| Kenyon Class of 2000 Spring Class Letter
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Dear Classmates,
I hope that this letter finds you doing well this Spring 2021 and that you and your family are slowly returning to a new “normal.” How about this last year, huh?!? While I was hopeful that I would be seeing some of you on the Hill for reunion this year, it seems that 2025 will have to be our in person class catch up – we will just have to make it the best 25th Class Reunion Kenyon College has ever seen. I am sure we will have much to discuss, as our class is doing some amazing stuff – even during a pandemic. Maraleen Shields is running to be the first African-American judge in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania, Rebecca Kent is producing award winning documentaries, Beko Reblitz-Richardson finished up a year sabbatical with his family in rural Spain, Amanda Gilvin rolled with the times and conducted curatorial virtual tours of the Davis Museum of Wellesley College, and Marela Zacarias finished her commissioned work in the International Arrivals Facility at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Me – I’m currently sitting in my office in Midtown Manhattan where I work as an in-house litigator at a French Bank – but by night I am attempting to see just how many times I can eat outside in sub-freezing NYC weather.
While we will have to wait a bit to be in person at Kenyon to discuss these great feats in person, Kenyon is currently planning its return to normal operations, including having all four classes back on campus in the Fall. And, due in no small part to our alumni support, the College is wrapping up a financially and logistically challenging year on track to balance the budget, just like they have the last 50 years. And after receiving a record number of applications, Kenyon has enrolled its Class of 2025. Chalmers Library will be open to greet them when they move in.
If you weren’t already aware, in January, Kenyon received the largest gift in its history that will fund construction of three new South Campus residence halls, allowing the College to increase focus on growing resources for scholarships. This is where we come in! The success of the next part of the campaign, Our Path Forward to the Bicentennial, relies on our increased participation and continued support of scholarships for students.
I know it is disappointing to see our in-person Reunion Weekend go virtual this year, but hopefully you are looking forward to connecting with others at the events Kenyon has planned to bring the Hill to us virtually for this nontraditional reunion. If you haven’t yet, mark your calendars for May 16-29 and watch your mail for a special opportunity to win some Kenyon swag by joining in the fun! There will be events with our favorite professors, online social gatherings, a tour of Chalmers Library and more.
The College is also counting on us to show up (and break our record numbers!) for this year’s 36-hour Kenyon Together giving challenge kicking off the morning of Wednesday, May 19th as part of the virtual reunion. Save the date for a fun chance to help Kenyon students today, score prizes, join in some good friendly competition and win bragging rights. After the success of 2020’s Kenyon Together giving challenge, the College knows just how impactful our alumni community can be when we work together to raise money for the causes at Kenyon that matter most to us.
As alumni, we can help today’s students by staying connected with the College and making gifts to scholarships that help Kenyon continue to meet the growing financial needs of students and their families. I invite you to join me in supporting the College in both of these ways. No matter how you choose to stay involved with Kenyon, I hope that you do, and I look forward to seeing you either virtually or in person sooner rather than later.
Looking Forward To Our 25th,
Kristin Ann Meister
P.S. Scroll down to read our 2000 spring class notes.
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Support current students now with a gift to scholarships
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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 to:
- 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.
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| Virtual Events for Alumni
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All alumni are invited to join us at these virtual reunion events in May:
- Opening Ceremony/Virtual Hospitality Tent
4 p.m. ET Sunday, May 16
- Kenyon Together 36-Hour Giving Challenge
from 9 a.m. ET Wednesday, May 19 – 9 p.m. ET Thursday, May 20
- Town Hall with President Decatur
7 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 27
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Class AgentsClass agents are your connection to campus. If you would like to learn more about becoming a class agent, contact Isabelle Rivers-McCue at riversmccuei@kenyon.edu.
• Beko Reblitz-Richardson
• Beth Bogner Miranda
• David Shearer
• Jennifer Kozak Rawlings
• Joanna Radnor Vilensky
• Kristin Meister
• Mary Teague
• Melanie Lachance
• Meredith Methlie
• Mike Lewis
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Class of 2000 Spring Notes
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Samantha (Grover) Aguayo writes: “I'm happily living in Washington, DC with my husband Steve and our grouchy cat Oliver. I'm the Deputy Executive Director & Chief Policy Counsel at an intellectual property law association here in DC, which keeps me pretty busy and intellectually engaged. We've been doing great throughout the past year, all things considered, although I was really looking forward to bringing Steve to the Hill last year for our 20th reunion and missed seeing my other double aughts too.
I'm so happy I live near and remain close with several wonderful Kenyon friends including Martha Holley-Miers, Liz Dunning ’99, Matilda Bode ’99, Kate Druschel ’99, and Jamie Smith ’99 -- we've been having socially distant outdoor hangouts regularly throughout the pandemic and are looking forward to when we're all fully vaccinated and can go inside one another's houses without masks! And I can't wait to see more far-flung Kenyon friends again in the future.”
Michael Lewis contributes: “I thought I'd won the game Moonlighter last night on my Nintendo Switch but it turns out there's a more difficult level that I have to defeat. I did defeat Immortals, Fenyx Rising and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. So that's nice.”
Maraleen Shields writes: “After amassing nearly two decades of civil litigation experience, I decided to run for judge in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas. I am 1 of 9 candidates. Thus far, it has been quite an experience for me and my ever-supportive family (Kevin, Cornell ‘99, Cole, age 10, and Sage, age 5). While COVID-19 and continued fall out from the 2020 election has made the process more difficult, we are undeterred and poised to make history here in Lehigh County. If elected, I would be the first African-American (man or woman) elected to the bench and only the second Spanish speaking judge. I am grateful for the Kenyon support. If you want to follow our race, please visit www.shieldsforlcjudge.com”
Rachel (Kelley) Perz shares: “My husband, George, and I welcomed our first baby—George William Perz, IV, on January 27! We are using G3 and G4 to differentiate between Father and Son! I also just made the decision to leave the restaurant business after 20 years in order to spend more time with my family. It is bittersweet but I am so happy to have nights, weekends, and holidays back with family instead of at work! Hope everyone is doing well, and if you are in the Fort Lauderdale / Miami area please look me up!”
Kathleen (Birck) Florea writes: “One year into the pandemic, my husband and I are blessed to still live in NW Arizona, have our same jobs with no loss of income, as well as our health despite having COVID in April, 2020. We marvel daily at the miracle of our son, Nickolas, now 2 1/2, and love spending time with our two elderly kitties and 2 young tortoises. Hoping for more travel and memory-making experiences in the near future.”
Laura Marx, in Westfield, Massachusetts is still working for The Nature Conservancy on all things related to forests and climate change, and occasionally looking up from the computer to find that Scott (12) and Talia (10) have grown another inch. All three of us are grieving the loss of my husband/their dad Rob (Edge), who died in October. You can read more about him, and find a link to his music, at www.robmemorial.com. We are grateful for the support and well wishes from Kenyon friends both near and far, including the standing Zoom calls that have been happening since our 20th Reunion was canceled last year.
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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.
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Kenyon College
105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, OH 43022
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