Welcome Sewanee!
- SHECP
- 35 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Sewanne students participated in Summer 2025 internships, and the school officially joined SHECP in September.
The Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP) is excited to announce that the University of the South (Sewanee) is the newest member institution of the consortium. As a member, Sewanee will participate in year-round programming and help guide the priorities and planning of the Consortium to advance Poverty Studies.
Established in 1857, Sewanee comprises a College of Arts and Sciences with 1,628 undergraduates and a School of Theology with 72 students. Located on 13,000 acres atop the Cumberland Plateau in rural Tennessee, the University stresses a commitment to the liberal arts, ethical inquiry, and service for the public good. Their 2024-2029 University Strategic Plan emphasizes the goal of preparing students for lives of service, and Sewanee’s engagement with SHECP will provide another avenue for students to learn while also helping to address the local and global challenge of poverty.
Since the early 1900s, Sewanee has been working in nearby rural communities to address poverty and the factors that drive poverty. In 2015, Sewanee established the Office of Civic Engagement, through which students assist over 40 community partners in Franklin, Grundy, Marion, and Coffee counties to promote food security, addiction recovery, children’s literacy, health-care access, and environmental protection. Sewanee’s active Bonner and Canale service internship programs involve roughly 75 students per year, while another 70 engage in Outreach service trips during fall, winter, and spring breaks.
Through the Certificate in Community Engagement for Collaborative Change, students gain foundational knowledge on the structures and policies that drive poverty, the assets communities bring to addressing poverty, and the ways that community development workers can appropriately, sensitively, and systematically work with communities to foster positive change. As part of the Certificate, students are required to complete 400 hours of poverty-related service. The SHECP Summer Internship affords students the opportunity to take their education from the classroom into communities, serving and learning hands-on while earning Certificate hours.
Amy Patterson, director of the Office of Civic Engagement at Sewanee, explains that the Office was eager to join SHECP for a few reasons. “One, we are located in a very rural area, and our students partner with very small non-profits, sometimes that have only one or two staff. Internships with SHECP provide different opportunities for students to learn about working with larger organizations and on poverty issues that urban areas may face.” Joining SHECP also places the Office of Civic Engagement and Sewanee into the broader Consortium network of scholars and students committed to studying and diminishing poverty, bolstering learning and support for Sewanee students, staff, and faculty.
In Summer 2025, five Sewanee students participated in SHECP’s Summer Internship program, serving in Burlington, VT, Atlanta, GA, and Washington, DC. Students assisted at a youth summer program, a mobile health clinic for children, an organization assisting immigrant and refugee women, and two service agencies for unhoused adults and families. At the end of their internships, these students traveled to the SHECP Annual Conference and reflected on lessons learned, such as how to think quickly when faced with unanticipated situations or how to effectively use their foreign language skills. While on site with their internship placements, students were given significant responsibilities, requiring them to navigate government assistance programs and connect clients to other social service agencies.
Hannah DeGuira, placed with Little Lights Urban Ministries in Washington, DC, stated that “working [with] Little Lights showed me firsthand the importance and strength that community bonds can hold,” citing this summer as a rewarding opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to a hands-on context and learn from those around her.
These experiences will augment these students’ Bonner and Canale service work during the 2025-2026 academic year at Sewanee.
Related post coming soon: "Housing is Healing" by Daphne Nwobike, 2025 SHECP Intern with Miriam’s Kitchen
If you are interested in learning more about what it means to be a SHECP member school, contact Jen Handy at jen.handy@shepherdconsortium.org. Sewanee students interested in learning more about the SHECP Summer Internship Program should contact Amy Patterson at aspatter@sewanee.edu.