David Birkhead and Kathy Stanford, parents of Molly Birkhead ’01 and Joanna Guild ’02, donated the Birkhead-Belwood Family Scholarship in honor of their forebears, Kenneth and Barbara Belwood Birkhead and James and Eugenie Fleming Belwood. The entrepreneurial spirit and progressive political values of the different generations of this Midwestern family combined to make this scholarship possible.
Jim Belwood grew up on a Missouri farm, fought with distinction in World War I (as his son did in World War II), and had two successful business careers, one before the Great Depression and one after. He was a talented amateur photographer, a curious traveler, and a vigorous intellect. Belwood married his childhood sweetheart, Eugénie Fleming, and they lived a long and happy life together. Their daughter, Barbara Belwood, married Ken Birkhead; David Birkhead is their son.
In introducing the possibility of a charitable contribution to Kenyon, David approached his mother about funding a scholarship in the name of my father, who died in 1979, and herself. She was an elementary-school teacher all her professional life, and she was always concerned about equal educational opportunities. My father worked in politics, going to Washington, D.C., first as a speech-writer for Truman, then serving in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and finally working with Hubert Humphrey. He was a life‑long liberal, very involved in civil rights. And they both encouraged their son's involvement in the civil-rights movement. The upshot of all this is that she is very interested in the idea of supporting scholarships for minority students. Barbara Belwood Birkhead was an active traveler, volunteer, and advocate of lifelong learning.
Her son and daughter-in-law notified then President Robert A. Oden Jr. of their decision to contribute a scholarship to the College with these words: We can only hope, as you do, that the best American colleges and universities will continue to understand and embrace their opportunity for leadership in bridging our country's racial divide. We are proud of what Kenyon has done and will do in this regard, and we are proud to be associated with the College.
The Birkhead-Belwood Family Scholarship is awarded to able and promising students who could not otherwise meet the costs of a Kenyon education. Because of their careers and philosophies, the family preferred that recipients of their scholarship be minority students. The donors believed that, through their gift, they could broaden the opportunity for such students to avail themselves of the quality liberal arts and science education offered by the College and, in turn, contribute to the richness of the Kenyon community.