Dear Sewanee Family,

No matter where this moment in the Advent season finds you—powering through holiday shopping, grading or taking final exams, or quietly reflecting on the past year—we're wishing you the very best.

If you haven’t yet made a gift to Sewanee in 2025, or if you’d like to show a little extra support for your favorite campus cause, there’s still time! You can give online here, or find other ways to donate here.

Merry Christmas, and happy 2026!

Your friends in University Relations

John Richards, C'12

John Richards, C’12, has a mantra that wouldn’t make much sense embroidered on a throw pillow, but is likely to resonate with a specific group of Sewanee student-athletes: “If something’s hard these days, I tell myself, ‘You got in the water at 6 a.m., so you can do this.’” 

Richards says being on Sewanee’s men’s swimming and diving team wasn’t just part of his undergraduate experience—it was his entire story “almost from cover to book end.” Recently, he provided a major gift in support of critical updates to the Fowler Center Natatorium, and he encourages other alumni and families with connections to the University’s pool to join him in giving. “I can’t imagine a swimmer who wouldn’t want [students] who’ve followed us to have the same magical experience I know we all had.”

As a longtime speech-and-debate enthusiast, Anne Mitchell Welch, C’22, is used to carefully considering both sides of an issue—but at least one topic is cut-and-dried, as far as she’s concerned. “I know I would not be the person I am today if I had not gone to Sewanee,” she says. “Point blank, period.” 

Welch, who lives in Nashville and works as an indirect tax analyst for Ernst & Young, is especially passionate about her experiences minoring in rhetoric, including presenting at the Theodore Clevenger Undergraduate  Honors Conference in 2022. She currently supports the Rhetoric Department with a recurring gift, which qualifies her as a member of Sewanee’s Breslin Society. Additionally, Welch serves as the Class of 2022’s alumni chair, working closely with the Sewanee Fund to rally support for programs and activities campuswide.

Anne Mitchell Welch, C'22

Built in 2000, Sewanee's Chapel of the Apostles is a cornerstone of the School of Theology.

A quiet space for daily worship. A cherished community gathering spot. A catalyst for holy formation. Sewanee’s Chapel of the Apostles (COTA) has served many roles since its construction in 2000, and the School of Theology is now leading a campaign to honor the chapel’s longstanding significance.

In celebration of COTA’s 25th anniversary, the seminary is encouraging alumni and friends to make a one-time or recurring gift of $25 toward School of Theology scholarship support. 

“COTA sits at the heart of the School of Theology's common life,” says Walker Adams, T’18, acting associate dean of admission and advancement for the School of Theology. “It’s where students pray daily, where the community gathers in joy and grief, and where formation in ministry is rooted in worship. Honoring COTA's 25th anniversary through gifts that support scholarships is a meaningful way to invest in the next generation being formed in that sacred space."

Gifts to the School of Theology for scholarship support can be made via the button below or by clicking here.

Mary Courtney Finn, C'26, was one of three student speakers who addressed donors at Sewanee's 15th annual Benefactors' Brunch. 

“Four years ago, at a Friday night football game at my high school, I opened an email from Sewanee that changed my life,” Mary Courtney Finn, C’26, shared with attendees of the University’s 2025 Benefactors’ Brunch.  Finn, a neuroscience major from Franklin, Tennessee, went on to describe how receiving a Benedict Scholarship—which is awarded to 

only two undergraduates annually and covers full tuition and housing expenses—has shaped her trajectory and positioned her to become a physician. 

Held at the Sewanee Inn each December, the Benefactors’ Brunch celebrates donors who provide endowed or Cornerstone scholarships, or endowed gifts to other Sewanee programs, by bringing them together with scholarship recipients. Along with Finn, this year’s speakers included Daphne Nwobike, C’26, Liam Nieman, T’26, and Associate Professor of Spanish & Chair of the Department of Spanish and Italian David Colbert-Goicoa. 

You can view a photo album from the Benefactors’ Brunch here, and see a video recording here.

To learn more about setting up an endowed or Cornerstone scholarship, or creating an endowed fund in support of a campus department, program, or building, email universityrelations@sewanee.edu.

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The University of the South • Office of University Relations • waystogive.sewanee.edu

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