Dear classmates from the Kenyon class of 2002,

It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty years since we graduated from Kenyon - not since we started our time on the Hill, since we graduated!  My how time flies! I was recently watching the latest Disney/Pixar film, Turning Red, when I noticed the film takes place in 2002, our graduation year!  Moreover (without giving away any spoilers) there’s a major plot point and culminating event in the film that takes place on May 18th - which if you recall, happened to be our graduation day!  I took that to be yet another sign endorsing our returning for reunion this year!  

It’s officially Reunion month on the Hill! I hope to see many of you back in Gambier this May to celebrate our reunion year at what will certainly be a weekend to remember since alumni are FINALLY able to reunite on campus again after two years of virtual gatherings. The sense of isolation that has accompanied the past two years has been challenging to navigate, but having the support of our loved ones, including our Kenyon family, has continued to brighten the darkest parts of this pandemic for many of us! 

Last fall, I hope you heard about (and perhaps supported!) the new Kenyon Access Initiative. We are eight months into our five-year partnership with the Schuler Education Foundation to increase access to Kenyon for exceptional students with limited resources. Our extended Kenyon community has enthusiastically responded by making more than 1,113 gifts to support this unique initiative, helping to create new scholarships that will be awarded to students we are enrolling now. In further great news, applications this year hit another record, up 14% over last year.

Hopefully you saw the news from President Sean Decatur this winter that, in response to calls from students as we approach our Bicentennial, he agreed the time had come to look beyond Lords and Ladies. Thanks to all of you who have submitted suggestions or other feedback for the process to consider a new athletics moniker. This letter was finalized before the results were known, but you can visit kenyon.edu/moniker to learn the latest.
 
This spring, the College continued its commitment to integrating environmental stewardship into its curriculum, campus operations and campus culture. One exciting way this is happening is that Kenyon is refraining from new commitments in specialized private investment funds that focus on fossil fuels — expecting that less than 1% of Kenyon’s endowment portfolio will be invested in fossil fuels by 2030. This news and more was shared in Kenyon’s new quarterly Green Newsletter. If you don’t already receive it, I encourage you to sign up for it at bit.ly/Green-Kenyon.

As summer approaches, Kenyon is preparing to welcome several groups of alumni back to campus. First, more than 100 members of the Class of 2020 and their families have registered to attend their belated Commencement taking place on the Hill May 22. On May 26, the Classes of 1970, 1971 and 1972 will be kicking off Reunion Weekend a day early with special 50th Reunion programming. And then, as you know, many of us will be back on campus May 27-29 for what promises to be the biggest alumni gathering in the College’s history! I can’t wait to catch up with you all, relive old memories and share a few laughs together.

All of the excitement and achievement at Kenyon today can be traced, in part, back to our support. Kenyon relies on our gifts to the Kenyon Fund to support every aspect of students’ experience today, from seminars to scholarships. I hope you’ll join me in making a stretch gift this year in honor of our reunion. We know first-hand how a Kenyon education can impact one’s future — not just professionally, but personally. When we support Kenyon’s current and future students, we help make a Kenyon family like ours a possibility for many more.

Thank you!
James J. Greenwood

P.S. Scroll down for our 2002 class notes!