| Class of 1959 and Earlier Spring Class Letter
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| Dear gentlemen,
It’s officially Reunion month on the Hill and all alumni are welcome back for Reunion Weekend this year (and future years) 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, so thank you for supporting each other and the Kenyon campus to brighten the darkest parts of this pandemic.
Last fall, I hope you heard about 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. 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 retire 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 your support. Kenyon relies on your gifts to the Kenyon Fund to support every aspect of students’ experience today, from seminars to scholarships. I hope you’ll make a gift today. You know first-hand how a Kenyon education can impact one’s future — not just professionally, but personally. When you support Kenyon’s current and future students, you help create a new Kenyon family, as well as many more.
Thank you! Terry Dunnavant
Office of Advancement
Kenyon College
P.S. Scroll down to view the class notes from classes 1948 through 1959.
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There's still time to join the celebration!
Why limit the fun to April 30, 2022? Here are a few ways you can get in a Gambier state of mind any day of the year:
Give 43022
Because Kenyon is at the heart of 43022, we held our annual giving challenge April 29-30. There's still time to support sustainability, scholarships, athletics and all the elements that make Kenyon, Kenyon. MAKE A GIFT
Buy exclusive 43022 merch
While supplies last, the Bookstore is still selling 43022 shirts, totes and water vessels that include a built-in gift to the Kenyon Fund to support today’s Kenyon students. START SHOPPING
Send Reunion greetings to 43022
Can't make it back to the Hill this year? Record a video greeting to be played on campus for your fellow alumni during Reunion Weekend 2022. RECORD A MESSAGE
Build a 43022 community near you
Attend a regional event or plan one yourself. The Alumni Office can help you organize an event for alumni, families and friends of the College in your region — complete with 43022 swag! PLAN AN EVENT
Connect with 43022 from afar
It's easy — and fun — to stay connected to Kenyon from wherever you are. The Alumni Office organizes virtual events for alumni that range from class-specific gatherings, professional development panels, topical conversations and more. BROWSE UPCOMING EVENTS
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| Upcoming Events for Alumni
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Save the date for these upcoming events for alumni taking place online and on the Hill.
- Virtual Alumni Town Hall
Our Reunion Town Hall with President Decatur will take place Thursday, May 12 via Zoom.
- Reunion Weekend
All alumni are invited to join us on the Hill May 27–29.
- Homecoming Weekend
Join us for athletic competitions, festivities and alumni volunteer meetings on the Hill Sept. 23-25.
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Class of 1959 and Earlier Spring Notes
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Ira Eliasoph ’48 - I am glad to report that I am in good health, even playing some tennis. Kenyon memories come to mind very often: my voice was the first to broadcast from WKCG, Gambier Ohio, the voice of Kenyon College, teaching fencing and choreographing the fencing scene for Hamlet, acting in Taming of the Shrew with Paul Newman ’49, some great teachers and some others, VJ DAY and a trip home for the weekend. Thankful that I was well prepared for Medical School.
Philip Plouvier ’50 - Nothing NEW in Burgendy. I’m on the path to 93 on the next Black Friday, practically my birthday.
C. Briggs ’51 - Old roomies, Keith Darr Briggs and James Horace Jones, phone each other at least once a week, and Darr speaks often with Deb Kunhardt, daughter of Henry Kunhardt ’50 (deceased) and mother of Aiden Biglow ’23, now a Kenyon student.
Allen Ballard ’52 - They say that "no news is good news" and that's the situation with me. Just dealing with the doctors, medical appointments, exercise, and some good reading. Or like an old buddy once said, “Been better, been worse." Oh, I am enjoying baking and eating various kinds of scones. Take care, fellows!
Ron Ryan ’53 - Mig and I have lived in our Jupiter, FL home for 30 years and fortunately enjoy good health. I have just stopped playing tennis but we both play golf 2 or 3 times a week.
Dominick Cabriele ’53 - KENYON PREPARED ALL OF US for our future endeavors with all the great, wonderful parties at Kenyon I have taken those unique experiences, advised our Condo owners here in St Petersburg, FL of those past experiences and they have named me “Social Chairman” for our Condo -- Experience Counts!!!!!!!
“Butch” Bil Aulenbach ’54 - My wife and I (married 61 years) are finally breaking out from our COVID restrictions which started on March 10, 2020. We are off to Lake Tahoe for 2 weeks of skiing on March 1. A trip to visit family and friends on the East coast is planned for June. The twice canceled trip to Strasbourg where we lived in 1963-64 is scheduled again. My editor is putting the finishing touches on my 5th book (a product of COVID): The Elixir of Life: It's Radical. My blogs are being sent out once again. (www.peacelovejoyhope.com) Life has been very good to us.
John Hartong ’56 - Bobbe and I now have grandchildren graduating from various Colleges!!
Ron Kendrick ’57 - I am living proof of the adage that retirement isn't all that it's cracked up to be. You see, I retired from orthopedic practice about 16 years ago but I continued to serve as a medical expert for the Social Security Administration in the area of Disability Determination. In this role I offered medical opinion for Administrative Law Judges (all attorneys by the way) to use in their decision to grant benefits or not. I formulated my opinion after reviewing the medical records submitted by the claimant usually with the assistance of a representative, in most cases an attorney. This activity with the SSA was certainly not the road to riches since the fees allowed for medical experts hadn't been updated for the past 20 years or so, whereas a representative attorney could make as much as $6000 on a claim and the medical expert's fees were limited to between $80 and $160. No, I did this work because I enjoyed working and applying all the skills and knowledge that I had worked so hard to achieve since my medical school, training and private practice years. Even in private practice I had a non-salaried teaching position at the University (Ohio State) during which residents in training were assigned to me for a given period of time as part of their training program. By the grace of God, I haven't lost my marbles yet and am able to continue this satisfying work.
Bill Abbott ’57 - My wife and I are keeping a low profile in our suburban home, seeing children and grandchildren as opportunities arise. We are watching diets, exercising reasonably and avoiding doctors as much as possible. I know how much less reliable various joints in my frame are, but have the illusion that my brain is functioning. I am pleased that a former student now an instructor is sharing ideas with me for his course on Rational Decision Making, which has led to ways of making Bayes' Theorem clear and unthreatening. Other areas of interest include avoiding harmful algorithms, and being wary of biased patterns in the search engines we use. Most recently this has wandered into reading The Dawn of Everything, which touches on blinkers in the history of political thinking. I find myself ill at ease with some aspects of using computers, but eager to embrace heat pumps for our house and an electric vehicle to replace our gas burning cars. And current politics mystifies me, but I have hopes for American adaptability.
Don Fischman ’57 - For the past year and a half, eleven members of our class (Ron Kendrick, Bill Abbott, Ron Greiser, Jim Morgan, Al Halverstadt, Brad Bennett, Henry Steck, Bob Kohn, Ernie Norehad, Phil Fox and I) have been meeting monthly by Zoom. It's brought us together in many unexpected ways. As might be expected, politics intruded on some discussions but usually we found common ground that cooled tempers. What I found most interesting was how often members of the group returned to our Kenyon education when arguing different points of view. Considering that we graduated 65 years ago, it's an impressive validation of the Kenyon education.
Robert Price ’58 - I attended the dedication of the new Chalmers Library last October 29th. To make the weekend more interesting I arranged with the Alpha Delta Phi undergraduates and the East Wing Association, what we hoped would be a special treat to honor President Sean Decatur.
We knew that Sean had successfully completed the Capital Fund Drive, had gotten the new Library completed, and had skillfully navigated the College through the pandemic. We asked him if we could honor him with a personal tour of the AD lodge and the Ganter Price Hall. He would be chauffeured through by ADs Graham Gund ’63, architect of the new Library and Board of Trustees Chair Brackett Denniston ’69. We were delighted that Sean accepted and we believe that the tour was a rousing success.
The 162 year old Lodge is the oldest Greek Letter Fraternity structure in America. Starkly plain outside, it is elegantly furnished with a plethora of Kenyon and Fraternity memorabilia. It is extremely rare, almost unprecedented, that anyone other than an initiated member of Alpha Delta Phi is admitted to the Lodge. In contrast, Ganter Price Hall next door to the Lodge has become a premier undergraduate party venue. However, a third of the building, the Squires Room, is off limits to parties. It is an exact replica of the East Wing Bullseye Room as it existed before the 1949 Old Kenyon fire. It too has become a repository of both AD and Kenyon memorabilia. The Ganter is generally open to returning alumni and we urge you to visit it when you return to Gambier.
Dale Neuman ’58 - Life at Parker Ridge in Blue Hill, Maine continues to keep me quite busy and satisfied. Whether editing and doing layout for the community newsletter, writing essays with the writing group, writing and reading poetry with the poetry group, participating in skits with the players group or creating music and travel programs from video clips for residents to view monthly, I always have something to be doing. Now I am getting ready to exhibit some of my digital designs that I created from my photos via several software systems. The exhibit will run a week here following many other of collections of photographs, woodworking, wood sculptures from driftwood, paintings and more as each resident who so chooses gets to display their hobby for a week. The schedule has filled up the calendar form January 1 into mid-April.
Marty Berg ’58 - Adrienne and I moved full time to Boca Raton, Florida last October. We have much family here with our youngest grandchildren. I retired from coaching High School for the last nine years as a volunteer in the public school system. It was a great experience for me and I am hoping to do something here. I retired being the oldest Football coach in Ohio.
Great things are happening at Kenyon I am proud to have been a part of Kenyon. The Bill Lowry Center is the best. Bill ’56 was a teammate and a friend. Best to all of my Kenyon friends - Stay in touch.
Andrew Graham ’58 - Ann and I continue to enjoy retirement by supporting Karen immigrants in Buffalo and keeping our fingers on the pulse of our community. I have found the Buffalo News usually publishes my letters, so I have spoken out about such issues as the need for vaccination, gun control, historic preservation, and against API discrimination. So far, our good health allows us to climb our mountain in Maine and me to continue crewing in Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club races on Lake Erie.
Phil Hammond `58 - My wife and I enjoyed a 24 day cruise from the middle of November through the first week of December on a Regent ship which was supposed to go to Brazil and up the Amazon for seven days. However, like so many things which were scheduled to happen last year but never did because of the pandemic, the itinerary was changed to eastern Mexico, Belize, Columbia and many little island nations of the eastern Caribbean. The ship was never more than 2/3 full so there were never more than 500 passengers on the ship. Whether this was because of the pandemic or the cruise line’s limits I never found out but the ship seemed to be fully staffed as service was never an issue and, of course, the food was wonderful and plentiful.
After debarking in Miami, we spent two days with friends we met on the last cruise who have a beautiful house on the west coast of Florida which looks out over Sarasota Bay. This is the second cruise we have taken with them and we are booked for a third next year which is currently scheduled to take the trip up the Amazon which was rescheduled last year. We are hopeful.
Fred Mench ’59 - Still teaching Latin (at MTSU) but figuring to wind up next year when my adjunct successor has had a chance to teach all 4 courses in our sequence. Living in Murfreesboro, TN with my wife Mary (of 22 years), 2 doors down from her granddaughter and 2 great-granddaughters.
Roger Smith ’59 - I continue to have great nostalgic moments of Kenyon, which prepared me for a successful life. I stay involved with Air Force and civic endeavors and became Vice President of a new Virginia Political Action Committee, The Proud Patriots of Smith Mountain Lake. As membership chair, I'm grateful to have expanded our membership to over 100 members in just a year. For fun, we continue to enjoy our antique Chris-Craft boats on the Lake, with many friends and family visits.
Robert Clawson ’59 - On December 1, I was a featured speaker on An Oral History of Anne Sexton & Her Kind zoomed by Harvard’s Woodberry Poetry Room. The public video is due sometime in March. In that I knew Anne well, and taught with her, I’m also being interviewed for an article, a documentary film, and a new biography. I suspect I’ll not be fully retired till I’ve expired.
Max Bermann ’59 - My wife and I have just returned from a month long trip to Boynton Beach, Florida. This was the longest vacation away from home that I have ever taken. I was glad to be away from the cold Northeast. Life has been good to me. I live in Canton, Mass. My health has been good and I keep busy volunteering at a local golf course which provides all the free golf I want. My other happy place is my garden and yard where I spend as much time as weather will permit.
The current crisis in Eastern Europe reminds me of the student from Hungary that Kenyon fostered in 1956 during the time of the Hungarian Revolution. It seems incredible that such turmoil is happening again. Good health and best wishes to all my classmates!
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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 kenyon.edu/class-note-form.
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Kenyon College
105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, OH 43022
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