Reckoning with Southwestern's Methodist affiliation
Southwestern University, just like all four of its root colleges, is directly connected to Methodism.
This relationship was particularly problematic in the mid- to late-19th Century, when all of the four root colleges were founded and when the Methodist Church in America split into its Northern and Southern factions over the Church's acceptance or rejection of slavery.
For all of Southwestern's history, it has been affiliated with the Methodist Church. That affiliation has undergone renegotiation in recent decades, but has been a significant force in the development of the University throughout. Today, as we work to diversify the University, there are significant unsettled questions about whether our affiliation with Methodism is an impediment or a way forward, especially when we consider the way the most prominent symbol of that affiliation, the Lois Perkins Chapel and its centrality to campus today, encapsulates this conflict.
Who was Lois Craddock Perkins?
Exploring the Life of the Woman who Inspired the Chapel
Lois Craddock Perkins, after whom this chapel is named, was born in 1887 in China Springs, Texas. She attended Southwestern University from 1908-1911. As a student, she was a part of the Youth Women’s Christian Association, or Y.W.C.A., and was involved in the Bible study and finance portions of…
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Construction of the Lois Perkins Chapel
A look into the History of Southwestern’s Central Religious Building.
The Lois Perkins Chapel, long considered the central building of Southwestern, was constructed using a sizable donation by Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, which was announced in 1943. Construction did not begin until after World War II, and ground was broken in September 1949 by Ruth Score, husband of…
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Lois Perkins Chapel as Memory Space
The Lois Perkins Chapel, once the heart of the community, is now more of a materialized memory of an older Southwestern.
In its early years, the Chapel was revered as a prize for Southwestern’s campus and community. Megaphone articles from the early 1950s refer to it as “beautiful” and “stately,” and a large number of official campus events were held there. These included fraternity and sorority initiations, voice…
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The complex legacy of the Chapel as a place
The presence of the Lois Perkins Chapel on campus forces students and faculty to grapple with difficult questions of tradition and belonging.
A space such as the Lois Perkins Chapel, simply due to the religious nature and purpose of the building, exerts a force on all those who interact with it. Walking into the Chapel seems to demand a hush, a reverence, regardless of religious background or spiritual belief. The presence of this…
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Southwestern and Methodism
Southwestern’s complicated relationship to Methodism, past, present, and future.
The connection of Southwestern to the Methodist denomination of Protestant Christianity begins at the University’s very conception, with the vision of Martin Ruter for a single central Methodist university in the Republic of Texas.
Martin Ruter was one of the first Methodist ministers to come to…
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Mood-Bridwell: The Building's History & Legacy
Mood-Bridwell is undergoing another major renovation. Should we take this opportunity to also change its name?
Mood-Bridwell, as we have known it for the past few decades, has served Southwestern’s campus as a place for classes to be held, professors’ office spaces to be housed, and campus events to be hosted.
However, professors have not been the only people housed in Mood-Bridwell. Completed in 1908, the…
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Charles Umlauf’s “Madonna and Child”
Forgotten Sculpture by Famous Local Artist in the Chapel Courtyard
The “Madonna and Child” statue, alternately called “Virgin and Child” by the September 25, 1953 edition of the Megaphone, was created by Austin-based artist Charles Umlauf and installed in front of the newly constructed chapel on September 1, 1953. The piece was commissioned by Mrs. Margarett Root…
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F. A. Mood Obelisk
The Mood Obelisk was constructed in the late 19th century, and serves as a reminder of Southwestern’s founder, Francis Asbury Mood. The monument does not occupy a significant place in current student collective memory, and as such, the ethical questions brought about by Mood’s complicated role in the university’s history and memory remain largely unresolved.
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Candlelight Service
One of SU’s longest-standing traditions has taken many forms, and is now making strides to be more inclusive.
Being one of Southwestern’s longest-standing traditions, the Candlelight Service, also referred to as the Christmas Carol service or the “Candlelighting” service, has been taking place in various forms since 1915.
Before the event began, Christmas programming for the University was organized by…
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