From news on a record-breaking number of admission applications to images of a November snowfall that blanketed the campus, here are the ten Kenyon web stories that were the most clicked, read and shared in 2014.
1. Making the Class, April 1, 2014
With a record-shattering 6,627 applications received and 1,631 offers extended, Kenyon’s Class of 2018 is starting to take shape. “Everything about this year was unprecedented,” Jennifer Delahunty, dean of admissions and financial aid, said about this year’s applicant pool.
2. Kenyon Mourns Shawn Presley, April 3, 2014
Shawn Presley, associate vice president for college relations and public affairs at Kenyon, died Tuesday, April 1. Widely known for his long editorship of the College’s alumni magazine, which was twice named the best in the nation, he was 49, and a resident of New Albany. “The entire College Relations division mourns the loss of our beloved friend Shawn,” said Vice President for College Relations Sarah Kahrl.
3. First Snow, November 17, 2014
The Kenyon community awoke Monday morning to the first snowfall of the year. Cameras and phones in hand, students stepped out to capture the sight.
4. Kenyon from the Air, April 3, 2014
Brendan Keefe '90 took to the skies of Gambier and Mount Vernon with an RC helicopter and was kind enough to share his videos with The Thrill. The results are breathtaking. Set to the Chamber Singers singing “Kokosing Farewell,” this shot of South Campus goes from the church bells to Bushnell and everywhere in between.
5. Unmatched Campus, January 27, 2014
TheBestColleges.org ranks Kenyon as the second "most amazing" college or university of 2014, describing the College as “one of the most picturesque in the nation.”
6. Connections that Count, January 30, 2014
Looking for a job is, in itself, a full-time job. Ask any college senior. But for Sarah Kahwash ’14 and Julia Tidona ’14, both economics majors, the search is over. Both have accepted offers as project managers within the wealth management analyst program at J.P. Morgan in New York City. The key to success, both of them say, was networking.
7. First Steps, August 25, 2014
A South African pipe band drummer, an award-nominated playwright, a dozen novelists, and a cross-country bicyclist are among the 452 members of the Class of 2018 joining Kenyon this fall.
8. John Green Never Forgets to be Awesome, February 14, 2014
New York Times best-selling author John Green ’00 spoke at Rosse Hall Monday, Feb. 10. The event, called “Thoughts on How to Make Things and Why,” was closed to the public, but was livestreamed to Brandi Recital Hall on campus and was able to be viewed live online at johngreenlive.kenyon.edu. Here is the social recap of Green's Kenyon talk.
9. Grounded in Tradition, July 28, 2014
“Last week saw the beginning of construction for the restoration of Middle Path, a project long in planning and discussion,” writes President Sean Decatur in his blog, Notes from Ransom Hall. “I have written and spoken several times over the course of my first year at Kenyon about the importance of Middle Path; in fact, this was one of the themes echoed in my Inauguration comments.”
10. Vetting Venezuela, March 27, 2014
Leopoldo López ’93 is a leading opposition figure against Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, successor to former president Hugo Chávez, who died 11 months ago. This week, López was arrested after three deaths following an anti-government rally in Caracas. Provost Joe Klesner, who had López in class when he was a student at Kenyon and also specializes in Latin American politics and international affairs, unravels the situation.