| Kenyon Class of 1979 Spring Class Letter
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Dear classmates,
Spring happens to be my favorite time of the year, perhaps this year more than ever. Life seems to be inching back to “normal”; by the time you read this I will have hopefully walked next door to catch a Cincinnati Reds baseball game in person. In the words of John Fogerty, “We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.” While I’m way too old to say “Put me in, coach” I’ll happily watch the younger fellows try.
Kenyon is also 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.
After receiving a record number of applications, Kenyon has enrolled its Class of 2025; Chalmers Library will be open to greet the incoming class. (I can’t read that name without thinking of the many hours I whiled away in the OLD Chalmers Library kibitzing with Colonel McCloskey. However, I digress!)
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.
If you haven’t heard, reunion is going virtual this year. The College is hosting two weeks of online programming from May 16-29 and most events are open to all alumni. Even though we aren’t celebrating a reunion this year, I encourage you to register for events with your favorite professors and reminisce with classmates at the online social gatherings. One will have the opportunity to join the tour of Chalmers Library and take part in some of the fun things they have planned to bring the Hill to us virtually for this nontraditional reunion.
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 19 as part of the virtual reunion. Mark your calendar 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. Our alma mater and all of you have contributed to the hope and optimism I feel for the future by providing regular points of connection during an isolating year. No matter how you choose to stay involved with Kenyon, I hope you too are breathing a sigh of relief as we prepare for better days ahead. (Thank you to our classmates who submitted class notes! Please see below.)
Take care,
Dave Troup
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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 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 Tracey Wilson (wilson1@kenyon.edu).
• Middleton Price Thompson
• Dave Troup
• Jeff Day
• Julia Welsh
• Kristin Olsen Kiser
• Mike Cummiskey
• Peter Hoagland
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Class of 1979 Spring Notes
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Louise Suhr writes: It has been a year to remember. Glad I retired from my work as a nurse practitioner at Harborview Medical Center prior to the pandemic. Outdoor pursuits, especially off trail and midweek, have made for plenty of physically distanced social time all this past year, and for that I am thankful. Thankful too for Zoom meetings and Zoom Happy Hour and Zoom lectures on a host of topics. And so very glad for the opportunity to get involved with our local public health department vaccine initiatives-I so love jabbing people’s arms with a needle. It gives me hope!
David Redfield writes: In 2020, my wife Jean and I celebrated our 40th anniversary and we relished being together throughout the pandemic with gardening, birding and traveling to Glen Arbor, Michigan surrounded by the 70,000 acres of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We had a failed attempt to connect with Noel Cook ’78 and his family in the summer and settled for a Zoom New Year’s call! Maybe 2021 will come together for a reunion with the Cook family. More and more, I appreciate and brag about my Liberal Arts education at Kenyon and it remains close to my heart.
Jeff Place writes: I still work as a curator at the Smithsonian. I moved to the Outer Banks of North Carolina after 25 years by the Chesapeake Bay. I am telecommuting from here, haven’t been in the office in DC for a year. It’s giving me time to work on five book and CD projects.
Lu Johnston (Jones) writes: Andy and I have managed to stay relatively sane throughout the last few months. He has been working from home in a space minimally converted from a child’s bedroom with an occasional foray to his office (lawyers are “essential” in Delaware). The middle school sized desk does not bother him! My volunteer activities slowed down at first, but have picked up recently, so my days are full. (I’ve also completed more needlepoint projects than previous years, cleaned out closets/drawers, and added long walks to my routine.) We are very fortunate that our kids and their significant others have been in our “bubble”, so we have been able to see them. Our home at the NJ shore has served us well for a change of scenery when we need it. We have had our share of grief as both of my parents and a dear friend passed away in 2020. We have attended a couple of President Decatur’s alumni town halls, which are fascinating and give us a virtual trip back to our college days. We scroll through the Zoom participants and don’t see many familiar faces…where is everyone!? It’s hard to believe that we’ve been away from Kenyon as long as we have…Andy and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in December!
Bob O’Connor writes: I spend a fair amount of energy fulfilling my duties as a board member of Thistle & Bee, a Memphis-based non-profit that helps women leave street life. We keep bees and sell honey and granola. I also communicate with George Layburn about a certain tech stock he likes (not GME). I continue to slog away at a second book. The weeks fly by.
Michael McSherry stopped practicing law some time ago, graduated from Harvard Divinity in 2005, and currently serves as the pastor of Edwards Church of Northampton, MA, his third church. No, he is not out-running bill collectors or angry congregations, just keeps moving to a new venue. Theater training very much an asset! He enjoys occasional in-person (pre-COVID) visits with Chip Lamb and occasionally “sees” other Kenyon folks on social media.
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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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