Letter to the Editor: University employees condemn intimidation against the Vice-Chancellor

Dear Editor of the Sewanee Purple,

We write in response to the events that Vice-Chancellor Reuben Brigety described in his remarks at Growing in Grace on February 7, 2021. 

The employees of the University of the South strongly condemn the disturbing and unacceptable acts of intimidation, intolerance, and denigration against Vice-Chancellor Reuben Brigety, his family, and his home. These actions are an assault on our core values of respect for each other, celebration of human diversity, and value for human dignity, and especially so when they are expressed through covert behavior.

We all must work in unity to protect and defend the Vice-Chancellor, his family, and others in our community who have suffered and are suffering similar indignities, as well as our university’s ideals and principles. These acts contradict and undermine our values and indicate that we all must work harder to live up to the standards we aspire to as a community. We are a community that places civil dialogue, tolerance, and respectful engagement at the center of our mission. An essential component of this belief is the dignity and respect for all. We will work tirelessly to protect and promote the ideals that are represented in our University’s motto:

“Behold how good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” -Psalm 133:1

We invite and encourage Sewanee students, alumni, and members of the greater community to join us in the struggle against intolerance, intimidation, and hate. Of all the lessons we can teach our students and each other, learning to uphold and defend these core values is the most important.

Let us use our collective strength to work toward the goal of a community in which all live with personal integrity, respect the dignity of all, value freedom of thought and expression, demonstrate self-control, and develop trusting relationships: a community in which hate has no place!

The statement was written by the following employees and co-signed by others.

Helen Bateman
Amy S. Patterson
Husnain Fateh Ahmad
C. Ken Smith
Christopher McDonough
Ruth Sánchez Imizcoz
Pradip Malde
Deborah M. Jackson
Betsy A. Sandlin
Jessica Welch
Jim Turrell
Tam K. Parker
Tammy Elliott
Parker Oliver
_____________________

Olivia Young
Shana Minkin
Gina Wright
Brody Stone
Terry Papillon
Andrea Hatcher
David Haskell
Tony Pacella
Lily Thompson
J. Neil Alexander
Nancy Berner
Pamela Royston Macfie
Chris Champion
Chip Schane 
Ben King
Vicki Sells
Sylvia Gray
Adam Hawkins
Kris Kallies
Jon Evans
Lisa Stephenson
Connie Patton
Taylor Mottern
Katie McGhee
Isabella Davis
Susan Askew
Keri Watson
Matthew Reyolds
Maris Owens
Lauryl Tucker
Melissa Hartley 
Jim Crawford
Carrie Skulley
John Kilkenny
Christopher R. Smith
Karen Kuers
Cristy Fulscher
April Alvarez
Stephanie L. Batkie
Sandra Brock 
Helen Stapleton
W. Grady Wells
Tiffany S. LuCollin Cornell
Dawn Baker
Manuel Chinchilla
Andrew Moser
Katie Van Cleave
Pollyanne Frantz
Dickie McCarthy
Teresa Smith
Brian Emerson
Thomas Crillo
Max Dahlquist
Alison Miller
Abby Colbert
Mark Webb
Peter Gray
Andrea Del Balso
Betsy Grant 
Erica Howard
Rebecca Abts Wright
John Willis
Kim Heitzenrater
Gwen E. Kirby
Stewart Love
Robert MacSwain
Clint Smith
Amy Turner 
Katie Nelson-Coffey
Karen Yu
Virginia Craighill
Cody Whittington
Rick Wright
Sarah Limbaugh
Donna Parker
William Cooper
Shanna Abramson
Colin Nelson-Pinkston
Sarah Rundle
Travis Rundle
Aymeric Glacet
Layton Jackson
Kartik Misra
Denise Barry
Nicky Hamilton, C’99
Jennifer K Matthews
David Colbert
Justin Taylor
Dorothy Gates
Alison Cardwell
Mila Dragojevic
Buck Butler
Marya Ashby
Kirk Zigler
Jessica Shinn
Joshua Booher
Adam Hartsock
H. Walker Adams
Tim Neil
Heather Brewer
Sandy Carr
Elise Kikis
Renee Blair
Paige Schneider
William Shealy
Patricia Dover 
Maria Watters, C’93
Elizabeth Hayes
Mark Hopwood
Steve Keetle
Jacqueline Blair
William E. Engel
Michael Guyear
Doug Drinen
Max Obermiller
Sean Patrick O’Rourke
Eric Keen
Cynthia Hargis
Amelia Baggenstoss
Thomas Sanders
Tiffany Momon
Coley Crowley
Sam Young
Elizabeth Grammer
Kevin Fouts
Christina Broyles
David Stark
Tao Song
Katherine Theyson
Tabatha Whitsett
Leslie E. Todd
Alexander M. Bruce, C‘89
Aaron Elrod
Maria Michonski
Lhakpa Sherpa
Joe Sponsel
Chris Shelley
Kira Tharp
Sue Ridyard
Jo Gressly    
Michael Ostrowski 
Jessica Lowe
Matthew David Mitchell
Wyatt Prunty
David Shipps  
Kerry Ginger
John Coffey
Tom Sanders
Mary Foster Parmer
Chrissy Gates
Steve Ford
Beth Pride Ford
Vikki Hill
Cynthia Gray
John Marshall
Karen M. Meridith
Nicole Noffsinger-Frazier
Nysha Wallace
Keneisha Mosley
Shelley MacLaren
Ellen Copper
Martin Knoll
Donna Layne
Al Bardi
Karen Tharp
Elise Anderson
McKinnon Pennell, C’18
Brad Sturgill
Elizabeth LeVieux Wilson
Brittany Vaughan
Cassie Meyer
Emily Ezell
Faith Vaughn
Darin Graber
Jennifer Michael, C’89
Emily E. Puckette
Marcus Murphy C’07
Stephen Ray Miller
Kate Reed C’08
Yanbing Tan    
Richard A. O’Connor
Jeffrey Thompson
Karen Singer
Cindy Fribourgh
Lisa Burner
Kenneth Miller
Julia Gatta
Katie Goforth
Matt Cathey
Woody Register
Sallie Williams, C’06
Shiro Burnette, C’18
Paul A. Holloway
Tim Garner
Andrea Johnston
Tanya Ingvoldstad Otero
Kristen Cecala
Rae Manacsa
AC Cowan
Heidi Syler
Lisa Burns
Sarah Butler
Rene Worley
Matthew Schrader
Victoria Borchers
Tori Hinshaw C’19
Jessica Wohl 
Lee Ann Backlund
Dan Backlund
Nate Wilson
Sarah Sherwood
Thomas Reppert
Pepe Iriarte-Diaz
Caroline Thompson 
Sherry Hamby
Maha Jafri
Bobbie Spratlin 
Mishoe Brennecke
Arturo Marquez-Gomez 
Georgia Hewitt
Derek Ettensohn 
Melody Lehn
Deborah McGrath
Sarah Boykin
Kimberly Butters
Daniel Carter
Marc St-Pierre
Sydney Shipps
Prakash Wright
Julia Stubblebine
John Shibata
Mary Heath
John Grammer
Whitney Franklin 
Robert E. Bachman
Donna S Mote 
Sue L Garner
David Earnest
Andrea Mansker
Catherine Cavagnaro
Brian Gingrich
Elizabeth Koella
Penny Cowan
Mark Cowan
Bobby Silk
Terri Limbaugh
James Ross Macdonald
Emily Pickett
Nancy York, C’11
Zach Schultz
Adam Ross
Jane Hawkins
Hannah Huber
Shirley Taylor
Marty Hawkins
Carrie McClain
Alena Kochinski
Christopher Conn
Michelle Frame
Lana Sain
Matt Brown
Chris Van de Ven
Naomi Buck Palagi
Marquitte Starkey
Cari Reynolds
Lauren A Goodpaster
Laura Savage
Lateishia Spencer
Kati Curts
Bobbie Ashley
Megan Brady
Leigh Preston
Kim Bradford
Becca Yates
Michele Dombrowski
Barbara Schloss
Christy Hodges
Sid Brown
Felix Mann
Donna Pierce
Gregory Taylor
Teresa Jeffery Taylor
Karen Gilliam
Ally Hollis, C’16
Kevin Wilson
Robert Black
Joel Cunningham
Hellen Wainaina, C’18
Sara McIntyre
Robie Jackson
Linnea Minich
Karen Proctor
Bethel Seballos
Dovan ‘Ace’ Willis
Jared Young
Scott Smith
David Syler
Terri Fisher
Jim Peterman
Hannah Mathews
Eric Smith
John B
Jim Peters
Stacey O’Sullivan
Warren Swenson 
Liesl Allingham
Nan Long
Tarver Shimek
Melvin Morris
Jimmy Davis
Angie Hudson
Whitney Mosley
Stephanie McCarter
Lucia Garcia-Santana
S. Dixon Myers
Robin Hille Michaels
Alyssa Summers
Katharine Wikinson C’05
Gwendolyn Gentry
Belinda K. Morgan
Tammy Smartt
Richard Apgar
Beth Cragar
Scott Wilson
Courtney World
Danny Anderson
Jenevibe Anderson
Evan Joslin