Kenyon College Profile 2006-07

Introduction (top)

Founded in 1824 by Philander Chase, the first Episcopal bishop of Ohio, Kenyon is the oldest private college in the state. Only the public Ohio University is older.

In the years before the Civil War, Kenyon rose to prominence by virtue of having educated a number of leading statesmen. Among them were Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln’s secretary of war, U.S. Supreme Court justices David Davis and Stanley Matthews, and several U.S. representatives and senators. An additional measure of fame came with the election in 1876 of Rutherford B. Hayes, valedictorian of the Class of 1842, as the nineteenth president of the United States.

At the turn of the century, Kenyon was in the first years of the remarkable forty-one-year presidency of William Foster Peirce. Despite several setbacks, Peirce was able to enlarge the student body and construct many of the campus’s most attractive buildings.

In the middle years of the twentieth century, the College became known as a literary mecca. The Kenyon Review, founded in 1939 by critic and poet John Crowe Ransom with the support of President Gordon Keith Chalmers and his wife, poet Roberta Teale Swartz, quickly assumed a leading position among literary journals. Alumni of that period include poets Robert Lowell ’40 and James Wright ’52 and novelists E.L. Doctorow ’52 and William Gass ’47.

As in much of higher education, the 1960s brought great change to Kenyon. In 1969, following several years of study, the College admitted its first women students. Kenyon quickly reached parity in numbers of males and females, and the College now enjoys a small majority of women students.

The start of a new century finds Kenyon in a position of unprecedented strength. Through the generosity of alumni, parents, and other benefactors, the College has amassed an endowment of more than $160 million, more than ten times the figure of just twenty years ago.

Presidents (top)

Philander Chase, 1825-31
Charles P. McIlvaine, 1832-40
David Bates Douglass, 1840-44
Samuel Fuller, 1844-45*
Sherlock A. Bronson, 1845-50
Thomas M. Smith, 1850-54
Lorin Andrews 1842, 1854-61
Benjamin L. Lang, 1861-63*
Charles Short, 1863-67
James Kent Stone, 1867-68
Eli T. Tappan, 1868-75
Edward C. Benson, 1875-76*
William B. Bodine, 1876-91
Theodore Sterling, 1891-96
William Foster Pierce., 1896-1937
Gordon Keith Chalmers, 1937-56
Frank E. Bailey, 1956-57*
F. Edward Lund, 1957-68
William G. Caples ’30, 1968-75
Philip H. Jordan Jr., 1975-95
Robert A. Oden Jr., 1995-2002
Ronald A. Sharp, 2002-2003*
S. Georgia Nugent, 2003-

*Acting president

Campus (top)

Comprising more than fifty buildings on about one thousand acres in Knox County, Ohio, Kenyon’s campus has been called one of the nation’s most beautiful. It is also without doubt one of the most historic, with the entire campus, from Old Kenyon north to Bexley Hall, on the National Register of Historic Places. Old Kenyon itself, whose designers included Charles Bulfinch of Faneuil Hall fame, is considered the earliest Collegiate Gothic building in America, dating to 1826.

Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the College acquired a wealth of distinctive buildings lining the nearly mile-long Middle Path. Noted architects whose work is represented include Abram Garfield, Alfred Granger (Class of 1887), Vincent Kling, Gordon Lloyd, Henry Roberts, Charles Schweinfurth, and William Tinsley.

In the past twenty years, Kenyon has added such important facilities as the Olin Library (1986), the Mayer Art Center (1994), and the Taft Cottages (1994), an award-winning group of four student residence halls for apartment-style living, designed by the Cambridge, Massachusetts, firm of Thompson and Rose.

The most recent additions to the campus include several buildings by the distinguished architect Graham Gund ’63: James P. Storer Hall (1999), a music facility; Robert J. Tomsich Hall (2000), a chemistry building; Rutherford B. Hayes Hall (2000), home of the mathematics and physics departments; and the Eaton Center, which houses the finance division. The College has also added an NBBJ-designed educational facility at the Brown Family Environmental Center. The $70-million Kenyon Athletic Center, with a broad range of venues for fitness and recreation, was dedicated in April 2006.

A new campus master plan, the first in ten years, was approved during the 2003-04 academic year. The plan, which will guide development for the next decade, was prepared by Gund and his associates at the Gund Partnership in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Student Body (top)

In 2006-07, Kenyon enrolls 1,631 students.

Men ................... 787 (48%)
Women .............. 844 (52%)

Diversity. The College has made a concerted effort to diversify its student body in recent years, with the result that minority enrollment has increased significantly. The following figures are for the 2006-07 academic year.

Geographic origin of students
The current student body represents all but five -- Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah--of the fifty states (totals include students in off-campus programs)

Recent awards won by students
Coro Fellowships: Sarah Fox ’02, Michael Sriprasert ’02
Fulbright Fellowships: Maeba Jonas '06, Rachel Ort '06,Regina Rosi '06, Hayes Wong '06,Kathleen Barney '06, Seth Bernstein '05,Karly Burke '06, Lara Gallant '06, Kurt Hollender '06, Brian McAllester '04, Megan Walker '06
Gates Millennium Scholarships: Samantha Simpson ’03, Bi Vuong ’03
Goldwater Scholarships:Lee Kennard '07, David Long '07, Anna Zimmerman '07
Marshall Scholarship: Jada Twedt ’01
Mellon Fellowships: Daniel Gustafson '03, Andrew Gerkey ’02, Karen Shanton ’02
George Mitchell Scholarship:Karly Burke '06
NCAA Woman of the Year: Ashley Rowatt ’03
Udall Scholarship:David Long '07, Anna Zimmerman '07

Faculty (top)

In 2006-07, the Kenyon faculty numbers approximately 182. Of the tenured faculty, 99 percent holds the Ph.D. or other terminal degree in their field; of the tenure-track faculty, 94 percent; and of the visiting faculty, 55 percent (the majority are Ph.D. candidates).

Tenure
The following figures portray the faculty for the 2006-07 academic year in terms of employment status. Those with tenure hold appointments without limit; those with tenure-track positions are eligible for such appointments; and those with visiting positions teach at the College for one or more years, usually in place of a faculty member on leave or sabbatical, without the prospect of tenure in most cases.

Salaries
These figures are the average salaries for the indicated ranks in 2006-07, as reported to the American Association of University Professors.

Holders of endowed chairs for 2005-06
Harry M. Clor Chair: Fred Baumann, political science
Samuel B. Cummings Jr. Chair: Michael Levine and Linda Smolak, psychology
Robert J. and Paul G. Himmelright Chair: David Harrington and Kathy Krynski, economics
Robert P. Hubbard Chair in Poetry: Janet McAdams, English
James D. and Cornelia W. Ireland Chair: Dana Heuchemer, music
Sheila and Philip Jordan Jr. Chair: Raymond Heithaus, biology and environmental studies
Harvey F. Lodish Faculty Development Chair: Robert Mauck, biology
John B. McCoy-Bank One Distinguished Teaching Chair: Jeffrey A. Bowman, history
Charles P. McIlvaine Chair: Perry Lentz, English
James E. Michael Chair: Wendy MacLeod, drama
National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished Teaching Chair: Wendy Singer, history
Robert A. Oden Jr. Chair: Peter Rutkoff, American studies
John Crowe Ransom Chair: Kim McMullen, English
Donald L. Rogan Chair: Royal W. Rhodes, Religious Studies
J. Kenneth Smail Chair:Edward Schortman and Patricia Urban, anthropology
James P. Storer Chair: Ruth W. Dunnell, history
Richard L. Thomas Chair in Creative Writing: Lewis Hyde and Simon Ortiz, English
Roy T. Wortman Chair: Reed Browning, history

Recent awards won by faculty members
American Book Award: Janet McAdams (English)
American Sociological Society Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award: John Macionis
Choice Outstanding Academic Book:George McCarthy (sociology)
Fulbright Fellowship: Joseph Klesner (political science), Peter Rutkoff (American studies)
Quantum Communication Award: Benjamin Schumacher (physics)
Woodrow Wilson Fellowship: Reginald Sanders (music).

Academic Program (top)

Kenyon takes great pride in offering a curriculum that is firmly grounded in the traditional liberal arts and sciences.

Degree offered. Bachelor of Arts

Student-faculty ratio.10 to 1

Majors
American studies, anthropology, art (studio art and art history), biochemistry, biology, chemistry, classics (Latin, Greek, Latin and Greek, or classical civilization), dance, drama, economics, English, French, German, history, international studies, mathematics, modern languages and literatures, molecular biology, music, neuroscience, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religious studies, sociology, and Spanish, women's and gender studies; area studies in German, French, Spanish.

Concentrations
African and African-American studies, American studies, Asian studies, environmental studies, Integrated Program in Humane Studies, law and society, neuroscience, public policy, scientific computing, and women’s and gender studies

Special academic programs
3-2 engineering programs leading to the bachelor's in cooperation with Case Western Reserve University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Washington University in St. Louis; 3-2 program in environmental studies with Duke University leading to a master's degree in environmental management or forestry; 4-1 program with Bank Street College leading to a master's degree in education.

Summer Science Scholar Program for students selected to undertake intensive summer research projects with faculty mentors.

Language studies in classical Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Sanskrit; modern Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.

Preprofessional studies.
The College offers preparation and advising for graduate or professional schools in architecture, business, clinical psychology, education, engineering, health care, law, library and information science, the ministry, and social work.

Off-campus studies
Programs are available in more than sixty countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central, North, and South America. Kenyon sponsors foreign-study programs in England ( University of Exeter), Honduras, and Italy

Admissions (top)

The Class of 2010 includes twenty-two National Merit Scholars. A total of 12 percent graduated in the top 1 percent of their secondary-school class.

Applied .............. 4,251
Accepted ............ 1,395 (33%)
Enrolled ................ 458 (33%)

Measures of quality
Middle 50% SAT-Critical reading range ........................ 620-730
Middle 50% SAT-Mathematics range ............................. 610-690
Middle 50% SAT-Writing range...................................... 620-710
Middle 50% ACT composite range ................................. 28-32
Top 10% of high-school graduating class ........................ 58%

Overlap Institutions
For the 2005-06 admissions year, the College's top ten overlap institutions (those to which Kenyon applicants also applied in the greatest numbers) were Bowdoin, Carleton, Grinnell, Hamilton, Haverford, Macalester, Middlebury, Oberlin and Vassar colleges and Denison University.

Costs and Financial Aid (top)

For 2006-07, total charges are $41,950 (tuition: $34,990; fees: $1,060; board:$3,120; room:$2,780).

Kenyon is committed to the principle that qualified students should be able to attend the College regardless of their family finances. During the current academic year, Kenyon will award nearly $17 million in financial aid from its own funds: $14,506,910 in need-based aid and $2,297,500 in merit-based.

Approximately 67 percent of all students receive some form of financial aid; about 45 percent of students receive need-based financial aid from the College or from government-sponsored programs. For 2006-07, the average aid package--consisting of grants, loans, and campus jobs--come to $29,780. The average grant amount is $23,053.

Scholarships. Kenyon awards Trustee Opportunity Scholarships on a competitive basis to academically talented students. The College also sponsosrs National Merit Scholarships.

Finances (top)

Endowment
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the market value of Kenyon’s endowment totaled $164,597,010.

Oversight of the College's endowment is the responsibility of Vice President for Finance Joseph G. Nelson and the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees. Last year, Kenyon realized a return on endowment investments of 13.3 percent.

Annual funds
For 2005-06, gifts to the Kenyon Fund, the College’s primary source of unrestricted funds, totaled nearly $3.4 million, a record-breaking sum. More than 43 percent of the alumni body participated.

Participation (donors)....................... 6,102
Total gifts ................................ $3,377,500

In addition, the Kenyon Parents Fund, a vehicle for giving by the parents of current students and alumni, accounted for more than $885,000, also a new record.

Participation (donors)....................... 1,953
Total gifts ................................... $885,436

Operating expenses 2006-07 (projected)

Resources used to meet operating expenses 2005-06 (projected)

Library and Information Services (top)

Library and Information Services (LBIS) supports the academic mission of the College by providing access to library and computing resources, facilities, and information essential to teaching, learning, research, and general scholarship. Housed in Olin and Chalmers libraries, LBIS is responsible both for preserving physical and online collections and resources and for providing access to them. In addition, LBIS maintains the infrastructure, facilities, and resources of the campus network, computing laboratories, and computing services.

The linked library buildings at Kenyon, Olin Library (1986) and Gordon Keith Chalmers Memorial Library (1962), provide a wide range of electronic and print reference capabilities for faculty and student researchers, as well as archival material and other special collections, audiovisual services, gallery facilities, group and individual study areas, and space for 600,000 volumes. The libraries also contain the Olin Computing Center and other computing facilities.

Library collection
The libraries hold 1.1 million catalogued items: 420,000 monographs and bound serial volumes, 385,000 government documents, 142,000 microforms, 28,000 audiovisual items, and 190,000 electronic texts.. The library maintains 8,185 periodical subscriptions, 6,890 are electronic. Through Ohio-LINK, the libraries offer more than 44 million additional items available for borrowing as well as access to more than one hundred databases. Arrangements with the other members of the Five Colleges of Ohio consortium (Oberlin College, Denison and Ohio Wesleyan universities, and the College of Wooster) bring the total to 132 consortially funded databases and provide efficiencies in interlibrary borrowing and collection development. Reference services are provided every day of the week while classes are in session.

Computing resources
Olin and Chalmers house computing resources for general Kenyon use, including web access, stations for e-mail and library research, full-service microcomputers supporting a wide range of software applications, and central servers for academic and administrative uses. Laptop jacks and a wireless network are also available for campus use. LBIS’s computing Helpline responds to telephone, e-mail, or in-person questions. Support for classroom technologies around campus, including computer projection and remote collaboration facilities, derives from LBIS as well.

More than 90 percent of Kenyon students bring a computer to campus; jacks in every residence-hall room provide direct high-speed access to the Internet. All students automatically receive an e-mail account and network space for academic work. Wireless access is available in all academic buildings and residence halls and in most other campus facilities, including the dining halls and the new athletic center.

Computers--more than five hundred in all--are accessible by students throughout the campus. Olin and Chalmers contain both Windows and Macintosh workstations fully configured with application software, as well as stand-up systems for quick e-mail and library-resource sessions. Seven other labs around campus are available for student use, some with twenty-four-hour access. Special-purpose labs, including a media lab for digital video editing, still-image editing, and web publishing, are also available.

Athletics (top)

With a long history or athletic achievement, Kenyon takes pride in those students who have won North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) scholar-athlete recognition and postgraduate scholarships. The College ranks second among all Division III institutions in numbers of NCAA postgraduate awards, with forty-seven student-athletes honored since the award program began in 1970. In 2003, Ashley Rowatt '03 was named NCAA Woman of the Year, the first Division III athlete to be so honored.

Kenyon's greatest measure of athletic fame has come in swimming. Both men's and women's teams, under Coach Jim Steen, have compiled unprecedented strings of NCAA Division III national championships. The Lords, who also had an unbroked record of conference championships for more than forty years, currently own twenty-seven consecutive national championships. the Ladies, who have won twenty NCAC championships since 1985, hold twenty national championships.

Kenyon is a member and founder of the NCAC, developed in the early 1980s to give equal emphasis to men's and women's athletics. Other members of the conference are Allegheny College, Denison University, Earlham College, Hiram College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Wabash College, Wittenberg University, and the College of Wooster.

Intercollegiate athletics
Intercollegiate competition for women is offered in basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track (indoor and outdoor), and volleyball. Men's intercollegiate teams are fielded in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track (indoor and outdoor).

Club athletics
Sports clubs currently active at the College include organizations for coeducational cycling, equestrian competition, fencing, fly-fishing, ice hockey, juggling, martial arts, roller-blading, sailing, and ultimate frisbee; men's crew, rugby, soccer, and volleyball; and women's rugby.

Most recent national championships
Men: Swimming (2006)
Women: Swimming (2004), tennis (team, 1997; doubles, 1998)

Recent conference championships
Men: Cross country (2003), swimming (2006), tennis (2005)
Women: Basketball (2005), cross country (2001), swimming (2006), tennis (2001)

Kenyon Athletic Association Hall of Fame
Inaugural Class of 1988: Wilbur Griffin '40, Donald McNeill '40, Philip Mayher '62, John Rinka '70, Christopher Myers '71.
Class if 1989: George Eagon '38, Eppa Rixey III '49, Lawrence Witner '69, Mark Leonard '76, Elizabeth Batchelder Boring '84.
Class of 1991: Paul Herrick '43, Robert Rowe '56, Jeffrey Slade '62, Richard James '74, Thomas Edwards.
Class of 1994: Richard Fornoff '49, William Lowry Jr. '56, William Koller Jr. '70, Scott Rogers '80, Kathleen Singer Litchfield '81.
Class of 1996: Leonard Swanson '35, Joseph Pavlovich '53, Joseph Adkins III '63, Timothy Appleton '77, James Born '86, Beatrice Huste '86, Richard Sloan.
Class of 1997: Robert Weaver Jr. '43, James Myers '75, Patricia Abt '87, the 1957 swimming and diving team.
Class of 1998: Burchell Rowe '27, Henry Sebach '38, Hutchins Hodgson Jr. '61, Anne Himmelright '82, Amy Heasley Williams '88, Dennis Mulvihill '88, the undefeated 1950 football team.
Class of 1999: John Furniss '26, Harrison Greer '27, Ronald Fraley '53, John Dunlop '69, Timothy Bridgham '79, Christopher Russell '85, Erin Finneran '89, Heannine Gury '89, Karen Burke, the women's 1972 field-hockey and 1973 lacrosse teams.
Class of 2000: David Bell '50, Douglas Neff '71, Timothy Glasser '80, Krissann Mueller Klaus '85, Nadine Neil Fabish '86, Elizabeth Jennings Lockwood '90, The 1938 swimming and diving team.
Class of 2001: Ronald Ryan '53, James Peace '71, Christopher Shedd '83, Jill Tibbe '88, and Jon Howell '90.
Class of 2002: Wilson Ferguson '55, Gregg parini '82, Holly Swank Kromer '89, Kateri Mathews '91, Karena Berghold '92, the 1962 swimming and diving team.
Class of 2003: John Landreth '92, Jennifer Carter '93, Brian Dowdall '93, Kelley Wilder '93, William Heiser, the 1972 men's lacrosse team, the 1993 women's tennis team.
Class of 2004: Silas Axtell '52, Marguerite Bruce Doctor '85, Alan Schmidt '89, Theodore Taggart '91, Jessica Berkowitz '94.
Class of 2005: Joseph Culp '54, Todd Stoner '85, Judith Hruska Shook '91, Ann Kelley Wood '92, Carla Ainsworth '95, the 1987 women's swimming and diving team.
Class of 2006: Catherine Herrick '90, Julia Kipka '89, Kathryn Lane Berschback '92, Mark Speer '88, Kristie Stacy '92, Stasha Wyskiel '89.

After Kenyon (top)

Statistics for recent graduating classes show that an average of 16 percent of graduates go directly to graduate or professional schools, 81 percent to jobs or careers. Of those applying to business and law schools, 99 percent are accepted; to medical schools, 83 percent. Within five years of graduation , more than 70 percent further their education, with more than 50 percent going on to earn advanced degrees.

Some professional schools attended by recent graduates
Business
Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, George Washington, Harvard, MIT, Ohio State, Tulane, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt, William and Mary
Law
Boston College, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Indiana, New York University,Northwestern, Rutgers, University of California (various campuses), University of Michigan, Washington and Lee, Yeshiva
Medicine
Albert Einstein, Case Western Reserve, Columbia, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Ohio State, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Washington (St. Louis), Wright State

Some recent awards won by alumni
Academy Awards: Adam Davidson '86 (director, short film), Paul Newmen '49 (humanitarian award)
Emmy Award: Allison Janney ’82(actress, drama series)
James Beard Foundation Award: Allison Cleary '84 (food writer)
National Book Critics Circle Prize: E. L. Doctorow '52 (novelist)
Priestley Medal (chemistry): Carl Djerassi '43
Pulitzer Prize: Jim Borgman ’76 (political cartoonist)

Alumni and Alumni Programs (top)

Alumni numbers
Kenyon has 15,356 living alumni (as of September 2006), including 14,412 graduates and 944 matriculants (nongraduates).

Regional associations
The College's Office of Alumni and Parent Programs currently works with eighteen active regional associations of alumni and parents throughout the country. They are located in:
Atlanta, Georgia
Baltimore, Maryland
Boston, Massachutts
Chicago, Illinois
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Denver, Colorado
Detroit, Michigan
Los Angeles, California
Nashville, Tennessee
New York, New York
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
St. Louis, Missouri
San Francisco, California
Seattle, Washington
Washington, D.C.

Alumni Association (top)

Executive Committee
Scott R. Baker '94, president, Toledo, Ohio
Abby P. Fenton '31, vice president, Washington, D. C.
Kevin S. Mills '92, past president, Goleta, California
Lisa Dowd Schott '80, executive director, alumni and parent programs, Gambier, Ohio
Sarah H. Kahrl, vice president for College relations, Gambier, Ohio
Kent Woodward-Ginther '93, director or regional events, Gambier, Ohio

Alumni Council members
Emily Resnik Conn '85, Woodbridge, Connecticut
Philip R. Currier '56 P'82, Elkins, New Hampshire
Douglas W. Downey '51, Northbrook, Illinois
Barbara J. Evans '87, Savannah, Georgia
Donald A. Fischman '57, New York, New York
Robert G. Heasley '60 P'83,'88, Gambier, Ohio
Barbara L. Kakiris '97, Cleveland, Ohio
Charles W. Kenrick '68, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Gary L. Nave '68 P'97,'04, Bedford, New York
Diana K. Olinger '88, Annapolis, Maryland
Liz Pegram Ralston '76 P'03, Gambier, Ohio
Maraleen D. Shields '00, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Appointed and ex-officio members
Christopher D. Barth '93, Decorah, Iowa
J. Andrew Mills '02, Columbus, Ohio
Gordon S. Pennoyer '03, Millbrook, New York
Claire E.Ryan '92, Bedford Hills, New York
Cynthia A. Cole, chair, Kenyon Fund Executive Committee, McLean, Virginia

Some Notable Alumni (top)

The following is a list, by no means exhaustive, of some notable Kenyon alumni of the past and present. Note: Name is followed by Kenyon class year (an M follows the class year of those who did not graduate) and occupation.

Greg Andorfer, 1973, former Maryland Science Center director and Emmy-winning producer
Nick Bakay, 1981, actor, comedy writer, and television producer
Doug Ballard, 1976, actor
John Bauerschmidt '81, bishop of Tennessee (Episcopal)
Jim Bellows, 1944, journalist and editor
David Bergman, 1972, editor (The Violet Quill Reader), poet, and writer (The Violet Hour)Jackson Betts, 1926, U. S. Congressman (Ohio)*
Jim Borgman, 1976, cartoonist ("Zits") and Cincinnati Enquirer political cartoonist, Pulitzer Prize winner
Francis Key Brooke, 1874, first bishop of Oklahoma (Episcopal)*
Mark Brown, 1981, general manager, Youngstown Vindicator
Ralph Pomeroy Buckland, 1838, U.S. congressman (Ohio) and brigadier general (Civil War)*
Ken Burgomaster, 1991, composer
John Carman, 1968, former columnist and television critic, San Francisco Chronicle
Caleb Carr, 1977M, writer (The Alienist, Killing Time)
Jay Cocks, 1964, film critic and screenwriter (De-Lovely)
James Cox, 1960, physician, researcher, and educator, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Meg Cranston, 1982, artist
Robert Crosser, 1897, U.S. congressman (Ohio)*
Adamson Davidson, 1986, director and Academy Award-winning filmmaker
David Davis, 1832, U. S. senator (Illinois) and Supreme Court Justice*
Edwin Hamilton Davis, 1833, archaeologist (Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley), medical educator, and physician*
Henry Winter Davis, 1837, U.S. congressman (Maryland)*
David Diao, 1964, artist and educator
Carl Djerassi, 1973, birth-control-pill developer and writer
E. L. Doctorow, 1952, writer (Ragtime, The March),National Humanities Medal winner
Rolla Dyer, 1907, typhus-vaccine developer and National Institutes of Health director*
Chris Eigeman, 1987, actor
Daniel Mark Epstein, 1970, Academy Award in Literature-winning biographer (Nat King Cole, Lincoln and Whitman) and poet
Novice Fawcett, 1931, former president of Ohio State University*
Joel Fisher, 1969, artist and educator
Donald Fischman, 1957, physician, researcher, and former dean of Cornell University Medical College
Eric Gaskins, 1980, fashion designer
William Gass, 1947, writer (Omensetter's Luck, The Tunnel), National Book Award winner
David Goodwillie, 1994, writer (Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time)
Alfred Granger, 1887, architect*
Graham Gund, 1963, architect
Ulysses Hammond, 1973, vice president, Connecticut College
R.S. Harrison, 1953, retired chief executive, Baldwin Piano and Organ Company
Rutherford B. Hayes, 1842, U.S. president*
Laura Hillenbrand, 1989M, writer (Seabiscuit)
Murray Horwitz, 1970, director and chief operating officer, AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center
Margaret Livingston Howard, 1973, vice president, Drew University
Grace Keefe Huebscher, 1982, vice president for capital markets, Fannie Mae
Charles Huggins, 1949, president, See's Candy Shops
Allison Janney, 1982, Emmy-winning (The West Wing) and Tony-nominated actress
Brendan Keefe, 1990, Emmy-winning television news correspondent
John Kirkpatrick, 1973, newspaper president (Harrisburg Patriot News)
P.F.Kluge, 1964, writer (Eddie and the Cruisers, Alma Mater)
Harvey Lodish, 1962, biomedical scientist and educator, Whitehead Institute at MIT
Robert Lowell, 1940, poet, Pulitzer Prize winner*
William Lowry, 1956, vice president, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Robie Macauley, 1941, writer and editor (Kenyon Review, Playboy)*
Allison Mackie, 1982M, actress
Wendy MacLeod, 1981, playwright (The House of Yes)and screenwriter
Stanley Matthews, 1840, U. S. senator (Ohio) and Supreme Court justice*
Don McNeill, 1940, U.S. Open tennis champion (singles, 1940)*
Robert Mezey, 1955, poet
Paul Newman, 1949, Academy Award-winning actor and philanthropist
Daniel Sheldon Norton, 1846, U.S. senator (Minnesota)*
Kevin O'Donnell, 1947, former U.S. Peace Corps director
Oronhyatekha (Peter Martin), 1863, Mohawk Indian leader, physician, and Supreme Chief, Ranger of the Independent Order of Foresters*
Kris Osborn, 1992, television reporter and news anchor
Olof Palme, 1948, prime minister of Sweden*
C.A. Patrides, 1952, educator and John Milton scholar*
Alfred Humphreys Pease, 1859, composer*
Neil Pepe, 1985, actor, director, and producer
Kristina Peterson, 1973, publishing executive
Coles Phillips, 1905, illustrator*
Josh Radnor, 1996, actor (How I Met Your Mother)
William Rehnquist, 1946M, U.S. Supreme Court chief justice*
Alphonse Rockwell, 1863, physician and electrotherapeutics pioneer*
Andrew Rosenfield, 1973, founder of UNext, former president of Lexecon, Inc.
Mark Rosenthal, 1973, chair and chief operating officer, Interpublic Media
Arthur "Chip" Sansom, 1973M, cartoonist ("The Born Loser")
John Sharian, 1984, actor
Byers Shaw, 1972, physician, educator, and liver-transplant pioneer
Thomas S. Smith, 1944, former president, Lawrence University*
Ned Smyth, 1970, sculptor
Edwin M. Stanton, 1834, U.S. attorney general and secretary of war (Lincoln administration)*
Ann Starr, 1973, artist
James Storer, 1949, retired broadcasting executive
Willian Swing, 1958, bishop of California (Episcopal)
David Taft, 1960 chief operating officer, Landec Corporation
Peter Taylor, 1940, writer (A Summons to Memphis, The Old Forest), Pulitzer Prize winner*
Richard Thomas, 1953, retired chief executive, First Chicago NBD
Geri Coleman Tucker, 1974, senior editor, USA Today
David Turpie, 1848, U.S. senator (Indiana)*
Bill Veeck, 1936M, baseball innovator and major-league team owner*
Fred Waitzkin, 1965, writer (Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Last Marlin)
Bill Watterson, 1980, cartoonist ("Calvin and Hobbes")
John Weir, 1980, educator and writer (What I Did Wrong), Lambda Book Award winner
Matthew Winkler, 1977, editor-in-chief, Bloomberg News
Jonathan Winters, 1950M, actor, artist, and comedian
Peter Woytuk, 1980, schulptor
Craig Wright, 1952, Ohio Supreme Court justice
James Wright, 1952, poet, Pulitzer Prize winner*
Stephen Young, 1911, U.S. senator (Ohio)*
John Celivergos Zachos, 1840, pioneering educator and inventor (stenotype)*
Nancy Sydor Zafris, 1976, writer (The People I Know, Lucky Strike), Flannery O'Connor Prize winner

*Deceased

Development (top)

In October 2005, Kenyon's Board of Trustees made the momentous decision to proceed with a new comprehensive fundraising effort. The campaign, with a significant component dedicated to new and increased giving to the Kenyon Fund and Kenyon Parents Fund, will be the largest ever undertaken by the College

The goals will include an historic commitment to the growth of the endowment, with an aspiration of doubling the current figure over the life of the fundraising effort. Endowed support initiatives will focus on faculty development and financial aid, as well as funds for development of international and local programs, among other projects.

Capital programs under the aegis of the campaign will include the development of student residences, the construction of new instructional facilities for Kenyon's art history and studio art departments, and the renovation of Peirce and Dempsey dining halls. The College will also continue it committment to building the endowment of the Kenyon Review and enhancing its support for the Philander Chase Corporation.

The campaign is currently in a phase focusing on identification of lead gifts prior to the public kickoff, which is slated for June 2007. Donors will be sought in the areas of need deemed by the trustees to be most essential to the College's current and future health. The trustee decisions were based on the work of five planning groups, with members from the Kenyon administration, faculty, and student body, focusing on admission and financial aid, art facilities, curricular and faculty development, residential and student life, and student citizenship and international programming. The primary areas of need are listed below.

Financial aid
Because the College takes seriously it commitment to making a Kenyon education affordable to students who are accepted for admission, the largest share of the endowed funds to be solicited in the new campaign will be dedicated to financial aid. This year, the College awarded financial aid totaling almost $17 million, the largest item in its operating budget. New scholarship endowments, as well as additions to existing funds, are essential for Kenyon as it endeavors to meet the ever-increasing demand for financial aid.

Faculty development
The College makes every effort to remain competitive not only in faculty salaries but also in the development opportunities it offers. Faculty development, which allows professors to improve their skills and develop new areas of interest and expertise, is perhaps most important for the dividends it pays in the classroom. During the campaign, Kenyon will be seeking new funds to endow chairs across the curriculum and to support the effords of faculty members to maintain their edge in academic, creative, and research pursuits. Also addressed will be initiatives to enhance language instruction, encourage international-and local-studies programs, and endow a program of visiting international scholars in all disciplines.

Student residences
The College's commitment to remaining a fully residential institution dictates that student residences will be a construction and renovation priorty for the campaign. Although a decision has recently been made to reduce enrollment to 1,575, Kenyon continues to require additional facilities to meet the needs of its residential program and to provide a wider range of attractive housing options. Among the possibilities under consideration are townhouse-style accomodation in the village center and conversion of Bexley Hall, the current home of the Department of Art and the former home of the seminary once affiliated with the College, into a residence hall.

Art facilities
Now at some distance from Kenyon's other academic enterprises, and in most cases in quarters not adequately equipped for their needs, the studio-art and art-history programs require new facilities closer to the campus core. The campaign will seek funds for buildings to accommodate the programs and for programs to enhance their current curricular offerings. Although still in the planning stages, the facilities--the first at the College to be designed specifically for art as it is currently practiced and taught--will provide gallery as well as instructional and studio spaces in a central location.

Renovation of Peirce and Dempsey halls
Now nearly eighty years old, Kenyon's Peirce Hall has changed little over the decades. The kitchen area has been enlarged, and some rooms originally designated for one specific purpose have been remodeled to accommodate other, more contemporary needs. Dempsey Hall, completed in 1964, has received primarily cosmetic attention since it initial construction. Both facilities are in need of improvements to address a variety fo needs, ranging from a more commodious servery for the dining halls to handicap access throughout the buildings.

A thorough remodeling and reconstruction of Peirce and Dempsey halls began in the summer of 2006. While care will be taken to preserve the distinctive architecture and atmosphere of Peirce Hall, the building will be outfitted with passenger and service elevators as well as restrooms on every floor. Dempsey Hall will be rebuilt from the ground up, creating larger dining rooms on the main and ground levels and several smaller dining rooms that can be reserved for meetings or other gatherings. The two buildings will share a much-expanded kitchen and servery, larger and more accessible preparation and storage areas, and a reconfigured service entrance that will allow deliveries to be made from the rear.

Until the project is completed, students will take their meals in Gund Commons, the College's other dining facility, or in the Ernst Center, Kenyon's former primary athletic facility, which has been outfitted for the purpose.

Other initiatives
As part of the campaign, the College will also address the needs of the Kenyon Review and the Philander Chase Corporation. Although both entities are semi-independent with their own governing boards, they remain inextricably linked with the College.

Founded in 1939, the Kenyon Review is one the one of the nation's leading literary journals. During the campaign, the Review will seek to raise $5 million to endow the magazine's editorship (much like a faculty chair), fund scholarships for its summer writing programs for both young people and adults, and increase its endowment to a size sufficient to insre its long-term survival and provide it with financial independence from the College. The endowment currently exceeds $2.5 million.

Still in its first decade of operation, the Philander Chase Corporation has as its mission the preservation of the rural character of the Kenyon campus and the village of Gambier. In keeping with that goal, the corporation has secured conservation easements of titles to more than seventeen hundred acres of previously endangered land in the past firve years. As part of the campaign, the corporation will seek to raise $4 million in funds for acquisition of easements or titles on additional lands contiguous to the College's existing holdings or within view of the campus.

Recent projects
Fitness, recreation, and athletics
The largest single project for which the College has ever sought funds is the Kenyon Athletic Center. This $70-million facility, dedicated in April 2006, addresses longstanding needs within a single structure designed by Graham Gund '63.

The 263,000-square-foot building, located on the former site of the College's Wertheimer Fieldhouse, includes the Tomisch Arena for basketball and volleyball; a recreational gymnasium available for use by non-varsity athletes; the 200-meter Toan Indoor Track with six lanes and eight sprint lanes; the Jasper Tennis Center with four indoor courts, for recreational and team use, with a spectator area; an aquatic center for recreational and team swimming with twenty-two lanes, a diving well, and a 350-seat spectator area; eight squash and four racquetball courts; the 12,000-square-foot Patterson Fitness Center, with more than two hundred pieces of equipment, allowing for simultaneous use by teams and others; the Davis and Patton multipurpose rooms for aerobics, dance, yoga, and other uses; the 120-seat Kahler Theater, designed for film screenings, lectures, and game-film reviews; locker-room facilities for home teams and visitors and for recreational use; the Higley sports-medicine area for athletes and others; and office space for coaches and other student-affairs staff members.

The project also entailed the refurbishment, completed in 2004, of the College's football stadium, McBride Field, and the outdoor track-and-field venue, Wilder Track, which surrounds it. McBride Field was rebuilt with an all-weather, synthetic-grass surface.

An anonymous donor generously provided two gifts totaling $35 million for the project, and other contributors pledged an additional $8 million.  The remainder of the cost was funded by gains on invested gifts. 

Hillel endowment
Hillel, an international organization for Jewish students, is represented by a particularly active chapter at Kenyon, under the leadership of a full-time director.  More than $1 million has already been contributed to an endowment created to support the group’s operations and activities.  The fundraising effort has a $2-million goal.

“Claiming Our Place.”  
In 2001, the College completed the largest fundraising effort in its history, the $100-million “Claiming Our Place” campaign.  The final tally exceeded the goal by more than $16 million.

The five-year comprehensive fundraising effort—which included almost $16 million from the Kenyon Fund and Kenyon Parents Fund for operating support—built several much-needed facilities and added significantly to the College’s endowment.  The new buildings include the Taft Cottages, Storer Hall for music, Tomsich and Hayes halls and the Fischman Wing for the natural sciences, an education facility at the Brown Family Environmental Center, and the Eaton Center for Kenyon’s Finance Division.  Newly endowed funds support nine named professorships and more than thirty scholarships.    

Miscellany (top)

Brown Family Environmental Center
Located across the Kokosing River from and southwest of the Kenyon campus, the Brown Family Environmental Center (BFEC) provides opportunities for education about the environment both for the College’s faculty members and students and for all members of the Knox County community.  Each year, the BFEC sponsors a series of nature programs, some specifically designed for children and others for all community members.  A new classroom and laboratory facility opened in 2001.

The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review, one of the nation’s premier literary magazines, is edited and produced at the College by Professor of English David Lynn ’76 and his staff.  The Review, a quarterly, presents an annual Award for Literary Achievement; this year’s honoree is Ian McEwan.  Previous awards have gone to E.L. Doctorow ’52, Joyce Carol Oates, Seamus Heaney, Roger Angell, and Umberto Eco.

Rural Life Center
Founded by Kenyon Professor of Sociology Howard L. Sacks, the Rural Life Center promotes education, public projects, and scholarship about rural life with the goal of enhancing the quality of local rural life.  One of the center’s publications,

Life Along the Kokosing
A guide to the corridors of the Kokosing and Mohican rivers, received an Educational Excellence Award for 2000 from the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums.

Senior Administrators (top)

President: S. Georgia Nugent
Provost: Gregory P. Spaid ’68
Acting Dean of Students: Tammy M. Gocial
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid: Jennifer Delahunty Britz
Vice President, College Relations: Sarah H. Kahrl
Vice President, Finance: Joseph G. Nelson
Vice President, Library and Information Services: Daniel B.Temple
Chief Business Officer: David E. McConnell

Accreditation (top)

Kenyon College is an accredited member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Affiliations (top)

Kenyon is a member of the American Association of Colleges, American Council on Education, Association of Episcopal Colleges, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio, Five Colleges of Ohio, Great Lakes Colleges Association, and Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges.

Equal-Opportunity Policy (top)

Kenyon admits qualified students regardless of religion, race, sex, color, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or handicap to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the College. It does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or handicap in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other College-administered programs.

Board of Trustees (top)

Carla R. Ainsworth ’95, Seattle, Washington
Allen B. Ballard Jr. ’52, Clifton Park, New York
William E. Bennett ’68 P’96,’00,’07, chair, Chicago, Illinois
Mary Elizabeth Bunzel P’06, New York, New York
James D. Cox ’60, Houston, Texas
Brackett B. Denniston ’69, secretary, Fairfield, Connecticut
Edwin H. Eaton Jr. ’60 P’89, Cincinnati, Ohio
Howard B. Edelstein ’68, Shaker Heights, Ohio
Gerald J. Fields ’62, New York, New York
Steven S. Fischman ’63, Newton, Massachusetts
Pamela P. Flaherty P’00,’04, New York, New York
Nina P. Freedman ’77, Mount Kisco, New York
Paul Goldberger P’04, New York, New York
Ellen W. Griggs ’77, Boston, Massachusetts
Paul B. Healy ’85, New York, New York
Aileen C. Hefferren ’88, New York, New York
Pamela Feitler Hoehn-Saric ’80 P’10, Gibson Island, Maryland
Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth Jr., Cleveland, Ohio
David W. Horvitz ’74, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Murray L. Horwitz ’70, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Joseph E. Lipscomb ’87, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Harvey F. Lodish ’62 P’89, Brookline, Massachusetts
William E. Lowry Jr. ’56, Chicago, Illinois
David R. Meuse, Lancaster, Ohio
S. Georgia Nugent, Gambier, Ohio
James F. Parker ’81 P’10, Lake Bluff, Illinois
Pamela J. Pleasants ’83, Milton, Massachusetts
Rt. Rev. Kenneth L. Price Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio
Susan Ramser, Mount Vernon, Ohio
William H. Roj P’04,’07, Shaker Heights, Ohio
Alan E. Rothenberg ’67 P’96, San Francisco, California
Richard A. Rubin ’62 P’00, Mill Valley, California
R. Todd Ruppert ’78, Owings Mills, Maryland
Deborah Ratner Salzberg P’09, Bethesda, Maryland
Thomas R. Sant ’65, Hilliard, Ohio
Barry F. Schwartz ’70, Greenwich, Connecticut
William T. Spitz P’08, Nashville, Tennessee
Betsy Upton Stover ’73, East Lansing, Michigan
Charles P. Waite Jr. ’77 P’06,’10, Kirkland, Washington
Matthew A. Winkler ’77, Maplewood, New Jersey
Karen Buchwald Wright P’05,’09, Mount Vernon, Ohio

Emeritus trustees
Letitia Baldrige, David F. Banks ’65 P’96, James G. Bellows ’44, Randolph D. Bucey ’50, Edgar G. Davis ’53, John B. Dempsey II P’83,’85, Cornelia Ireland Hallinan ’76, R.S. Harrison ’53, Robert J. Himmelright Jr. ’50 P’82, Robert E. Koe ’67, Beatrice C. Mayer P’71, John B. McCoy, James C. Niederman ’46 P’76, B. Bosworth Ranney ’52, Burnell R. Roberts P’77, John G. Smale P’79, James P. Storer ’49, William A. Stroud P’76, David D. Taft ’60, Richard L. Thomas ’53 P’81, Robert J. Tomsich, Charles P. Waite P’77,’81

Academic Calendar 2006-07 (top)

Fall Semester
August 24, Thursday: Residences open for new students; Orientation begins   
August 26, Saturday: Residences open for returning students   
August 28, Monday: Classes begin; upperclass registration   
September 15-16, Friday-Saturday: Reunion-Planning Weekend; Kenyon Fund Executive Committee; Alumni Council   
October 7, Saturday: Homecoming   
October 9-10, Monday-Tuesday: October reading days   
October 20-21, Friday-Saturday: Family Weekend; Parents Advisory Council   
October 27-28, Friday-Saturday: Fall meeting of the Board of Trustees   
November 2, Thursday: Founders’ Day; Matriculation   
November 18, Saturday: Thanksgiving vacation begins; student residences close at 12:00 noon   
November 25, Saturday: Student residences open at 8:00 a.m.   
November 27, Monday: Classes resume   
December 12, Tuesday: Last day of classes in first semester   
December 13-14, Wednesday-Thursday: Reading days   
December 15-16, Friday-Saturday: Examinations   
December 17, Sunday: Reading day   
December 18-19, Monday-Tuesday: Examinations   
December 19, Tuesday: Semester ends at 4:30 p.m. (except for 6:30 p.m. exams)   
December 20, Wednesday: Student residences close at 12:00 noon   
December 28, Thursday: Last day for faculty members to submit fall-semester grades.   

Spring Semester   
January 13, Saturday: Student residences open at 8:00 a.m.   
January 15, Monday: Classes begin   
February 9, Friday: Winter meeting of the Board of Trustees   
February 23-24, Friday-Saturday: Alumni Council and Kenyon Fund Executive Committee   
March 3, Saturday: Spring vacation begins; student residences close at 12:00 noon   
March 17, Saturday: Student residences open at 8:00 a.m.   
March 19, Monday: Classes resume   
March 30-31, Friday-Saturday: Parents Advisory Council   
April 10, Tuesday: Honors Day   
April 19-21, Thursday-Saturday: Spring meeting of the Board of Trustees   
May 4, Friday: Last day of classes   
May 5-6, Saturday-Sunday: Reading days   
May 7-8, Monday-Tuesday: Examinations   
May 9, Wednesday: Reading day   
May 10-11, Thursday-Friday: Examinations   
May 11, Friday: Semester ends at 4:30 p.m. (except for 6:30 p.m. exams)   
May 12, Saturday: Residences close at 12:00 noon (except for seniors)   
May 14, Monday: Senior grades due by 10:00 a.m.   
May 19, Saturday: 179th Commencement; student residences close for all at 7:00 p.m.   
May 21, Monday: All remaining grades due by 10:00 a.m.   
June 1-3, Friday-Sunday: Alumni Reunion Weekend; Alumni Council

Further Information (top)