Orientation Program
The Dean of Students and a student committee plan orientation activities each year. The schedule, which runs for several days before the college opens in the fall, includes social events, academic orientation, and information on all aspects of Sewanee life. Dining with the faculty advisor, signing the Honor Code, attending the induction of new students, and participating in a discussion of the summer reading are among the highlights of orientation. Through these activities, students and parents become familiar with the Sewanee community, upperclassmen, and faculty members. Before orientation begins, the Sewanee Outing Program offers an optional pre-orientation, popularly known as the PRE. During the PRE, students have the opportunity to try different outdoor activities including camping, climbing, caving, hiking, community service and a ropes course, all of which are available on the Domain.
Bishop's Common
The Bishop's Common, known as the BC, is a center of extracurricular activity. It contains the Student Post Office (SPO), the Tiger Bay Pub, lounges, conference rooms, a photographic darkroom, games, and student organization offices. The Niles Trammell Communications Center on the upper level houses WUTS, the University's student-operated radio station.
Sewanee Outing Program
The Sewanee Outing Program (SOP) promotes outdoor activities both on and off the Mountain. Canoeing, kayaking, climbing, backpacking, caving, mountain biking, cycling, and skiing trips are all arranged through the SOP office throughout the year. Trips are conducted for various skill levels. Equipment may be loaned out for student use.
The Bike Shop is a self-help repair facility staffed by students for minor repairs and maintenance. Arrangements can be made to have bikes worked on or to get help in learning bike repair. The shop is located in the lower level of the Bairnwick Women's Center on Mississippi Avenue.
The Carter Martin Whitewater Club Boathouse serves as a storage facility and meeting site for boating activity at the University. Groups such as the canoe team and weekend paddlers depart from this site for practice and paddling trips. For more than twenty years, the canoe team has been highly successful in competition and in promoting the sport of canoeing. The boathouse is located on the right just past the PPS warehouse on Georgia Avenue.
The twenty-mile Perimeter Trail is a marked and maintained multiple-use path that follows the bluffs around campus and occasionally dips down into the hollows. The trail is open to foot travel with certain sections available for mountain biking. Secondary trails and dirt fire lanes make up another great way to explore the woods on campus and are used by hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and horse riders.
The Bouldering Wall is a great new addition to the activities offered by the SOP. This indoor bouldering wall is 60 feet long and 12 feet high and is located in the Fowler Center. It has permanent padding in place allowing for students, faculty, and staff to learn how to boulder or hone their skills.
Sewanee Emergency Medical Service
SEMS is Tennessee's only volunteer emergency medical service.The ambulance is staffed by college students and community members. Freshmen may take a class beginning in August and ending in April to become Tennessee EMT-IVs. Tryouts are then held for the positions on the service. Students attend a weekly practice and typically serve a 3 1/2 day shift every other week during which they carry a pager, refrain from alcohol, and remain on the central campus.
Sewanee Fire Department
The Sewanee Volunteer Fire Department consists of both students and members of the community. Freshmen wishing to serve on the Department take a class second semester and then try out for the six student positions in each class. Weekly drills and weekend training in specialties such as vehicle extrication and high angle rescue are expected of these dedicated volunteers. Student firefighters live together in Wiggins Hall next to the fire station.
Honor and Recognition Societies
The following honor and recognition societies have active chapters at the University.
Phi Beta Kappa, a national honor society founded in 1776, encourages active scholarship and achievement. The Sewanee chapter, Beta of Tennessee, continues the fine tradition of the society. Students are eligible for election to the society after five consecutive semesters.
Omicron Delta Kappa, Alpha Alpha Chapter, is a national leadership society. It chooses members from the Order of Gownsmen who have distinguished themselves in scholarship, athletics, or publications.
Pi Sigma Alpha, Gamma Sigma Chapter, is the national political science honor society that encourages intellectual interest and action in government. Prominent political science speakers are presented at its open meetings.
Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society, accepts members from physics and related fields who attain high standards of scholarship, professional merit, and academic distinction.
Omicron Delta Epsilon, Gamma Chapter of Tennessee, is the national honor society of economics. Students with outstanding records in economics are selected for membership.
Sigma Delta Pi, Kappa Chapter, is the national Spanish honor society. Members are elected based on academic merit and interest in Hispanic culture.
Alpha Epsilon Delta, Tennessee Epsilon Chapter, is the national premedical honor society. It rewards excellence in premedical scholarship. Associate members are welcome from premedical, predentistry, and preveterinary fields. Members are elected from junior and senior associate members.
Phi Alpha Theta, Alpha Delta Gamma Chapter, is the national history honor society. Members are elected based on the study, teaching, or writing of history.
Delta Phi Alpha is the national German honor and recognition society. Members are elected based on academic merit and interest in Germanic culture.
Psi Chi is the national honor society in psychology, founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. Membership is open to students who have distinguished themselves in scholarship and are majoring or minoring in psychology or a program that is psychological in nature.
Social Organizations
The variety of social organizations allows students to find a place to share their interests. Organizations sponsor events that are open to all. Sewanee's ten national fraternities, two local fraternities, and eight local sororities and one national sorority provide intellectual and social enrichment. They serve as an outlet for athletic interests through intramural competition, provide a training ground for leadership and fiscal management, and help offset the academic routine with social events. The fraternities and sororities also sponsor the Annual Fall Fest and participate in service projects such as the Red Cross Blood Drive, the AIDS Walk, Big People for Little People, Habitat for Humanity (Housing Sewanee), and the School Tutors programs. Annual evaluations assure that their operations meet stated expectations in areas of academic achievement, group citizenship, fiscal management, property maintenance, alumni support, and community service.
Ten national social fraternities have chapters at Sewanee. They are Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Psi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Alpha Order, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sigma Nu. The Phi Society of 1883 and Gamma Sigma Pi are the local fraternities. Most fraternities maintain a house that is used for meetings, social events, and everyday recreation. There are eight local sororities at Sewanee: Alpha Delta Theta, Alpha Tau Zeta, Gamma Tau Upsilon, Kappa Omega, Phi Kappa Epsilon, Phi Sigma Theta, Theta Kappa Phi, and Theta Pi. Kappa Delta is the only national sorority. The nine sororities each have a dedicated residential house or apartment for meetings and small social events.
The fraternity and sorority rush programs are supervised by the Interfraternity and Intersorority Councils and are held at the beginning of the Easter semester. Rush activities are designed to help those who take part become acquainted with all the fraternities and sororities. About seventy percent of men and women belong to fraternities or sororities.
The Women's Center Board serves as the primary women's advocacy group on campus and runs the Women's Center at Bairnwick. They promote women's interests through social and educational programs, facility space, leadership opportunities, and an annual Women's Conference.
Service Organizations and Activities
Increasing numbers of Sewanee students in the college and seminary help others through the All Saints' Chapel Outreach Program and the student Community Service Council.
The campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity works with local and regional organizations building new and repairing older homes for low-income families in this Southern Appalachian region.
During each academic break, the outreach program offers several service projects in various cultural settings. In the spring, there are six trips — three abroad and three domestic — to Jamaica, Costa Rica, Ecuador; and to New York, New Orleans, and Miami. The outreach office, in conjunction with career services, also assists with summer and career job opportunities and internships in nonprofit, community service, and ministerial fields.
The Community Service Council has many different organizations serving the needs of a diverse University and rural population. Its organizations include
Sewanee AIDS Awareness Association (SAAA)
BACCHUS
Appalachian Women's Guild Volunteers
Children's Story Hour
Waste Not: Environmental Forum; Re-Cycling; and Environmental Education
Waste Reduction
Big People for Little People
Community Kitchen in Chattanooga
Trinity United Methodist Church Shelter/ Atlanta, Ga.
Senior Citizen's Outreach
Girl Scouts
Headstart
School Tutors
Extended School Program (ESP)
Community Action Committee
Youth Soccer Coaches and Referees
Youth Baseball Coaches, Umpires, & Field Maintenance
English as a Second Language/General Education Degree Tutoring
Tutoring English as a Second Language in Winchester
Housing Sewanee Inc./ Habitat for Humanity
Student Newspaper, Yearbook, Radio Station
All students are welcome to join publications staffs.
The Sewanee Purple is the bimonthly campus newspaper. The yearbook, the Cap and Gown, is issued each September. Positions are generally available on each publication to write, edit, photograph, design, sell, and manage. The editors are elected by the student body and the Order of Gownsmen from a list of nominees who have met the requirements for each office. Once elected, an editor has responsibility for selecting a staff. The Publications Board, a joint faculty/student committee, advises staffs, mostly in financial matters.
Other publications include the Mountain Goat, a journal that publishes poetry, fiction, and scholarly writing by students and faculty members.
The student-operated radio station, WUTS, has staff openings for college and seminary students. All musical tastes are welcomed, and emphasis is given to alternative music that is unavailable on commercial stations. No experience is required, and positions are open for disc jockeys, announcers, writers, and technically inclined students.
