"[Sewanee graduates] show up at companies and elevate everybody else around them."
Margo and Steve Burns, P’19, P’24, P’26, admit that a few tears have been shed at their Sewanee drop-offs over the years. Three of their four children—Henry, C’19; Emma, C’24; and Abby, C’26—have now called the Mountain home. (Their daughter Maddie graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver.) Emma started her freshman year at the early height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a health precaution, the University asked parents and other guests to remain outside the dormitories during the move-in process. “It was hard,” Margo says. “She cried, and I drove off—and then she moved herself in.” Abby felt nervous about her decision to attend Sewanee, despite the good things she heard about the Mountain from Emma and Henry. “She was crying as we left,” Steve says. “But then she was on her way. She found her crew within five minutes and [has had] the time of her life. She absolutely loves it.”
In gratitude for Sewanee’s strong focus on graduating well-rounded, principled scholars, the Burnses have provided significant support to a wide range of University causes. In 2021, they established the Burns Family Scholarship Fund, a need-based scholarship endowment, and recently they donated a major gift toward the replacement of turf on Hardee-McGee and Puett fields. They have also served on the Sewanee Parents’ Council since 2015, and they co-chaired the council during the 2023-2024 academic year. “When I was growing up, [college graduates] worked hard, looked people in the eye, shook hands—did those sorts of things,” Steve says. Now, he sees a gap in those behaviors, but, he says, Sewanee graduates “fill that gap. They show up at companies and elevate everybody else around them.”
(left to right) Abby, Emma, and Henry
at Henry's graduation
It’s natural for siblings to share interests, and Henry and Emma started their Sewanee careers on similar footing—both were recruited as lacrosse players. Steve and Margo were also involved with lacrosse in earlier years. “I played Division I lacrosse when I was in college, and I always say Division I lacrosse [at that time] was like Division III lacrosse is now,” Steve says. “[Coaches] wanted you to be able to play all four years and contribute [both] academically and athletically.” Margo, who coached high school lacrosse in the 2000s and 2010s, notes that she and Steve didn’t miss a single Sewanee lacrosse match during Henry and Emma’s time as undergraduates. “We’ve flown into Memphis, Lexington, Louisville. We went to spring break games in Virginia Beach. We’ve even flown into Conway, Arkansas.”
Though Abby gave lacrosse a try in high school, she didn’t develop a passion for the sport. Instead, Margo and Steve say, she has found her niche as a member of Phi Kappa Epsilon, in which Emma also participated as rush chair and social chair. During her freshman year, Abby additionally took part in Green’s View Capital (GVC), Sewanee’s student investment club. Through this group, students take an active role in growing a $3,200,000 portfolio by pitching investments in chosen stocks. Abby also serves as a Sewanee Arcadian—a tour guide for prospective students and their families—and she recently received her student pilot certificate after participating in aviation training through the Sewanee Flying Tigers. The Burnses say they’re anxious to see their daughter fly, though they’re not sure they want to be her passengers just yet.
On the academic side, the Burnses say they’ve tried to maintain some distance from their children’s activities in the interest of encouraging independence. Both Emma and Abby have focused on psychology, while Henry was an environment and sustainability major. All three siblings have taken advantage of Sewanee’s study-abroad program. (Abby will spend the upcoming fall semester in Prague, and Henry and Emma studied in Spain and Vienna, respectively.) In the summers, the family has a tradition of traveling from their home in Libertyville, Illinois, to a second residence at the Jersey Shore. “Our kids have worked at the Jersey Shore every summer of their lives,” Margo says. “Steve and I met working there—I was a waitress and he worked in the kitchen.”
The Burnses credit Sewanee’s lacrosse program with cultivating valuable workplace skills. During their time as Sewanee Tigers, Henry and Emma “were learning how to work as a team, how to balance their studies with athletics, how to multitask and be a leader,” Steve says. By giving to Sewanee Athletics, he adds, the family aims to extend this experience to future student-athletes. Margo says lacrosse has also nurtured lifelong friendships—and great nicknames. “Emma’s lacrosse team would call her ‘Ma,’ as in ‘Mom.’” Similarly, “Henry arrived at Sewanee as ‘Henry,’ but then at his first lacrosse game, [his teammates] were cheering on ‘Hank,’” she says. “Steve and I were like, ‘Wait, that’s Henry!’ He’d rebranded himself as ‘Hank.’”
The Burns Family Scholarship Fund is also a tribute to the ways that Henry, Emma, and Abby have grown while at Sewanee. “Abby is very confident now,” Margo says. “I love that she’s giving campus tours.” The Burnses say they also notice a difference in how their children interact with adults. “[Sewanee students] engage adults in meaningful conversations, not obligatory conversations,” Steve says. “They genuinely appreciate where [adults] are coming from—where they were born, what they studied, and what they do today. They can communicate with a 50-year-old like they’re communicating with a 25-year-old.”
Vice President for University Relations Deborah S. Vaughn, P’20, says the Burnses have gone above and beyond in reciprocating Sewanee’s contributions to their family. “Sewanee takes pride in investing in students and positioning them for success, and Steve and Margo have done the same thing for the University through their exceptional leadership and generosity—they’ve enriched the campus and set us up for lasting growth. It’s inspiring to see parents who care so deeply about elevating our entire community.”
Margo and Steve (center) with
(left to right) Henry, Abby, Emma, and Maddie
To their list of Sewanee connections, Margo and Steve recently added “residents.” Margo says their home on the Mountain is a welcome part-time escape from the busyness of the Chicago area. “It’s such a tranquil, peaceful place.” In May, they spent several weeks in Sewanee celebrating Emma’s graduation. Margo notes that she brought a large stack of half-baked pizzas from a favorite restaurant in Libertyville, planning to share them with a few of Emma’s friends. The small gathering that Margo envisioned “turned into 40 people, and more than pizzas,” she says. “There were sliders and other snacks. But that’s good! We like to host.”
Graduation can be bittersweet, and the Burnses say emotions ran high at Emma’s commencement, just as they did four years earlier. This time, though, there is less uncertainty about the future. Steve praises the University for “producing students who thrive in the workforce, no matter how much the world is changing around them.” He adds, “Whether [Sewanee graduates] are doing Outward Bound activities or commercial real estate, or financial work, or teaching, they make everywhere they go better."
