Seminary of the Southwest  Seminary of the Southwest (formally The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest and informally SSW) is an Episcopal seminary in Austin, Texas. It is one of nine accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Seminary of the Southwest forms Christian leaders pursuing ordination within the church, as well as those interested in lay forms of ministry, including chaplaincy and counseling. The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest was founded in 1952 during a period of tremendous growth in the church. Bishop John E. Hines, coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, began this institution as "seminary for the whole church" to accommodate the overflow of enrollment in the other established Episcopal seminaries. The seminary received a charter from the state of Texas in 1951 and was recognized as an agency of the Diocese of Texas in January 1952. Three clergymen served as the initial instructors: Rev. Gray M. Blandy, instructor at the Canterbury Bible Chair and chaplain of Episcopal students at the University of Texas at Austin; Rev. Lawrence Brown, Bible Chair instructor at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) at College Station; and Rev. John M. Holt, vicar of the mission church at Mexia. Blandy was also the seminary’s first dean. In 1954, a five-acre land donation enabled the construction of its campus, which was completed in the early 1970s with the gift of the historic Rather House. Following a period of instability within the Episcopal Church during the 1960s, Seminary of the Southwest faced lower enrollment in the 1970s. One response was the introduction of cross-cultural theological education through the new Center for Hispanic Ministries to strengthen the Church’s Hispanic population in the region. In 1976, the Episcopal Church officially approved the ordination of women as priests to take effective 1 January 1977; Rev. Susan Buell became Seminary of the Southwest’s first female graduate to be ordained in 1978. The next year saw 9 women enrolling for ordination studies, accounting for about a third of the total entering class. Mid-1980s brought a revised curriculum and the introduction of lay theological education for non-ordained individuals. In 1988, Seminary of the Southwest tried a new approach to fundraising by requesting financial support from alumni; today the school has one of the highest percentages of alumni support of all US seminaries. In 1994, several new campus facilities were dedicated: auditorium, bookstore, community center, dining hall, guest housing; in 2003, a building with new faculty offices and classrooms was completed.