Launched in July 2017, the Roberson Project at the University of the South is a teaching-focused initiative, engaging all members of the Sewanee community — undergraduate and graduate students, the University’s faculty, staff, and alumni, and the town’s diverse citizenry — in the pursuit of …
Truth-Telling
We must tell a more truthful story about the University’s origins in and for a civilization based on human bondage.
Community
We must join with descendants of people enslaved by our founders and with our town’s African American community to recognize their contributions to Sewanee’s history.
Innovation
We must serve as an incubator of innovative teaching and research tools and programming to confront and repair slavery’s racist legacies.
Leadership
We must establish the University of the South as a leader in the global movement to confront and reckon with higher education’s indebtedness to slavery.
Our Mission
We seek to gather and give a more complete historical account of this university, the town of Sewanee, and all its people — one that sheds light on how slavery and its legacies have marked our history and that acknowledges the contributions and sacrifices of all who have shaped Sewanee’s past and present.
Our Vision
We undertake this mission to foster a more inclusive Sewanee community defined by justice and equity and a commitment to live according to the vision of collective harmony, truthfulness, and mutual respect expressed in our motto Ecce Quam Bonum.
