Covenant Stone Research Paper

The Covenant Stone is found at the center of the Maryville College campus. Students pass it on a daily basis headed to and from classes. The stone represents what the Maryville College students find value in. Before the Covenant Stone there was just the Covenant, which was ideals that students came up with in 1990. These ideals, according to the Maryville College website, were taken from the College’s Statement of Purpose. The Covenant has three tenets: scholarship, respect and integrity. New students started to join the Covenant through the Covenant Ceremony, in 1996. Finally, in 2002, the three words were inscribed on a stone, now known as the Covenant Stone, and placed in the center of the campus. Even though the history of the stone can be found on …show more content…
It’s kind of like a competition to see who can tell the craziest story!” These stories are implanted into students early. Some Maryville College Ambassadors even talk about their favorite ones when giving tours to prospective students or leave the mystery to them by saying no one knows how it got here. Looking past the crazy stories about its arrival, students take what the Covenant Stone stands for extremely seriously. Chandler Chastain, Maryville College junior, said, “It's a physical representation of the promise I've made to myself as a student of Maryville, and as the kind of person I want to strive to be always.” The community as a whole upholds these things. Students know that others will follow these three tenets, just as they are. Madison Sexton, Maryville College Senior, said, “ One of the ways I see the Covenant upheld, although it may seem silly, is in the freedom I feel to leave my belongings unattended in Pearsons, in a classroom when I'm not present, or in the community bathroom when I lived in