SINO!!! Sewanee Board Wants It to be Southern in Name Only
An Open Letter to the University of the South
An Open Letter to the University of the South
(W.E. Shofner, The Abbeville Institute) - The University of the South appears poised to remove many, if not all, Confederate names and images from its campus and memory because they may smack of Southern treason/secession and slavery. Such removal is a poorly conceived idea. First, secession (i.e., “independence”) is probably the one, true and great gift that America has offered Mankind. Second, slavery is an American, if not a universal, curse; it is not just some Southern thing. Third, this University is The University of the South, founded primarily by and for Southerners; however, it seems ready, because of Southern secession and slavery, to create and then destroy as scapegoats various Southerners for various perceived “crimes”. Beware: scapegoating is rarely wise and often dangerous.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), who is the greatest purveyor of, and commentator on, America, stated in his masterful treatise, Democracy in America, that if “the Union attempted to enforce by arms the allegiance of the confederate states [which composed this Union], it would be in very much the same position as that of England in the [1776] War of Independence. Moreover, a government, even if it is strong, cannot easily escape from the consequences of a principle once admitted as the foundation of the public right which ought to rule it. This confederation was formed by the free will of the states; these, by …
The University of the South
735 University Avenue Walsh-Ellett Hall 102
Sewanee, TN 37383
11 January, 2026
Dear Vice-Chancellor and President,
It is an extremely sad day when a long-honored university carrying the name “The University of the South” turns on its Southern heritage and carries water for the Yankee/Marxist crowd which has indoctrinated generations of Americans with lies for 160 years concerning our history. To remove Confederate names and images from your campus would be a grave disservice to those brave soldiers, black and white, who fought to prevent the very mess we are living in today. No, secession is not treason. It is enshrined in the Constitution with the 10th Amendment, it was taught at West Point from a book by William Rawles, and our Founding Fathers believed in it. The fact that no Confederate was tried for treason speaks volumes. Jefferson Davis waited in prison for two years for the trial he wanted. It never happened because U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel P. Chase said that no Confederate could be tried for treason because by the Constitution, secession is not illegal. He further stated that if any Confederate were brought to trial, what was won on the battlefield would be lost in court.
How can people who are supposed to be in charge of our education, especially in the South, be so dismally ignorant of our history? Our Confederate dead were not fighting for the protection and perpetuation of slavery, but in self-defense, defending their homes and families from an illegal invasion. They were fighting for independence and the right for self-determination. If the South wanted to protect slavery, it had only to remain in the Union where it was already protected. If it wanted to keep slavery, it could have accepted Lincoln’s offer of the Corwin Amendment which would have forever made it illegal to abolish slavery.
This cultural genocide must stop. We have seen statue after statue and flag after flag come down. The names of schools, parks, streets, and military bases have been renamed in order to remove any connection with Confederate soldiers. We Southerners have a right to our history and heritage. What is taught by academia and portrayed by Hollywood is not the truth. Do not dishonor our Confederate dead by removing all symbols representing them, I invite you to check out the links below for just a sample of truth, and read the enclosed brochures that tell the truth about our history.
https://confederatehonor.home.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/the-absurdity-of-slavery-as-the-cause-of-the-war-between-the-states-1.pdf
https://confederatehonor.home.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cultural-genocide-1861-2020.pdf
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://confederatehonor.home.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/secession-wasnt-and-still-isnt-treason.pdf
Thank you,
Jeff Paulk
Oklahoma Division Commander
Sons of Confederate Veterans