In accordance with Policy 2.1, Board meeting minutes will be made available to the SUUSI community after they are approved. Minutes will not include any discussions held during executive session.

Please note that meeting minutes must be approved at the next scheduled Board meeting before they will be accessible here. The SUUSI Board of Trustees meets five times per year, including two meetings during the week of SUUSI. 

You can view these published meeting minutes below, beginning with the meetings at SUUSI 2024. Please reach out to boardadmin@suusi.org with questions, or to request older meeting minutes. 

2025-2026

• Board Meeting Minutes 2025-11-08
• Board Meeting Minutes 2026-02-01 (coming soon)

2024-2025

• Board Meeting Minutes 2025-07-25
• Board Meeting Minutes 2025-07-19
• Board Meeting Minutes 2025-04-05
• Board Meeting Minutes 2025-02-05
• Board Meeting Minutes 2024-10-05

2023-24

• Board Meeting Minutes 2024-07-26
• Board Meeting Minutes 2024-07-20

SUUSI Board Position Description

The SUUSI board of Directors develops and approves SUUSI policy and bylaws.

Policy Manual updated 7/2025

Bylaws updated 7/2025

Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Effective Date: 2/22/2018

SUUSI is the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute, inc., a privately owned, non profit, IRS recognized 501(c)(3) corporation registered in the state of Florida.

SUUSI has created this privacy statement to demonstrate our firm commitment to our participant’s privacy. We do not give, sell, rent, share, show or trade any personally identifiable information regarding our particpants’ to any third party.

Please note that this privacy policy ONLY applies to the SUUSI.ORG website. SOLIS, the SUUSI registration web application, has its own privacy policy and terms of use. 

Changes to this Privacy Statement

From time to time, we may make changes to this privacy statement, so please review it frequently. Whenever we make a change, we will post or otherwise make available the revised privacy statement. We will endeavor to post the changes before they become effective. The effective date of the most recent version of this privacy statement will appear at the top of the statement.

This privacy statement applies to any information we collect. If we make any material changes to this privacy statement we will notify you here, by email or by means of a notice on our home page.

Information Automatically Collected through Visits to the Site

You can access our web site and browse our site without disclosing your personal data.

Our site automatically logs each visit information through web server logging, Fakoli site statistics, and Google Analytics. These tools capture information such as current IP address, general location and demographic information (if you provided it to Google), pages visited and pathways, pages shared on social media (but not specific individuals or accounts), search terms and results, and how you found us (referring links, a bookmark or a search engine). 

This information is aggregated and not usually able to be personally identified. The information is only available to SUUSI web host and SUUSI communication staff, and is used for site security and performance tracking, as well as learning how best to provide information to our users. For more information on how this information is used, please contact communications@suusi.org.

Terms of Use for Contributed Content

Voluntary Contributions of Content and Images to SUUSI

Our website enables you to communicate with SUUSI Staff and other visitors via comments or to provide information to SUUSI staff (contact us, Submit NUUS, Submit Website content) for the purpose of communication with staff and/or publication on the website or SUUSI NUUS (print and web). In order to submit this information, you will need to provide your name and an email address.

Your Agreements on Contributed Content

When you share this information with SUUSI, you are explicitly asking SUUSI staff or designates to share this information (including images and files) either with other staff or publicly unless otherwise stated.

You are also stating that you have the appropriate copyright/IP ownership over any content provided, and you have obtained informed consent for photographs or personal information provided.

You also agree to not share information or images that violates SUUSI’s Anti-Harassment Policies, an
It is SUUSI policy to explicitly confirm consent for photographs and information of children under the age of 18. 

While our staff will try to protect sensitive information provided to us, this website is not the appropriate venue for such information. In a case of needing to share sensitive information, we recommend you contact one of the members of the SUUSI Core Staff and request a call.  

Disclosure and visitor choice

We do not disclose your personal data to our affiliates or other organizations.

Confidentiality and security

A secure transmission method is always used when sending us the following types of personal data:

• primary personal data (such as name and contact details)
• other personal and profiling data (such as physical description, leisure activities)
• identifiers (such as credit card details, web site password)
• specific personal data (such as racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, medical data)

We have implemented security policies, rules and technical measures to protect the personal data that we have under our control from:

• unauthorized access
• improper use or disclosure
• unauthorized modification
• unlawful destruction or accidental loss

All our volunteers and data processors who have access to and are associated with the processing of personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of our visitors’ personal data. We insure that your personal data will not be disclosed to State institutions and authorities except if required by law or other regulation.
Access to the personal data we may hold about you

You can ask us, by sending an email (webmaster@suusi.org) whether we are keeping personal data about you. Upon request, which you can indicate by sending an e-mail, we will provide you with a readable copy of the personal data which we keep about you, although we may before require proof of your identity. We will provide the information without any charge.

We allow you to challenge the data that we hold about you and, where appropriate, you may have the data erased, rectified or amended.

PRIVACY SUPPORT

If you have an enquiry or concern about our privacy policy, please contact:

SUUSI Board of Directors
1704 Bearhollow Rd., Greensboro, NC 27410
540-585-4336

SUUSI Anti-Harassment Policy

Excerpted from SUUSI Policy, Section 11

1. SUUSI affirms its commitment to maintaining a welcoming environment, free of discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, and violence. SUUSI expects its Board, staff, and participants to conduct themselves in a respectful manner with concern and care for their colleagues, SUUSI staff, host staff, participants, and surrounding community.
2. To help ensure a safe environment at SUUSI, the Core Staff will take responsibility for including information on staff behavior into their pre-SUUSI orientations and training, and providing opportunity for discussion on the topic.
3. Any harassment regarding sex, race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, disability, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, class, family status, gender, gender identity or expression, or affectional orientation will not be tolerated. Such harassment includes but is not limited to harassing remarks, gestures or physical contact, derogatory remarks, jokes, innuendo or taunts, and display or circulation of written materials or derogatory pictures directed at any of these categories.   

Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral reasonableness. In the legal sense, these are behaviors that appear to be disturbing, upsetting or threatening. 

In addition, sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:

1. Submission to such conduct or communication is made a term or condition either explicitly or implicitly to obtain a position on the staff or Board or to participate in SUUSI; or
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct or communication by an individual is used as a factor in decisions affecting such individual’s position on the staff or Board or participation in SUUSI; or
3. Such conduct or communication has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual’s position on the staff or Board or participation in SUUSI or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment; or
4. Such conduct or communication, which is not welcome, is personally offensive or debilitates morale, and therefore interferes with a positive SUUSI experience.

What vaccinations do I need to show proof of to attend SUUSI?

If you are over 18 years old and NOT volunteering with children at SUUSI this year, you don’t have any vaccine requirements, including COVID. However, COVID boosters are strongly recommended. 

If you are under 18, you need to show proof of all CDC recommended childhood and adolescent vaccinations with the exception of flu and HPV. CDC recommended vaccination schedule

If you are over 18 and working with children 5 years old or younger at SUUSI this year, you need to show proof of MMR and Tdap vaccinations. If you are working with minors age 6-18 years old we strongly recommend you stay up to date with your Tdap vaccination and received your MMR vaccination. If you were born before 1957, you only need to show proof of Tdap as you are presumed to have been exposed to MMR as a child. If you provided proof of the MMR and Tdap last year no new proof is necessary.

What is the CDC’s vaccination schedule?

The current recommended childhood immunization (vaccination) schedule that SUUSI will use can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html

What counts as a medical contraindication?

The current list of medically valid contraindications for each vaccine that SUUSI will use can be found on the CDC’s website at:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/contraindications.html

How do I know if I’m up to date with MMR and Tdap?

The current recommended adult immunization (vaccination) schedule that SUUSI will use can be found through your state health department.

I am working with children at SUUSI and it has been a long time since I got my childhood vaccinations! How do I get proof of Tdap and MMR?

Tdap is recommended every 10 years, so if you haven’t gotten a Tdap booster in the last decade you need to get one! If you have gotten a Tdap booster in the last 10 years, you should be able to get a record of it from your local health department and/or primary care physician.

For MMR, if you were born after 1957 and do not have access to your childhood vaccination records, you can either get a titer to test for MMR antibodies and show proof that way, or you can get an MMR booster.

Do you accept religious exemptions for SUUSI’s vaccination requirements?

No, SUUSI does not accept religious exemptions for vaccination requirements. Medical exemptions for those with contraindications for specific vaccinations will be accepted.

How and when do I send in my vaccination verification?

Please send all vaccination records to vaccination@suusi.org as soon as possible. A photo of your  vaccination card works great (as long as it is readable)! Childhood vaccination records can be acquired by request from your child’s pediatrician and should also be sent to vaccination@suusi.org. If you provided this information in 2022, no new proof is necessary.

What are SUUSI’s COVID precautions/ requirements?

SUUSI is no longer requiring Covid-19 negative tests nor vaccinations in order to attend. We also do not require participants to wear masks indoors.

However,  we still strongly recommend being up to date on the most recent Covid-19 booster if it is accessible to you and testing your entire party before arrival. We also recommend taking additional precautions before and during SUUSI to protect yourself from exposure. 

You will not be able to attend SUUSI if you have COVID, and your SUUSI tuition will be refunded if requested – please email registration@suusi.org as soon as you find out. 

Precautions such as mask wearing, boosters and testing help us protect our entire SUUSI community, including infants, people who may be immuno compromised or who have other health issues that puts them at higher risk. 

Do we have to wear masks indoors at SUUSI? 

While SUUSI is not requiring masks, SUUSI recommends wearing a well-fitted, high quality mask indoors, particularly in crowded spaces like Worship and Concert Hour.

Do we need to get tested during SUUSI? 

SUUSI is not requiring negative COVID tests to attend SUUSI. 

What if I get COVID at SUUSI?

Any participants exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19 at SUUSI will be asked to take a PCR test and remain quarantined and masked at all times until a negative result is confirmed.

Anyone who receives a positive PCR or rapid antigen test during SUUSI will need to leave campus immediately and will have their remaining SUUSI tuition refunded if requested. SUUSI will not provide quarantine
housing.

What does SUUSI recommend to protect ourselves from COVID?

There are things you can do to help protect yourself and others from COVID. 

ASAP

• Consider buying travel insurance in case Covid disrupts your plans.
• Acquire Covid rapid antigen tests, one for everyone coming with you.
• Start taking extra precautions in public so that you lower your risk of missing SUUSI.
• Consider getting a Covid booster if you haven’t already. 

BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME:

• Have everyone in your party take a rapid Covid test 24-48 hours before arriving at SUUSI. If you prefer, you may take a PCR test no more than 72 hours before arrival. If anyone tests positive, please let SUUSI know by emailing registration@suusi.org
• Please pack masks!
• Plan precautions during the trip, like wearing masks while you travel.

AT SUUSI: 

• Alert SUUSI if you have COVID symptoms. 
• Wear a mask indoors in crowded spaces like Worship and Concert Hour.

The SUUSI Survey is an annual survey that gives community members the opportunity to give feedback on various aspects of their SUUSI experience. This data helps our leaders to keep what people love and to improve SUUSI where we can. 

The Board of Trustees is pleased to publish these annual reports of aggregated data, along with added comments written by the SUUSI Director and Board members.

You can find these published reports below, beginning in 2024. Please reach out to boardadmin@suusi.org with questions.

2024 SUUSI Survey Report

2025 SUUSI Survey Report

In the summer of 1950, two Unitarian ministers – Rev. Alfred Hobart of Charleston, S.C., and Rev. Richard Henry, of Knoxville, Tenn. – led a week-long leadership retreat for Unitarian religious leaders and their families at Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina. Hobart, who was also the American Unitarian Association’s Regional Director for the Southeastern United States, had been inspired by a similar gathering held annually in Oklahoma, serving the Southwestern Region.

Hobart and Henry invited program presenters from the AUA to lead workshops for the geographically dispersed Unitarian ministers and religious education directors of the South – while their families enjoyed outdoor recreation, boating and hiking. The model had been cast for what is now SUUSI! From a few dozen people that first year at Lake Waccamaw, our community has grown to more than a thousand people, now meeting the third week of July each summer at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee in the mountains of North Carolina..

Throughout the 1950’s, the Summer Institute (which went by various names) became a summer institution in the lives of many Unitarians both lay and ordained. We moved from the Atlantic shore to the Appalachian Mountains in 1951, and for 16 years held our annual summer retreat at the Blue Ridge YMCA Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina. By the time the Unitarian and Universalist denominations merged in 1961, the Summer Institute had become an efficient, well-run, lay-led program that was drawing several hundred people of all ages to Blue Ridge. Word of the beautiful mountains and cool summer breezes had reached far and wide, and large contingents from as far away as Florida were now making the migration each summer for a memorable week of family fun.

In the summer of 1966, things changed dramatically at our beloved Blue Ridge Assembly home. That spring, we were informed that we would be sharing the conference center that summer with the inaugural training camp of the new National Football League expansion team, the Atlanta Falcons. After that experience, our Summer Institute entered “The Nomad Years,” almost a decade of migration from one host site to another, none truly serving our needs. In 1970, in fact, without a site and without denominational support, there was no Institute. But the following year, thanks largely to the tenacity of Thomas Jefferson District board members Don Male and Rosemary Morris, the Summer Institute began the process of “reinventing itself” at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.

By 1975, Brad Brown made an overture to Radford College, and we were welcomed with open arms at the lovely campus in Southwest Virginia. In the next few years, we incorporated, officially changed our name to the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute (SUUSI!), developed a more organized volunteer staffing structure, and added numerous adult workshops along with outstanding youth and teen programs. In 1979, we had our first attendance of over 1,000 participants. Until 2016 we met at either Radford University or Virginia Tech. In those years we developed many of the beloved traditions that keep folks coming back, year after year, not only from the Southeast but from all over the United States and even abroad.

From 2016-2019, we met at Western Carolina University (WCU) in Cullowhee, NC. The “unprecedented times” of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in no in-person SUUSI in 2020 and 2021. Core Staff and participants made a remarkable pivot to an online event, including online worship, concerts, workshops, social and dance events, and even Teen Way Off Broadway (the annual play put on by SUUSI teens). 

In 2022, SUUSI joyfully returned for the first in-person SUUSI in three years. We again met at beautiful campus of WCU for 2022 and 2023, and then in 2024 returned to Radford University in Virginia.  Radford has hosted SUUSI more than any other place in our 70+ history.  In 2025, SUUSI will again be at Radford for the 28th time. SUUSI 2025 marks 75 years since the first Sumer Institute and is the 75th SUUSI!

From humble beginnings near the coast of North Carolina, for more than 70 years we have brought joy and learning, friendship and community, to generations of Unitarian Universalists. Join us!

For more SUUSI history (up to 2012), see the book “Remember the Feeling: A history of the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute” by Rev. Bill Gupton (Greyden Press 2012)