Sewanee, College Town: What Matters and Why
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
“Much of what is in the best interest of the town and the University are the same,” David Shipps insisted addressing the Monteagle-Sewanee Rotary at their Aug. 19 breakfast meeting. “Sewanee is a business.” Shipps serves as University Vice President for Economic Development and Community Relations. His presentation on economic development in the Village unpacked what it meant to be in the business of attracting students for both the University and town.
By 2026, the pool of college age students would decrease by 15-20 percent, Shipps said. Likewise significant, in the United States, among those 18 and under, there is no ethnic majority. To attract students from the increasingly diverse and smaller pool of candidates, “in addition to the college” Sewanee would need “to be a delightful place to be and to live,” Shipps stressed. “The vast majority [of students’] college experience is not in the classroom.”
Shipps cited several examples of small colleges suffering from student loss that decided to invest in their towns. Refurbishing and repurposing vacant, dilapidated buildings proved to be a “game changer.”
Highlighting what Sewanee had to offer—an airport, a working farm, recreational opportunities—Shipps listed the Village as a key asset. He reviewed the benchmarks of Frank Gladu who formerly headed up the Sewanee Village project and noted two of Gladu’s five priorities had been realized: the bookstore and narrowing Highway 41A. Of the remaining three priorities—a village green, an anchor building, and housing—Shipps said, “I’m leaning in on housing out of the gate.”
Why housing? Giving an illustration, Shipps said Virginia college towns typically had populations of 4,000 to 10,000, while Sewanee’s population was about 2,500, depending on whether or not you counted the students. “To the extent that we can stimulate the year-round population to 3,000 to 3,500, then you have some scale. Then you have some leverage.”
But in Sewanee, the housing shortage hindered population growth. “It’s a bad outcome, if you can’t find a place to live in Sewanee you can afford,” Shipps said. “It takes away from the magic.” Shipps stressed the housing shortage was complicated by the policy that only allowed employees to build homes on vacant lots and the fact that young faculty members often did not want to undertake the demands of building a home; nor did they want to rent.
Now things have changed. “As of April, someone who wants to build a house to resell, they can do that,” Shipps said. “And there is also a way for a nonemployee who wants to move to Sewanee to build a house.”
He hopes to see seven to 10 lots released as a trial in the first tranche, followed by more in the second round.
Asked if future plans included Arcadia, the proposed senior living facility, Shipps answered with a question. “How is that in the best interest of the University and a priority over everything else? How does that help me attract 475 students every August? At the moment, that’s vague to me.”
Looking ahead, Shipps said, “What should we do, what should we lean on, what should we invest in? That is what I am hoping to crystalize. Why don’t we have a wilderness training school? Why don’t we have structured racing [with bikes and runners] on the Domain? The current assets are waiting to be optimized. Not only for the benefits of the students, but for the benefit of the community. It’s an exciting time to be in Sewanee.”