Sewanee

Trouble on the Mountain

Located in the isolation of the Tennessee hills and having nurtured the myths and symbolism of the old South, Sewanee’s leaders were resistant to integration and the pressure of outside intruders. In April 1961, the University awarded an honorary doctorate to an ardent segregationist and critic of the Civil Rights movement, Thomas Waring Jr. editor of the Charleston, South Carolina, News and Courier. An Episcopalian, Waring had opposed the integration of the divinity school and supported the White Citizens’ Council. The event caused widespread opposition from Episcopal clergy and lay people. ESCRU organized several protests and was supported by sympathetic members of local congregations and many faculty members. [Sources]