Kenyon Class of 1991 Fall Class Letter

Dear classmates,

Lately, I know it can seem like good news is in short supply. So as I sat down for this class letter about many positive updates at Kenyon, I felt 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.

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 first-years to score North Campus Apartments, the newest and fancy ones that replaced our tiny Bexleys.) 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. I have a first-year student who definitely appreciated being able to be on campus this fall and begin forming relationships with both professors and classmates.

In addition to adaptations for on-campus instruction, juniors and seniors and members of the faculty discovered new ways to learn and teach remotely. (Yes, it took a pandemic to make sweatpants acceptable classroom attire for even the professors.) 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. I was fascinated while talking to our own Ted Buehrer in August about the work necessary to combine remote and in-person instruction.

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. And, 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 regarding the special celebrations we are planning for our milestone reunion this year.)

Yes, good things are happening at Kenyon and that is why I support it year after 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 for 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. Any gift of any amount is welcome. Whether you can give $10 or $10,000, you will be counted in the percentage of alumni supporting the College. Alumni participation can make the difference when the College applies for other grants from philanthropic foundations.

Thank you and stay well. I hope we can meet on the Hill in May.

Sincerely,

Tracey Fatzinger (now P’24!)

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 1991 Fall Notes

And now for our classmates’ personal updates:

Ann Russell reports that she now has the distinct pleasure and privilege of representing you on Kenyon‘s Alumni Council. If you have any questions or concerns you would like to raise with the larger council, please feel free to be in touch with me (I can be found on Facebook or at annprussell@gmail.com) or any members of Alumni Council. Here is a link to the Alumni Council page of Kenyon's website: www.kenyon.edu/for-alumni/alumni-networks/alumni-council. Also, Ann’s son decided life in Gambier was too rural and close to home (um, an 8 hour drive is too close??) and is now a first year student at Vassar. Ann is keeping busy bugging her daughter Edie who is loving her remote learning. Emphasis on the remote aspect, not so much the learning. Her husband Larry is now almost 5 years past a terrible fall off of a roof and is finally able to take more than 20 steps without being in agony. The surgery in January was a major success and after 9 months he was finally cleared to return to work. Now if there was any work to actually return to...

Jennifer (Pryor) Taylor writes: Hope everyone and your families are staying safe. I am thoroughly enjoying the gift of non-commuting, but missing my work travel more than expected. Spending time with my quarantine pod, hitting the gym and cooking are keeping my spirits up. Our daughter is a high school senior and we are in the throes of the College app process, so that’s fun!

Kristen Hoffman Senior updates us: Along with the rest of the world, we’re dealing with the changes the pandemic has brought to our lives. Since March, I’ve moved from the sourdough bread and wooden puzzle phase to quiet desperation. One thing that is saving me, however, is our kids all being unexpectedly home. 36 hours before he was to quarantine in a NY hotel for 14 days before his sophomore year at Syracuse, our oldest Ben decided to stay home this year taking a break from filmmaking and added a poli-sci minor. What an interesting year to do so! Amelia our middle is coming into her own as she applies to liberal arts colleges that value her diverse interests in science, music, and art. Our youngest Topher is surviving hybrid sixth grade—or, rather, sixth grade is surviving him—while he’s discovering “The Way of the Warrior” in his new karate class. Lots of family time has shown me that we actually really like each other as people. This is a huge blessing. Alden’s business is surviving its connection to the restaurant industry and my college counseling business is thriving: both signs that we are hopeful for the future. Looking forward to our 30th reunion in 2021. Mask up, everybody!

Renny Tassari (Eisenberg) says: I started a new job at The Combustion Institute, a non-profit, scientific and engineering society. The change has brought many new challenges and experiences, but I am enjoying every minute. Our oldest child is now a senior in college and applying to graduate school; our youngest is a college sophomore. While neither chose Kenyon, they both chose small campuses that afford the close-knit family feel that we enjoyed at Kenyon. I would love to hear from Kenyon alum who find themselves in Pittsburgh and maybe share a drink or a few stories.

Lisa Timmel writes: After the cancellation of my Edinburgh Festival-bound show due to the pandemic, I launched an oral history project called Theater-19 (theater19.org) that documents the experiences of theater workers during the near complete shutdown of our industry. Our focus is on early and mid-career artists and administrators and I'll be interviewing recent Kenyon grad, Nina Samaan ‘20 this week. We'll be re-interviewing everyone a couple of times over the next four years in order to document how this event effects their lives and changes their work. It has been heartbreaking and uplifting work, if that makes any sense. I am lucky to say my family remains healthy and safe in New York City.

Christopher (Myott) Kaufman Ilstrup says: It's been quite a year at Vermont Humanities where we are spending much of our time advocating for pandemic relief for the cultural sector, hoping to prevent the loss of all of our wonderful historic buildings, museums, performance spaces, libraries, and galleries. It's a struggle but we carry on, mostly on Zoom. Sigh. At home, we're learning how to live on top of each other 24/7 but we're also committed to helping our community stay safe. Wear masks, everyone!

David Thiele reports: Currently navigating the strange waters of COVID-19 higher education as Director of the University Honors Program at Mount Union. If you have any bright kids interested in Mount, send them my way. Had a great time hanging out with Fred Richardson ‘90 in pre-Covid DC and catching up with the legendary Ary Ziv and Mike Schauerte after many years.

John Douglass updates us: The pandemic has certainly altered our sense of what's "normal," but we're doing well. I teach a course on historic preservation at the University of Arizona each fall and because it was virtual this year, I tried to embrace that by inviting guest speakers further afield than southern Arizona. My first guest speaker was Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock, awesome husband of Anne Grevstad-Nordbrock, who's a prof at Iowa State. While our class mainly deals with concerns from western states, Ted gave us a true mid-western flavored lecture which offered a great perspective. On other fronts, our renovation of a 1940s adobe here in town for use as Jill's office goes well, although slowly. The structure and infrastructure is now complete, but tile, paint, and associated tasks take longer than usual (especially when I hit a water line out front taking out an unwanted plant, necessitating another visit from the plumber...).

Anthony Jones reports: COVID allowed me a chance to take a break from working in restaurants. After some reflection, my wife and I decided that we were no longer interested in living in the NYC area. At the end of September we moved to Naugatuck, a small town in Connecticut. I spend most of my time lately painting rooms and having discussions about septic systems. I also bought a chainsaw. It’s pretty cool.

Raphael Biran says: I am still living in New York City, working at EmblemHealth as Lead Corporate Communications Specialist, and singing (virtually, these days) at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan. I recently caught up with former Kenyon roommate Jim Frey, and celebrated the big 51 on Zoom with family and several friends, including Anne Jamison ‘89, Meredith Bruch, Amy (Barker) Fugate '92, Laura (Strong) Hauser '92, Emmi Costello '93, and Bryon Thomas '93.

In September, Michael Sering was honored to be named a “Fresh Innovator” by Cleveland Leadership Center for working on strategies to end homelessness and relocating 300 homeless people to 3 hotels that the Center now manages. “A pandemic is the perfect time to emphasize housing as the solution to homelessness.” Sering is welcoming brainstorm ideas!

As for me, Tracey Fatzinger, my family has been healthy through COVID thus far. My oldest returned home from Georgia Tech in March, is still here learning virtually, and may or may not be back on campus in Spring. My youngest is at Kenyon living in Mather first floor. I never imagined back in Fall 1987 that I’d be moving one of my kids into a dorm in Gambier. My husband Greg has been working from home since March and will be here at least until January. We fully expect that we will have all four of us around the dinner table come Spring semester!

Read notes from the Class of 1990 and the Class of 1992.

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.

1991

Annual Fund Total: $124,307

Class Participation: 59.20%

President's Society

Donors of $50,000 or more

Anonymous (2)

Kokosing Society

Donors of $25,000 to $49,999

Yiji Shen Starr

Philander Chase Society

Donors of $10,000 to $24,999

Ronald M. Harrington*

Jennifer Hirsh*

Brigitte Kerpsack Olsen MD*

David A. Olsen*

Bexley Society

Donors of $2,500 to $9,999

Shawn C. Cummings

Hugh M. Daley*

Robert M. Edsall*

Liza H. Hamm

Marisa Scarafoni Daley*

Kenyon Society

Donors of $1 to $2,499

Anonymous (2)

Gregory J. Abate P'24*

Karen C. Adams MD

Matthew J. Alcorn*

Tiel Arnot

Mariam M. Bahrami*

Brian J. Barna

Meredith Beever McGuire

Jason Bertsch*

Raphael Biran

Alison J. Black*

Peter W. Bowman

Matthew R. Brokaw

Meryl H. Brott*

J. Chalmers Browne

Kenneth M. Burgomaster*

Melanie Carlos*

Mark J. Carpenter*

Heather Carskaddan

Brian M. Case*

David Gordon Center*

Eric W. Chambers*

Mary C. Coleman

Shelby D. Collier*

Jason F. Congdon*

John P. Cooney III

Margaret C. Cooney*

Rebecca E. Countway

Patricia Crabtree*

Lycurgus T. Davey*

Terrie DeBonis

James D. DeRosa*

Thomas S. Dilsheimer*

Elizabeth Drotleff*

Lori Jo DuBois McDevitt*

Julie M. Emig

Tracey A. Fatzinger PhD P'24*

Sarah C. Feider*

Kimberly D. Fields*

Matthew A. Fischer*

James H. H. Fleming*

Kathleen G. Gerhardinger P'24 '22 '19*

Christie Getto Young*

Anne Grevstad-Nordbrock*

Michael S. Grinker*

Chelsea M. Guillen P'22*

Gregg C. Gumbert*

Holly Hatch-Surisook

Greggory D. Hill*

Jody L. Horak Tyrpak*

Judith Hruska Shook*

Daryl J. Hultquist

Amy Hunt Alcorn*

Meredith A. Johnston

David A. Kahn*

Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup*

Christa M. Kelly*

Bernard J. Kenyon II*

Andrew D. Keyt

Geoffrey Kloske

Elizabeth A. Lamberti*

Kelly L. Lees

Paul C. Lentz P'22

Caroline Lesesne Enloe

Mark A. Lloyd*

William B. Lockwood

Leslie B. Magee Congdon*

Peter T. Meddick

Christopher M. Missett*

Dabney S. Moncher

Margot Morrison Brinley*

Bryan Owen*

Paul B. Palagyi*

Michael Pasnik

Sarah E. Porter Springer*

Rebecca R. Post*

Darrin A. Pratt*

Cynthia H. Proctor*

W. Michael Putnam IV DVM

Abbie L. Rankin*

Hugh C. Resnick*

David S. Reynolds*

William A. Richardson

Julie K. Roth*

Ann P. Russell*

Bill Salmon

Mary L. Sarkisian*

David A. Schiopota*

Kristen Senior

Michael R. Sering*

Julie A. Shellhorn*

Jeffrey E. Skiby*

Patricia L. Steffy*

Leslie A. Stephens*

Melissa A. W. Stickney*

Thomas M. Stickney*

Dieter W. Sumerauer MD

Donald W. Thomas*

Ann McKay Thoroman

Holly Thyen*

Lisa Timmel*

Angelique Tober*

Lila E. Valinoti*

Michelle Van Etten Lee*

Nicholas R. VanBuskirk*

Melissa K. Williams

Scott W. Witscher*

Edward D. Wolf

Stephen M. Wrinn*

George Wharton Mariott Society

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

Andrew Keyt

Hugh Resnick

Kenyon College
105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, OH 43022

Kenyon Class of 1991 Fall Class Letter

Introducing the Lowry Center & Scholarship

Upcoming Virtual Events for Alumni

Reunion Committee

Class of 1991 Fall Notes

Class Listing