Campaign Gifts

Foundation grants represent the venture capital of the Sewanee Call. They provide seed money and bridge funding for new ideas that keep the educational environment vibrant. Foundations accounted for approximately $20 million of the total raised in The Sewanee Call.

President of the Nashville Sewanee Club, class volunteer, a member of the alumni council, Zach Goodyear has also made a gift to Sewanee regularly since graduating. He believes young alumni have an important role to play in the life of the University and is unafraid to tell that story.

Kathryn Hauch C’08 and Christine Powell, a friend of Sewanee, have never met, but their lives intersected last year in a way that exposes a shared passion in the appreciation and, yes, defense of art. The connection was made through an endowed internship that will support students like Hauch, who are learning more about how to apply a liberal arts education in life beyond the gates.

A little less than a year ago, Russ Levenson, a former assistant chaplain at All Saints' Chapel, became rector of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston. Soon thereafter, St. Martin's made $25,000 contribution to the University of the South's School of Theology, one of the larger gifts in the annual One Percent Campaign for church giving.

Professor Emeritus Joseph Cushman, who taught in the History Department from 1968 to 1990, has created a fund that will provide two scholarships each year for outstanding Sewanee history majors. The fund is a testament to what one person can do with a good idea, unflagging dedication, and a little help from his friends.

A $24,000 grant from the James S. Kemper Foundation will provide internship stipends for students learning about social entrepreneurship. Students will travel to South Asia and serve in leading micro-finance institutions as part of the program.

The Island Ecology Program has recently received support from the Watkins Family that will provide much needed program funding, including student assistance. The program takes place each summer, and Sewanee is the only college to have such a program on St. Catherine's Island.

The soccer/lacrosse facility project gets an additional gifts from a former soccer player--this time, Ted Raynor C'88--and members of the class of 1978. The project will honor Kyle Rote, the Puett Family, and others as it provides a first-class facility for soccer and lacrosse.

Joan and Sam Williamson have established a fund that will help international students address emergencies and exceptional expenses that come up in their lives. And the couple hopes that others will be inspired to help these students as well.

An anonymous donor has made a gift that will help bring a preparation course for the Medical College Admission Test to Sewanee. The gift offsets a substantial part of the cost and makes it possible for students to prepare for the MCAT without having to drive to Nashville or Chattanooga.

On the Saturday of Homecoming, the University broke ground on the Kyle Rote, Jr. Field House for soccer and lacrosse. Lead donors Nelson Puett, Hal Shults, and Rote were on hand, and Rote addressed an enthusiastic crowd assembled for the event.

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund has made a four-year grant of nearly $200,000 to provide bridge funding for a new innovative teaching and learning program that will untap the genius of Sewanee students, faculty, and staff. The bridge grant helps Sewanee launch a program that will eventually be fully supported by a $1 million endowment.

When Sarah and Jimmy Wilson made a gift honoring Eric Naylor, they had no idea their generosity would be matched by Naylor himself. Now a new scholarship endowment is helping Sewanee students pay for their education.

Faculty Endowment Challenge Now at $2.2 million

Donations from Lee Thomas, C'67, and Amy Ehrman C'71 and Greg Robertson C'78 have given new energy to the Snowden renovation project, part of the Science Initiative in the Sewanee Call Campaign.

Vice Chancellor Joel Cunningham opened the 2006-07 academic year by revealing the name of the previously anonymous donor who made a $6 million gift to help fund a new science facilty at Sewanee. At the University’s Advent semester opening convocation, the vice chancellor lauded William Spencer, C’41, (shown at right with Vice Chancellor Cunningham and Chancellor Henry Parsley at May’s commencement) of Birmingham for his generous contribution.

Merrill Stewart, father of rising senior, Merrill, C’07, will tell anyone who asks that he is passionate about Sewanee, but that “no matter how much I come to the Mountain and walk the trails and the sidewalks, go to Chapel, or wander through Abbo’s Alley, I will never have the experience of being a Sewanee student. You just can’t get that from osmosis.

A $3 million gift from the estate of Doug Hawkins, C’54, of Denver, Colorado, has established the Douglas H. Hawkins Endowment Fund to provide scholarship assistance and help create a partnership between the University of the South and the Posse Foundation, Inc.

For Susan and Jonathan Colby, supporting education is much more than the transaction of paying tuition; education is a cause worth time, talent, and treasure. The Colbys’ commitment to the Sewanee Call Campaign is a generous one, but what is unusual is the generosity of their pledge to unrestricted annual giving, the Sewanee Annual Fund.

Meeting Jay Donnelly A faithful Sewanee Fund contributor since he graduated in 1999, Jay Donnelly thinks often about the value of a Sewanee education and the social obligations everyone shares. Jay Donnelly meets people, and when you meet him, it’s hard to imagine that he has a negative bone in his body—big smile, a mix of modesty and confidence, an easy smile and manner.

The University of the South has received a $6 million gift, from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, to help fund the construction of a state-of-the-art addition to Sewanee’s Woods Laboratories science building. “Sewanee is an extraordinary institution of higher learning with a powerful vision for the future.

The Coca-Cola Company has made a $500,000 commitment to establish a need-based endowed scholarship that will allow students to convert their loans to grants if their grades meet program expectations. For more, click on headline.

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Barnes C'49 of Birmingham, Alabama, have made a commitment of $1 million to the Sewanee Call Campaign. Their gift to unrestricted endowment is a planned gift, part of the couple's estate plans.

The late Very Rev. Judson Child, C'44, T'48, who served as Bishop of Atlanta and Chacellor of the University from 1985 to 1991, divided his estate in equal measure among the Diocese of Atlanta, St. Phillips Cathedral, and the University of the South, leaving to each approximately $700,000.

William and Sara Ray, from Madison, Miss., parents of Whitney Lehr Ray, C'08, gave $125,000 in December 2005 to endow a merit-based scholarship for children of Episcopal priests. The Rays, close friends of Nora Frances, C'77, and Vaughan McRae, have been very happy with Whitney Lehr's experience at Sewanee and they chose to make this gift to help ensure the ability of clergy children to enjoy the same experience. The Rays also made a pledge of $2,500 to the Sewanee Fund for the next five years.

A new scholarship has been established by Charles Edward Thomas, C'27, a devoted employee of the University of the South and a member of the Episcopal Church, for the benefit of undergraduate students from the State of South Carolina or descendants of Mr. Thomas. First preference for the benefit will be undergraduate students from Fairfield or Greenville Counties in South Carolina.

Marty and Weston Andress C'82 asked their family to make donations to the Andress Scholarship Fund this year instead of giving Christmas presents. Weston's father and two sisters, Collier and Joan C'79 honored their request. The scholarship fund helps cover the more than $12 million in financial aid Sewanee offers each year.

A $200,000 grant from the Starr Foundation of New York has increased the market value of the Starr Scholarship Program to approximately $800,000, making it one of the top resources for student aid at the University. For more, click on headline above.

For over sixty years, Marshall Ellis has made an annual gift to the Sewanee Fund. This Georgia native, transplanted to the Pacific Northwest decades ago, has remembered his alma mater through good times and bad, and has honored the memory of his mother in making the gift. For more, click on headline above.

From his dream job with the Black Warrior-Cahaba River Land Trust to his introduction to philanthropy this year, Brian Rushing C'95 is trying to make the world a cleaner and better place. For more, click on headline above.

A spiritual connection with her alma mater led Nora Frances Stone McRae C'77 to remain active in the life of Sewanee over the years. A regent and former alumni trustee, she and her husband Vaughan recently helped Sewanee forge connections in their home state of Mississippi that may yield more students and stronger support. For more, click on headline above.

When John Scott C'66 entered Sewanee, he noticed a scholarship opportunity available from the Kemper Insurance Company. At the time, Sewanee participated in the Kemper Scholars program, an initiative of the company to make connections between the business world and liberal arts colleges. For more, click on headline above.

Tom Darnall, C’57, spent his career studying investments. At the same time, in his personal life, he was serving on the University of the South’s Board of Regents and Board of Trustees and seeing how giving to Sewanee was an investment of a sort as well. For more, click on headline above.

Pete McGriff C'41 loves Sewanee, and he is helping his alma mater build a classy new alumni house in the Phi Delta house that will serve many community needs. For more, click on headline above.

Three generations of the Wilkens Family of Houston, Texas, has made Sewanee an educational destination. Now Sandy and Richard Wilkens are helping provide educational resources for new generations of Sewanee students. For more, click on headline above.

Admission staff has no off-season when it comes to recruiting, and they are helped in this year-round job by energetic and generous alumni. For more, click on headline above.

Ginny and Jeff Runge, both Class of 1977, have made a gift to the Nabit Art Building that remembers Howard Felt, Ginny's grandfather, and honors Ginny's own professional and artistic accomplishments. For more, click on headline above.