Kenyon College
Encyclopedia
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college
in Gambier, Ohio
, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase
of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall
seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio
. The campus is noted for its Collegiate Gothic
architecture and rustic setting, and it was named one of the most beautiful college campuses in the world by Forbes in 2010. Old Kenyon Hall, built in 1827, is believed to be the oldest Gothic revival building in the Americas, though it has burnt twice and been rebuilt. Kenyon College is accredited
by The Higher Learning Commission
of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
. Kenyon is one of the Hidden Ivies and considered one of the most prestigious liberal arts colleges in the nation with distinctions such as being named one of Newsweek's "New Ivies".
After becoming the first Bishop of Ohio in 1818, Philander Chase found a severe lack of trained clergy on the Ohio frontier. He planned to create a seminary to rectify this problem, but could find little support. Undeterred, he sailed to England and solicited donations from Lord Kenyon, Lord Gambier, and the writer and philanthropist Hannah More
, and the College was incorporated in December, 1824. Dissatisfied with the original location of the College in Worthington
, Chase purchased eight thousand acres (32 km²) of land in Knox County
(with the Mount Vernon
lawyer Henry Curtis), and reached what he would name Gambier Hill on July 24, 1825. There is a legend that Bishop Chase exclaimed, "Well, this will do" upon reaching the crest of the hill.
in 1937 as Professor of Poetry and first editor of The Kenyon Review
, a literary journal.
Aside from English, other majors Kenyon offers are: Art (Studio), Art History, Dance and Drama, Film, Music, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Classics, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Physics, Psychology, Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, American Studies, International Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies.
Kenyon does offer concentrations, which are interdisciplinary minors. They are: African and African-American Studies, Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, Integrated Program in Humane Studies, Islamic Civilizations and Cultures, Law and Society, Neuroscience, Public Policy, and Scientific Computing. Kenyon also offers opportunities for synoptic majors based on a process of academic approval by the College administration.
Kenyon requires students to take classes in each of the four academic divisions: Fine Arts (encompassing the departments of Art, Dance and Drama, and Music); Humanities (Classics, English, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Religious Studies); Natural Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology); and Social Sciences (Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology). In addition, students must show a basic competence in a foreign language, and also undertake a comprehensive senior exercise for their major during their senior year.
Kenyon is also home to the Beta of Ohio Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society
.
, are referred to as the Lords and Ladies, and their colors are purple, white, and black with gold often added as an accent.
The college's men's swimming team is considered the best in NCAA
Division III, for winning, from 1980 through 2010, an NCAA record 31 consecutive national championships. The women's swimming team is also considered among the best, winning 23 titles of its own (not consecutively) since 1984. Swim Coach Jim Steen
has coached the most conference titles in any sport in NCAA
history. During the 1980s and 90s, Diving Coach Fletcher Gilders
led his athletes to fourteen consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference championships and eight individual NCAA Division III titles; Gilders would also earn NCAA D3 Coach of the Year honors on three separate occasions.
In 2006, Kenyon opened the $70 million Kenyon Athletic Center
(KAC), a 263,000 square foot (24,434 m², 6 acre) building that houses an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two basketball courts, eight squash courts, a weight room, a 200m track, four tennis courts and other facilities.
selected Kenyon College as one of twenty-five "New Ivies" on the basis of admissions statistics as well as interviews with administrators, students, faculty and alumni. In the 2012 U.S. News and World Report rankings, Kenyon is the No. 33 liberal arts college
in the United States overall.
In 2011, Forbes Magazine, ranked Kenyon #43 out of the 650 colleges and universities on its list of America's Best Colleges 2011.
Oath and sign a Matriculation Book that dates back at least a century.
Another tradition is the "First-Year Sing." Each year, entering first-years gather on the steps of Rosse Hall to sing Kenyon songs before they are officially part of the Kenyon community. On the day before Commencement, seniors gather on the steps of Rosse Hall to sing the same songs again.
Whenever a new president begins a term at the college, candles are lit in every window of Old Kenyon, as a sign of welcome. Kenyon has had twenty-four presidents, and currently has its first female president, S. Georgia Nugent.
The Fraternities are: Lambda Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon
(Dekes); The Kenyon Chapter of The Alpha Delta Phi
(ADs); Chi of Delta Tau Delta
(Delts); Beta Alpha of Beta Theta Pi
(Betas); Phi of Delta Phi
(DPhis); and Theta of Phi Kappa Sigma
(Phi Kaps).
The Sororities are: Theta Delta Phi (Thetas); Nu Iota Alpha (NIA); Zeta Alpha Pi (Zetas); Epsilon Delta Mu (EDMs).
The Societies are: Archon Society (Archons); Peeps O'Kenyon (Peeps).
during which, because of a shortage of voting machines and possibly a large number of new voter registrations, some students remained in line for as long as 13 hours to place their votes. The incident received attention in mainstream national news outlets such as The New York Times
.
In spring 2006, John Kerry
delivered the commencement address
at Kenyon College, stating that he was "honored" by the students who waited in line during the election. During the 2008 presidential election campaign
, the events at Kenyon in the 2004 election were remembered and recounted in discussions of voting policy and predictions the outcome of the 2008 race.
Students partnered with administrators and/or professors to complete a campus energy audit for the past three years, as well as a carbon footprint calculation.
Kenyon Green Alumni was founded to connect graduates "with a professional interest in the environment."
The college recently received a "C" grade on the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card, compiled by the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
, US Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme
, Academy Award-winning actor Paul Newman
, comedian Jonathan Winters
, Emmy Award-winning actress Allison Janney
, National Book Award-winning novelist William H. Gass
, American poet Saskia Hamilton
, cartoonist Bill Watterson
, actor Josh Radnor
of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother
, and chemist and writer Carl Djerassi
.
Visiting Faculty
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...
in Gambier, Ohio
Gambier, Ohio
Gambier is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,871 at the 2000 census.Gambier is the home of Kenyon College and was named after one of Kenyon College's early benefactors, Lord Gambier....
, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase
Philander Chase
Philander Chase was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier in Ohio and Illinois.-Life:...
of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall
Bexley Hall
Bexley Hall is a seminary in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.It is one of 11 official seminaries of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America,and identifies itself as liberal Anglo-Catholic in orientation.-History:...
seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. The campus is noted for its Collegiate Gothic
Collegiate Gothic in North America
Collegiate Gothic is an architectural genre, a subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture.-History:The beginnings of Collegiate Gothic in North America date back to 1894 when Cope & Stewardson completed Pembroke Hall on the campus of Bryn Mawr College...
architecture and rustic setting, and it was named one of the most beautiful college campuses in the world by Forbes in 2010. Old Kenyon Hall, built in 1827, is believed to be the oldest Gothic revival building in the Americas, though it has burnt twice and been rebuilt. Kenyon College is accredited
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
by The Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission is part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Higher Learning Commission oversees the accreditation of degree-granting colleges and universities in nineteen Midwestern and South-Central states, including Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa,...
of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , also known as the North Central Association, is a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states, that is engaged in educational accreditation...
. Kenyon is one of the Hidden Ivies and considered one of the most prestigious liberal arts colleges in the nation with distinctions such as being named one of Newsweek's "New Ivies".
Founding
Hannah More
Hannah More was an English religious writer, and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical...
, and the College was incorporated in December, 1824. Dissatisfied with the original location of the College in Worthington
Worthington, Ohio
-Dissolution of the Company:By August 11, 1804 the plat maps were completed, payments or notes promising payments collected and deeds prepared for all sixteen thousand acres of the Scioto Company's purchase...
, Chase purchased eight thousand acres (32 km²) of land in Knox County
Knox County, Ohio
Knox County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2010, the population was 60,921. Its county seat is Mount Vernon and is named for Henry Knox, an officer in the American Revolutionary War who was later the first Secretary of War....
(with the Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon, Ohio
Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 16,990 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is named after Mount Vernon, the plantation owned by George Washington.-History:...
lawyer Henry Curtis), and reached what he would name Gambier Hill on July 24, 1825. There is a legend that Bishop Chase exclaimed, "Well, this will do" upon reaching the crest of the hill.
Academics
Kenyon's English department first gained recognition with the arrival of the poet and critic John Crowe RansomJohn Crowe Ransom
John Crowe Ransom was an American poet, essayist, magazine editor, and professor.-Life:...
in 1937 as Professor of Poetry and first editor of The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review is a Literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, USA, home of Kenyon College. The Review was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959...
, a literary journal.
Aside from English, other majors Kenyon offers are: Art (Studio), Art History, Dance and Drama, Film, Music, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Classics, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Physics, Psychology, Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, American Studies, International Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies.
Kenyon does offer concentrations, which are interdisciplinary minors. They are: African and African-American Studies, Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, Integrated Program in Humane Studies, Islamic Civilizations and Cultures, Law and Society, Neuroscience, Public Policy, and Scientific Computing. Kenyon also offers opportunities for synoptic majors based on a process of academic approval by the College administration.
Kenyon requires students to take classes in each of the four academic divisions: Fine Arts (encompassing the departments of Art, Dance and Drama, and Music); Humanities (Classics, English, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Religious Studies); Natural Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology); and Social Sciences (Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology). In addition, students must show a basic competence in a foreign language, and also undertake a comprehensive senior exercise for their major during their senior year.
Kenyon is also home to the Beta of Ohio Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
.
Athletics
Kenyon's sports teams, which compete in the North Coast Athletic ConferenceNorth Coast Athletic Conference
The North Coast Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of schools located in the Midwestern United States. When founded in 1984, the NCAC was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecedented ten women's sports...
, are referred to as the Lords and Ladies, and their colors are purple, white, and black with gold often added as an accent.
The college's men's swimming team is considered the best in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division III, for winning, from 1980 through 2010, an NCAA record 31 consecutive national championships. The women's swimming team is also considered among the best, winning 23 titles of its own (not consecutively) since 1984. Swim Coach Jim Steen
Jim Steen
James Steen has been the head coach of the swim teams at Kenyon College since 1976.Steen's teams have won more NCAA championships than any other team in any division or any sport. The Lords have won 31 consecutive NCAA Division III championships, the first having been in 1980, while the Ladies...
has coached the most conference titles in any sport in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
history. During the 1980s and 90s, Diving Coach Fletcher Gilders
Fletcher Gilders
Fletcher Gilders was a Detroit native who won fame as a talented multi-sport athlete for the Colts of Northwestern High School and the Buckeyes of Ohio State University...
led his athletes to fourteen consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference championships and eight individual NCAA Division III titles; Gilders would also earn NCAA D3 Coach of the Year honors on three separate occasions.
In 2006, Kenyon opened the $70 million Kenyon Athletic Center
Kenyon Athletic Center
The Kenyon Athletic Center is an athletic center and student union serving the Kenyon College and Gambier village communities in Ohio. It was designed by architect Graham Gund and opened to the public on 25 January 2006...
(KAC), a 263,000 square foot (24,434 m², 6 acre) building that houses an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two basketball courts, eight squash courts, a weight room, a 200m track, four tennis courts and other facilities.
Rankings
The 2005 Princeton Review and Fiske Guide to Colleges 2005 awarded the college top academic ratings. In addition, in 2006 NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
selected Kenyon College as one of twenty-five "New Ivies" on the basis of admissions statistics as well as interviews with administrators, students, faculty and alumni. In the 2012 U.S. News and World Report rankings, Kenyon is the No. 33 liberal arts college
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...
in the United States overall.
In 2011, Forbes Magazine, ranked Kenyon #43 out of the 650 colleges and universities on its list of America's Best Colleges 2011.
Traditions
As Ohio's oldest private college, Kenyon has upheld some traditions for more than 180 years. All students in each entering class are expected to take the MatriculationMatriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
Oath and sign a Matriculation Book that dates back at least a century.
Another tradition is the "First-Year Sing." Each year, entering first-years gather on the steps of Rosse Hall to sing Kenyon songs before they are officially part of the Kenyon community. On the day before Commencement, seniors gather on the steps of Rosse Hall to sing the same songs again.
Whenever a new president begins a term at the college, candles are lit in every window of Old Kenyon, as a sign of welcome. Kenyon has had twenty-four presidents, and currently has its first female president, S. Georgia Nugent.
Student organizations
Media
- Hika, Kenyon's oldest student-run literary journal. Contributors have included Robert LowellRobert LowellRobert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
, 1940; Robie MacauleyRobie MacauleyRobie Mayhew Macauley was an editor, novelist and critic whose literary career spanned over 50 years.-Early life:...
, 1941; James WrightJames Wright (poet)James Arlington Wright was an American poet.Wright first emerged on the literary scene in 1956 with The Green Wall, a collection of formalist verse that was awarded the prestigious Yale Younger Poets Prize. But by the early 1960s, Wright, increasingly influenced by the Spanish language...
, 1952; and Laura HillenbrandLaura HillenbrandLaura Hillenbrand is an American author of books and magazine articles.Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Hillenbrand spent much of her childhood riding bareback "screaming over the hills" of her father's Sharpsburg, Maryland, farm. A favorite of hers was Come On Seabiscuit, a 1963 kiddie book. "I read...
. Founded in 1925, it preceded The Kenyon Review. - The Kenyon ObserverThe Kenyon ObserverFounded in 1989 by David Horner and Alex Novak, The Kenyon Observer is a conservative, undergraduate political journal at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. In addition to publishing student commentary, the journal features interviews with scholars and pundits such as Norman Podhoretz, Andrew...
(political magazine) - Kenyon CollegianKenyon CollegianThe Kenyon Collegian is the official student newspaper of Kenyon College. The paper is published weekly from Peirce Hall. An alumni group of past Collegian staffers has formed. Notable Collegian alumni include Matt Winkler of Bloomberg, Renee Peck, Jay Cocks and P. F. Kluge, the paper's current...
(student newspaper)http://www.kenyoncollegian.com - Kenyon Collegiate (satirical newspaper in the vein of The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
) - Kenyon Filmmakers (student filmmaking society)
- WKCO Records (student record label)
- WKCO 91.9 FM (student radio station)
- 56% (Kenyon's Women's Interest magazine), published by the Crozier Center for Women
- MESA Journal, published by the Middle East Student Association at Kenyon
- Persimmons, a literary magazine published once a semester
Non-varsity sports
- Kenyon College Ice Hockey
- Kenyon College Equestrian
- Kenyon College Men's Rugby
- Kenyon College Women's Rugby
- Kenyon College Ultimate Frisbee (founded in 1976)
- Kenyon College Squash
- Kenyon College Sailing
Arts
- The Chamber Singers, under the direction of Professor Benjamin Locke, is a select mixed choir consisting each year of approximately fifty undergraduate musicians who regard singing as an integral part of a liberal arts education. The group rehearses daily in order to prepare programs of a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
music for Kenyon concerts as well as their annual Spring Tour. - The Kokosingers are Kenyon's all-male a cappella group. Founded in 1965 by four freshmen, the Kokosingers are the second-oldest student-run singing group on campus, and the oldest original a cappella group on campus. The group performs a wide range of music from various artists. They also tour New England for two weeks in the wintertime, singing at high schools, colleges, and various kenyon-affiliated events.
- The Chasers are Kenyon's co-ed collegiate a cappella group. Founded in 1964, the group is the oldest student singing group at the college, and the second oldest a cappella group on campus. Originally a folk-oriented vocal group accompanied by guitars, the Chasers switched to an a cappella-only format in the late 1960s, and continue this tradition today. They have recorded several albums over the course of the last 40 years, perform several times per year on campus, and tour throughout the country during January.
- The Owl Creek Singers is an all-female ensemble at Kenyon. Founded in 1975, the Owl Creeks perform regularly throughout campus, and tour over winter break. Their repertoire ranges from modern pop, to oldies. The Owl Creeks winter concert is typically the first Friday in December, and their spring concert is typically the Friday of Easter weekend.
- Take Five is Kenyon's jazz a cappella group, formed in 2002. In addition to bi-annual concerts, Take Five performs regularly at campus events and, as of 2007, tours nationally during winter break.
- The Cornerstones are Kenyon's only Christian a cappella group. Since organizing in 1998, they have supplied the campus with contemporary, classical, gospel, and Christian-inspired pop songs on a bi-yearly basis. In addition, they have participated in several tours across various parts of the nation, and have performed at numerous churches and events around the Ohio area.
- The Company is Kenyon's premiere musical theater student group. Students present full productions and musical revues every semester, specializing in Disney classics, musical theater, and unexpected contemporary songs from TV and film.
- Colla Voce is a treble-voice ensemble dedicated to the classical and folk traditions. Kenyon's newest a cappella group, Colla Voce formed in the fall of 2009 and performs on campus twice a semester, as well as at additional events in the surrounding community as needed.
- Renegade Theatre, founded in 2002, is a theatre company designed for the promotion of first-year students in the theatre community at Kenyon. Students are able to write, act in leading roles, direct and design, as well as serve as a production board designing an entire season of shows.
- The Stairwells are Kenyon College's only folk group, made up of a variety of musicians and vocalists. Originally a smaller ensemble of four to five people with one guitar, the group has expanded to include as many as ten members, playing a variety of instruments.
- Kenyon College Dance and Drama Club Student-run organization producing theatrical productions with the direct support of the dance and drama departments. Former members include the founders of the Cripple Creek Theatre CompanyCripple Creek Theatre CompanyThe Cripple Creek Theatre Company is a grassroots, non-profit theatre company in New Orleans, LA, Louisiana, United States known for producing productions with large, diverse casts. The company was founded in December 2005 by Andrew Kingsley and Andrew Vaught for the purpose of instigating action...
in New Orleans, LA.http://kcdc.kenyon.edu - Beyond Therapy is a student-run sketch comedySketch comedyA sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
group. Founded in 1994, the group puts up two shows each year.http://www.kenyon.edu/x13861.xml - Fools on the Hill is a student-run long form improv comedy group founded in 1984.
- Two Drink Minimum is a student-run stand-up comedy group.
- Brave Potato Productions, formerly Flashmob Theatre, is a student-run theatrical and filmmaking group that was founded in 2007.
Greek life
Kenyon is home to twelve Greek organizations, consisting of six international/national Fraternities, four local sororities and two local societies (co-ed groups).The Fraternities are: Lambda Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
(Dekes); The Kenyon Chapter of The Alpha Delta Phi
Alpha Delta Phi
Alpha Delta Phi is a Greek-letter social college fraternity and the fourth-oldest continuous Greek-letter fraternity in the United States and Canada. Alpha Delta Phi was founded on October 29, 1832 by Samuel Eells at Hamilton College and includes former U.S. Presidents, Chief Justices of the U.S....
(ADs); Chi of Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta is a U.S.-based international secret letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, . It currently has around 125 student chapters nationwide, as well as more than 25 regional alumni groups. Its national community service...
(Delts); Beta Alpha of Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
(Betas); Phi of Delta Phi
Delta Phi
Delta Phi is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Founded as part of the Union Triad, along with the Kappa Alpha Society and Sigma Phi Society, Delta Phi was the third and last member of the Triad...
(DPhis); and Theta of Phi Kappa Sigma
Phi Kappa Sigma
Phi Kappa Sigma is an international all-male college social fraternity. Its members are known as "Phi Kaps", "Skulls" and sometimes "Skullhouse", the latter two because of the skull and crossbones on the Fraternity's badge and coat of arms. Phi Kappa Sigma was founded by Dr. Samuel Brown Wylie...
(Phi Kaps).
The Sororities are: Theta Delta Phi (Thetas); Nu Iota Alpha (NIA); Zeta Alpha Pi (Zetas); Epsilon Delta Mu (EDMs).
The Societies are: Archon Society (Archons); Peeps O'Kenyon (Peeps).
2004 presidential election
Kenyon College attracted national attention after the 2004 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
during which, because of a shortage of voting machines and possibly a large number of new voter registrations, some students remained in line for as long as 13 hours to place their votes. The incident received attention in mainstream national news outlets such as The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
In spring 2006, John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
delivered the commencement address
Commencement speech
A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...
at Kenyon College, stating that he was "honored" by the students who waited in line during the election. During the 2008 presidential election campaign
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, the events at Kenyon in the 2004 election were remembered and recounted in discussions of voting policy and predictions the outcome of the 2008 race.
Sustainability
Kenyon College has undertaken a number of sustainability initiatives, including a recycling system upgrade, a biodiesel project, a computer lab conversion to double-sided printing, the distribution of green living guides, as well as the creation of a dining hall composting system that diverts 6,000 pounds of waste from the landfill per week.Students partnered with administrators and/or professors to complete a campus energy audit for the past three years, as well as a carbon footprint calculation.
Kenyon Green Alumni was founded to connect graduates "with a professional interest in the environment."
The college recently received a "C" grade on the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card, compiled by the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni include US President Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
, US Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
, Academy Award-winning actor Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
, comedian Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters
-Early life:Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, the son of Alice Kilgore , a radio personality, and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an investment broker. He is a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio...
, Emmy Award-winning actress Allison Janney
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
, National Book Award-winning novelist William H. Gass
William H. Gass
William Howard Gass is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and former philosophy professor. He has written two novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven volumes of essays, three of which have won National Book Critics Circle Award...
, American poet Saskia Hamilton
Saskia Hamilton
Saskia Hamilton is an American poet. She graduated from Kenyon College with a B.A., and from New York University with an M.A. She worked for the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Lannan Foundation...
, cartoonist Bill Watterson
Bill Watterson
William Boyd Watterson II , known as Bill Watterson, is an American cartoonist and the author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes...
, actor Josh Radnor
Josh Radnor
Joshua Michael "Josh" Radnor is an American actor, director, and writer, best known for portraying the main character Ted Mosby on the popular, Emmy Award-winning CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, for which he has received worldwide fame and recognitions.He made his writing and directorial debut...
of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, and chemist and writer Carl Djerassi
Carl Djerassi
Carl Djerassi is an Austrian-American chemist, novelist, and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of the first oral contraceptive pill . Djerassi is emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford University.He participated in the invention in 1951, together with Mexican Luis E...
.
College presidents
- Philander ChasePhilander ChasePhilander Chase was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier in Ohio and Illinois.-Life:...
(1825–1831) - Charles Pettit McIlvaineCharles Pettit McIlvaineCharles Pettit McIlvaine was an Episcopalian bishop, author, educator and twice Chaplain of the United States Senate.-Early life and family:...
(1832–1840) - David Bates Douglass (1840–1844)
- Samuel Fuller (acting, 1844–1845)
- Sherlock A. Bronson (1845–1850)
- Thomas M. Smith (1850–1854)
- Lorin Andrews (1854–1861)
- Benjamin L. Lang (acting, 1861–1863)
- Charles Short (1863–1867)
- James Kent Stone (1867–1868)
- Eli Todd TappanEli Todd TappanEli Todd Tappan was an American educator, mathematician, author, lawyer and newspaper editor who served as president of Kenyon College, among other public distinctions...
(1868–1875) - Edward C. Benson (acting, 1875–1876)
- William B. Bodine (1876–1891)
- Theodore Sterling (1891–1896)
- William Foster Peirce (1896–1937)
- Gordon Keith ChalmersGordon Keith ChalmersGordon Keith Chalmers was a scholar of seventeenth century English thought and letters, president of Rockford College and Kenyon College, and a national leader in American higher education.-Early life and education:The son of Wiliam Everett Chalmers and his wife Mary Dunklee Maynard, Gordon...
(1937–1956) - Frank E. Bailey (acting, 1956–1957)
- F. Edward Lund (1957–1968)
- William G. Caples (1968–1975)
- Philip H. Jordan Jr. (1975–1995)
- Reed S. Browning (acting, 1989)
- Robert A. Oden Jr.Robert A. OdenRobert Allen Oden Jr. was the president of Kenyon College from 1995-2002, and president of Carleton College from July 1, 2002 until June 30, 2010...
(1995–2002) - Ronald A. Sharp (acting, 2002–2003)
- S. Georgia NugentS. Georgia NugentGeorgia Nugent is the current president of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and attended Princeton University from which she graduated cum laude in 1973 . She then attended Cornell University and received a Ph.D in classics...
(2003–present)
Notable faculty members
- Virgil AldrichVirgil AldrichVirgil Charles Aldrich, , was an American philosopher of art, language, and religion.-Early life and education:...
, Philosophy - Robert O. FinkRobert O. FinkRobert Orwill Fink was a papyrologist with a special interest in Roman military papyri.-Early life and education:...
, Classics - Bruce HaywoodBruce HaywoodBruce Haywood, , served as a professor of German language and literature, dean and provost of Kenyon College, and was president of Monmouth College in Illinois.-Early life and education:...
, German; Provost - Lewis HydeLewis HydeLewis Hyde is a scholar, essayist, translator, cultural critic and writer whose scholarly work focuses on the nature of imagination, creativity, and property.-Early life:...
, English - Randall JarrellRandall JarrellRandall Jarrell was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a role which now holds the title of US Poet Laureate.-Life:Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee...
, English - P. F. KlugeP. F. KlugePaul Frederick Kluge , commonly known as P. F. Kluge, is a novelist living in Gambier, Ohio.Kluge was raised in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. He graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier in 1964 and teaches creative writing there now...
, English - Perry LentzPerry LentzPerry Carlton Lentz, is a teacher, an author, and professor of English language and literature at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.-Early life and education:...
, English - Robie MacauleyRobie MacauleyRobie Mayhew Macauley was an editor, novelist and critic whose literary career spanned over 50 years.-Early life:...
, English - Wendy MacLeodWendy MacLeodWendy MacLeod is an American playwright.MacLeod received a BA from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where she now teaches and is a playwright-in-residence. She received a MFA from the Yale School of Drama....
, Theater - George E. McCarthyGeorge E. McCarthyGeorge E. McCarthy is a professor of sociology at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.- Education :* M.A., Ph.D. New School for Social Research * M.A., Ph.D. Boston College * B.A. Manhattan College - Career :...
, Sociology - Paul RadinPaul RadinPaul Radin was a widely read American cultural anthropologist and folklorist of the early twentieth century. Born the son of a rabbi in the cosmopolitan Polish city of Łódź, he became a student of Franz Boas at Columbia, where he counted Edward Sapir and Robert Lowie among his classmates...
, Anthropology - John Crowe RansomJohn Crowe RansomJohn Crowe Ransom was an American poet, essayist, magazine editor, and professor.-Life:...
, English - Charles RitchesonCharles RitchesonCharles Ray Ritcheson is an American historian, diplomat, and |university administrator].-Early life and education:...
, History - Richard Salomon, History
- Benjamin SchumacherBenjamin SchumacherBenjamin Schumacher is a U.S. theoretical physicist, working mostly in the field of quantum information theory.He discovered a way of interpreting quantum states as information. He came up with a way of compressing the information in a state, and storing the information in a smaller number of...
, Physics - Joan Slonczewski, Biology
- Denham SutcliffeDenham SutcliffeW. Denham Sutcliffe was an American author, editor, and professor of English who spent most of his professional life at Kenyon College.-Career:...
, English - Allen TateAllen TateJohn Orley Allen Tate was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1943 to 1944.-Life:...
, English
Visiting Faculty
- John Kinsella, English
- Claire MessudClaire MessudClaire Messud is an American novelist. She is best known as the author of the 2006 novel The Emperor's Children.-Early life:...
, English - Barry UnsworthBarry UnsworthBarry Unsworth is a British novelist who is known for novels with historical themes. He has published 15 novels, and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger....
, English - James WoodJames Wood (critic)James Wood is a literary critic, essayist and novelist. he is Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine.-Background and education:...
, English
Miscellany
- Kenyon College was one of a number of liberal arts colleges to drop from the US News and World Report college rankings in June 2007. Kenyon College President Georgia S. Nugent likened the Report's self-evaluation materials as similar to a customer satisfaction survey from "a Howard Johnson'sHoward Johnson'sHoward Johnson's is a chain of hotels and restaurants, located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, with over 1,000 restaurants...
Hotel." - The city of Kenyon, MinnesotaKenyon, MinnesotaKenyon is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, along the North Fork of the Zumbro River. It was founded in 1856 and named in honor of Kenyon College...
was named in honor of Kenyon College.