Dear Sewanee Family,

The time between Advent Semester Convocation and fall break always feels ridiculously short—and now we’re heading into the second half of the term! I hope your student enjoyed the time off and is feeling good about midterm grades. 

If grades are causing anxiety, you can reassure your student that help is available. Recently, the Office of the Dean of the College emailed all students with tips and resources for finishing the semester strong. Their top recommendation: Attend class. (It’s advice worth repeating!)

In their message, the deans reminded students about the opportunity for student success coaching through Sewanee’s Office of Career Readiness + Student Success, and they shared links to the Writing Center, the Center for Speaking & Listening, and the Language Resource Center. Your student’s academic advisor is an important resource, too!

Thanksgiving break will be here soon, and the Groome Shuttle will again be available if your student needs a ride from the Smoke House Lodge in Monteagle to the Nashville Airport. For a ride between campus and the Smoke House Lodge, your student should fill out the Thanksgiving Break Shuttle Sign-Up Form. The deadline for completing this form is 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.

If there’s information you’d like to see in future issues of this newsletter, feel free to let me know! I’d also be glad to have samples of family newsletters from other colleges and universities—if you’ve received one you really like, please share! You can reach me at sewaneeparents@sewanee.edu. Thanks so much for all you do!

Bess Turner, P’25, P’28
Director of Family & Donor Engagement

PS: Grandparents are a special part of the Sewanee family, and we’d like to share this newsletter with them! To add your student’s grandparents to our From the Quad mailing list, please complete this form.

What amphibian can shoot its ribs at predators when threatened? Which American-born French entertainer was a spy during World War II? What role does mathematics play in airline safety? If your curiosity is piqued, check out Sewanee’s Inquiring Minds series, a collection of short videos that showcase the diverse passions and expertise of our faculty. Even better—share the clips with friends whose children or grandchildren may be interested in attending Sewanee!

Sewanee's Inquiring Minds series covers a wide range of topics and ideas, from science and history to theatre, literature, music, and more.

Sewanee’s 13,000-acre Domain is ideal for hiking, biking, and other types of outdoor fun—and it’s also a valuable resource for holistic wellness. The Wellness Commons regularly uses nature as a tool for therapy and preventative care. 

All students are encouraged to connect with free mental health support through the University’s Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS). Therapy appointments are often enhanced by time spent in nature. Research has 

shown that within five minutes of being outside, people experience a boost in mood. Engaging with nature lowers cortisol and blood pressure, while increasing immune functioning and even focus and memory. (Note: students sign a nature therapy consent form, and nature therapy can be done routinely or on an as desired basis.)

In partnership with Domain Management, CAPS is excited to offer Mental Health Outside, a series of events aimed at preventative care. Through Building Trails and Relationships, for example, students participate in trail maintenance while building interpersonal connections. During our Mindfulness Hikes, students join a Domain manager and therapist on a hike while learning about mindfulness and meditation. 

What other mental health and nature collaborations would you like to see at Wellness Commons? Reach out to us at wellnesscommonsevents@sewanee.edu. We’re also on Instagram at @sewanee.wellness.

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS) is helping Sewanee students turn curiosity into discovery! This past summer, 65 students worked with 35 faculty mentors across disciplines in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Their projects ranged from exploring how early-life competition shapes fish behavior to uncovering the legacy of Francis Joseph Campbell, a 

Winchester native who became an international advocate for the blind. Many of these students shared their findings during the SURF Research Frenzy.

This past spring, 215 students presented research at our annual Scholarship Sewanee event. 82 of those students delivered oral presentations, which in many cases was the final requirement for graduating with honors, while 85 others delivered poster presentations. The vast majority of this work was conducted in close collaboration with Sewanee faculty members serving as research mentors.

The learning doesn’t stop on campus—59 students traveled to present their work at professional conferences nationwide in the 2024-2025 academic year. Biology students shared research on reptile ecology, while music student Louise Block, C'28, performed at the National Association for Teachers of Singing Conference in Kentucky, earning an invitation to compete at the national level.

To learn more about undergraduate research opportunities—or to encourage your student to get involved—visit the OURS Homepage and follow us on Instagram at @sewaneeresearch.

At Career Readiness + Student Success, we want every Sewanee student to gain more than knowledge. We want them to recognize their natural gifts, grow in character, and feel a sense of purpose about where they’re headed. Three Sewanee initiatives this year deepen that journey and give your student caring guides along the way:

NetVUE Professional Development Award
This award helps faculty and advisors walk alongside students, connecting their studies with their strengths, interests, and emerging sense of vocation. It offers students the chance to pause, reflect, and imagine futures that feel both meaningful and true to who they are.

Educating Character Initiative
A grant from the Educating Character Initiative supports faculty and staff in weaving character formation into student life more intentionally, so that students can build habits and confidence that stay with them long after graduation.

Faculty Fellows for Purpose & Career
Our Faculty Fellows for Purpose and Career partner with Career Readiness + Student Success to help students explore who they’re becoming and how they want to make a real and unique contribution to the world. The Fellows create learning opportunities for other faculty and staff so they can lead thoughtful opportunities for reflection and career exploration, helping students make confident, informed choices about their next steps.

As always, you can follow us on Instagram at @sewanee_career to see upcoming events!

Sewanee Athletics is proud of our talented Tigers!

Men’s golfer Niel Phillips, C’28, made national headlines after recording two holes-in-one on the same day at the Chick-fil-A Invitational—a feat with odds of roughly 67 million to one. Even more remarkably, both came on hole eight. Read more on our Instagram page, or check out coverage on Golf.com.

On the gridiron, Sewanee football earned a 28-6 victory over Rhodes to retain the Orgill Cup for the second straight year—the first time the Tigers have done so since 2001-02.

Conference play is heating up as well. With the addition of Trinity and Southwestern to the Southern Athletic Association (SAA), soccer and volleyball have moved to six-team conference tournaments—and Sewanee’s men’s soccer, women’s soccer, and volleyball teams have all secured postseason berths.

In equestrian competition, Sewanee’s IHSA team currently leads the region, while the NCEA team is ranked fifth nationally.

Recently, our men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Southwestern University in Texas to compete in the 2025 SAA Championships. Field Hockey will travel to Wisconsin for the Collegiate Field Hockey Championships held November 6-9. 

Finally, exciting news from the Fowler Center—Sewanee has received a $100,000 gift toward pool resurfacing and starting block adjustments, which will help ensure optimal safety conditions at our natatorium. The University now seeks $200,000 to complete the project, with renovations projected to begin in July 2026. 

Class registration for the Easter 2026 semester is approaching! 

Registration is scheduled for the following four evenings:

Sunday, November 9
Monday, November 10
Sunday, November 16
Monday, November 17

Waitlists will open on the evening of Wednesday, November 19.

You can check out Sewanee’s schedule of classes here, and information on adding, dropping, and swapping classes is here.