Advent Semester Convocation Features Talk by Gerald Smith
Sept. 15, 2025
The University of the South held its Advent Semester Convocation on Friday, Sept. 12, to induct new members into the Order of the Gown and share the winners of student awards and prizes. This year, Professor Emeritus of Religion Gerald L. Smith was selected to give the convocation address and receive the Sewanee Medal, an honor awarded in recognition of rare and extraordinary service to the University of the South.
Following the opening prayer and readings, Provost Scott Wilson announced the awards and honors. A full list of awards and recipients is available here.
Chair of the Board of Regents Renia Dotson, C’88, then began the presentation of the Sewanee Medal to Smith. Dotson began by acknowledging the generations of Sewanee students who Smith inspired to understand learning as something deeply rooted in place and community, and recognized Smith’s devotion to the University as evidenced by his many and varied leadership roles over the years. “Jerry’s life in Sewanee is marked not only by accomplishment, but by humility, generosity, grace, and faith,” said Dotson. “The entire Sewanee community thanks you for your many contributions and your enduring impact on this place and its people.”
Dotson and Vice-Chancellor Rob Pearigen then presented Smith with the Sewanee Medal, inviting him to give the convocation address.
A professor in the Religion Department from 1969 to 2016, Smith has dedicated his life to scholarship, service, and leadership within the Sewanee community. In addition to his academic work, Smith was University marshal (1989–2016) and secretary of the Board of Trustees (1980–2021). He also served as chief of emergency services for the Sewanee Volunteer Fire Department beginning in 1977, and continues to contribute as co-editor with Sam Williamson through the Sewanee Sesquicentennial History Project. A respected writer, his work has appeared in the Sewanee Review and other publications.
During his remarks, Smith evoked the origins of the word “Sewanee,” which means “lost” in the Shawnee language. Recalling his own journey across academic disciplines and careers and speaking to the evolution of Sewanee from its founding to its current iteration, Smith noted the good fortune to be found at an unexpected destination. “It is possible to change your mind, embrace a different vision, outgrow or overcome your past,” said Smith. “You just need to listen to your Sewanee Angel whispering, ‘There is a better way. Look to the future, not the past.’”
Addressing the new members of the Order of the Gown, Smith held up the tattered remnants of his first teaching gown and spoke to the long history of the gown on campus. “The gown is a great tradition, and I hope you will see it as such. It is the emblem of your academic calling, a symbol of your belonging to a community of learned students reaching back hundreds of years to the gowns of Oxford and Cambridge. It is also the symbol of the bond between you as students and those of us who teach,” said Smith. “Gowns don’t belong to you. They belong to Sewanee—always keep them in circulation.” Watch Smith's full remarks here.
Order of the Gown President Lily Mobley, C’26, then addressed the new members of the order. Speaking on the theme of curiosity, Mobley urged the assembled students to see the gown not only as a symbol of their achievement, but also as an exhortation to continue to ask questions and seek answers. “Your induction today should be a call—a call to a further pursuit of knowledge,” said Mobley. “For the sake of knowledge, yes, but also for the sake of what the act of pursuit does: It moves us forward.”
Vice-Chancellor Pearigen then formally admitted the new members of the Order of the Gown, concluding the ceremony.
A list of all new members of the Order of the Gown is available here.
The convocation was livestreamed for those unable to attend; the video is available below.
