Dear Classmates,

“Vassene il tempo e l’uom[e] non se ne avvede”
“Time goes by and [wo]man does not realize it.”

-Dante’s DIVINA COMMEDIA PURGATORY (Canto IV, Verso 9)

It’s officially Reunion Month on the Hill!

We hope to see many of you back in Gambier this May to commemorate our 35th reunion and celebrate “The Great Reunion”, since alumni will be finally able to convene in-person on campus after two years of virtual gatherings. The sense of isolation accompanying the past two years has been challenging to navigate, but having the support of you all, our Kenyon family, has continued to brighten the darkest parts of this pandemic for us — thank you!

We hope you have heard about (and perhaps supported!) the new Kenyon Access Initiative. Kenyon is 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 supporting this unique initiative, creating new scholarships that will be awarded to students enrolling now. In further great news, applications this year hit another record, up 14% over last year.

Have you seen the news from President Sean Decatur this winter? In response to calls from students as we approach our Bicentennial, he agreed the time has 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. Also announced was the news that Lisa Schott ’80, who since 2010 has served as managing director of the College’s land trust, the Philander Chase Conservancy (PCC), will step down from that position at the end of June after a nearly 40-year career with Kenyon. 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 all of you, 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. By the way, participation is a metric by which Kenyon is measured. Please consider a gift of any amount. 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.

With gratitude!

David Hanson, Larry Shipman and David Rosenthal

P.S. Scroll down to view the 1987 class notes.