Name: Guy Widman Tunnicliffe, III
Nicknames: Woody, Tripp
Birthday: February 20, 1991
Class: 2013 2015
Greek Organization: ΘΠ
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Major: (the last) Political Science Major, Art History Minor
Relationship status: In a relationship
Extracurricular Activities: Beyond Sewanee, the Boston Athenaeum, Historic New England, the Museum of Fine Arts, my family’s barbecue circuit events, tennis, sailing, beaching, the Anthony Trollope Society, architecture, planning policy, and historic preservation enthusiast
Best Class You’ve taken at Sewanee: Political Theory with Dr. McKeen
Signature Pub Order: Tots, Mozz, and Eggrolls
Signature Dance Move: The Shag
Go-to McClurg Line: The Sewanee Inn
What qualities do you find most attractive in boy/girl: A sense of humour.
Biggest Pet Peeves: Overuse of the word, “like”, and people who flake
Spirit Animal: Nightowl
Weird Body Fact: I have an unusually narrow, brittle spine and spent my freshman year of high school in a back brace after fracturing three vertebrae.
Describe your sexlife in a Movie Title: Gone Girl
What is the most embarrassing song on your iTunes? The Sound of Music soundtrack, the 2013 NBC/Carrie Underwood version, or as I prefer to call it, the Laura Benanti version.
What is your most embarrassing Sewanee story? Any of the ones I’m told about the morning after.
Why we love Woody!
If you could trade places with any Sewanee professor, who would it be, and why?
Honestly, I cannot name a single Sewanee professor. I think to fully appreciate how wonderful the faculty at this school are you have to create a sort of composite of all the greats and all the qualities that make them special to their students and special to this place. I can name you those professors I’ve taken whose courses are “life-changing”, or more accurately, “life-defining”: (current professors) Mila Dragojevic, Andrea Mansker, Lauryl Tucker, Kelly Malone, Helen Bateman, Rodelio Manacsa, (former professors) Terza Lima-Neves, Gayle McKeen, and Bob Benson. It’s not that I want to be any one of those professors per sé, but rather I hope that one day I can fulfill their legacy; they all are not only experts on their subjects, but they are passionate, bordering fanatic, about them–and they convey that passion to their students. They are so excited about their classes that their students are excited for class everyday. Their methods, their personalities, their perspectives are all different, but they are professors for whom your heart leaps when seeing them in the quad, or events, or (awkwardly) at Shenanigans/the Tavern/Mi Casa/the Market. It’s those sort of professors who make Sewanee so special, they define our culture, both academic and social.
What do you love most about being involved with Beyond Sewanee?
Trick question: free Crust pizza.
But, no, it’s really a great self-selecting group of people who recognize that there is a whole world Beyond Sewanee. It’s a forum for people who want to share news stories and current events from around the country and around the world and discuss them with like-minded individuals. It’s a great place to share perspectives, learn about what is going on outside the gates, and did I mention free Crust? We also occasionally have professors and outside speakers come to offer their takes on events, just last week we had Sewanee’s own Dr. Amy Patterson (Dept. of Politics) speaking to us about the ongoing ebola epidemic, how the crisis has evolved and what its future implications might mean for us. (Beyond Sewanee, the University’s current events club, meets Tuesdays at 7.00 PM at the Political Engagement House, Mississippi Avenue Unit #3, all students & faculty welcome!)
You have an incredible sense of style. From your Lilly Pulitzer blazer to your pants in every color of the rainbow, which item in your closet is your favorite?
As tough as it is to pick a favorite, it would have to be that Lilly Pulitzer sports coat you mentioned. It’s a classic “Go to Hell” jacket, a bright, bold rejection of khaki & blue and a way of not taking anything too seriously-including life. It’s also a great conversation starter, I just let it do the talking. The jacket is a rare Lilly Pulitzer Mens Stuff faux-patchwork blazer from the early 1970s. The gold-plated buttons use the lion logo that has never been reproduced after Lillian Pultizer Rousseau closed the company down in 1984 (the Lilly Pulitzer we know today is actually a corporate revival of the brand when the rights to the Lilly Pulitzer name were purchased in 1993 by Sugartown Worldwide, Inc.). I purchased it on the island [Palm Beach, Florida] from Mr. Douglas “E.J.” Fredericks at Groovy Palm Beach Vintage; it’s the first place to stop and stock up for the season when you arrive. E.J. has an unrivaled collection of rare, vintage Lilly Pulitzer, Fendi, Stubbs & Wooten, etc. – imagine a place where you have access to all the best items in the closets of the Palm Beach grandparents, that’s Groovy Palm Beach Vintage. (Groovy Palm Beach Vintage, 108 N County Road, Palm Beach, FL 33480, phone: 561-628-9404 website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Groovy-Palm-Beach-Vintage/165045140257635)
What is your favorite thing about yourself?
I know that it is an unlikely claim for a Yankee, but I would like to think of myself as a very open person. Definitely a work in progress, but I try to be very open about myself: my interests, my emotions, my sexuality, my insecurities, and my anxieties. But I also try to be open in the sense of welcoming or at least accepting of new challenges, new people, new experiences. Just this weekend I took an instructional flight lesson-and pretty much anyone who has ever met me can attest to my overwhelming fear of flight. It comes down to recognizing personal development as that: a work in progress, and coming to appreciate that journey and accepting the challenges as they come your way and trying to become the person you want to be.