Campus News

Goodbye, Everybody

I called my grandpa a few weeks ago, the day before I moved all of my belongings from my apartment in Gambier, and he suggested we have a family graduation in Kansas City, Missouri. I have two cousins who are graduating this year as well, one from high school and the other from college. My Papa Carl wants us all to come to his senior living center and walk down the hallway in our caps and gowns while our family cheers. It sounds cute, but that’s not my idea of an ending.  President Decatur has said…

Strength of Tradition

One of Kenyon’s most valued traditions is gathering each April to celebrate the accomplishments of students, faculty and other community members during the academic year. A traditional Honors Day Convocation — with chiming bells, waving banners and a Middle Path procession of faculty in full regalia — was not possible this year due to COVID-19, but the College remained committed to honoring that tradition with a live streamed Honors Day ceremony broadcast Tuesday, April 14.  “This year, in these…

Splendid Isolation

At a time when many are feeling physically isolated from others, literature can help us reconnect with society and shared human experiences. Kenyon faculty from across disciplines recently shared their favorite books with future members of the Class of 2024 as part of a virtual faculty panel. Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing Ira Sukrungruang: John Gardner’s “Grendel,” a modern retelling of “Beowulf.” Grendel is probably one of the most eloquent characters in American literature…

The Power of Unintentional Community

By Sean Decatur

Every working-style assessment I have done highlights one of the defining features of my personality: I am an introvert. (Last summer, participating in such an exercise with Kenyon’s senior leadership team, my introvert score was nearly off the scale.) I often am asked about how my introvert status matches with my chosen profession. As a college president, I spend most, if not all, of my professional time with other people. Meetings typically fill my entire day, and my nights often include dinners…

Dear Kenyon Writers

Assistant Professor of English Keija Parssinen thought her creative writing students, unable to enjoy springtime at Kenyon and self-isolated at home, seemed glum during their first week of online learning. She reached out to various writer colleagues and acquaintances, asking them to share some encouraging words. Almost immediately, the author George Saunders, winner of the 2017 Man Booker prize for his novel “Lincoln in the Bardo,” responded with this uplifting message to Kenyon writers. A version…

The Rhythm of Remote Learning

Each Monday evening for the first half of this semester, I crossed the backyard of my home, Cromwell Cottage, to Bailey House, to meet the students of my “Biochemistry and Society” seminar. Like many classrooms at Kenyon, our seminar room had an old-school feel, with heavy wood furniture, a fireplace and walls of built-in bookshelves. (We even had a kitchen nearby, where we stored our traditional mid-seminar snack, Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookies.) The class had, and has, high-tech touches: I co-teach…

To My Kenyon Professor

Dear Professor, Thank you.  College has been four years of twists and turns in what I thought would be a journey of straight arrows. I found myself unable to savor each moment while attempting to fulfill a predetermined to-do list that has since ceased to exist. So I let that plan go. In turn, I found this hill: a place that welcomed me as an aspiring cognitive psychologist but transformed me to be a politically inclined person and instilled in me a dream of becoming a development policy maker…

Just Keep Swimming

When the NCAA Division III national swimming championship was canceled just days before Kenyon’s swimming and diving teams headed to Greensboro, North Carolina, Head Coach Jess Book ’01 was determined to make lemonade out of lemons. Literally. “No matter what, we were going to swim,” Book said.  A poolside lemonade stand set up at the Kenyon Athletic Center’s Steen Aquatic Center was just one feature of the team’s impromptu mock swim meet, held March 13-14 in Gambier. To add to the realism of Kenyon…