Kenyon Class of 2011 Fall Class Letter

Dear classmates,

We want to start this letter by thanking all of our classmates who are first responders, doctors, nurses, health care providers, caregivers, and other essential workers who continue to help on the front lines against COVID-19. Words cannot express our gratitude for all that you have done and continue to do. We'd like to do something to recognize you in the leadup to our 10th anniversary, so if you'd like to have your name included please email lindsaymeans@gmail.com.

Lately, I know it can seem like good news is in short supply. A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to hear some of the many positive updates happening at Kenyon from President Decatur via Zoom. I want to share them with you so that you too can feel a welcome sense of gratitude for our alma mater. Even during the most challenging of years, Kenyon has remained a bright spot and a point of connection and positivity for its community. Even from New Jersey I feel a huge connection with the Kenyon community and love it when my students ask why I have a “Kenya” lanyard (they should look closer, it clearly says Kenyon, but I digress).

In-person instruction just wrapped up for the approximately 950 first-years, sophomores and international students who studied on campus this fall, numbers intentionally kept low so no one would share a room. (Yes, it took a pandemic for everyone to have their own room.) The College developed clear COVID-related policies and protocols that included regular testing for those on campus and the implementation of the “Kenyon College Commitment,” a personal pledge developed in cooperation with the student council that emphasized the well-being of the entire community. The school where I work developed a similar pledge, so when I saw Kenyon’s it felt good to see this sense of community responsibility being echoed across all levels of educational institutions. Life on campus looked a bit different this September as Kenyon adapted its many facilities to ensure safe access to dining, athletics, research and more. Peirce Hall adapted interestingly with to go spots in both the Great Hall and “New Side.”

In addition to adaptations for on-campus instruction, juniors and seniors and members of the faculty discovered new ways to learn and teach remotely. Check out our new faculty notes section to hear how your favorite faculty members dealt with the shift to Zoom classes, virtual office hours and online assignments.

Our alumni community has shifted to meet the challenges of 2020 with an equal degree of innovation — organizing and attending virtual events, connecting with current students and new graduates as volunteer mentors, and giving back during June’s record-breaking online giving challenge, Kenyon Together. (BTW — give yourself a pat on the back for being part of the incredible young alumni response to that challenge. We spoke up and the College responded with new gift designations for the things that matter most to us. Let’s keep that momentum going and continue to look for ways to make the most of our dollars when we give to Kenyon!)

Planning is underway for Reunion Weekend 2021 and, if conditions allow, it could be the biggest alumni gathering in Kenyon history! The planning committee recently met on Zoom and while much of it was spent talking about our time at Kenyon, we did start to plan some awesome events for reunion. We’ll be sharing more details in the months to come.

Good things are still happening at Kenyon and that is why I support it every year with a gift to the Kenyon Fund — to keep the good news coming. I give to bolster the student emergency assistance fund, which helped dozens of students get home when the spring semester unexpectedly went virtual. I give to make it possible for the College to award more in financial aid this year, when many families’ budgets are strained. And I give to help fund new scholarships like the Kenyon Women’s Annual Scholarship and the Lowry Annual Scholarship for underrepresented students, which was announced just last month along with the renaming of the Kenyon Athletic Center to honor Emeritus Trustee William E. Lowry Jr. ’56 H’99. Scroll on to read full details on this exciting piece of Kenyon news!

During challenging times like these, alumni support is more critical than ever. Join me in making your gift to the Kenyon Fund at gift.kenyon.edu to ensure good things continue to happen on the Hill this year, and in the years to come.

Thank you and stay well!

Sincerely,

Laura Kirschenbaum

P.S. Scroll down to read our fall class notes.

Introducing the Lowry Center & Scholarship

William E. Lowry Jr. ’56 H’99 was the first Black student in the nation initiated into Beta Theta Pi, was student body president and captained the football, basketball and baseball teams. He went on to serve in many volunteer roles at Kenyon, including as trustee. In honor of Bill’s accomplishments and impact at Kenyon, the Board of Trustees decided to rename the Kenyon Athletic Center in his honor.

Recognizing his legacy, Board Vice Chair Joseph E. Lipscomb ’87 has created an endowed scholarship in Bill’s name to help bring more underrepresented students to Kenyon. Anyone can make a gift to the annual fund portion of this scholarship, or one of many other scholarships at Kenyon, and provide an immediate benefit to a current student.

Support currents students now with a gift to scholarships

Despite a challenging year, the College remains committed to continuing to meet 100% of students’ increased demonstrated need, with donor support. Every dollar you give goes directly to support students this academic year.

Consider giving today in support of:

Hannah More Scholarship for first generation students
Kenyon Women’s Annual Scholarship for female students
Lowry Annual Scholarship for underrepresented students
Pope Memorial Annual Scholarship for students from urban Ohio public school

And, of course, you can make a gift to the Kenyon Fund’s scholarships and financial aid designation, which supports the education of every single Kenyon student.

Make a Gift

Upcoming Virtual Events for Alumni

You're invited to join us this winter at these free events for alumni.

Alumni Town Halls with President Decatur
Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. ET and Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. ET
Five-week mini class with Professor Emerita Pam Jensen
"Democracy & Education: An Introduction to Rousseau's Emile"
Tuesdays, Jan. 5 – Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. ET
A Celebration of Kenyon Green Initiatives (two-part series)
Wednesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. ET

Visit kenyon.edu/alumnievents to register and view our full alumni event calendar.

Class of 2011 Fall Notes

Jen Baker: Been a while, but I finally have some substantial life updates. Most prominently, I'm getting married mid-November to the love of my life, Alice, and the ceremony will be officiated by Ben Wright-Heuman '08! We are still in the process of making our new surname, Adelynn, official. While the ceremony and reception will be over Zoom, I'm still honored that several alumni friends from the KC Ballroom Dance Club and Japanese Anime Society will be in attendance, as well as our dear Doc Locke. In a year when it's safer to gather, I look forward to hosting a follow-up physical reception. This year, I also turned my (eventually nonprofit) organization, the Cosplayer Survivor Support Network (CSSN), into an actual LLC. I have a little more time now that anime/gaming conventions have taken a break from physical events! I'm still in New Albany, Ohio, as well. If you'd like to catch up, or if you want to see pictures of my wonderful and chonky cat Abby, you can find me through my cosplay handle, @trickssi, on most social media spaces. Hope everyone stays well!

Liza Chabot: I’m currently living through the pandemic splitting my time between Durham, North Carolina (where my stepson lives) and Boston, Massachusetts, where I work for The Broad Institute. Trying to continue making art through this crazy time, though gallery shows and in person art events are nonexistent these days. Making long wish lists of travel and art plans for when this is all over.

Kathleen Jordan: I was proud to introduce my TV show to the world--Teenage Bounty Hunters dropped on Netflix in August. I am the writer, creator, and showrunner of the comedy series, executive produced by Orange Is the New Black and GLOW's Jenji Kohan.

Nick Kessler: Julia (Billings) Kessler and I recently moved to the smoky Pacific Northwest and would love to connect with any Lords and Ladies in the Seattle area! In other life news, I graduated this past June from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business (shout-out to our '11 classmates and Upper Valley neighbors Michael Mpitsos, Jenny Villanueva, and Anna Childs - vox clamantis "Magnanimiter Crucem Sustine" in deserto!)... and of course not least of all we welcomed our son (and potential future Kenyon alum/AD brother), Carver "CJ" Kessler to the world on June 8th!

Victoria Lederer: I’m still in Upstate, NY working at St. Lawrence University. When I’m not navigating what event planning means in a pandemic, I am enjoying the splendors of fall in the Adirondacks on bike rides and runs. Though the races I had planned on doing this summer were cancelled, I still did my own personal Ironman race in August. I can’t wait to finish an official race when they return! I hope everyone continues to stay well; it’s been inspiring to see what everyone is up to!

Stephen Mack: After a stressful few months, things finally turned around in September. I successfully defended my dissertation, "Before Non Finito: A Rough Aesthetic in Quattrocento Sculpture from Donatello to Michelangelo," and accepted a new job as Senior Researcher with the Willem de Kooning Foundation!

Laura Paul: I'm one year into my postdoc at the University of Delaware with the Center for Experimental and Applied Economics, and it has been great so far. In March, when UD went to remote work, I took the opportunity to spend more time with my parents and brother's family in NC. A highlight of this summer has been mountain biking with my brother. We've discovered a lot of amazing single track in the Chapel Hill area. Now that I'm back in Delaware, I've found trails near my house here, too!

Lauren Maggart Stearns: It’s been a crazy year (as it has been for everyone!) but we’re finally settled into life here in Medford, OR. Tyler is working as a Mental Health Clinical Pharmacist at the White City VA and I am currently working from home as a freelance editor. On May 15th we welcomed Maia Rose, our second child, into the world. She is the happiest baby and watching her with Kieran (3) has been such a bright spot amid quarantines and lockdowns. We’ve also enjoyed reuniting with old friends via Zoom—especially the Class of 2011 Kenyon-Exeter group! Here’s to hoping our next Exeter reunion will actually be in person!

Kathleen Stumbaugh (Williams): Can't believe it is going to be 10 years!! Over the last 10 years I went to grad school and graduated with my MFA from Ohio University, got married to my lovely wife Kelly who I actually met when Unity House did the first queer prom in Mount Vernon with the Knox GSA (she lived in town and came to protest the protesters, small world). I am currently working at Open Door Art Studio and Gallery as the Community Arts and Engagement Coordinator in Grandview, Ohio. We are a non-profit art studio that works with adults with developmental disabilities, providing them a space to create, market, display and sell artwork for a paycheck.

Margaret Wardrop: Well, zero-the-hero life updates in 2020, so instead a timely lesson from Henry Miller: “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

Christine Wendell (Bullock): I launched my startup, Pronto Housing, which automates affordable housing leasing and compliance. Check it out at www.prontohousing.com!

Read notes from the Class of 2010 and the Class of 2012.

New this year! Read notes from faculty.

Support Kenyon

If you missed the chance to share your news for this letter, you can submit a class note at any time via class.letters@kenyon.edu.

Class Listing

Kenyon is grateful to the following donors for their generous support of the College, including the Kenyon Fund, during the 2019-20 fiscal year. An asterisk (*) indicates a donor is a member of the Henry J. Abraham Society for loyal and consecutive giving. An obelisk (†) indicates an individual who is deceased. Please note that as of July 1, 2019 Kenyon’s annual giving societies have changed. Visit kenyon.edu/societies for more information.

2011

Annual Fund Total: $21,607

Class Participation: 25.42%

Philander Chase Society

Donors of $10,000 to $24,999

Katherine E. W. Goldbaum

Bexley Society

Donors of $2,500 to $9,999

Victoria Lederer*

Gambier Society

Gifts of $600 to $2,499 (5-9 years post-graduation)

Rachel R. Berger*

Zachary L. Blitzer*

Macpherson C. Carroll*

Daniel A. Groberg*

Mary Margaret Groberg*

J. Peter Nolan*

Alberto Solis

Kenyon Society

Donors of $1 to $599

Jeremy R. Abrams*

Haley E. Adcox

Ayesha Akhtar*

Margaretta L. D. Andrews*

Michael J. Beck*

James D. Beckett*

Richard F. Benes*

Julia R. Billings*

Danielle E. Bishop

Charles N. Bittermann*

Brandon P. Bollinger

Christine A. Bonomo*

Caitrian Boucher*

Eric M. Cameron*

Anna C. Childs

Michael S. Clayton

Caroline Crowell

Matthew P. Crowley*

Kara Crowther*

Diana Deoki

Andrew R. Ding

Julia M. Ellingwood*

Sarah K. Embick

Carling FitzSimmons*

Eric T. Franzen*

Meredith M. Ganz*

Lucy D. Gardner

Ayako Garduque*

Jazz S. A. Glastra*

Analise N. Gonzalez-Fine*

Ashley G. Gray

Kali Greff*

Hannah F. Grisham*

Anna S. Hendon*

Edwin A. Herod*

Phoebe E. Hillemann

Avril W. Ho

Jennifer Hoeffler*

Alex Kaplan*

Conner R. Karakul

Emily Kay*

Avery A. Kaye*

Nicholas A. C. Kessler*

Wesley J. Keyser*

Prita Kidder Carroll

Laura R. Kirschenbaum

Hannah J. M. Kramer

Monica L. Kriete

Kirk W. Kumbier*

Chad M. Kurylo*

Abby Lagrow

Alexandra Lawyer Skapes

Joy M. Leaman*

Jack K. Lee*

Benjamin A. Lucas

Christopher R. MacColl*

Keiko P. Matsuno*

Daziah S. Merideth*

Lauren M. Metzger

James D. Miller

Russ Miller*

Jonathan R. Myers*

Rebecca L. Neubauer*

Andrea B. Newman*

Thomas Q. Nolan*

Ryan P. O'Connor*

Alexander D. Ostrom*

Laura A. Paul*

Evan K. Pease

Ananda Plunkett Levine

Ryan J. Poh

Rachael A. Polton*

Samantha C. Reichenbach*

Sarah N. Relich

Katrina S. Rennie*

Anna S. Roosevelt

Riley K. Scheid

Harrison Scott

Timothy R. Shadyac

Kelly Silvestri*

Jesse M. Sorrell*

Nicholas L. Sprague*

Diane Staats*

Marta E. Stewart-Bates

Bryn T. Stole*

Lucy E. Stoll*

Claire P. Strom

Eric J. Sutton*

Margaret G. Taylor*

Samuel F. Tyler*

Joseph H. P. Valentine-White

Peyton L. Ward*

Laura B. Wett*

Hannah B. Withers

Richard Wylde*

Yinan Yu*

George Wharton Mariott Society

These alumni have included Kenyon in their estate plans or have made other planned gifts.