Planning has begun for the October 26 inauguration of Kenyon's next president, Sean M. Decatur. The inauguration will take place while the Kenyon College Board of Trustees is on campus for its fall meeting.
An inauguration planning committee is being formed as well as a presidential transition team that will help ease the new president into the administration and culture of the College and the responsibilities he faces regarding alumni, faculty, staff, students and their parents. Joseph L. Klesner, associate provost and professor of political science, was the on-campus coordinator and the academic liaison for the Presidential Search Committee and will continue in a coordinating leadership role as the planning and transition committees take shape.
Decatur, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin College, begins his work at Kenyon on July 1. He and his wife, Renee Romano, and children Sabine, 16, and Owen 11, have toured Cromwell Cottage and embraced it as their future home.
Cromwell will undergo some refurbishing before the Decatur family starts the move from Oberlin, said Barry F. Schwartz '70, chair of the board of trustees. "Kenyon and Gambier will, I'm certain, provide a warm welcome for the Decatur family, and we anticipate with pleasure the presence of children in Cromwell after many years."
"We're looking forward to moving to Gambier and settling in at Cromwell this summer," Decatur said. "This past Monday, Owen had the opportunity to investigate good climbing trees on campus, and he is convinced that the third floor ballroom in Cromwell will be a great play room. We're already anticipating a sleepover with some of his friends." Family dogs Roo and Skittles will also make themselves at home on campus.
While Cromwell Cottage will be Decatur's home base, the family will make a moving transition over the next year. Sabine, a junior at Lake Ridge Academy in North Ridgeville, Ohio, will finish her high school education there.
President S. Georgia Nugent announced in August her decision to step down at the conclusion of the 2012-13 academic year after a decade of distinguished service.