M C CARDELL INSTALLED AS VICE-CHANCELLOR n FACES OF SEWANEE VETERANS WINTER 2011 SewaneePUBLISHED FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH The New Snowden Hall A home of wood and stone for the study of forestry and geology Sewanee_WTR11.indd 1 1/21/11 2:21 PM Editor Buck Butler, C’89 Associate Editor Pamela Byerly in this Graphic Designer Susan Blettel ISSUE Assistant Editor Heather Walsh, C’12 Photographers Stephen Alvarez, C’87, David Bean, Woodrow Blettel, Buck Butler, Don Hamerman, Tad Merrick, Paul O’Mara, Maurice Taylor, Lawson Whitaker, C’73 Sewanee is published quarterly by the University of the South, including the College of Arts and Sciences and The School of Theology, and is distributed without charge to alumni, parents, faculty, students, staff, and friends of the University. © Copyright 2011, Sewanee. A Home of Wood and Stone Faculty All rights reserved. members and architects collaborated every step of Send address changes to: the way to make sure the renovation and new addition Office of University Relations to Snowden Hall made it the ideal place for the study 735 University Avenue of forestry and geology in Sewanee. P AGE 12 Sewanee, TN 37383-1000 Phone: 800.367.1179 E-mail: [email protected] The Vets Sewanee alumni who are veterans of the armed forces gathered on the Mountain in November Write to us: We welcome letters. for a special Veterans Day celebration. We took the Letters should refer to material pub- opportunity to learn a little about their service, which lished in the magazine and include the writer’s full name, address, and spans military history from World War II to Operation telephone number. The editor reserves Enduring Freedom. Portraits by Stephen Alvarez, C’87. the right to determine the suitabil- P AGE 18 ity of letters for publication and to edit them for accuracy and length. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the University. DEPARTMENTS Write to: Sewanee Magazine Marketing and Communications 735 University Avenue Vice-Chancellor’s Corner 3 Alumni News 28 Sewanee, TN 37383-1000 On the Mountain 5 Class Notes 32 E-mail: [email protected] Theologia 26 Afterword 46 The University of the South does not discriminate in employment, the admission of students, or in the administration of any of its educational policies, programs, or activities on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran/reserve/ national guard status, or religion (except in the School of Theology’s Master of Divinity program, where preference is given to individuals of the Episcopal faith and except for those employment positions where religious affiliation is a necessary qualification). The University of the South complies with the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the I.R.S. Anti- Bias Regulation, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation ON THE CovER: A two-story atrium connects the original Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Snowden Hall to the recently opened addition. Photograph by Act. The Provost of the University of the South, Dr. Woodrow Blettel. Linda Bright Lankewicz, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee TN, 37383-1000, 931-598-1000, is the person responsible for coordinating the University’s effort to comply with these laws. 2 • SEWANEE MAGAZINE • WINtEr 2011 Sewanee_WTR11.indd 2 1/21/11 2:21 PM VICE-CHANCELLOR’S CORNER s I write this, the Advent Semester is coming to an end. The air is clear and cold. Several inches of snow give the campus a wintry feel. Students prepare for final examinations and will soon head home. Shortened days will soon give Away, at the solstice, to the anticipation of new and lengthening light: first the true light that in the Christmas season gives hope to all who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; and then the vernal light that in succeeding months will warm and refresh us during our Easter Semester. It is a season of quiet and contemplation. A new year and a new decade loom. We are reminded, at the turn of the year, of the mythical figure of Janus, whose image faces both backward to a known and thus certain past and forward to an unknown future. Soon enough new occasions and new duties will present themselves to us. We will become absorbed by the details and demands of the present. And so, during this quiet season, we might profitably think on those things that are timeless. At the University of the South, there is much that fits that description: the natural features of our extraordinarily beautiful Domain; the enduring nature of the friend- ships made here; the unique blending of the traditional and the new; and, yes, dogs and a solitary, often superfluous, traffic light. But greater than any of these, at least in the course of my first six months on this campus, is the pervasive sense of honor in this community. Indeed, of the many rituals that punctuate the course of the Advent Semester, none, in my view, has been more profoundly moving than an event that occurs at the end of freshman orientation. Every member of the entering class gathers in All Saints’ Chapel and hears about the importance of honor at the University of the South. Then, one by one, each student steps forward and signs the Honor Code, thereby becoming a member of this community. A gowned faculty member escorts each student back to his or her seat. This is no idle exercise. It is not a mere checking of a box, a signing of a card, a clicking on a link, or a delivery of a sheet of paper at the end of a long matriculation line. It is an emphatically personal moment and a conspicuously serious commitment to a way of living that has distinguished this University for more than 100 years. The Code itself is simple. “Honor is an ideal,” it states, “and an obligation; it exists in the human spirit; and it lives in the relations between human beings.” This year’s ceremony, taking place in the 150th anniversary year of the dedication of the cornerstone of the University, had an added element. Before signing the code, each student placed a hand on a piece of the original cornerstone. By this simple gesture, members of the Class of 2014 affirmed their commitment to a code that has shaped and in many ways First-year defined our University and placed themselves in a long line of Sewanee graduates, each students of whom also once took a similar pledge. touch a piece of the original With the singing of the “Alma Mater,” the ceremony concluded. University Simple gifts are often the most precious. In this season of quiet, winter reflection, we cornerstone give thanks for the role that honor plays in the lives of Sewanee men and women — and just before signing the not just for the time spent on campus but for the rest of their lives — lives that, like the Honor Code. springtime that soon will come, will be forever distinguished by the lengthening light of honorable conduct. WINtEr 2011 • SEWANEE MAGAZINE • 3 Sewanee_WTR11.indd 3 1/21/11 2:21 PM Sewanee_WTR11.indd 4 1/21/11 2:21 PM ON THE MOUNTAIN McCardell Installed as 16th Vice-Chancellor Cornerstone commemoration, Snowden dedication, and more round out Founders’ Day week urIng a week of pomp and cIrcumstance, of gala celebrations Clockwise from facing page: John McCardell and historic milestones surrounding Founders’ Day in October, delivers the installation address on Founders’ D Day. McCardell speaks at the gala dinner. John McCardell was formally installed as the 16th vice-chancellor of the John and Bonnie McCardell with their sons and daughter-in-law. The procession to the University of the South. After receiving the ermine-lined red robe of the Cornerstone commemoration. Chancellor Neil office from Chancellor Neil Alexander, McCardell took the pulpit in All Alexander presides over the installation. Saints’ Chapel and spoke of Sewanee as an institution ready to assume a place of new prominence in the South, in the life of the Episcopal Church, and in American higher education. A few months earlier, McCardell had The theme for the nearly weeklong informally assumed his new responsibili- celebration of Founders’ Day and the ties in a smaller ceremony at All Saints’, installation was “Cornerstone for Tomor- and he repeated at Founders’ Day the row,” and the events kicked off on Oct. 10 questions he had asked in July — questions with a commemoration of the laying of whose answers he believes will shape the the University’s cornerstone, 150 years to future of Sewanee: “What does it mean, the day after the original event. The Uni- in the 21st century, to be the University versity Choir and a brass quartet provided of the South? And what South are we the music for the service, and some 300 guests University of?” processed along the path from University McCardell suggested that the answers Avenue to the clearing in the woods near to those questions lie in the University’s Louisiana Circle where the original stone ability to look forward while also respecting lay before it was destroyed during the Civil the institution’s history and in avoiding War. The exhortation from the 1860 event the temptation to emulate other colleges was read, as were the original prayers, be- and universities. Instead, he said, Sewanee fore a procession led guests to All Saints’ must become “a better, stronger, truer for the University Service. version” of itself. McCardell then led lis- Students, faculty, families, and del- teners on a walking tour of the Sewanee of egates from almost 100 other universities the future, with glimpses of the campus, gathered for the Oct.