By Warren Steury

Since the dawn of time great civilizations have all had one thing in common; men’s societies. Places for guys to gather amongst themselves to dine, debate, reflect, and share their thoughts with each other. From reading about the earliest days of Greece and Rome one finds countless examples of these groups. The Spartan fraternities where they would dine and gather, afterwards being required to walk home in the dark without a lantern to encourage bravery. The rhetorical societies that would meet at Roman villas in the countryside where men would practice their orations. This tradition continued through American culture up until the 60s & 70s when many fraternal groups were infiltrated and disemboweled.

At this Academy we carry the torch of this tradition of male-spaces. We see them as crucial for a well-ordered society. Our symposium dinner gatherings are a great example of how we carry this tradition forward.

Last Thursday we hosted our Stonewall Symposium, a dinner event that sat 24 men around a table for a discussion on duty, manhood, and honor. For men who’ve never attended one of our dinner symposiums they are oftentimes a breath of fresh air. When most gatherings are muddled with small talk and side conversations, we take a completely different approach.

Each of these dinners are centered around a theme, this one was on the life and character of Stonewall Jackson. Stonewall Jackson was a distinguished general for the Confederacy in the civil war who’s pious and gentle nature off the battlefield brought him as much admiration as his courage fighting on it. Meriwether uses the lives and examples of great men as a tool for reflecting on our own lives and learning more about how we can become great ourselves.

There is a great power in the study of biography. Plutarch, the famous Greek philosopher who we gather every Wednesday morning in Nashville to study, wrote:

“Like as the eye is most delighted with the lightest and freshest colours: even so we must give our minds unto those sights which by looking upon them do draw profit and pleasure unto us. For such effects doth virtue bring: that either to hear or read them, they do print in our hearts an earnest love and desire to follow them. … But virtue, by the bare statement of its actions, can so affect men’s minds as to create at once both admiration of the things done and desire to imitate the doers of them. And this is the reason why methought I should continue still to write on the lives of noble men… I began the writing of my ‘Lives’ for the sake of others, but I find that I am continuing the work and delighting in it now for my own sake also, using history as a mirror and endeavouring in a manner to fashion and adorn my life in conformity with the virtues therein depicted.”

Prior to meeting, every man who registered received a brief packet containing some of Jackson’s writings and things others said about him. Themes like duty, discipline, courage, and honor are the repeating themes we encountered in our study. We all took time before the gathering to reflect and journal about how these themes show up in our lives and how we can become better men by embodying them more deeply.

We use a special format for our dinners, which I don’t want to spoil for anyone who has not had the chance to attend. In essence, these rules maintain an order and air of respect that gives every man at the table a chance to speak his mind and converse with every other man present. While at many dinners you may only get the chance to speak to the people in your immediate vicinity, at our gatherings you will address the entire room when you speak.

One man wrote this about his experience:

“Consistently some of the most profound, thoughtful, and intentional events I’ve ever attended. Highly recommend Meriwether to anyone interested in education, philosophy, and values.” – Ross

If you are a man in Nashville who values your traditions, your culture, and your people then you may enjoy what we offer at these gatherings. Our next dinner is on Sat, June 13th, and you can learn more about it here.

I hope to see you there.