Kenyon Class of 2005 Fall Class Letter

Hello dear classmates,

I come bearing words from campus, but first, some words from me. To take some inspiration from Mr. DFW, I want to address some of the day-to-day trenches of the adult existence we are currently experiencing, because if there was a time to be real, I think it is now. I've never submitted a Class Note myself and here I am writing an introduction.

I adore the Class Notes, and even if we haven’t spoken in years, know that I celebrate the heck out of your achievements, musings, and all the future Lords and Ladies you've brought into the world. And... I also want to recognize all those things that don't make the Class Notes. The difficult things that don’t format as a bullet point. The unexpected that rocked our lives, and the expected that never came to pass. The struggles and the heartbreaks. Maybe these aches are part of the rhythm of life, admittedly this is the first time I've been 15 years out of college. Or maybe times have been especially tough (as my liberal arts education taught me, things can be more than one thing). Whatever the case, I acknowledge and hold these challenges, knowing these are the times community is more important than ever. If we had been able to gather in Gambier in May, I like to think we would be finding moments to share these experiences, and discovering connection and affinity among those who understand and have felt exactly what we are feeling, whether they are an old friend or new reintroduction.

We learned who we were on the Hill. And in the years since faced with the realities of adulthood, we've had to learn who we are, again and again, and again. Though we were supposed to come together this year, and maybe make meaning out of whatever the last 15 years have meant, this bonus year is bound to offer some new revelations. At this time when we can't be together, know that your people are still here for you, even when for the moment, here has to be there. Supporting you through successes, and also the struggles, I hope you find light of the Kenyon kinship in unexpected places until we all connect again.

Meet you at Extendo,

Becca Don

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

And now, some campus updates:

In-person instruction just wrapped up for the approximately 950 first-years, sophomores and international students who studied on campus this fall. Numbers were intentionally kept low so no one would share a room (a pandemic bright spot for the lucky number of first years who were able to enjoy a North Campus Apartment for one.) 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. Life on campus looked a bit different as Kenyon adapted its many facilities to ensure safe access to dining, athletics, research and more.

In addition to adaptations for on-campus instruction, juniors, seniors and members of the faculty discovered new ways to learn and teach remotely (In a pandemic sweatpants are acceptable classroom attire for even the professors). Take a look at the new “Faculty Notes” section to learn 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.

Though it was heartbreaking to see Reunion Weekend 2020 postponed, we’ve shifted our focus to Reunion Weekend 2021. Planning is underway and, if conditions allow, it could be the biggest alumni gathering in Kenyon history! (We’ll be sharing more details in the months to come, as all alumni will be invited back for the festivities.)

And some real talk about the Kenyon Fund. Despite my failure to contribute to the Class Notes (sorry, Kelly. It’s not personal) I have made it a point to contribute to Kenyon every single year. Sure, my Kenyon education fostered career ambitions to serve humanity, which in my case means I’m not bringing in the funds to get my name on any campus buildings, but I give what I can, because it matters. The Kenyon Fund supports students, and can have a direct impact. Contributions support the student emergency assistance fund, which helped dozens of students get home when the spring semester unexpectedly went virtual. A gift to the Kenyon Fund helps make it possible for the College to award more in financial aid this year, when many families’ budgets are strained. And it helps 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. A contribution of any size makes a true difference, and during challenging times like these, alumni support is more critical than ever. Help make an impact at gift.kenyon.edu and ensure good things continue to happen on the Hill this year, and in the years to come.

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 2005 Fall Notes

Ellen Cosier (Fulco): Ellen and her husband Perry are enjoying life in historic Old Town Alexandria where they enjoy their community with their daughter Cecilia (3). Ellen continues to support exceptional elementary students as a special education teacher. Cecilia continues to obsess about princesses.

Kelly Stowe: Earlier this year, I moved (mid-pandemic!) to the greater Boston area, for a new job at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, MA. I'm working on several transportation research and analysis projects for a variety of government agencies. It's a very interesting time to be researching transportation issues, given the massive transition to remote work for much of the American workforce. It's also a very interesting time to be a parent of school-aged children. This year we opted to homeschool our kids, which has turned out to be the best decision for our family. Technology is good for many things, but our first and second graders have benefited tremendously from the one-on-one attention they're receiving from their homeschool teacher (my husband). I hope other families are faring well with their children's unique schooling situations. Lord knows it's been a challenging year, to say the least.

While it's unlikely that we'll be getting together anytime soon, if there are any alumni in the Boston area that would like to link up, feel free to reach out! My email address (as always) is smallwoodk@gmail.com. Here's hoping we'll see each other in 2021.

Robert Northrup: Robert broke bones in a bike wreck but has had a decent 2020, dodging the bat bug, working on a land art project in west Texas and developing a business he calls “Austin Concrete.” He lives with his cat and life pardner Marvin near UT.

Eric Raicovich was bummed to have missed out on reunion shenanigans this year - but looking forward to the next go around whenever they can all be together again on the Hill. Outside of that disappointment and the overall ups and downs that 2020 brought with it, he has little else to report. No wedding, no kids. Life is good. He’s still living in Manhattan (shocker) and finishing his first year at Facebook. He’s very thankful to still have a core group of `05 Kenyonites in the city (incl. Phoebe Plagens, Claire McGinnis, Ashley Fitch, Allison Lebar, Phil Cooke, Meg Rohan, Cecil Howell [when they can track her down], Liz Aragona, Becca Frank and honorary member Brian Porter ’02) and looks forward to continuing their annual traditions no matter what curveballs the world throws at them.

Liz Gunnar Hoffman: My husband Peter and I welcomed our first child, a boy named Gabriel, on September 28th. We are exhausted but so happy. I'm finishing up my last year of residency in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at Duke University Hospital. We're working towards a move back to the Midwest next summer.

Kim Moore Waggoner: My first class note! I'm (still - 15 years now) married to Mount Vernon Nazarene University '01 alum, Todd Waggoner, and we have a two-year-old daughter, Louisa Frances. After post-college stints in Germany, DC, and Nashville, we have settled back in the Midwest and are building a house in Westfield, Indiana. I've been working remotely as a contractor for the State Department for about ten years now. My in-laws still live in Mount Vernon so we visit Kenyon often. It's amazing how much things have changed in Gambier!

Bethany Johns (Anderson): I have been working at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities for about a year now working with Vice Presidents of Research to advance science policy. It's been an interesting year due to COVID-19. I recently met Ryan Muzzio ’18, a fellow Kenyon Physics major, who testified on Capitol Hill at hearing I helped organize. We had a wonderful time reminiscing about Kenyon and our professors.

Lindsay Henry (Junkin): Lindsay Junkin Henry, husband Eric, and son Luke welcomed baby Emma Scott Henry on 10/5/20. We are delighted by the new addition to our family!

Catherine Papai-McMillin: Every time fall rolls around, I miss the Hill more. The colors have brightened the grey of life during the pandemic. I have three delightful children now who have certainly made their presence and energy felt! This year, I've gotten to move into almost full-time instructional coaching, and have also enjoyed sharing all of my voting and election knowledge from my years as a Government teacher. Life is full, but not fully virtual!

Read notes from the Class of 2004 and the Class of 2006.

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.

2005

Annual Fund Total: $40,257

Class Participation: 23.08%

President's Society

Donors of $50,000 or more

Christopher T. Kirwan*

M.E. Kirwan*

Alexander W. Wright*

Libby Wright*

Bexley Society

Donors of $2,500 to $9,999

Caitlin M. Looney

Nicholas H. Matlin*

Blythe H. Philips*

Kenyon Society

Donors of $1 to $2,499

Anonymous (2)

William H. Adashek

Lacey W. Askeland*

Alon Avdi*

Alaina T. Baker-Nigh*

Celeste D. Berteau

Lindsey E. Bleem

Molly Bradley*

Joshua D. Briggeman*

Joy J. G. Bullen

Tyler H. Bullen

Sandra E. Burke*

Derick M. Busenburg*

Brian C. Cannon*

Erin A. Carr*

Nancy Cass Moss*

Megan M. Chambers

Tim Chenette*

Caitlin W. Cody*

Philip A. Cooke*

Elizabeth W. Copson*

Anna L. Curtis

David J. Deal

Andrea L. Dedmon

Randeep P. Dhiman*

Alison D. Diegel

Rebecca B. Don*

Ann Donley*

Lindsey J. Eckert

Daniel Z. Epstein

Meredith A. Farmer*

Amy L. Gestal*

Becky L. Grajeda

Megan L. Harvey*

Timothy B. Harwood*

Calvin J. Hatfield*

Lindsay M. Henry*

Alexandra B. Hoch*

Clara K. Hoellerbauer

Ariel N. Horowitz*

Russell A. Hunt

Rosemary L. Karr

Andrew S. Koch*

Adam T. Kollin

Brent R. Korhn

John F. Lesjack II*

Christopher J. Lohr

Joshua L. Mabra

Joseph A. Mallin

Alexander D. Matlack*

Heather McMillan Hoeppner

Catherine E. McMillin

Susan C. Moore*

Christine J. Nalitz*

J. Geoffrey Nelson

Kathryn E. Oczkowski*

Heather A. Preston

David M. Rainey

Zack Roach*

Gabriel Rodrigues*

Anne M. Rogers-Popejoy*

Allison M. Roper*

Kathryn Salter Gudenberg*

A. Ted Samuel

Gregory C. Scheiderer

Brian D. Schiller*

Daniel C. Silverman*

Claudia D. M. Smith*

Catherine D. Stetler*

Bryan C. Stokes II*

Kelly A. Stowe*

Elizabeth Y. Tomei*

Andrea S. Turnipseed*

Jennifer M. Underwood*

Samantha A. Wakefield

Will W. Wakefield

Catherine Welch Carrington*

Till N. Wieczorek*

Drew F. Wills*

Erin A. Zivic*

Kenyon College
105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, OH 43022

Kenyon Class of 2005 Fall Class Letter

Introducing the Lowry Center & Scholarship

Upcoming Virtual Events for Alumni

Class Agents

Class of 2005 Fall Notes

Class Listing