Ask these people, who follow this darkened path, what the future of the church is? After the parties are over, the affirming conferences and breaking of every moral hurtle placed between us and barabarous chaos, what will be left? Who will be in the pews? Why go to church? Would a God of love let his church, now filled to the brim with "loving", diverse and tolerant people dies a slow but steady death? All the assexual female-like archibishops and VickiGenes are meaningless if there are no one in the building to pay for their pretty miters.

Sewerpipe theology emanating from a once-great and highly respected university seems to be the norm these days, so if I were Bishop Iker, I wouldn't feel too bad about orthodox trustees being removed and replaced by heretics.

Cennydd

Barf.

The Birmingham Sewanee crowd is just as you describe it. As long as our gentlemen can tie on a colorful bow tie and our ladies can wear a nice set of white pearls, everybody have fun at parties together, see our names listed with other important people, get included on Bishop Parsley's committees, we could care less about what is really going on at Sewanee.

When the Birmingham children start coming home from Sewanee after being exposed to Bishop Alexander's priestly professors, maybe the legacy parents and alumni will wake up.

Thanks to good, strong news coverage like this there may yet be hope for Birmingham.

Birmingham must come together and study the problems at Sewanee. We must boycott Sewanee.

No more Birmingham students at Sewanee, and no more Birmingham money at Sewanee. Boycott both the admissions office and the fundraisers. Our boycott won't change Sewanee, but it will prevent Sewanee from changing our children and wasting our money.

Thank you for this crucial news story.

Luke 12:34 -- "For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Conversely, if your heart isn't in it, your treasure shouldn't be THERE, either. Easy to understand, and easy to act on as well....

Sewannee has been slouching towards Gomorrah for quite a number of years now.

The alumni and other traditional supporters need to withhold their financial support, and send their children elsewhere.

It is a beautiful place. It is a shame this has happened.

Isaac

The way we hear the people who truly love Sewanee talk about it now:

"Sewanee is such a wonderful place, but it's full of such horrible people."

I wish I had known that boycotting the Sewanee admissions office was the best choice, but it is too late for our daughter. We should have sent her to a Christian convent instead of into the Sewanee cult of illegal drugs, alcohol, unprotected teen sex, and spiritual death. She recently gave me a syllabus from Intrduction to Women's Studies, Fall 2009. I'll share portions of it with "the Birmingham crowd," just in case they are needing even one good reason to boycott Sewanee's admissions officers and charming fundraisers. If you send children to Sewanee or give money to Sewanee, this is who will have your children and enjoy spending your Sewanee Fund gift.




WoSt100
Prof. Julie Berebitsky
E-Mail: jberebit@sewanee.edu
Walsh-Ellet 209

Required Texts include "The Politics of Women's Bodies" "Whores and Other Feminists"

Gender-Busting Paper is 15% of class grade.

Gender on TV: a comparison of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Sex in the City"

You must watch THREE episodes of BOTH shows, ...write an analytical essay with an argumentative thesis comparing...

2) Who is more "liberated" --Carrie and her friends or Mary and hers? Why?

I recommend that you answer the question you have chosen by focusing in on or two aspects of the show: for example, the women's careers, their friendships, their romantic/sexual relationships...


GENDER BUSTING PAPER

This assignment, too, asks you to investigate the existence of gender stereotypes. In this exercise, you will perform an act that violates existing gender roles.

The point of this exercise is to take you out of your own comfort zone so you can see how gender systems operate- almost invisibly- in our world. In particular, you will be looking to see how "gender policing"- the subtle and not so subtle means by which society, individuals, an dgroups- enforce gendered behavior. The fundamental question to answer here is: What does your experience teach us about gender as a social construct?

BEFORE FALL BREAK, YOU MUST COME BY AND SEE ME OR SEN ME AN EMAIL BRIEFLY DESCRIBING YOU ACT AND THE GENDER STEREOTYPE(S) YOU HOPE TO BUST.

3)Post-act. Analysis: What did you learn about yourself, others, and gender stereotypes? What does this experience tell us about gender as a social construct? Be analytical!

RULES AND SUGGESTIONS

2. Do not perform an act that will reinforce gender stereotypes (e.g the helpless female or macho man), racism or homophobia.

3. You must do this assignment alone and you cannot tell anyone this is just an exercise until the scenario has run its course. Note: If you have a great idea tha requires a partner, let me know, and we can work it out.

4. Secrecy is the key. Sewanee is a small community; if people know this is an experiment, a "test," then you will not get an accurate sense of your audience's response.

Examples:

Dating is an area in which gender roles can still be quite prevalent. Women, ask a man out, pick him up, open his door, order for him to pay! Men, don't approach a woam in whom you're interested! Instead, wait by the phone and obsessively check Facebook! Flirt, dress attractively, give off "I'm interested vibes" and see if she approaches you!

Readings to be discussed on 9/21: "The Dialectic of Sex" Black Women and Motherhood"

Readings to be discussed 10/7: "Myth of Vaginal Orgasm"


discussed 11/9: "Menarche and the (Hetero)sexualization of the Female Body" "Daring to Desire: Culture and the Bodies of Adolescent Girls"

11/16: "Owning Up to Abortion"

11/23: "Beyond Racism and Misogyny: Black Feminism in 2 Live Crew"

Sewaneemom, after reading your post, I reached the conclusion that why any parent with half a brain would ever think of send his or her child to this place is completely beyond my understanding.

I'm not a Sewanee grad....I graduated from SUNY....but after all that my wife and I have heard and read about what has happened to what we know was a once-great and highly regarded university, we would not want our four grandchildren to enroll there....under any circumstances....and their parents share our opinion.

Cennydd

I did some searching on this hard core feminist professor Berebitsky. What I found is very disturbing.

I also have received a fundraising appeal from Sewanee. From what I've learned about Sewanee professor Berebitsky, I will boycott the Sewanee Fund. I will give NOTHING to Sewanee- no more children, no more money, NOTHING.

Feminist Berebitsky was one of the 18 Sewanee professors who demanded that Christ be removed from the Univesity Purpose statement. And Sewanee didn't fire her, so I will give to Sewanee NOTHING for its annual fund.

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4055

Berebitsky's students sign Feminist Pledges, and therefore, I will give to Sewanee NOTHING for its annual fund. These students look bright and possibly come from good families, but I refuse to give money to a university bent on such destruction.

http://www.sewanee.edu/womensstudies/Events

Will the "Birmingham crowd" join the boycott?

NOT surprised about Sewanee, which has always leaned left. The campus is beautiful and is located in one of most gorgeous places on earth.
A strange juxtaposition between doctrinal ugliness and earthly beauty.

I found on the Sewanee website where I can participate in boycotting the Sewanee Fund boycott by giving NOTHING.

We can all give to Sewanee our NOTHING here

http://ur.sewanee.edu/sewaneeannualfund

Sewanee Annual Fund

The University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383

Thank you for using our Secure Online Giving System

To make your gift online, please complete all items in the donor, gift and payment information below and then click "Submit."

Gift Information

Gift Amount $0, NOTHING, in honor of Julie Berebitsky

Sewanee gives a whole new meaning to,"Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be provided."

Typical liberal modus operandi. Form a fifth column to invade a healthy, prosperous institution. Then slowly pervert to rules to gain power and begin to wreck havoc. They did it to The Ford Foundation, TEC, and numerous (many numerous) other foundations and schools.

The Evil One is a sneak.

I had the displeasure of meeting Neil Alexander a few years back at a TEC church in Cartersville, GA. All I can say is that it was not a memorable occasion, neither did he impress upon me any great depth of theological understanding.

What a waste of souls and stone-masonry.

I know many Christians who no longer give to their Episcopal Church parishes because of the same problems we have discovered at Sewanee. They readily agree that not giving anything at all is their best option for honoring Christ's sacrifices. Sewanee boycotters who "separate" their charitable giving from Sewanee are also honoring our blessed Redeemer. May God bless each of them and their houses!

Sewanee Mom


"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."
2 Cor. 6:17

It is a shame that many universities which started out as Christian places of learning have been taken over by the left an become nothing more than secular humanist booze, drug and sex brainwashing camps. Sounds harsh, but it is quite true.

My own alma mater, Temple University, was started by a Baptist minister. Is now completely secular. (The last time anyone was baptized there was when a few students doused themselves with beer when the Phillies won the pennant last month.) In fact, it has the ignominious distinction of awarding the whacked out Sewanee Professoress (take Christ out of the Sewanee mission statement) Berebitsky her PhD in Feminazi Studies.

The best way to go against this is to withold your money. Don't give them a dime and don't let any of your family enroll there. Tell your friends to do the same.

I have held off so far on commenting. I wanted to gather my thoughts.

As one who resigned as a "Class Giving Committee Member" (previously I was a "Class Captain") because I could no longer ask others to give to Sewanee, I am very aware of many of the problems which Sewanee has. The pan-sexualist movements and feminist theology are, in fact, advancing.

Several of the comments on this thread, however, have attecked Sewanee as being "Liberal" due to the alcohol usage. This is NOT a "liberal, new thing." We, as Anglicans (or Episcopalians) ARE NOT A BUNCH OF TEETOTLING Fundies!!!! Remember, "where there are four Episcopalians(Anglicans) there is always a fifth!!" People can, AND SHOULD, criticize Sewanee and the Church for its liberal sexual ethics, its departure from "the faith once delivered by the apostles", (including The Apostle Paul's instruction to Timothy not to drink water but to drink WINE!!), the removal of many references to the South and the general "de-Christianizing" of the place. But DO NOT criticize an Anglican college for expressing one of the traditions of Anglicanism.

One of the things I worry about in the new ACNA is that many of these folks are "evangelicals" who like (or in many cases don't like) a liturgical service. We need to be Anglicans who are orthodox but we are NOT a bunch of fundamentalist teetotlers.

So, down with the "Heathens" (the pansexualist, univeralist movements) and up with the (One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic) Church.

Tigers, Tigers, Leave em' in the Lurch.

Yea! Sewanee's Right!! (about drinking but not about theology, morality or much else-GRIN)

Sewanee alumnus Jon Meacham at Newsweek is writing important sounding things again. "This week's cover is Maziar's declaration of independence from the threats of a regime that imprisoned and tortured him for months."

At least Meacham can recognize that such a thing as a regime exits. No surprise there, because he is the Sewanee Regime, and is most remembered by Sewanee alumni for his expressed hatred of the remnant Anglican Communion Christians who steadfastly defy inclusion of gay pride in our churches. "No matter what one thinks about gay rights—for, against or somewhere in between —this conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism."

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9683

Thanks to sewaneemom's lead, growing numbers of Sewanee alumni, practiced in the art of "the worst kind of fundamentalism," can now make our declaration of independence from any compulsion to give money to the Sewanee Fund.

I join the BOYCOTT SEWANEE and pledge to give NOTHING to Sewanee.

http://ur.sewanee.edu/sewaneeannualfund

Sewanee Annual Fund

Gift Information

Gift Amount $0, NOTHING, in honor of Jon Meacham, former trustee, former regent, current search committee for next Vice Chancellor


As God commands: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." 2 Cor. 6:17

So shall we do: BOYCOTT SEWANEE

They told us at church about this website and Sewanee news article. My wife and I just read the disturbing article and revealing comments about Sewanee. We are prayerfully recalling the words of the Collect we read yesterday, Sunday,the next before Advent, and these prepared us for what we read here online at home later that afternoon. "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they may plenteously bring forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Thank you for this vital forum of exploration and expression of feelings about Sewanee. We look forward to reading the next two parts of the story, but fear there is no good news about Sewanee to come.

Why? Well, we've been hearing nothing but bad news about Sewanee for the last recent couple of years, but didn't believe most of it. When the subject came up at a Sewanee Club party or informal dinner, somebody always became agitated and insisted that the stories were twisted and untrue, all stirred up by just a bunch of kooks and cranks who are stuck in the past. They always made us feel that if we kept talking about it or asking questions, that something was wrong with us or that we were damaging Sewanee's reputation. We didn't investigate further, because we were blind with loyalty, you might say. That's the common affliction of Nashville's Sewanee alumni. Sewanee has always been dear to our hearts. Several of my family attended and some have been big annual supporters, but no more. Sign us up as a Sewanee Boycotters. Sewanee gets not another dime from us. Get rid of this Berebizkie type womyn, and maybe we'll consider giving again in the future. But nothing more for Sewanee while she's teaching students about femnizm. She will never get near our children! Does the administration know what she is "teaching" about exploring sex and gender busting? Does the administration allow their own children to attend her classes? Do parents send their children to Sewanee for sex and gender busting? How much total is paid for a four year undergraduate degree? For a gender busting game??? What went wrong on the Mountain??? If that kind of perverted game must be played somewhere, that where shouldn't be anywhere at Sewanee!!! Sewanee prided itself in being a good place with better people than those where you would encounter hysterical higher law femnizm. We'll consult Rev. Dr. William Porcher DuBose before asking Berebizkie-Womyn about Sewanee's purpose. When I was a student, everybody knew that extreme liberals were all around us, but we considered them as a collective of unattractive eyesores and a general annoyance, but not a threat. And now those people have taken over Sewanee? Good God! Disaster! That's as frightening as it is outrageous and offensive.

My great aunt has made a sizeable estate gift to Sewanee in her will in honor of an Episcopal priest who was very kind to her after a family tragedy in the 1950's. She has always associated Sewanee with him, as well as the rest of us. She feels very good about the gift, but I don't know if she ever notified Sewanee of her plans. She's never been invited by Sewanee to any of their official parties here or on the Mountain. When she learns about the Berebizkie-Womyn, the first thing she will say is, "Buhrrbizzkee, now dear child, just what kind uvh'a name is that? Buhrrbizzkee isn't a Christian name like ours. When did Suh-wanee stah't to hir'in those kind 'a people?" Dear auntie hasn't been on the Mountain in years and never met or heard about the Goodsteins. Then I'll give her a printout of this news article and include the Berebizkie-Womyn's Women's Studies gender busting game, as well as the Sewanee Gang of 18 article. After the smelling salts are used up and her new will is signed, we may never know if she notifies Sewanee of what the gift amount was that she canceled because of Berebizkie-Womyn, but we in the family will always know she did the right thing.

Maybe we will encourage her to go public with her concerns and how she responded to the news. She may offer hope to those who are in greatest need of inverting the Sewanee myth. We are not helping Sewanee students by giving anything to Sewanee, especially the Sewanee Fund. Giving only helps the paid employees whom we empower to impair the moral and ethical capacities of the sons and daughters of the finest families in the region.

Boycott, gift $0, nothing more for Sewanee, that we may plenteously bring forth the fruit of good works.

Sewanee's demise was predicted and explained by Alexander Pope back in the early 18th Century. Essay on Man.

"Vice is a monster of so frightful mein.
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar, with her face.
We first endure, then pity, then embrace."

Berebitsky is the conclusive diagnosis of Sewanee's Stockholm Syndrome.

Berebitsky teaches from Anne Koedt's "classic" feminist text "Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm." This "classic" article is online. http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/CWLUArchive/vaginalmyth.html

The article is nothing more than a smut piece of trash promoting feminist pornography. Julie Berbetisky teaches feminist pornography to Sewanee students. Congratulations, Sewanee Fund donors! When your daughter is home tomorrow for the traditional Mountain Brook Thanksgiving family dinner, have grandma ask her what she is learning at Sewanee. When she reports on the anatomical details of the myth of vaginal orgasm, try not to vomit up your turkey and gravy; try not to think of your $40,000 cost for her freshman year at Sewanee; try not to think of that extra donation you made so you can be invited to Sewanee Parents' Council cocktail parties; etc.

Sewanee students, with the financial assistance of donors who haven't yet boycotted the Sewanee Fund, are learning, according to this least disgusting part of the article, that "An analogy is racism, where the white racist compensates for his feelings of unworthiness by creating an image of the black man (it is primarily a male struggle) as biologically inferior to him. Because of his position in a white male power structure, the white man can socially enforce this mythical division. To the extent that men try to rationalize and justify male superiority through physical differentiation, masculinity may be symbolized by being the most muscular, the most hairy; having the deepest voice, and the biggest penis. Women, on the other hand, are approved of (i.e., called feminine) if they are weak, petite, shave their legs, have high soft voices."

Yea Sewanee's Right! Really??

I agree with EQB Sewanee Stand Firm over at http://www.standfirminfaith.com/.

"VOMITUS NON STOPPUS"

Ecce Quam Bonum

Get your handbaskets ready, another institution going to HELL!

As a member of the "Birmingham Crowd", I am growing wearing of that momentary uncertainty of how to respond when asked where I attended college. Should I say "Sewanee", and then have them judge me as a self loathing scalawag who is afraid to say "The University of the South"? Should I say "The University of the South" and risk offending their progressive, enlightened understanding how we need to let go of the Southern past and racist Jim Crowism so that we can move forward together into a more inclusive, welcoming appreciation of multicultural diversity?

"Diversity is our strength" and "The University of the South" are not compatible declarations, so if I'll just go ahead and join the 21st Century, I should say I attended "Sewanee". But as I look at this century and the perpetual failure of Obama's post racial "new era of responsibility", I find the past looking increasingly glorious and hopeful in comparison to the failures of the present. "Sewanee" has become so compromised that alumni now face the dilemma of being either true to self or self sacrificial for the benefit of yankees and minorities. That's not working out very well for us.

Maybe the only right answer is "I got my diploma from a backwater Bible college on top of a secluded mountain in Tennessee, but I voted for Obama."

I am struggling with whether or not to renew my Sewanee Fund pledge. If I don't contribute, I'll feel cut off from Sewanee and lose my opportunities to be involved. If I do contribute, I'll be helping Sewanee become "unrecognizable" and contributing to that Woe-Man Burrbizzkee's paycheck.

While Woe-Man Burrbizzkee is completely unacceptable to all decent minded Christians, my contempt is mostly growing for the Development Office. They subtly hold out offers of invitations to the Mountain and more involvement on alumni committees and boards if my classmates and I give more money. They are skilled at making us feel wanted and welcomed and at making us believe that our voices count, but only if we give increasingly large financial gifts. I don't know how they do it exactly, but somehow they communicate that there is a great secret club that alumni can join if they give enough money. We never hear it said exactly like that, but the message is somehow communicated with that inducement, which is irresistible to good Sewanee folks. The fact that Woe-Man Burrbizzkee is still there proves that the voices of good Sewanee folks are ignored.

Before I decide on renewing my pledge, I'll watch this video a few more times and contemplate being around these kinds of people while I'm in Sewanee for some important alumni meeting that I was invited to because I became a "significant donor". Needless to say, Sewanee must offer something unimaginably compelling to overcome the distastefulness of these types of people who are being encouraged to come up to the Mountain. These don't look like our future "significant donors".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZXYqezFZEU

I am Eric Benjamin, the Director of Multi-Cultural Affairs, here at Sewanee. I am an African American and a member of the class of '73, tutored by some of Sewanee's greatest figures, including Charles Harrison, Father Ralston, and Henry Arnold.

We have at least one thing in common; we have a deep love for Sewanee.

Yes, my office sponsored the Mountain Lambda event on campus in October, not because I am a supporter of the “gay agenda”, but because I support our students.

If you are unaware, many young people coming to Sewanee are searching for answers about their sexual identity. Some may be children of your friends or acquaintances. I have had minimal involvement with our gay students in the past. Having met a courageous young man with interest in helping other students, I agreed to help sponsor the event.

The event was a success, although it was in the Bishop's Common and not Rebel's Rest, as planned originally.

I believe in serving all Sewanee students, not just those who agree with my political or social preferences. I knew this was sensitive territory for the Sewanee family. My goal was not to advance “an agenda”, but to help our students during these important years of self-discovery. Although the Church is immersed in conflict around this topic, it should not preclude supporting our students here on campus. Until we ask students who may be gay, etc, not to apply to Sewanee, we have an obligation to serve them with love and grace.

I have three sons and a wife. I guess you would call me a straight person. If you have questions about the philosophy of this office, I would be glad to share it. As an African American "raised" in Georgia, I am working to move away from the “us” and “them” model, which seemed “so right”. God is “One” and so must we strive to be also.

Lordy, how many times must I watch that video before deciding whether or not I'll renew my annual Sewanee Fund pledge? I've seen more than enough of that freaky woe-man spastically jerking around in front of All Saints' Chapel while she bangs on her African bongo drum. Bongos at Sewanee? That should be all the proof I need that Sewanee doesn't deserve another cent from me, but somehow Sewanee still tugs at my heart and purse. Nonetheless, my misgivings just won't go away. I just feel that if I make the pledge, something else awful at Sewanee will pop up later to convince me that I never should have pledged, but having pledged, I'd be committed to completing the gift. What a miserable predicament that would be, and I'd only have myself to blame for not investigating all the facts before agreeing to another pledge. I always test drive a car before buying it with my money, so why wouldn't I test Sewanee's adherence to my values before contributing any more of my money to it? What if Sewanee actively promotes disruptive, dangerous theology and radical ideology? If I give to Sewanee, am I not fighting against my own interests? Am I not fighting against God? I'm not getting any of the needed facts from Sewanee's fundraising letters. I'll have to do all the research on my own, and I resent that. My time is more valuable than to be spent investigating whether or not Sewanee is too far gone to be trusted with my donations. Sewanee should declare itself more boldly, give donors the opportunity to assess its clearly stated values in comparison to their own, and then force them to yes or no based that decision making process. The imperative is upon Sewanee to demand that donors only give if the donors are in agreement with the Maples Dunn version of the "unrecognizable" Sewanee. If donors don't support that, if they don't support Woe-Man Berrbizzkee's femnazi propaganda, then Sewanee should refuse accepting their pledges and gifts. Sewanee obviously is not soliciting from such a position of honesty, therefore, I even more resent Sewanee's fundraising tactics. If Sewanee doesn't want to be what it was prior to the arrival of whoever brought Maples Dunn up to the Mountain, then Sewanee doesn't want me or my money, but they keep asking for my money, and I bitterly resent being played for a chump. I'll dig deeper, by God, and for God, and with God's help.

I have reread this entire news article and all comments, this time with more purposeful care and concern. I'm glad I did, because I have now at least reached some kind of decision about my Sewanee Fund pledge. I haven't completed the decision making process to its conclusion, but I have made progress. I have decided that if I do pledge to the Sewanee Fund, I will definitely reduce my gift to Sewanee and gladly and appreciatively give the difference between last year's gift and this year's pledge to this much deserving Virtueonline news service. I encourage all alumni and parents to join me in doing the same. Heck, you 100% boycotters of the Sewanee Fund should direct all of what you gave to Sewanee last year toward this more worthy cause. If you are part of that group who must give to Sewanee, reduce your gift in recognition of Maples Dunn's making Sewanee "unrecognizable" and Woe-Man Burrbizzkee's femnazisms. Give the difference to this Virtueonline. If you don't care about ever being invited to Lessons and Carols again, or if you still hold out hopes of ever being invited at all, i.e. you become targeted by the Sewanee fundraisers as a prospective big donor, then do not tell anyone at Sewanee or associated with Sewanee that you gave less to them while giving something at all to somebody else who openly professes themselves as "The Voice for Global Orthodox Anglicanism." With this so called "pro gay" Bishop Alexander sitting in the Chancellor's seat, Sewanee seems intent on getting itself kicked out of the Anglican Communion. I'd guess that you don't want to connect yourself to the Bible believing Anglican fundamentalist, racist, sexist, homophobic bad guys if you want to be welcomed back up to the Mountain. I know that All Saints' still looks like Anglican Old England, but the ugly memory of that bongo banging scowling woe-man in front of the Chapel just ruins it for me.

My name is Kristin Hanson and I am a sophomore student at the University of the South. I attend Sewanee with a merit scholarship and feel blessed to call this university my home. I am a member of the Order of the Gownsmen and of Sewanee’s Angel Team, the university’s special events hosting team. I participate in community service at the university and attend weekly faith discussion group meetings led by University Chaplain Tom Macfie. I am planning to declare my major in the Religious Studies department this spring. I grew up in a Catholic and Episcopalian household and consider myself a “decent-minded Christian.” My faith is central in my life and contributed to my decision to attend Sewanee. And yes, I use both “University of the South” and “Sewanee” to refer to my school.

I write because I chose to take Professor Berebitsky’s Introduction to Women’s Studies course this semester. Sewaneemom, I presume that your daughter is in my class. I elected to take this course, as did your daughter: nowhere in the 2009-2010 Sewanee Catalog is there listed a requirement to take any course in the Women’s Studies department; it is an elective. If your daughter was troubled by the syllabus she received at the beginning of the semester, she could have easily dropped the course without any repercussion. Regardless, my opinion is that I and the other students have benefited from being in the class, as our knowledge of issues that affect us and other women (and men!) has expanded. Without women’s advocates in the past, women would not have been able to begin attending Sewanee in 1969.

Sewaneemom, the way in which you have presented Professor Berebitsky’s syllabus is misleading. Berebitsky was certain to assure her students on the first day of class that we were free to let her know if we were at all uncomfortable with the assigned reading. In that case, she would assign alternate reading that would amount to the same credit. Furthermore, the Gender Busting Paper was an assignment that asked that students examine the existence of gender stereotypes in society, and that one take oneself out of his or her own gender-identified comfort zone. The assignment did not result in any danger for the student or for anyone witnessing the act. As an example, for my gender busting assignment I chose to eat foods that I personally perceive as masculine in front of my peers. I experienced no harm, and the assignment did not force any opinions upon me; rather, I learned about my own tendency to police my gender behaviors. Most importantly, Professor Berebitsky encourages her students to disagree, and differing opinions are offered and accepted as legitimate every time we discuss a reading assignment.

Cennydd, my parents possess much more than “half a brain” and have relentlessly encouraged me in my studies at Sewanee. I have shared information with them about my assignments in Berebitsky’s class, and they have shown no qualms about my participation in the course.

It is sad to me that loving God’s people, ALL of God’s people, has become a crime in the eyes of many Sewanee alumni and parents. My hope is that we can grow as a community to embrace the changes the University of the South is undergoing.

After looking closer at this here "Sewanee's favorite son" Jon Meacham, I don't at all like what I've found. Nothing about him makes me inclined toward generosity to this year's Sewanee Fund. The new "Vice Chancellor's Annual Report and Honor Roll of Donors, 2008-2009" gives him a half page of free promotion. He was at Sewanee! At a Board of Trustees meeting! When he received word! That he won!! the Pulitzer!!! Meacham found that coincidence to have "poetic significance"! (Has anyone ever read his poetry?) Dang, he should have gotten a full page for $25,000. (Could have made room for that poem.) He's listed in the Bishop Otey Society for having given $25,000 or more last fiscal year to Sewanee. Way to go Jonny Meacham! Regularly get yourself announced in the media as a "most influential journalist", regularly be seen on ultra liberal MSNBC "news" shows (not so much on Bill O'Reilly any more since Newsweek started hitting the skids), regularly win big awards and prizes, regularly split time between important, hectic New York City and rural, relaxing Sewanee, Tennessee, regularly make enough money from Newsweek, books, speaking honoraria, and several prizes to enjoy two homes (nobody should have two homes until everybody has one! shame!), raise three kids, and still be able to donate $25,000 to Sewanee! Looks like Jon Meacham has no timid qualms about cashing in on all that unearned white privilege of his! As a good Episcopalian who supports Obama Diversity, isn't he supposed to hold himself accountable to people of color for his unearned white privilege? Were any of those ten Newsweek employees he recently laid off people of color? Why didn't he lay himself off and give his job to a more deserving minority? Can't Newsweek find an African American who is smart enough to be its editor? Has Newsweek ever had an African American editor? If not, shouldn't Jon Meacham want to help Newsweek make history by "doing the right thing?" Will Jon Meacham voluntarily "step down" when Obama's Diversity Czar, Mark Lloyd, comes calling with an opportunity for "redemption" from his unearned white privilege and systemic, institutional power? ("We're in a position where you have to say who is going to step down so someone else can have power." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e7f_1253826853)

He continues, "I credit Sewanee with teaching me to keep after things." Yep, like keeping after all those bigoted homophobes by shaming and coercing them into compliance with ultra liberal mandates on same sex marriage!

"No matter what one thinks about gay rights-for, against or somewhere in between -this conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism. Given the history of the making of the Scriptures and the millennia of critical attention scholars and others have given to the stories and injunctions that come to us in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt-it is unserious, and unworthy of the great Judeo-Christian tradition."

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9683

"Briefly put, the Judeo-Christian religious case for supporting gay marriage begins with the recognition that sexual orientation is not a choice—a matter of behavior—but is as intrinsic to a person's makeup as skin color. The analogy with race is apt, for Christians in particular long cited scriptural authority to justify and perpetuate slavery with the same certitude that some now use to point to certain passages in the Bible to condemn homosexuality and to deny the sacrament of marriage to homosexuals. This argument from Scripture is difficult to take seriously—though many, many people do—since the passages in question are part and parcel of texts that, with equal ferocity, forbid particular haircuts. The Devil, as Shakespeare once noted, can cite Scripture for his purpose, and the texts have been ready sources for those seeking to promote anti-Semitism and limit the human rights of women, among other things that few people in the first decade of the 21st century would think reasonable."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/172688

We've heard it all before, and the consequences have been disastrous.

Long before we had Jon Meahcam making overwrought pronouncements from on high about how things should be, we had the similar annoyances from the 19th century's William Lloyd Garrison. He was an influential activist, social reformer, Lincoln myth promoter, and angry Northern journalist, as is Jon Meacham in toto.

Is Jon Meacham channeling the restless ghost of William Lloyd Garrison? Decide for yourself. Search Garrison and compare his to Meacham's infamous screed against Bible believing Christians.

Garrison, "To say that everything contained within the lids of the bible is divinely inspired, and to insist upon dogma as fundamentally important, is to give utterance to a bold fiction, and to require the suspension of the reasoning faculties. To say that everything in the bible is to be believed, simply because it is found in that volume, is equally absurd and pernicious."

Meacham, "No matter what one thinks about gay rights-for, against or somewhere in between -this conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism. Given the history of the making of the Scriptures and the millennia of critical attention scholars and others have given to the stories and injunctions that come to us in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt-it is unserious, and unworthy of the great Judeo-Christian tradition."

Read Garrison, Only moronic fundamentalists and dangerous extremist fringe kooks would believe in the Bible.
Read Meacham, Only fundamentalist morons and dangerous extremist fringe kooks would believe in the Bible.

Meacham, the true believer who is right now choosing Sewanee's next Vice-Chancellor, is our century's Garrison, that true liberator and enabler of the Diversity. Meacham, who somehow failed at making the requisite anti Christian Freudian psychoanalysis of the morons and kooks (raging paranoiacs), an analysis we should expect from an enlightened Anti-Defamation League winning medium of postmodernism http://www.adl.org/PresRele/CvlRt_32/5166_32.htm, thinks that Sewanee did something so virtuous that it deserved a $25,000 gift. That should be all the proof I need for cancelling any further consideration of renewing my Sewanee Fund pledge and likewise never again recommending Sewanee to our parish youth minister.

Sewanee, the Law, and Chancellor Alexander

Does anybody know what's up with this?



http://scottkenan.blogspot.com/2009/12/coming-soon-university-of-south-vs.html

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Coming soon: The University of the South vs. Tennessee Williams

The administrators of the University of the South (commonly called Sewanee), are currently considering information detailing how their lawyer likely improperly had the codicil to Tennessee Williams' will overturned 20-odd years ago, thus depriving Harvard of control of the playwright's estate. Since then, they have grown the estate from $10 million to approximately $150 million without supporting experimental writers, as specified by Tennessee. This cannot continue. If I have not heard from the Bishop of Atlanta himself within a reasonable period of time that they have initiated a serious and thorough investigation of this matter, I will soon begin publishing details here and elsewhere.

Please stay tuned.
Posted by Scott Kenan at 3:05 PM

..............


Hat tip to sboycotter for sending me this updated post. Looks like something very strange is going on between Sewanee and the folks who are asking questions about the Tennessee Williams mega millions. It appears there are still some questions outstanding, so until these are answered publicly to everyone's satisfaction, donors should sit tight and not give anything now. I'll stay after this for more news.




http://scottkenan.blogspot.com/2009/12/coming-soon-university-of-south-vs.html

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

REMOVED: The University of the South vs. Tennessee Williams

Thursday December 17, 2009. Original posting removed immediately after I recieved an email from Donna L. Pierce, Legal Counsel, The University of the South, demanding I do so because it contained certain things that were untrue. I thank Ms. Pierce for her timely response and apologize for anything I have ever written in any form or spoken about the stewardship of the Williams estate by Sewanee or it agents that was in error. It has never been my intention to defame the University of the South or suggest that they should not be the beneficiary of Mr. Williams' will and codicil.

I will take the information in Ms. Pierce's letter into account before communicating anything in the future about these matters. Important questions still remain, but considering the content of Ms. Pierce's letter, I feel sure Sewanee, the institution, has acted as Ms. Pierce has stated.

We are now in the Holiday Season, so let's rejoice!

Again, I thank Ms. Pierce for her very clear letter and her serious consideration of these matters.

Scott D. Kenan
Posted by Scott Kenan at 3:05 PM

..............

I guess this recent post was before the removal of the original on his website. Funny that he thinks Sewanee is run by Republicans. Wrong. Sewanee faculty and administrators contribute heavily to liberal Democrats. Republicans barely get anything. Look it up, you'll see.

http://www.newlightbeings.com/forum/topics/and-the-meek-shall-inherit-the?page=1&commentId=1807389%3AComment%3A65978&x=1#1807389Comment65978

Reply by Scott Kenan 1 day ago

You don't know the half of it. I'm in the process of removing $150 million dollars (what Tennessee Williams, my former employer's, $10 million estate has grown to) from Kristian Republicans at the University of the South, who hijacked his inheritance by bribing certain of my destitute friends in 1983 to testify he was incompetent when he wrote the codicil to his will. Today might be the climax, so I'm just blowing off a little steam on NLB while fixing how this will play out in MIND. Sorry for any inconvenience.

You can see more about me and my book at www.walkingonglass.net and www.scottkenan.com . And yes, please, I'm ready for my cocktail!


..............


Legal background on Sewanee's Tennessee Williams mega millions.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/07/arts/rose-williams-86-sister-and-the-muse-of-playwright.html?pagewanted=1



Rose Williams, 86, Sister And the Muse of Playwright

By MEL GUSSOW

Published: September 7, 1996


Rose Williams, Tennessee Williams's sister, who was the model for Laura Wingfield, the shy, lame young woman in ''The Glass Menagerie,'' died on Thursday at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Tarrytown, N.Y. She was 86, and had moved to the hospital from the Bethel Methodist Home in Ossining, N.Y.

The cause was cardiac arrest, said Michael Remer, a lawyer for the Tennessee Williams trust.

Ms. Williams was immortalized in fictional guise in her brother's work, first in his short story, ''Portrait of a Girl in Glass.'' That story inspired ''The Glass Menagerie,'' the memory play that was Mr. Williams's first Broadway success, in 1945. In his notes to the play, the playwright said that Laura ''is like a piece of her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf.''

In ''Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams,'' Lyle Leverich, the playwright's authorized biographer, wrote, ''Throughout his life, Tennessee Williams had two overriding devotions: his career as a writer and his sister, Rose.''

Rose Isabel Williams was born in Columbus, Miss., in 1919, two years before her brother, Thomas (later Tennessee). The two grew up together. As a young woman, Ms. Williams was schizophrenic, and she underwent a prefrontal lobotomy and was institutionalized for the rest of her life.

In his ''Memoirs,'' Mr. Williams said: ''You couldn't ask for a sweeter or more benign monarch than Rose, or, in my opinion, one that's more of a lady. After all, high station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.''

The playwright died in 1983. In Mr. Williams's will, most of his estate was left to the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., with the bulk of it to remain in trust for his sister during her lifetime. The University of the South announced that with Ms. Williams's death, the university would receive some $7 million.

Since 1989, the university has been receiving income from the Williams estate, using it for scholarships and for the Sewanee Writers Conference, which has brought such writers as Arthur Miller and William Styron to the university campus. Mr. Williams made the bequest in honor of his grandfather, the Rev. Walter E. Dakin, who studied at the university's School of Theology in the late 1890's. In his will, the playwright specified that the gift was to encourage creative writers whose work was ''progressive, original and preferably of an experimental nature.''

Ms. Williams is survived by her brother Dakin, of Collinsville, Ill.

At the end of ''The Glass Menagerie,'' Laura's brother, Tom, the character based on the playwright, leaves home to begin his own life and career. In an epilogue, he says, ''Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!'' He finds that he has been pursued by his memory of her. ''Blow out your candles, Laura,'' he says, and in the background Laura blows out the candles. The stage goes dark, and Tom says, ''And so -- goodbye!''


Correction: September 18, 1996, Wednesday An obituary on Sept. 7 about Rose Williams, sister of the playwright Tennessee Williams, misstated the year of her birth. It was 1909, not 1919.


..............

When this next article came out, the news made it down here to Birmingham that the Development Office in Sewanee was furious at Sewanee's Treasurer for being quoted in the media as saying that "the money is rollin'" from the Williams mega millions estate. Sewanee's fundraisers prefer that ignorant donors think Sewanee is poor and needy. The current nearly third of a billion dollar endowment should remove that concern from anyone who would ever again consider a gift, substantial or otherwise, to Sewanee. Sewanee just doesn't need the money, so why would you give it? To make them richer in the paychecks? Note her use of word "business" in the article. Faculty and staff get big paychecks from that "business". Why would you want to make those paychecks even bigger, given what you know they've done to Sewanee?

More on Sewanee's mega millions.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/theater/newsandfeatures/31gree.html?pagewanted=print&position=

St. Just died in 1994, and Ms. Ruehl quickly got permission to star in a Broadway production of "Tattoo." When the playwright's sister died in 1996, the estate passed, in accordance with Williams's will, to the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn., in honor of his grandfather, who had attended the seminary there and spoke highly of it. The copyrights on the 35 or so full-length plays and other works were valued then at about $8 million and were probably worth a lot more.

For Sewanee it was a windfall and an enigma. The institution, owned by the Episcopal Church, was not exactly an obvious choice as the gatekeeper for the works of a great alcoholic, antiacademic, atheist homosexual playwright. "We're not theater critics," said Donna Pierce, the university's general counsel. "We're in the business of higher education."

And yet the responsibility for managing Williams's work and reputation fell to them. Advised by respected theatrical agents, they each year license more than 900 productions of Williams's plays worldwide. Most are stock or amateur, which get automatic approval unless they conflict with a planned Broadway, West End or other major professional production. Williams has become one of the most produced modern playwrights in the world, by many accounts outstripping other Americans with large and marketable catalogs. Over the last 10 seasons, there have been more Broadway productions of Williams than of Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Neil Simon or Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Williams does well in publication, too: New Directions annually sells 60,000 to 80,000 copies of "Menagerie" alone. Jerry Forster, Sewanee's chief financial officer, said that the university netted over $1 million a year from the gift; last year it was closer to $1.4 million. "Oh yeah," he said jovially, "the money is rollin'."

What to do with that money is the easy part. Sewanee invests half of the income to ensure the continuation of the fund when the copyrights start to expire in 30 years; the other half, following the will's direction that it be used "for the purposes of encouraging creative writing and creative writers in need of financial assistance," underwrites dramatic studies, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, scholarships, fellowships and the new Tennessee Williams Center, a black-box theater on campus.

The hard part involves the university's potentially contradictory role as protectors of Williams's reputation (a role that may require keeping the cork on even the good stuff) and as rights-holders in his works (a role that encourages a willingness to expose almost anything). "We don't want to do anything to dishonor what we understand Mr. Williams's intentions were," said Ms. Pierce, the Sewanee counsel. "On the other hand, the university wants to make a reasonable return on this asset. So you're always balancing those two things."



..............

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Response to Sewanee's Legal Counsel

Don't take that business about my meds in the following letter too seriously. It's true that I forgot to take them one day several weeks ago, and I do have an appointment with my shrink's nurse in early January. But I sleep well, and considering that I alone am the public face of this effort, it's quite remarkable that I suffer virtually no stress.

I Doubt I'll spend too much more time on this issue. I suspect they'll handle it themselves now. Next, I'll be working on my project to convince the Pope-in-Rome to mortgage the Vatican and its art collection to pay for mental and true-spiritual services to all the children and former children worldwide who have been sexually abused by the high priests of Mother Church, as she likes to call herself. Has motherhood ever had to a sicker role model?

Many of you have also been working behind the scene in this effort to expose the Pope as the "anti-Christ" and George W. Bush as the "devil" incarnate. We're past the tipping point now. Please stand up and do your part, no matter how big or small, fearlessly and effectively, at your earliest convenience. A good party is always a proper excuse to delay action a bit, so enjoy the Christmas season in its true spirit!


Many thanks to one and all!


Scott



The Missive:

Hi Donna,

I haven't heard back from you if you felt I had dealt with the Tennessee Williams/Sewanee matter on my blog properly. I did remove the posting as you respectfully requested I remove. You were right. In my concern about what has happened to and with the estate of my former employer and friend, I had become overcome by emotion and a bit out of line there. After I read your letter to me, I feel any questions about legal or ethical issues I might have about how the will and codicil were dealt with have not to do with Sewanee, you, or any other of the University's employees.

Also, I should clarify that I do not bring a single one of these issues up in my book. Not one. I never did. There is/was nothing to cause concern or offense to Sewanee in the book, and, in fact, my publisher was a bit mystified by your letter. I explained to him that it had to do with things I will be bringing up in the press if my curiosity is not satisfied soon. All I mentioned is completely beyond the scope of my book, which you will see when you buy a copy. You can pre-order a copy of it here now: http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Glass-Tennessee-Williams-Publications/dp/1593501714/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261450734&sr=8-1 .

Having found a number of published articles quoting you over the years on your/Sewanee's handling of the rights, position on how to interpret Tennessee's explicit instructions on how the proceeds of the estate should be used, his demand that no word in his plays should be changed in performance, etc., I'm rather appalled by what has been allowed over the years—things that have been well documented. This is probably not a legal matter, but a matter of opinion. I expect I'll be making my own opinion about them quite well known to the press. Indeed, I already have. Of course, unless there is some unusual development, nothing will be coming forth publicly about any of this before publication.

I am currently making my way back to Georgia after a week in New York City, where, among other things, I met several national and cable TV show hosts. Walking on Glass has generated quite a bit of interest. Three friends told me NPR discussed its upcoming publication a week or so ago. Anyway, Delta canceled my flight, can't get me on another, and I am taking a leisurely road trip home now. Not long after I sent the first of my letters to the Sewanee Administration, I began getting phone calls for a Theresa Kenan who supposedly lived at my address, had my phone number, and when i asked, was told her email address is Theresa@London.com . Someone had apparently given this fictitious person's contact info to a company that distributes such info to other companies that call one to enroll in various at-home business activities. Of course this was probably pure coincidence, however, the day before I left for NYC, samples of products that "Theresa" had ordered began arriving via US Mail. I contacted a few of the companies that had called me (caller I.D. records), explained the entire situation as I in good faith understood it, and they are cooperating in putting a stop to this. As a precaution, I have saved the samples as evidence.

While I was in New York, an artist friend of mine put me in touch with his lawyer, who after hearing my story, said he has knowledge of similar kinds of things happening more frequently than most would imagine, and that if I felt the need for legal counsel, he would be more than happy to hear from me. I sure hope my lawn is not littered with samples when I finally get home!

Again, to be clear, I DO NOT accuse you or Sewanee of such silliness. I did mention others (not on Sewanee's payroll, although possibly involved in the management of Williams estate/rights), in the first of my letters, and they might have gotten wind of my concerns. I DO NOT accuse them of silliness either. You mentioned in your letter that I should beware leaving myself open to a defamation lawsuit. While I do have a layman's understanding of the definition of the word, I am completely unfamiliar with its legal definition. Perhaps I should google it—or you could send me a link so that we know we are on the same page.

I remain transparent in my interests, and so, distribute widely what I write. My only interest is that Tennessee's will and codicil be respected. He respected his grandfather and The University of the South enough to entrust your Episcopalian institution with their stewardship. You mention that the university must sock-away enough to continue to provide support to writers. Just how many writers is that? Don't you have another 25 years of continued income before rights begin to expire? Have you set a goal for the massiveness of wealth you hope to accumulate through the continued sale of rights, compounding of interest and dividends, but niggardly distribution (at least of the type TW specified)? The estate has grown from $10 million to approximately $150 million now—how much more do you need? Money is God in Action, not God tied up in the bank. Does anyone at Sewanee understand the work of Tennessee Williams or care about his deep spiritual values that led him to honor his grandfather—a man who proudly represented the love of God and poetry instilled in him during his days at The University of the South?

I dare say that there will some day be a reckoning. Not all things are illegal. I accuse no one and no institution of illegal doings. Too many people have contacted me concerned about these matters, so I am confident that even if I now said nothing further, this search for the truth will continue.

Please forgive me. I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and lately, I've had some inconsistencies in medication. I hope I do not offend, but sometimes I just have to speak my mind. I hope I have not put myself at risk of prosecution by The University of the South, as your letter seemed to suggest.

Best regards to you and Sewanee at Christmas. May the Spirit of Christ infuse you and the University of the South. And may I and the soul of Tennessee Williams come to understand exactly what happened and why Sewanee and her representatives make the decisions that you all do. I have an appointment to see my psychiatrist right after the first of the year to see if I need a medication adjustment.

Thank you for listening. No reply is necessary.

Best regards,
Scott D. Kenan

Posted by Scott Kenan at 6:39 AM


..............

Monday, December 28, 2009

Letter to the Trustees of The University of the South

Dear Trustees of The University of the South,

I had not meant to contact you about this matter, but since only Donna Pierce, the university's lawyer, has responded to me (but not in my opinion definitively), I felt the administration has not taken my questions seriously enough. Perhaps I am in error, and I hope so, but the letter Ms. Pierce sent me in answer to my letter to the administrators, has been rebutted point-by-point by Williams scholars, using Ms. Pierce's own words as published in the press over the years. Perhaps she was tired when she wrote me. I've done as much myself at times, but my questions are important, and my list of interested parties (which has grown to over 200 now), is eager to know some answers. I felt y'all, as Trustees, should be made aware of the questions before the story breaks in the press.

I'll send, pasted in, what I wrote them. If you want originals, I'm sure Ms. Pierce could provide them to you, as well as the letter she sent me. Since she was concerned that I might leave myself open to a legal charge of defamation and she has not sent me a legal definition of that as I requested, I'll redact the things I suspect she found possibly defamatory, and perhaps she could fill them in for you if she feels you have a right to know. The University's counsel and agents fiercely guard copyrights, so since I do not have Ms. Pierce's permission, you'd need to ask her for a copy of the letter she wrote me as well.

Please understand that I am only a friend and former employee of Tennessee Williams, and want only to get answers to some questions. I do NOT want Sewanee to be relieved of the Williams estate. Tennessee gave it to the university with good reason, and his will should be respected. But his codicil was, if not overturned, at least not respected, and he was quite precise in his instructions as to how the proceeds should be spent. If, as Ms. Pierce alleges, The University of the South has complied with all Tennessee's wishes both legally and ethically (as would be expected of an Episcopalian institution), then surely all legal and informal documents showing signatures and such should be made public and this matter could be laid to rest once and for all.

Some have told me that an independent accountant should audit the books of your agents (not the school's employees, like Ms. Pierce), but I have no opinion on that matter. Just "a word to the wise," as I've been asked to mention to you, and really, it's just a standard business practice.

You see, it is not just Tennessee who has supported your very fine school, but the Kenan family foundations as well. And although I am only distantly related to those who hold the purse-strings, I do have Thomas S. Kenan III's ear. We have spoken on the phone before and I expect will do so again. He is a man of the highest calibre and I'm proud to know of the Kenan Foundations' support of your school.

I salute you for all your good work, both spiritual and temporal!

Best regards,
Scott D. Kenan

*********************

From: Scott Kenan
Subject: Stewardship of the Tennessee Williams estate
Date: December 22, 2009 2:13:13 AM EST
To: Donna Pierce
Cc: (Sewanee's top administration officials)
Bcc: (The List)

Hi Donna,

I haven't heard back from you if you felt I had dealt with the Tennessee Williams/Sewanee matter on my blog properly. I did remove the posting as you respectfully requested I remove. You were right. In my concern about what has happened to and with the estate of my former employer and friend, I had become overcome by emotion and a bit out of line there. After I read your letter to me, I feel any questions about legal or ethical issues I might have about how the will and codicil were dealt with have not to do with Sewanee, you, or any other of the University's employees.

Also, I should clarify that I do not bring a single one of these issues up in my book. Not one. I never did. There is/was nothing to cause concern or offense to Sewanee in the book, and, in fact, my publisher was a bit mystified by your letter. I explained to him that it had to do with things I will be bringing up in the press if my curiosity is not satisfied soon. All I mentioned is completely beyond the scope of my book, which you will see when you buy a copy. You can pre-order a copy of it here now:http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Glass-Tennessee-Williams-Publications/dp/1593501714/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261450734&sr=8-1 .

Having found a number of published articles quoting you over the years on your/Sewanee's handling of the rights, position on how to interpret Tennessee's explicit instructions on how the proceeds of the estate should be used, his demand that no word in his plays should be changed in performance, etc., I'm rather appalled by what has been allowed over the years—things that have been well documented. This is probably not a legal matter, but a matter of opinion. I expect I'll be making my own opinion about them quite well known to the press. Indeed, I already have. Of course, unless there is some unusual development, nothing will be coming forth publicly about any of this before publication.

I am currently making my way back to Georgia after a week in New York City, where, among other things, I met several national and cable TV show hosts. Walking on Glass has generated quite a bit of interest. Three friends told me NPR discussed its upcoming publication a week or so ago. Anyway, Delta canceled my flight, can't get me on another, and I am taking a leisurely road trip home now. Not long after I sent the first of my letters to the Sewanee Administration, I began getting phone calls for a Theresa Kenan who supposedly lived at my address, had my phone number, and when i asked, was told her email address is Theresa@London.com . Someone had apparently given this fictitious person's contact info to a company that distributes such info to other companies that call one to enroll in various at-home business activities. Of course this was probably pure coincidence, however, the day before I left for NYC, samples of products that "Theresa" had ordered began arriving via US Mail. I contacted a few of the companies that had called me (caller I.D. records), explained the entire situation as I in good faith understood it, and they are cooperating in putting a stop to this. As a precaution, I have saved the samples as evidence.

While I was in New York, an artist friend of mine put me in touch with his lawyer, who after hearing my story, said he has knowledge of similar kinds of things happening more frequently than most would imagine, and that if I felt the need for legal counsel, he would be more than happy to hear from me. I sure hope my lawn is not littered with samples when I finally get home!

Again, to be clear, I DO NOT accuse you or Sewanee of such silliness. I did mention others (not on Sewanee's payroll, although possibly involved in the management of Williams estate/rights), in the first of my letters, and they might have gotten wind of my concerns. I DO NOT accuse them of silliness either. You mentioned in your letter that I should beware leaving myself open to a defamation lawsuit. While I do have a layman's understanding of the definition of the word, I am completely unfamiliar with its legal definition. Perhaps I should google it—or you could send me a link so that we know we are on the same page.

I remain transparent in my interests, and so, distribute widely what I write. My only interest is that Tennessee's will and codicil be respected. He respected his grandfather and The University of the South enough to entrust your Episcopalian institution with their stewardship. You mention that the university must sock-away enough to continue to provide support to writers. Just how many writers is that? Don't you have another 25 years of continued income before rights begin to expire? Have you set a goal for the massiveness of wealth you hope to accumulate through the continued sale of rights, compounding of interest and dividends, but niggardly distribution (at least of the type TW specified)? The estate has grown from $10 million to approximately $150 million now—how much more do you need? Money is God in Action, not God tied up in the bank. Does anyone at Sewanee understand the work of Tennessee Williams or care about his deep spiritual values that led him to honor his grandfather—a man who proudly represented the love of God and poetry instilled in him during his days at The University of the South?

I dare say that there will some day be a reckoning. Not all things are illegal. I accuse no one and no institution of illegal doings. Too many people have contacted me concerned about these matters, so I am confident that even if I now said nothing further, this search for the truth will continue.

Please forgive me. I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and lately, I've had some inconsistencies in medication. I hope I do not offend, but sometimes I just have to speak my mind. I hope I have not put myself at risk of prosecution by The University of the South, as your letter seemed to suggest.

Best regards to you and Sewanee at Christmas. May the Spirit of Christ infuse you and the University of the South. And may I and the soul of Tennessee Williams come to understand exactly what happened and why Sewanee and her representatives make the decisions that you all do. I have an appointment to see my psychiatrist right after the first of the year to see if I need a medication adjustment.

Thank you for listening. No reply is necessary.

Best regards,
Scott D. Kenan

****************************

From: Scott Kenan
Subject: Regarding the will of Tennessee Williams
Date: December 4, 2009 9:49:16 AM EST
To: Dr. Joel Cunningham
Cc: (The top Sewanee administrators)

Dear Dr. Cunningham,

I hope I am writing to the right person; I assume you are the equivalent of the COO of the University of the South. I thought it would be best to contact the administration rather than the trustees. Forgive me if I am injudicious in copying several. Perhaps you will understand why as you read further.

I worked for Tennessee Williams near the end of his life, and I have written a book which will be released this coming April, hardcover, Walking on Glass: A Memoir of the Later Days of Tennessee Williams. You can read a bit about it here: www.walkingonglass.net . In it, I include much, but not all, of the mostly circumstantial evidence I am first-hand witness to, and, additionally, much of my discovery from research. I came across nothing that contradicts the long-rumored contention that agents of the University of the South (REDACTED) persons close to Mr. Williams to testify that he was incompetent when he signed the codicil to his will which would have given Harvard control over decisions concerning his intellectual property rights as well as the proceeds from his assets. Of course Tennessee never deviated from his intention that Sewanee, the alma mater of his beloved maternal grandfather Walter E. Dakin, have actual ownership of his assets.

I hope you can understand that in the last few years of Tennessee's life, Reaganism had come to full flower. Christian leaders were calling AIDS God's righteous punishment of gays. They publicly thanked God for that! Few politicians, clergy, or Christian institutions denounced them. Perhaps TUOTS did. I don't know and I don't think Tennessee knew of your university taking a courageous stand. Tennessee was adamant that gay people needed to take practical steps to protect themselves from these demagogues and Christian institutions who at least gave their tacit consent by their silence. I couldn't testify to Tennessee's motivation, but I believe this had much to do with his change of heart over which type institution should control his intellectual rights, especially.

During the time I worked for Tennessee, we were often on the verge of visiting his friend, Maria St. Just. Tennessee knew that Maria could help him in some areas of his life, but he cancelled plans each time, declaring she was so greedy she'd try to have him declared legally incompetent and take over his business interests as well. As Tennessee often lamented, she had done exactly that to the Lord St. Just almost immediately after they married. Tennessee did finally visit her after I left his employ, but she did not do this to him then. She waited until after his death.

Tennessee made clear in his will how his estate should be governed, but in a very different scheme, Maria somehow became the de facto manager on behalf the trust for Rose Williams, but, effectively, your university. I don't (REDACTED) that Tennessee was incompetent, but when the dust cleared, Maria had gained the power she'd always coveted. Maria arranged for TW's maid, Leoncia McGee, to get a lifetime stipend. It is not clear if the money came from the estate or privately from Maria. Certain destitute close associates of Tennessee suddenly became high-livers. One of several of TW's associates whom I continued to know after Tennessee's death (this one thought to have been among these witnesses), claimed to several that he was thereafter supported in luxury by a high-placed Tennessee (state legislature) politician, without trade for sex. Clerics and academicians don't typically study how to hide the routes of money, but lawyers do.

(REDACTED) is said to have engineered all of this. I don't know (REDACTED), nor do I care to. In my conversations with various "Williams people," not one has had a nice thing to say about (REDACTED). He has a reputation for (REDACTED). All my information has been distributed widely and I am transparent, so the tactics some claim (REDACTED) has used against them and others do not frighten me. No person seeking rights or access to archives dares say a word against (REDACTED). They'd be (REDACTED). I, however, have needed no permissions. My book is based solely on my contemporaneous written and recorded notes, saved memorabilia, and memory. Trust me, all my materials have been placed in a safe place. We're talking serious money here, well over $100 million now. I do wonder how much of the proceeds have gone to support writing of a "progressive, original and preferentially of an experimental nature,” as Tennessee clearly stipulated in his will. To my knowledge, he did not mention anything about building a building.

My actual intention had been to reveal these things at the time my book is released, but yesterday, I saw that Bishop Alexander, your Chancellor, voted in favor of Gene Robinson when he was up for bishop. Of course, this is a ridiculous reason to for me to change my thoughts or actions, but hey! I'm human, and Bishop Robinson and I are members of the same "tribe." It seems only fair to me, now, that you should have the opportunity to look into this as an internal matter before all this and additional information is revealed when my book is released.

This is a very serious matter, and I do not expect an immediate response, but it would be nice to hear within a couple of weeks if you have initiated an internal inquiry. Perhaps, like so many others, your institution became temporarily possessed by the same unbridled greed (and meanness) that swept the nation during the Reagan Revolution. I hope I am wrong here; I would be delighted to hear that. Tennessee was my friend, and I intend to take this matter as far as possible, at least until all documents concerning it are released publicly, especially those with signatures. Sewanee was beloved to Tennessee and I bear no ill will toward your university, however, I am not certain that your legal counsel has served you in the spirit of the Episcopal Church or its School of Theology.

And I do commend you for your excellence in education. Since the founding of the University of North Carolina, the Kenan family has supported education, particularly in the Southeast. I am proud to know that the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust supports Sewanee!

All the best to you in your important work, both spiritual and temporal.

Sincerely,
Scott D. Kenan
Posted by Scott Kenan at 4:48 AM


****************************

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Letter to Allean Hale (and 300+ others)

The battle appears to be lost. My book is too hot to handle right now, so I'm not fighting for it any more. No Williams person (except you, Allean) could stand fully with me to support it. I've laid it aside. I'm fully confident it will be published before the 100th anniversary of TW's birth. The whole Williams crew (those dependent on the good graces of Sewanee for rights or archives access) had been rendered powerless by Sewanee. Perhaps I have given you strength.

But there's good news too. Out of the blue (thank you Larry Myers!), a small group of people known to me (so far) only as the Friends of Paul and Janie Bowles, is going to help me get onto the lecture circuit. I met with one of them for dinner last night. They are already planning to mount an evening of Tennessee Williams at a significant Southeastern university in early March. The main event will be a panel discussion, Larry and I being the panelists. I hope I look as sporty in a face mask as did Dorothy Kilgallen, although by then, with luck, none of these nut cases will still be after me. Thank God civilization has progressed enough that Sewanee couldn't take me out with a sniper's bullet.

Anyway, I intend for this to be my FINAL broadcast email. Know that throughout my "fight," it is you all who have inspired me to the battle. The more I think of what you have already successfully achieved and the circumstances under which you have had to work, I cannot imagine a group of people in the entire universe who are of a higher caliber than you. I have always gotten my strength from you. But I have especially gotten my strength from "John the Beloved."

Here is my final salvo on Sewanee and Here/Regent as posted this morning with various gay activists and NOT-Regent/Here media:


Any serious journalist or other "victim" of Regent/Here can contact me and I am not one to mince words. I was caught not only in R/H's web of deception, but also that of the University of the South who had partnered with them to suppress my Tennessee Williams memoir. You see, I not only have the dirt on Alyson Books now, but have been in possession of all the evidence needed to prove that TUOTS' aka Suwanee's lawyer, Michael Reemer, bribed certain of TW's closest friends to testify falsely that TW was incompetent.

Thus, Suwanee instead of Harvard got to control TW's estate INCLUDING ALL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. As AIDS developed and Christians thanked God for it as the righteous punishment of Gays, Tennessee knew Suwanee, a totally homophobic school (same is true for Regent/Here—if you know the difference between a gay person and a faggot) would never honor his will. Both Regent/Here and Suwanee have threatened me with lawsuits, but that just made me holler louder and more specifically. I have called both their bluffs.

They cannot fight me in a court of law or in the court of public opinion. All that was left to them was the corruption of my computer and email communications. And that hasn't worked either. As I type, I watch emails going in and out via my software. But I don't write them. I don't receive them. It now is simply entertainment. Regent/Here and The University of the South are already defeated. And they know it. It's time for the Cavalry of the Artists to swoop in and finish them. Google my name to learn more about me. The story of my fight with them is on my blog.


I love you one and all.
And I thank you.

Scott D. Kenan
Posted by Scott Kenan at 10:56 AM

The Sewanee faithful were on our hearts during the First Sunday of Advent readings. God spoke to us through Psalm 28. We share these gracious words of comfort with all of the Sewanee Boycotters. May God's mercy and wisdom continue to shine upon you and bless you all. God needs our family ministries for the proclamation of his glory! Keep your offerings closer to home. Sewanee's corrupted agenda will corrupt you.

Thus Sayeth The Word of God: "Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications."

Give Sewanee $0.00, nothing, as your Lord God commandeth!

Sewanee's Jon Meacham continues to embarrass all Sewanee alumni.

“That far-left media propagandists like Maureen Dowd, Jon Meacham, Evan Thomas, Keith Olbermann and others must be held accountable for unethically disseminating lies for the left. That the rule of law must be enforced and that the 2nd Amendment must be protected. If that’s the actual foundation the next Republican candidate stands upon, then he or she could win.”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Dougls-MacKinnon-Game-or-endgame-79427647.html

"Jon Meacham needs a medal for Distance Bravery - takes guts 2 invoke Jesus when demanding others die for crazy ideas http://bit.ly/7wFmdM"

http://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/6309959564

And yet another reason to boycott the Sewanee Fund. Thanks Sewanee Mom for showing us how.

http://ur.sewanee.edu/sewaneeannualfund Sewanee Annual Fund The University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383 Thank you for using our Secure Online Giving System To make your gift online, please complete all items in the donor, gift and payment information below and then click "Submit." Gift Information


Gift Amount $0.00, NOTHING, in honor of whoever allowed the gay Rainbow Ribbon Society to disgrace Sewanee and endanger Sewanee's children and students.

http://www.outandaboutnewspaper.com/download/archives/2005/oan05dec.pdf


"University of the South –Sewanee takes stand for equality

The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., has formed an alumni group called the Rainbow Ribbon Society. The society welcomes new members who share their mission of promoting tolerance and accept-ance in America. Call (931)598-5012 for more information."

If Sewanee tolerates the Rainbow Gays, we won't tolerate the Sewanee Fund.

Boycott Sewanee
sboycotter

I am considering my year end Christmas giving, and the more I learn about how aggressively the gay agenda is allowed and encouraged at Sewanee, the more convinced I am that if I give to Sewanee, I will be disobeying God's laws and will bring his wrath and condemnation upon me and my family. I despise Sewanee's becoming a cesspool of filth, but I rejoice that I know how to boycott, give nothing, bless God and proclaim Jesus. Thank you very much Virtueonline for your gracious wisdom and timely reporting.

Thankfully, God offers us his redemption for our sin filled error of ever having given donations to Sewanee. May we meditate and pray upon his Holy Word:

2 Corinthians 4-6 "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."

It may seem strange to us who are loyal to Sewanee, but with sacred revelation comes required knowledge. We now know that our obedience to God requires withholding our money from those who allow the gay agenda to access children and students. When giving money to Sewanee is evil and keeping it away from Sewanee is good, you know we have entered into the last days. By boycotting Sewanee, we shall stand together prepared for Judgment Day, and not be eternally damned with the godless sinners.

Sewanee is Sodom and Gomorrah. The Sewanee Fund gift I made last year helped support the facilities that hosted gay Sewanee alumnus Gene Robinson and the Sewanee Conference on Equality. The budgets supported by me were used in promotion of Sewanee's Sodom and Gomorrah gay propaganda through activities at Kappa Sigma, Gailor, BC Hearth Room, Women's Center, and Guerry Auditorium. I was never contacted by the Development Office inquiring how I felt about my Sewanee Fund gift being used to support the gay agenda. I was a chump for not asking the hard questions before I gave them anything. I won't make that mistake again. The eternal souls of my family are more important than being invited to the next dissipated Sewanee party on the once respected Mountain. The more I discover about Sewanee faculty and their student programs, the more I regret ever having given them any money at all.



http://grand-divisions.blogspot.com/2009/02/sewanee-conference-on-equality.html

Friday, February 27, 2009
Sewanee conference on equality

The Sewanee: University of the South Gay-Straight Alliance, in conjunction with the Peace Coalition and Young Democrats is hosting the 2nd annual Southeastern Conference on Human Equality. All events are free and open to the public.

Friday, February 27

5:30-7:00 Opening Reception/ Dinner: Kappa Sigma

7:00-8:30 screening, For the Bible Tells Me So: Gailor Auditorium

Saturday, February 28

9:00-11:00 TN Equality Project Workshop: BC Hearth Room

1:00-2:00 Panel Discussion of implications of Proposition 8: Womens Center

2:30-3:30 keynote, Elizabeth Birch- former executive director of Human Rights Campaign: Guerry Auditorium

For more information, contact Lexi Namer at namerav0@sewanee.edu

--------------------------------------------------


This year we invite Elizabeth Birch, former President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), to speak with the Sewanee community. Birch revolutionized the HRC in her nine year stay. Along with her work with several political administrations, Birch has also been a significant influence in the current debate on the Defense of Marriage Act. Recognized for her powerful prime-time speech at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, we greatly anticipate Birch’s presentation at Sewanee entitled On the Razor’s Edge: LGBT Progress in an Obama Era. This presentation will take place in Guerry Auditorium, Saturday February 28th at 2:30pm.


For the Bible Tells Me So (2007)

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/for_the_bible_tells_me_so/

This documentary explores the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families who exemplify how some insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For the Bible Tells Me So offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity. A public screening of For the Bible Tells Me So will be shown in Gailor Auditorium at 7:00pm Friday, February 27th.


The Battle for Equality in Tennessee: How to Fight at the State Level

This workshop, lead by the Tennessee Equality Project’s Chris Sanders, discusses the attacks on the GLBT community's adoption, foster care, relationship, and educational rights in the State Legislature as well as successful strategies for advancing equality at the State level where many of the most important battles in GLBT rights are fought. Discussion includes citizen lobbying, traditional media strategies, new media tools, and organizing. This workshop will be held in the BC Hearth Room at 9:00am Saturday February 28th, 2009. A light breakfast and Blue Chair coffee will be provided.

We proclaim Christ's Good News through today's Collect for the Third Sunday in Advent.


"O LORD Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen."

And we also pray that those of wickedness at Sewanee will have their hearts turned toward the just, toward Christ and away from paganism and gay sex, away from gay Gene Robinson and feminist Berebizkie-Womyn, be led to paths of righteousness, be found acceptable on the day of judgment. May those still loyal to Sewanee remain free from the wicked taint of contributing to Sewanee's wickedness. May we no longer despise God by blessing "an institution of the Episcopal Church." Upon Christ's returning, may he not find us bound or beholden to gay Sewanee Episcopal University. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, have mercy on us, and Amen.

David,
As a native on the moutain We anxiously await part II. I am very much in agreement that the powers that be here have sold out to Satans way.

Dear Sewaneemom,

Why dont you attempt to follow the syllabus you posted- maybe you will find that your life could have improvements.


xoxo
SewaneeGRAD