Dear Classmates,

In the fall of 1947, John McKune ’52 (my father) was called to the principal’s office at Springfield (Ohio) High School. When he arrived with a handful of other young men that had been summoned, Kenyon College Art Professor Norris W. Rahming told them about a unique opportunity available only to one male student from Springfield.  He was looking for a candidate for a full tuition scholarship funded by Wilbur Cummings 1902.[1] It was the second time that Professor Rahming had visited Springfield High as no students had shown up for his first recruiting visit. Dad had not considered leaving home to attend college and had never heard of Kenyon. If he had not been selected to receive the scholarship, Dad would have attended Wittenberg University and continued to work in the small business where his mother worked and he had been employed since the age of thirteen. That visit totally changed the trajectory of Dad’s life and is a major reason that I arrived in Gambier in August 1980 to join our class.

This story helps explain why I was so pleased to hear about the new Kenyon Access Initiative when it was announced last fall. 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.

It’s officially Reunion month on the Hill! Even though this year isn’t a milestone reunion year for us, all alumni are welcome back for Reunion Weekend this year (and in the future!) and the fact that alumni are FINALLY able to reunite on campus again after two years of virtual gatherings is something worth celebrating. The sense of isolation that has accompanied the past two years has been challenging to navigate, but having the support of you all, my Kenyon family, has continued to brighten the darkest parts of this pandemic for me — thank you! 

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. They also announced 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, all alumni are welcome back to campus May 27-29 for what promises to be the biggest alumni gathering in the College’s history! If you aren’t able to make it back for Reunion this year, I hope you’ll plan to attend one soon.

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 gift today. 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!
Amy McKune

P.S. Scroll down to view the 1984 class notes.

[1] Another contribution Cummings made to Kenyon was to fund a landing field, hangar, two planes, and an endowed chair of aeronautics so that the college could establish Port Kenyon in 1934, the first airport at a liberal arts college in the United States.