Dear Classmates,

Forty-eight years ago this month, I visited Kenyon for the first time – a stunningly beautiful October Saturday that has remained etched in my mind since.  When the class of 1978 arrived on campus at the college in the Fall of 1974, the college was beginning its Sesquicentennial Celebration – today, it is preparing for its Bicentennial.  Like any great institution, the college is fluid, centered around the opening of the new (since our last reunion) library.  As we approach our forty-fifth reunion, it is fitting to reflect on our past and look to the future – the time together as students, subsequent meetings at personal and college events, and previous reunions.  We encourage you to reconnect with fellow classmates through Class Letters, social media (Kenyon College Class of 1978 Facebook page) and by attending regional alumni events. Finally, please plan to attend the Class of 1978 45th Reunion celebrations May 26-28, 2023.  

Looking to the future, here is some of the current news from the college: 

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 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.
 
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 for our Reunion Weekend, please do! I hope to see you on the Hill 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.

Thank you!
Charlie Tighe
Social Chair, Class of 1978