Sewickley Academy is distinguished by not only its rigorous academics and outstanding faculty, but also by its student-centered approach to learning and teaching, in which every child is challenged to explore and excel to his or her highest ability. Request Info
Exceptional Programs, Small Classes, and Talented faculty
Sewickley Academy is distinguished by not only its rigorous academics and outstanding faculty, but also by its student-centered approach to learning and teaching, in which every child is challenged to explore and excel to his or her highest ability. Learn More
Academy graduates join a network of more than 4,000 alumni across the globe. Astronauts, world-renowned doctors, fashion designers, chefs, filmmakers, zombie experts, world travelers – our alumni are proof that students become determined, courageous, and caring individuals ready to take on life's next challenges. Learn More
Founded in 1838, Sewickley Academy is Pittsburgh’s oldest independent coeducational school. Learn More
Sewickley Series Wraps Up with REJECT
Bullying, social rejection, and pain are they connected?
SA alumna, Ruth Thomas-Suh ’83, examines these issues in her documentary film, REJECT. Join her on Monday, February 2, at 6:30 pm for a screening in Rea Auditorium.
Act 48 credits offered.
This event is free and open to the public. Register now.
Official Selection at the Cleveland International Film Festival and the Heartland Film Festival
REJECT is the first documentary to examine the universal experience of social rejection. Blending cutting-edge science with intimate stories, the film is driven by research that demonstrates a chilling correlation between social rejection and physical pain, which can ultimately lead to acts of violence against the self or others. From neuroscientists to broken-hearted moms, the film's lead characters are rejection experts by choice or by fate. The film is ultimately about human potential, and the price we pay as a society as long as this universal truth is not understood and addressed.
SA alumna Ruth Thomas-Suh ’83 directed and produced REJECT. Ruth was inspired to make the film by the work of her father, Dr. Herbert E. Thomas. A psychiatrist for 30 years at Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh, he published his experiences with prison population violence in his book, The Shame Response to Rejection.
A Q&A with Ruth and ostracism researcher Kipling Williams, a professor at Purdue University, will take place after the film.