| Kenyon Class of 1970 Fall Class Letter
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| Dear classmates,
We know you look forward to this letter to learn about what’s going on in our classmates’ lives; we’re 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 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 yet for Reunion Weekend, remember that all alumni are welcome to attend May 26-28. (Especially those of us who have already celebrated our 50th Reunion!)
We hope you’re now feeling wistful about our own time at Kenyon and we 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.
We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing the news from the College this fall. We have certainly enjoyed (as always) hearing from those of you who submitted class notes for this letter (see below). We 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!
Alan Gross, Byard Clemmons, Chris Blauvelt, Jim Finn, Mike Hill and Rod Wiggins
Your 1970 Class Committee
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| Reunited and it feels so Kenyon
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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.
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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.
- 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.
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Class AgentsClass agents are your connection to campus. To learn more about becoming one, contact Annual Giving Operations Coordinator Terry Dunnavant via email.
• Chris Blauvelt
• Byard Clemmons
• Jim Finn
• Alan Gross
• Mike Hill
• Rod Wiggins
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Chris Blauvelt: Our youngest daughter, Heather Blauvelt McBurney ’10, and her husband, Kyle McBurney ’09, had their second son, Cooper, June 10th giving us our 7th grandchild. Heather and Kyle are both Kenyon graduates.
Bob Boruchowitz: This semester I am co-teaching, part-time, The Defender Clinic at Seattle University School of Law. I remain active with state and national committees on public defense and I am Assessor for Public Defense Services with the City of Edmonds, Washington. I am planning a conference at SU in March on the 60th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright. My wife and I have been fortunate to spend more time in Hawaii with her Mom during the pandemic.
Peter Van Voris: The Divorce is now final as of September 1st, 2022 after having it dragged out for 34 months.
Dan Epstein and Sarah Longaker joined Randy St. John and wife Cindy in August for a view of Niagara Falls. Daniel has donated his literary archives to Kenyon.
Doug Fleming: Still at JPMorgan Asset Management after 42 years. How did that happen? Am also a “senior adviser” to the Davis United World College Scholars program, the largest scholarship program for international students to attend US colleges and universities. Family all well. Stay in touch with Ned Smyth, Pell Osborn, Steve Davis, Murray Horwitz and a few others.
Peter Fluchere: Saw a meme on my phone; most expensive colleges in each state. Wow, Kenyon is the most expensive school in Ohio. Congratulations.
Richard Brean: I have been appointed by Princeton University to a two-year term as Chair of the Nominations Committee of the Princeton Alumni Council.
John K. Morrell: I am writing this on Tuesday, Sept. 27th. Last Friday and Saturday Nova Scotia was hit with Hurricane Fiona, the worst hurricane on record. My home is on a beach between Brule and River John, NS. My wife and I stayed put and slept through Friday night. In mid-morning we heard what sounded like a 2 by 4 hitting our front wall. I was up at 7:10 am to see out my west door a mobile home overturned in our lane and looked out our east window to see a flooded marsh that was 50 feet from my shed and high tide was 3 hours away. We had put evacuation clothing and other items on the bed in our second bedroom, so we packed up 2 suitcases, a number of bags and boxes as well as our two cats in carriers. We drove east into River John dodging trees on the highway and half-way there came upon the fire dept clearing trees off the road. We stayed with a 90-year-old friend for 24 hours returning to our home on the beach Sunday morning. It was a daylight nightmare. Of the three cottages near the beach, two were destroyed and one was pushed into the marsh. 3 other cottages back from the beach were pushed into the marsh along with 2 trailers. We have no power or internet but have a freshwater hand pump and wood stove. Did laundry today in Truro, NS and planning a 9-day vacation to Calgary, Banff, Rocky Mountaineer train to Vancouver. We are gone from Oct 1st through 9th. PEACE
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Saul Benjamin: With the death of QEII and the long-apprenticed ascendancy of Charles III, I was reminded, in the spirit of my version of Zelig, of an incident that only a screenwriter would dream up. But in this case, it's a matter of simple if hilarious coincidence. Everyone in my immediate family --- both parents, three siblings, four grandparents, and three uncles --- were born in the week of November 10th through 17th. What's the anchoring underlying fact? It would appear that the only sex any of them can attest is on a drunken Valentine's Night, nine months prior to that weighed-down November week. What does any of this have to do with now King Charles III? Let alone my intended sharing of whimsy in a 1970's Class Note? Here it is.
I announced that members of the Class of 1970s may now claim to be only two degrees of separation from the British throne. Charles and I were born literally only hours apart on November 14th/15th. Different years: his 1948 and my 1950; indeed I was 16 when I arrived in Gambier in February 1967, a belated Class of 1970s matriculant. How do I know about that November 14th/15th happenstance? Charles, then Prince Charles, told me.
In 1983, I found myself sitting for twenty minutes or so next to Charles on a bench in Oxford within Hertford College's front Quad across Radcliffe Square from my own Oxford College, Brasenose. The Prince was waiting to be escorted out Hertford's Lodge towards The Sheldonian Theatre. An honorary degree. I was waiting to meet my then D.Phil. supervisor Justin Gosling for lunch with Geoffrey Warnock, who was then Head of College at Hertford. I believe that the three of us (not Charles, the other three of us) were going to dispute something or other in analytic philosophy; the specific topic now lost in memory's wind. Charles had some sort of equerry standing nearby and suggested to the Prince that he cross the greensward in The Front Quad --- something I believe only Fellows or other dignitaries are permitted to do --- and take a seat on the available bench at the diagonal corner. It happened that I was already walking to that very bench. Hence, we found ourselves in unanticipated companionship. What else to do but offer greetings, and a question. I said I was writing a thesis. He said that he never dared to do such a thing. One question led to another, and hence the discovery of our near birthdays. "How very intriguing," he remarked. I wish I could report that I had the gumption back then to say "Ah, yes. The Prince and The Pauper!" I do remember him smiling at our coincidence. I wished him a Happy November 14th/15th Day. He replied similarly. But I never received a birthday card, as he had bemusedly voiced the intention.
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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.
1970
Annual Fund Total: $111,870
Class Participation: 59.50%
Presidents Society
Donors of $50,000 or more
James P. Finn*
Kokosing Society
Donors of $25,000 to $49,999
Barry F. Schwartz H'15*
Philander Chase Society
Donors of $10,000 to $24,999
Douglas M. Fleming*
Eric B. Herr*
Bexley Society
Donors of $2,500 to $9,999
Chester A. Amedia Jr., MD P'99*
Saul H. Benjamin*
Robert S. Berger*
G. Christopher Blauvelt P'03 '10*
Richard J. Brean H'19*
Byard Q. Clemmons*
James A. Kenning MD*
Anthony W. Olbrich*
J. D. Pell Osborn*
William F. Paraska*
Arthur K. Vedder MD*
Kenyon Society
Donors of $1,000 to $2,499
Gustav A. Hindenlang IV†
Phillip D. Parker*
Jeffrey P. Price
The Rev. Karl D. Ruttan*
David Taylor MD P'07
David P. Adams*
Kenyon Society
Donors of $1 to $999
Robert C. Altman*
Thomas R. Baley*
Frank J. Berardino Jr.*
Andrew C. Bergman
D. Michael Bootes*
Robert C. Boruchowitz*
David F. Bushnell*
Tom Coakley
Richard D. Coe
Donald L. Comis*
William F. Corwin*
Peter M. Cowen
Ron Ditmars, Jr.† P'08*
Earl A. Dorsey Jr.
Donald A. Dunsmore*
Daniel M. Epstein H'20*
Peter A. Fluchere
Frank Ford*
John Foulkrod*
Jeffrey C. Franklin P'02*
David L. Friedgood*
Robert C. Goetze Jr.
Jeffrey A. Goldberg P'06*
Alan D. Gross P'05*
Neil S. Hackworth*
Dwight D. Hatcher II*
Hugh Timothy Hemphill*
Michael S. Hill*
Murray L. Horwitz H'92*
William T. Howard*
William S. Koller Jr., MD P'98*
George K. Lagassa*
James M. Lieberman MD*
Geoffrey A. Loving*
Charles H. Matthewson*
Philip D. McManus
Richard G. McManus*
John K. Morrell*
Peter E. Muller
Jim Nininger MD P'12*
Donald J. Omahan H'07
Eugene Peterson*
Robert E. Poll P'05*
Scott R. Powell*
Robert A. Rubenfeld*
Stephen T. Scott P'05
Edward L. Smyth*
Randolph St John Jr.*
Robert A. Strong*
Larry S. Stuart*
David S. Thompson MD*
Russell L. Tuverson Jr., MD*
Lyn Uttal*
Peter Van Voris PhD P'99
Perry D. Warren P'00*
Rodney L. Wiggins*
Reed Woodhouse*
Robert G. Zatroch DDS P'04
George Wharton Marriott Society
These alumni have included Kenyon in their estate plans or have made other planned gifts.
David P. Adams '70
Saul H. Benjamin '70
D. Michael Bootes '70
Richard J. Brean '70
James P. Finn '70
Peter A. Fluchere '70
Alan D. Gross '70
Eric B. Herr '70
Donald O. Mayer '70
Anthony W. Olbrich '70
J. D. Pell Osborn '70
Bertram B. Parker '70
Barry F. Schwartz '70
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Kenyon College
105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, OH 43022
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