Sewanee: The University of the South

The University of the South is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by twenty-eight southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church and its School of Theology is an official seminary of the church. The university's School of Letters offers graduate degrees in literature and creative writing. Often known simply as Sewanee, the school has a strong academic reputation and recently ranked 40th in the annual US News & World Report list of liberal arts colleges. Sewanee has produced 25 Rhodes Scholars, garnering the distinction of the most Rhodes Scholars per capita of any school in the country. The campus (officially called "The Domain" or, affectionately, "The Mountain") consists of 13,000 acres of scenic mountain property atop the Cumberland Plateau in southeastern Tennessee, although the developed portion occupies only about . Through a recent acquisition, the University has added of undeveloped land to the Domain. In 2006, enrollment consisted of 1,467 undergraduates, 92 students in the School of Theology, and about 25 students in the School of Letters. In addition to the University, the town of Sewanee includes the Community of St. Mary (a convent) and St. Mary's Non-Denominational Retreat Center (which uses the buildings formerly occupied by St. Mary's School). The asteroid 89264 Sewanee is named in its honor. Sewanee is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South.

History

On July 4, 1857, delegates from ten dioceses of the Episcopal Church — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas — were led up Monteagle mountain by Bishop Leonidas Polk for the founding of their denominational college for the region. The cornerstone, laid on October 10, 1860 and consecrated by Bishop Polk, was destroyed in 1863 by Union soldiers from an Illinois regiment; many of the pieces were collected and kept as keepsakes by the soldiers. At least a few were donated back to the University, and a large fragment was eventually installed in a wall of All Saints' Chapel, where the relic can be visited by pilgrims. Several figures later prominent in the Confederacy, notably Bishop-General Leonidas Polk, Bishop Stephen Elliott, and Bishop James Hervey Otey, were significant founders of the University. Confederate Generals Edmund Kirby Smith and Josiah Gorgas were prominent in the University's postbellum revival and continuance.

The University of the South is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by twenty-eight southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church and its School of Theology is an official seminary of the church. The university's School of Letters offers graduate degrees in literature and creative writing. Often known simply as Sewanee, the school has a strong academic reputation and recently ranked 40th in the annual US News & World Report list of liberal arts colleges. Sewanee has produced 25 Rhodes Scholars, garnering the distinction of the most Rhodes Scholars per capita of any school in the country. The campus (officially called "The Domain" or, affectionately, "The Mountain") consists of 13,000 acres of scenic mountain property atop the Cumberland Plateau in southeastern Tennessee, although the developed portion occupies only about . Through a recent acquisition, the University has added of undeveloped land to the Domain. In 2006, enrollment consisted of 1,467 undergraduates, 92 students in the School of Theology, and about 25 students in the School of Letters. In addition to the University, the town of Sewanee includes the Community of St. Mary (a convent) and St. Mary's Non-Denominational Retreat Center (which uses the buildings formerly occupied by St. Mary's School). The asteroid 89264 Sewanee is named in its honor. Sewanee is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South.