will pursue a project focused on pedagogies of objects and collections in the history of science and technology. Her ongoing research project is engaged with the history of education and youth culture; she offers two courses at Sewanee that grow out of that expertise, and has involved students in her research program.

Over the summer, the University's Board of Regents formally approved promotion and tenure decisions for seven faculty members. Six newly tenured faculty members—Kristen Cecala (biology), Aaron Elrod (economics), Ross Macdonald (English), Shana Minkin (international and global studies), Courtney Thompson (American studies and women’s and gender studies) and Courtney World (dance)—now hold the title of associate professor. Betsy Sandlin (Spanish) has been promoted to full professor, and she now holds the title professor of Spanish.

Campus Sustainability Month has five weeks packed with sustainability-focused events, beginning Oct. 2: Waste Management Week, Energy Efficiency Week, Transportation Week, Food Week, and Water Week.

The Sewanee-produced documentary “Mine 21” was named a winner of the 2019 Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media.

English major Julia Harrison, C’20, worked with Sewanee’s English department to create new undergraduate opportunities at the Sewanee Review.

The University of the South is expanding its financial aid program to meet the full need of admitted students who qualify for financial aid, starting with the first-year students who arrive in fall 2020.

College-student voting rates rose nationwide in the 2018 midterms, including by more than 20 percent at Sewanee.

The University of the South celebrated Foundation Day on a warm and sunny Friday, Sept. 20. The convocation coincided with Family Weekend and included the induction of 289 new members into the Order of the Gown.

Nine members of the Class of 2020 have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. An initiation ceremony was held on Friday, Sept. 20.

The University will celebrate Foundation Day on Friday, Sept. 20. Dr. Sylvia Earle, arguably the world’s best-known oceanographer, will be the speaker at Foundation Day Convocation, which coincides with Family Weekend and will include the induction of new members into the Order of the Gown.

The 2019-2020 rankings are out!

Richard Cellini, founder of the Georgetown Memory Project, will deliver a lecture examining the complicity of American universities in the antebellum slave economy, and its implications for members of these university communities today.

Members of the Vice-Chancellor Search Committee and its process have been announced, and constituent input is invited.

Last January marked the beginning of the Sewanee Food Literacy Project, devoted to empowering students to help them make informed choices. This year the project has grown, and offers new ways for students to learn life skills as well as new cultures.

Vice-Chancellor John McCardell, who has held that post since 2010, has announced his plans to step down in July 2020. He will remain on the Sewanee faculty.

The University of the South officially welcomed more than 450 members of the Class of 2023 and other new students to the University.

Beverly Daniel Tatum is president emerita of Spelman College in Atlanta, and is widely known for both her expertise on race relations and as a thought leader in higher education.

The 2019 summer season found Sewanee faculty, staff, and students fully engaged in a variety of environmental activities on campus and around the globe.

The Sewanee Summer Music Festival offers enriching musical performances by the inspiring SSMF artist-faculty, internationally acclaimed guest conductors, and gifted young artists.

Professor of Biology Jon Evans was named Conservation Educator of the Year by Tennessee Wildlife Federation.

The School of Letters reading and lecture series will include public events at 4:30 p.m. each Wednesday during the session, as well as a special Friday evening workshop with the American Shakespeare Center.

Leah Stewart, professor and chair of the English Department at the University of Cincinnati, has been named the new director of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference.

The University of the South held three ceremonies to mark commencement weekend on the Mountain, May 10, 11, and 12.

Former Senator Bob Corker returned to Sewanee April 24 to sit down for an interview with journalist Olivier Knox for the SiriusXM P.O.T.U.S. channel (channel 124). It took place before an audience of students, faculty, staff, and community members, and included time for questions from students.

David Johnson, a politics major and business minor from Brownsville, Tennessee, has been awarded a prestigious Watson Fellowship for 2019-20. The Fellowships offer college graduates a year of independent exploration and travel outside the United States.

Three Sewanee students—Lala Hilizah, C’21, Jasmine Huang, C’21, and Campbell Stuart, C’20, have been awarded Critical Language Scholarships, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, for study abroad this summer.

The University of the South has been named a “Voter Friendly Campus” for the first time. The initiative recognizes practices that encouraged students to register and vote in the 2018 elections and in the coming years.

Livia Karoui, C’20, has been named a 2019 Newman Civic Fellow. The award recognizes students who are change-makers and public problem-solvers.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new University Bookstore was held in the Sewanee Village. After its completion, the bookstore will serve as a bridge between the community and University.

The University of the South's 2018-19 academic year comes to a close May 10, 11, and 12 with three ceremonies marking graduation weekend on the Mountain. A Convocation for Conferring of Degrees for the School of Theology will be held May 10; the University Baccalaureate on May 11; and a Convocation for Conferring of Degrees for the College and the School of Letters on Sunday, May 12.

The University Baccalaureate service—the second of three Commencement weekend ceremonies—will be held Saturday morning, May 11, in All Saints’ Chapel. Five honorary degrees will be presented during the service.

The University of the South has become a charter member of American Shakespeare Center’s academic leadership consortium, bringing performances and workshops to campus, as well as internship and conference opportunities at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

Fifteen members of the Class of 2019 have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa, joining nine classmates who were elected in the fall semester. An initiation ceremony was held on Thursday, Feb. 28.

January marked the beginning of the Sewanee Food Literacy Project.

Katharina Probst, C’00, returns to Sewanee to share insights about her liberal arts education as the foundation for a career leading Netflix and Google engineering teams.

Inspired by a summer internship, a Sewanee politics major works to enlighten fellow students about the worst humanitarian crisis of our time.

Many Sewanee students spent part of winter break preparing for an internship or career, exploring biodiversity on another continent, or snowshoeing up a 14,000-foot peak.

The New York Times looks for an historical forerunner of today's powerhouse college football teams and finds it in Sewanee’s Iron Men of 1899.

Two Sewanee students, both Natural Resources majors, spent the 2018 fall semester at sea aboard a tall ship ocean research vessel.

Sewanee's Sustainability Fellows took a late-fall road trip to the city of Asheville, North Carolina.

A student’s years-long involvement with a local rural medical clinic fosters deep connections to people and place, and prepares her for a future career.

About 250 Sewanee students spent the summer working in paid internships and research assistantships around the world.

A new forest management plan for the 13,000-acre Domain aims to benefit wildlife, recreation, and local livelihoods.