Retiring music faculty member Dr. Alicia Massie-Legg to deliver sermon for 2025 Maryville College Baccalaureate service
April 28, 2025
It’s a testament to Dr. Alicia Massie-Legg’s humility that upon being asked to deliver the sermon at the Maryville College Baccalaureate service — scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, May 2, in the Clayton Center for the Arts — she didn’t feel worthy.
It’s not that Massie-Legg, a senior lecturer in music who announced her retirement earlier this semester, had doubts about her ability to do so. It’s just that she never thought of herself as part of that fabled pantheon of retiring MC faculty members who have done so in the past, she said.
“Honestly, I was very surprised. I know that [the College has] had retiring faculty deliver the Baccalaureate sermons in the past, but I never quite connected that with me, somehow,” she said. “Initially, it seemed a quite daunting opportunity and something that was way beyond my comfort zone. However, I’m fully aware of the honor conferred with the request and am humbled to have been invited to do this.”
Massie-Legg came to Maryville College after she and her husband, Bob, moved to East Tennessee in 2001, shortly after she completed two master’s degrees in music history and vocal performance (with an emphasis in vocal pedagogy; she went on to earn her Ph.D. in musicology in 2015). She initially interviewed for (and received) the job of adjunct vocal instructor, and over the next 23 years, she’s been an active part of the Division of Fine Arts, teaching voice, vocal pedagogy, song literature, diction for singing, the history of Western fine arts music and more.
From one-on-one voice lessons to core curriculum courses to music history classes for music majors, she expects excellence from the students she knows have it in abundance, and while her standards are demanding, they’re counterbalanced by the encouragement she offers. Over the years, the Scots who have learned from her remember a woman who gave them constructive criticism and hope in equal measure … which ties in, Massie-Legg pointed out, to the Scripture passage she’s selected as the guiding text of her sermon.
“‘For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope,’” she said, quoting Romans 15:4 from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). “A word of hope is so desperately needed in our contentious social climate, and this transitional time is a very stressful process for our graduating seniors. Many students feel anxious about what lies ahead, certainly regarding our national political and economic climates.
“I’ve tried to approach the topic from the standpoint of communicating to them things that I wish I had known or heard when I was going through the same change. We all make our own paths forward, but I’m hoping that something I say might be remembered at a time when it is needed the most and, perhaps, be of great help to them.”
And, in a sense, she’ll be delivering the sermon of the Maryville College Baccalaureate service — titled “The Lifelong Journey of Learning and Growth: A Tapestry of ‘May You’ Blessings” — to herself as much as she will be to the members of the Maryville College Class of 2025. She, too, is on the cusp of a new phase of life, she pointed out, and while she’s looking forward to retirement, the transition and the departure from academia bring with them a twinge of sadness.
“I’ve been blessed to work with a wonderful group of colleagues in the Fine Arts division, and I will miss them,” she said. “My greatest joy in teaching has always been gained through working with the students. I think this is appropriate. It should always be about the students, first and foremost.
“I’m convinced (with bias, of course) that the students who attend Maryville College are the best in the world. I have learned as much from them, if not more, than I have imparted to them in class and lessons. Ultimately, it’s the students that I will really miss.”
But the opportunity to address them one more time … to take in the rich tapestry of blended cultures, personalities, customs and faces … is one she isn’t taking for granted. Neither are the religious trappings of the Baccalaureate service itself, given her own faith, and that of many of those in attendance, she said.
“We are a diverse campus, with many students who are not of the Christian faith, and that’s perfectly fine,” she said. “I expect, though, that a large majority of our students have strong ties to various Christian denominations. As a Christian, I love the fact that our school doesn’t try to deny its roots as a Presbyterian theological seminary. Solemn occasions such as Convocation, Baccalaureate and Commencement add rich dimensions to our College landscape. I hope they will continue for many years to come.”
In addition to Massie-Legg’s sermon, the Maryville College Baccalaureate service will include a scripture reading by Izzy Wright ’25, president of the MC Student Government Association and Biochemistry major from Walland, Tennessee, who will read from Romans 15:1-10. The program will also feature the traditional Remarks from the Senior Class by Hannah Lee ’25, senior class president and a Psychology (counseling track) major from Knoxville, Tennessee; and Micayla Clark ’25, a History (with licensure) major and Isaac Anderson Scholar, will lead the assembly in the Prayer of Thanksgiving and the Lord’s Prayer. The service will also feature music by the Maryville College Concert Choir, two members of which will be featured vocal soloists (Olivia Hill ’25 and Colin Hood ’25) on the choral benediction “We Are Not Alone” by Peter Choplin, and a trombone solo by Gabe Hatcher ’25 on the introit, “Nearer, My God, to Thee.”
The Baccalaureate service takes place at 4 p.m. Friday, May 2, in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts. (Lineup for students and staff members begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Lambert Recital Hall.) The service is open to the public, and for those who can’t attend, it will be livestreamed on the College’s website and YouTube channel.