In a unanimous vote at its meeting on Feb. 24, the Kenyon College faculty approved a new statement of mission and values for the College. The vote was the final step in a process that extended over two semesters, producing a statement that Student Council and Campus Senate endorsed and the faculty and Board of Trustees approved.
“The many voices of our Kenyon community echo in our new mission statement,” said Provost Joseph Klesner, who chaired the committee that steered the process. “The generous input from across and beyond the campus was invaluable — faculty, staff, students and alumni — and I am grateful to my colleagues on the committee for their unwavering commitment to honoring all they heard.”
Appointed by President Sean Decatur in August 2019, the mission statement committee — composed of faculty, staff and students — drafted the text of the statement, drawing on surveys and conversations with a broad range of stakeholders. The statement underwent several rounds of revision, with community members weighing in at every stage. The College’s mission statement was last revised in 2000 and ran almost 800 words long.
“A well-crafted mission statement captures the essence of what binds an institution, a community, together,” said Decatur. “At Kenyon, we build strong foundations for lives of purpose and consequence — these twelve words, which open our new mission, connect our entire extended Kenyon family, and will for generations to come.”