Dear Sewanee Family,

The Mountain is standing a little taller this week—Sewanee's students and seminarians have returned! If this is a time of transition for you, we hope everything is going smoothly.

In University Relations, we're working hard to ensure Sewanee's new fiscal year is as successful as the 2025-2026 academic year. If you'd like to help by making a gift to your favorite campus cause, you can do so here.

With appreciation for your support,

Your friends in University Relations

Lee Parks, C'81, P'10, says he was skeptical when an appraiser began estimating the individual value of his father-in-law's comic books. "I was going, 'No, we don't think the whole collection is worth that much.'"

When the auctioneer’s hammer came down, Lee Parks, C’81, P’10, and his daughter, Beth Parks, C’10, gained an unlikely title: world-record holders. An assortment of comic books they’d inherited from Lee’s father-in-law, Donald Burrell, P’82, proved to be worth far more than Lee and Beth ever suspected. “They were very, very early Supermans, Batmans, Captain Americas, Captain Marvels—things like that,” Lee says. Burrell had kept the collection in pristine shape and meticulously inventoried each piece.

At the time, the rarest item in Burrell’s 238-book set—a Batman #1—still lay undiscovered in a briefcase. With proceeds from the sale of that book, Lee and Beth chose to elevate personally meaningful causes, including Sewanee. Earlier this year, they created the Jean Burrell Parks, C’82, Memorial Scholarship, an endowed fund honoring Lee’s late wife and Beth’s mother. With this gift, Beth also joined the Sewanee Women’s Alliance to help secure additional scholarship funding for high-achieving students.

After the birth of their first child in 2005, The Very Rev. Tom, T'05, T'27, and Donna Purdy; P'28, updated their wills to include a Sewanee bequest. Initially, they kept their philanthropy anonymous, but, Tom says, their mindsets changed over time. "I want to help others see that you can do this. [Giving] is important, and it matters."

During his junior and senior years of college, the Very Rev. Tom Purdy, T’05, T’27, P’28, balanced coursework with a full-time career at UPS that placed him among colleagues twice his age. As a human resources recruiter, he traveled long distances to conduct as many as 15 interviews in a day. “I was on the fast track,” Purdy says—but the corporate world wasn’t his calling. Pursuing his formation at the School of Theology was the right choice, as Purdy describes, but it came with financial challenges. Now settled in their vocations, he and his wife, Donna, regularly support School of Theology scholarships and financial aid. Decades ago, they also established a bequest benefitting the seminary.

It’s hard to keep up with all of Sewanee’s recent superlatives. Right after The Princeton Review deemed the University the No. 1 Most Beautiful Campus in the nation, House Beautiful named Sewanee one of the 40 “most stunning” campuses around the globe. Golf aficionados know that the Course at Sewanee is a notable contributor to the Domain’s charm—Golf.com has called it the ninth best nine-hole course in the country and the 18th best in the world.

To preserve the course’s award-winning layout and ensure year-round play, a top priority is upgrading each of its bunkers with protective technology that rapidly drains water while regulating sand moisture. To date, 10 out of 34 bunkers have been renovated, and Sewanee is seeking $112,700 to unlock a challenge gift and bring the project to completion. Gifts to the course can be made here. In the designation field, select “Other” and note “Golf Bunker Project.” For more information, contact Terri Griggs Williams, C'81, at twilliam@sewanee.edu.

Equipping the Course at Sewanee's 34 bunkers with efficient drainage systems will safeguard them against washouts, flooding, and soil contamination.

Josephine, C'19, and Alyson, C'82, P'19, Hardin

Sewanee continues to mourn the loss of members of our community who died in last month’s tragic south-central Texas flooding. Alyson Crouch Hardin, C’82, P'19, graduated from the University with a B.A. in politics and Spanish, and served as a trustee from 2010 to 2023. Her daughter, Josephine Hardin, C’19, earned a B.A. in environment and sustainability. Both were members of Theta Pi and excelled as campus leaders. Gifts to the Alyson C. Hardin, C’82, P'19, and Josephine Hardin, C’19, Memorial Scholarship can be made here. In the designation field, select “Other” and note “Hardin Memorial Scholarship.” For more information, contact Terri Griggs Williams, C'81, at twilliam@sewanee.edu.

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

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