Sewanee News

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.