Kenyon Class of 1999 Fall Class Letter

Dear Class of 1999,

I know you look forward to this letter to learn about what’s going on in our classmates’ lives; I’m also excited to share some of the news from the Hill this year:

This semester, 12 members of the Class of 2026 were able to enroll as the direct result of donor support for the Kenyon Access Initiative (KAI), a vital scholarship effort to increase access for low-income students. We’re only just getting started and aim to enroll 50 students each year through KAI, in addition to other robust financial aid. This additional diversity in backgrounds and lived experiences will further enrich daily life on campus.

Chalmers Library in the West Quad has quickly become a hub for such connections day and night. Its neighbor Lowell House, home to admissions and financial aid and named for Pulitzer Prize winning poet Robert T.S. Lowell IV ’40, is also now open. Oden Hall, future home to social sciences and named for former president Robert Oden, will open for instruction next year. The 261-space underground parking garage for visitors and employees — with EV charging, naturally — is already helping to ease congestion in the Village without disrupting the beauty of Gambier we all remember so fondly.

This year students will also soon have access to a dining option in “downtown” Gambier, when Peirce Express opens in a space under the Gambier Deli. (Shout out to all who remember eating in Gund Dining Hall!) This space will also be home some evenings to a student-run bar known as Flats, helping to provide a non-residences nightlife option. Look for more about both of these in an upcoming issue of Kenyon News Digest.

To further support all students, the College increased the budget for the Student Success Fund — emergency grants for which any student can apply. They also welcomed Dr. Lynn Hampton to serve in the newly created Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion position, providing additional leadership to the daily efforts of ODEI and partnering with Dean Chris Kennerly so he can extend his reach across campus with DEI efforts.

In other news, the Music Department is celebrating its 75th year. Alumni Council is developing an updated version of the Kenyon songbook (Kenyon has a songbook!) which will be viewable online soon and distributed at Reunion Weekend during the all-class sing. If you haven’t saved the date yet for Reunion Weekend, remember that all alumni are welcome to attend May 26-28.

I hope you’re now feeling wistful about our own time at Kenyon. I invite you to turn that nostalgia into action with a gift to help make all this possible! Gifts to the Kenyon Fund can be directed toward enrolling the next high-achieving group of students through the Kenyon Access Initiative, broader scholarships and financial aid efforts, athletics, one of the College’s many green centers and more. Please consider making your alma mater and today’s Kenyon students a philanthropic priority this year by giving online at gift.kenyon.edu.

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing the news from the College this fall. I have certainly enjoyed (as always) hearing from those of you who submitted class notes for this letter (see below). I encourage folks who haven’t updated us with one recently to consider submitting a quick life update for the next batch of notes in the spring.

On behalf of the 1999 Class Committee, thank you!
John Sherck

Reunited and it feels so Kenyon

Reunion Weekend 2023 
will take place in Gambier May 26 - 28

Along with special programming for the 50th Reunion class on May 25, we’ll be celebrating milestone reunions for classes that end with 3 and 8, as well as K80s, Peeps and Chamber Singers. 

All alumni are invited to return to the Hill for Reunion Weekend, especially those celebrating a reunion beyond their 50th. Registration details will be emailed in early 2023. If you think we may not have your most current info, please share your up-to-date email and phone number with us at updateinfo@kenyon.edu. (We can’t invite you if we can’t reach you!)

We are so excited to reunite with you! See you soon.

Save the date for Reunion Weekend

Upcoming Events for Alumni

Save the date for these upcoming events for alumni taking place online and on the Hill.
  • The Center for American Democracy's Midterm Elections Panel
    Hear from alumni experts at this free, virtual event Tuesday, Jan. 10 from 7-8 p.m. ET.

  • Spring Giving Challenge
    Our annual 36-hour online giving challenge will take place Wednesday, April 26 – Thursday, April 27.

  • Reunion Weekend
    All alumni are invited to join us on the Hill May 26-28.
Visit kenyon.edu/alumnievents to register and view our full alumni event calendar.

Class Agents

Class agents are your connection to campus. To learn more about becoming one, contact Director of Annual Giving Molly Gutridge '99 via email.

• Whitney Arnold
• Molly Harsh Gutridge
• Becky Hoyt
• John Sherck

Class of 1999 Fall Notes

Sarah Booth
Sarah and her husband, Armando Inarritu, welcomed a son, Sebastian Inarritu Booth, who was born on March 22, 2022 in New York City.

Jessica Cole
I’ve been living and working in Hawaii for the last 12 years in the film and TV industry - London, UK before that. Recently my family and I relocated to O'ahu from Maui to work on a long-term TV show. Apart from work, our 5-year-old daughter, a dozen horses and two dogs keep our family busy. The horses play polo and the dogs keep us smiling. Would love to hear from Kenyon friends if you ever make the long trip across the Pacific.

George (Ciuca) Cook
This has been a very busy year! In May, I left my position as Director of Legislative Affairs for Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, to take a position as Senior Director, State Government Relations for Kellogg Corporation. My wife, Chantel, took a new job selling HR solutions with Paychex. Our oldest son, Jack, started high school and joined the water polo team. My son, Noah, is an all-star catcher in his little league baseball division and he and our daughter, Cora, both started middle school this fall. My youngest, Naomi, is now in 2nd grade and is in gymnastics. It's been busy, but we're mixing in some fun travel to Hilton Head in November and then a cruise to the Bahamas in January, so that will give a lot of time to relax and get a bit of fun downtime. We're hoping to find some time to visit Gambier soon as the pandemic kept us from doing so the last couple of years. I'm very interested in seeing recent changes and upgrades to campus!

Jordan (Schmidt) Kurella
Jordan's first book came out in August and he's not over it, but he had better get over it as his second book is due out in October. Other than writing, Jordan keeps busy by walking his dog, screaming along with his cat, and remaining extremely online.

Erich Kurschat
It's been quite a year for the Kurschat household! My wife Katie and I welcomed our first child, Evelyn Grace, to the family on March 31st. In August, we moved from the South Loop of Chicago to Downers Grove, a western suburb where Katie grew up. On September 23rd, we'll celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Contact me for our new address, to offer advice on getting Evvie to sleep through the night, or to share in our excitement for next summer's Chamber Singers reunion!

Zachary Nowak
Zach "Gush" Nowak finished his first year as director of the American study abroad program, The Umbra Institute, located in Perugia, Italy. He spends his time updating the curriculum and pedagogy there, as well as drinking Campari Spritzes on his terrace overlooking the valley and enjoying living in a beautiful medieval city. He's still thinking about getting a dog...

Mark Revermann
As I write this note, my wife and I are just a few days away from meeting our first son, Oliver Emmanuel Revermann (Baby Ollie). His closet already boasts a rather impressive collection of Kenyon baby attire thanks to the generosity of our friends. Speaking of Kenyon, a group of men's tennis alumni are organizing a reunion this spring on the Hill. If you played on the team and have an interest in joining us I encourage you to reach out to me on LinkedIn.

Andrew Shannon
It's been a tumultuous year in healthcare and for myself generally, but it's great that things seem to be calming down both epidemiologically and geographically. I've left Jacksonville, FL to take a position as the director of ultrasound education for the new Lakeland Regional Medical Center residency in emergency medicine, and we start interviewing candidates this fall! Stay well out there!

Eric Smith
My wife and I celebrated our 18th anniversary this August and our kids both started new schools this fall. We still live in Manhattan Beach, CA and have been in LA's South Bay for 17+ years now. My son is a freshman in high school now and my daughter is in the 7th grade. Everyone tells you time will fly and then it happens even faster than you could imagine. Logan is an avid drummer and already way beyond any skill I ever thought I might have had with a growing following on Instagram and a couple of small endorsements. Lily is playing soccer year-round and working at being a goalie and a forward. In work news, after 6.5 years with Facebook, in November of 2021, I started a new role with Roku, the Streaming TV company. I am leading several sales verticals and working to build a growing and sustainable ads business within our large customer group. I'm enjoying the people and the opportunity to create things at a smaller but important and interesting company. As for finally seeing people in person again, I recently caught up IRL with Steve Grzymala ’96 after way too many years. In October, I'm planning to see a bunch of other alumni: Jeff Romph '97, Andrew Winter ’96, Harmon Handorf ’00; Brien West; Patrick Walsh ’98; Winston Sale ’02 and with luck many others.
Read notes from the Class of 2000 and the Class of 1998
Support Kenyon
If you missed the chance to share your news for this letter, you can submit a class note online.

Class Listing

Kenyon is grateful to the following donors for their generous support of the College, including the Kenyon Fund, during the 2021-22 fiscal year. An asterisk (*) indicates a donor is a member of the Henry J. Abraham Society for loyal and consecutive giving. An obelisk (†) indicates an individual who is deceased.

1999
Annual Fund Total: $36,852  
Class Participation: 26.40%

Presidents Society

Donors of $50,000 or more
Adrianne R. Kimber*
Sheldon A. Kimber*

Philander Chase Society
Donors of $10,000 to $24,999
Hays C. Stone P'91*

Bexley Society
Donors of $2,500 to $9,999
Rebecca M. Hoyt*
Kelly C. Lyles*
Robert L. Lyles III*
Michael C. Martin*
Joshua E. Prime*
Nathaniel N. Salter*
Michelle L. Santangelo*
Eric G. Smith*
Margaret Somple*
Megan M. Young*

Kenyon Society
Donors of $1,000 to $2,499
Anonymous
Michael J. Barmach MD*
Susie W. Cho 
Elizabeth D. Oneglia 
Paulo J. Ribeiro 
John R. Sherck*

Kenyon Society
Donors of $1 to $999
Christopher L. Acker*
Margaret Ahearn Walsh*
Carolyn J. Anderson*
Anonymous
Whitney Arnold*
Jennifer Ashley*
R. Andrew Atkins 
Laura Baker Wilkinson 
Courtney K. Bambrick*
Matthew S. Beason 
Sarah H. Booth*
Rebecca J. Bradbury*
Courtney C. Braun 
Anthony A. Callander*
Stephanie E. Camp*
Joshua C. Carrick*
Micheal B. Courtney-Brooks*
Howard M. Crusey 
Erin E. Detwiler*
Marielle A. Diaz 
Lindsay M. Doyle*
Katherine L. Drewry*
Elizabeth G. Dunning*
Irene L. Dutton*
Paul J. Dutton*
William N. Federspiel 
Zachary P. Florin*
Harry C. Fry*
Shastin S. Garland 
Brian P. Gibney*
Kate Griffin*
Scott D. Guldin 
Molly M. Gutridge*
Carolyn Hande Miller*
Kamille A. Harless*
Gabriel N. Heck*
SiSi N. Hester-Clarke, MD*
Katherine L. Hickner 
Devon F. Higby*
Anne B. Hill-Shrestha 
Sarah A. Horstmann*
Andrew D. Jenkins*
Elisabeth Hyun Kim 
Richard W. Kinney*
Michael J. Klein*
Joshua S. Krepon*
Bernadette Kuhnsman Donovan 
Jordan S. Kurella 
Alessandra M. Lacavaro*
Frances M. Landreth*
Andrew D. Lebkuecher*
Kara M. McClurken*
Jessica McCullough*
Lindsay D. McNulty*
Andreas Mueller*
John P. Newland 
Amanda L. Northrop*
Zachary Nowak*
Jonathan J. Nycz*
Shangwe A. Parker*
Terrence G. Parmelee Jr.*
Laura M. Pettus*
Andrew H. Phillips*
Bridget L. Reddick*
Clara I. Rubin-Smith McKie*
Jesse Savage 
David C. Schalliol*
Katherine V. Schwab MD*
Andrew W. Shannon MD 
David A. Sims*
Richard S. Snow*
Lindsay M. Snyder 
Marisha Stawiski Holter*
James C. Stover*
Hayden S. Temin*
Graham E. E. Thomas*
Shannon Tracy 
Laura A. Vazquez*
Benjamin C. Vore 
Mareike B. Wieth*
Daniel C. Wilcock 
Clare Willoughby Ceballos*
Ashley Witte 
Richard G. Woodbridge 


George Wharton Marriott Society
These alumni have included Kenyon in their estate plans or have made other planned gifts.

Zachary B. Nowak '99
Matthew Beason '99 and Grace Peck Beason '98
Kenyon College
105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, OH 43022