Lizzy Donker, Editor-in-Chief
Chloe Wright, Executive Editor
The Purple recently sat down with the 18th Vice-Chancellor and University President Rob Pearigen (C ‘76) to discuss important campus topics and plans for the Spring semester.
This article has been edited lightly for clarity.
How has your semester been going so far?
“We had a snowy beginning. I was glad that we were able to get the streets and sidewalks clean so that when y’all came back, you could start. There had been some concern that the ice and conditions would make it hard to have class in person, but so that was a good way to begin. Last week was a great opening convocation at the beginning of the semester and Professor David Haskell gave a great 18 minute talk. It was fantastic. So that was a great way to start. And then this has been a full week. We have the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church coming to Sewanee this weekend, and that’s a really big deal. He’s fairly new. He’s only been in the position for three months, maybe four. So to have him here on campus that early in his tenure is a great opportunity for us to showcase who we are and what we do.”
There seem to be a lot of administrative transitions currently happening. Can you talk more about what that looks like and what you’re excited about?
“I’ve been in this position now for 18 months. I know the place well, but coming back, it takes a little while to kind of get your feet on the ground and see how things are going and who all is involved and see what everybody is doing. So after 18 months, it just felt like there were some opportunities to make some changes. I’m really excited about Nicky Campbell becoming the new Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students. She’s an alumna of the college. I actually hired her to be Director of Residential Life back in 2004.
After doing graduate work for a few years in Arkansas, she came back and worked in our Civic Engagement Office and has been a special assistant to, I guess, three Vice-Chancellors now, and so she really knows the place well. Nicky is very student-focused. She’s very passionate about this place and the success of our students, so I think she’ll do a really good job in that new role.
[I’m] also really excited about David Shipps. He’s the Vice President for economic development, and we’re moving some of our auxiliary services that have a particular revenue growth potential under his portfolio. And so that, to me, again, is something that, having looked around and watched how things were working and opportunities going forward, seemed like a really good place to go. So yeah, change is sometimes hard, but also very good and [I’m] excited about those changes.”
I’m sure you’ve seen circulating in the media recently Episcopal Bishop’s Mariann Budde’s speech to President Donald Trump at the National Cathedral. Given Sewanee’s affiliation with the Episcopal church, how do you see this conversation being brought to campus?
“The person who’s coming is Sean Rowe, and he’s the new Presiding Bishop. He’s the bishop overseeing all of the dioceses in The Episcopal Church. The person who gave the talk at the Washington National Cathedral was a woman named Mariann Budde and she is the Bishop of Washington, D.C. I’ve heard that she gave a talk and was really encouraging President Trump to be kind and thoughtful and careful in his work with others, especially those who are more vulnerable. So I’m really excited about hearing or reading it at some point, but I haven’t actually seen it or heard it myself. I do think this is a great time in the church for new leadership. I heard wonderful things about the Presiding Bishop Rowe. I was in a Zoom meeting with him last week, and he came across as a very thoughtful, very genuine, very, very kind person, and to have him coming to Sewanee at this time is really a great opportunity for us.
“You may also know that we are in the search for a new University Chaplain, and actually, the title of this person will be University Chaplain and Dean of All Saints Chapel, which is a way of saying this is a really important position and an important time in the church and in the life of the University. So, I’m really excited about the opportunity to fill that position.
“Our strategic plan was passed last fall, and one of the goals in the plan was to reinforce our heritage and identity as an Episcopal institution. This is a great opportunity for us to do that. But even as we elevate and reinforce that relationship, we are a place for people of all faiths and those who might still be searching. So I want to be clear that even as we reinforce that connection to the Episcopal Church and elevate that opportunity for that sort of a role and influence in the church, we are mindful of the fact that we care about all of our students, even if they’re not Episcopalian.”
Do you see some of these political conversations being brought to campus?
“I think it’s important for this campus to be a place where all ideas are heard and respected and we have an honest, deep exchange of political ideas. It’s important for our student body and for all of us to be mindful of what’s happening in this world of ours. It’s important for all of us to be respectful of one another’s views, but to be sure that we’re in conversation and talking about these important issues of the day.
One of the things I was so grateful for last semester was just before the election. The OG and the SGA developed some sort of pledge, and the pledge was to encourage people to, whatever the outcome of the election, be respectful of the outcome and continue to be in relationship with one another. And I was happy to sign the pledge myself, and really glad that our students and student organizations push having that kind of honest, genuine, deep, sometimes difficult, sometimes contentious dialog and conversation. So yeah, I think that’s one of the great things about being on a college campus. It’s a place for ideas to be shared and articulated.”
When we spoke in September you and the Board of Regents were considering a new environmental, social, and governance policy. Now that a draft of the responsible investment guidelines has been released for the public over break, and, at the time of me saying this, a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine is currently underway, what can you say about the process of redefining Sewanee’s investments? What is left to achieve before the group’s May deadline?
“There’s a new advisory committee made up of faculty, staff and students that met last week for the first time to talk more about the issues around responsibly investing in environmental, social, and governance matters. I think they’re going to be meeting every couple of weeks. The idea here is to learn more about the thoughts and concerns and issues that our students and faculty and staff might want to bring to our attention. It’s a learning process where we’re interested in their thoughts on this. There’s not a definite time frame or point at which there will be specific recommendations. We’re still working through those matters, but I’m glad there’s a group in conversation about it.”
What does the future of Greek Life look like at Sewanee?
“I have been an advocate for a strong and accountable Greek life system. I think our sororities and fraternities play an important role here in terms of extracurricular life, in terms of leadership opportunities, in terms of service, I’ve been really impressed with the degree to which the sororities and fraternities are involved in the community and in helping others in the community. So, I like that. I think we have some work to do to improve some of our facilities. I think most of our fraternity houses could probably use some upgrades that won’t be cheap, but I think we really need to have a better facility and have facility work to do with fraternities. I think the sororities are in mostly pretty good places, but that too is something we need to look at. So I use those words ‘strong but accountable.’ That system is really important to me.”
What are you excited about for this Easter semester?
“Well, I’m very excited as we move toward the effectuation and implementation of elements of our strategic plan. You probably know a little bit about it. There are three major pillars having to do with the mind, heart, and place. The mind talks about our academic program. And there’s some really, I think, great opportunities in our academic program, including our new data science major, growing the business program, and putting into place a new first-year experience for all students. There’s a committee working on that now, and I think the plan is to roll out a pilot for this coming year, and then the next year be able to include all students. So I’m excited about that. I love some of the things we’re doing with the heart piece in terms of leadership development opportunities. There’s some great opportunities for research, study, and recreation here on this Domain. One of the elements of the place piece I like the most is the fact that every department, every major, will have courses that relate somehow back to the Domain. Oftentimes our students in forestry and geology and natural resources are out there on the Domain, but I love the idea of every course or every department offering courses that tie back to the Domain in this community. So, getting parts of the strategic plan moving along, and then talking with our friends and alumni about how they can support the plan. Soon, I hope to move toward a new comprehensive campaign, because we have a lot to do to implement the plan.
“Another part of the plan has to do with growing our endowment, especially for scholarship support for students. So we’ve got a lot of work to do to raise the funds and help reinforce and grow our endowment and that’s really exciting to me. I love some of the things that are happening on campus. I’d love to see the Biehl Commons become even more of an active place. I think we’ve got some great students involved in the athletic program so I’m excited about sports events coming up this semester and the choir has been doing some amazing things with Lessons and Carols last December. They’ve got a big trip coming up to England this summer. So those are all just things that are really kind of exciting happening here at Sewanee. I think this is shaping up to be a great semester.”
Did you do anything fun for the snowfall?
“Phoebe and I love walking Spencer in the snow. For the first 100 yards, all he wants to do is sniff the snow. But then he starts rolling around playing in it. And he loves watching the students on their sleds going down North Carolina Avenue behind Chen Hall. It’s a great sledding place, but they’re all tumbling down and he thinks they’re in trouble. So he’s always wanting to go out there to rescue somebody, so we have to kind of keep him restrained so that he doesn’t get right in the middle of it. But I love the snow. I thought it was great. I’m so thankful for our crew that got out there that weekend and made it possible for y’all to come back in safe conditions. But I’m kind of ready for spring now.”