Highlights from on and off the Hill

1990

Bill Watterson ’76 delivers an iconic commencement address in which he tells graduates, “To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.”

1991

At Honors Day, Cornelia “Buffy” Ireland Hallinan ’76, becomes the first Kenyon alumna to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the College. Seven years later, she is the first alumna to be elected chair of the College’s Board of Trustees.

1995

Robert Allen Oden Jr. becomes president and leads the College until 2002.

The Brown Family Environmental Center (then known as the Kenyon Center for Environmental Study) opens on a sprawling former farm straddling the Kokosing River.

1998

Kenyon’s Board of Trustees creates a dissertation and teaching fellowship, renamed in 2004 for Kenyon parent and trustee Marilyn V. Yarbrough, a legal scholar who often addressed gender and racial discrimination in her scholarship and teaching. The first recipient is Marla Kohlman, who would later be appointed professor of sociology at Kenyon.

1999

Lloyd Tyrell-Kenyon, Lord Kenyon and Sixth Baron of Gredington, delivers the Founders’ Day address in honor of Kenyon’s 175th anniversary.

James P. Storer Hall, the new home of the music department, is dedicated in October in honor of the generosity of the former Kenyon trustee and chair of the Campaign for Kenyon (1984-1989). It is the first Kenyon building designed by Graham Gund ’63 H’81, one of the preeminent architects in the country

Musical acts that rocked Kenyon in the 1990s

• 1993: Ani DiFranco, Gund Commons
• 1994: Blues Traveler, Wertheimer Fieldhouse
• 1997: They Might Be Giants, Senior Sendoff
• 1999: De La Soul, Senior Sendoff

I Was There: Anne Moore ’97

I often dream that I’m back at Kenyon. The dream is always the same. I’m simultaneously the adult I am now and the girl I was then, and I’m panicked. I can’t find my dorm room because I’m on the wrong floor, or my key doesn’t unlock the door that’s not mine after all. Caples is Hanna, and Hanna is Leonard and although I know where I’m supposed to be, I’m unable to find my way there.

My favorite Kenyon memory is from my first year, when it snowed the day before second-semester classes. My roommate, Anna, and I walked through the snow from the side door of McBride to the bookstore’s basement, where textbooks were sold. The snow lay undisturbed, and our footprints were the first to mark the way. I remember it was so quiet I could hear the snowflakes tinkling as they landed. Anna and I laughed and grabbed each other’s arms when our feet slid out from beneath us every few steps. I remember being happy that day, the real kind of happy not defined by conditions.

Before my husband and I welcomed our first child, I excelled in a job I loved. But when our son, Archie, was born with Down syndrome and significant health issues, I prioritized his development over my own career. I left the workplace to stay at home and take on the significant work of raising a baby with a disability. We welcomed twins, Kit and Walter, before Archie’s second birthday. I don’t remember much about that year, but I’m certain I was stretched thin. Our twins just started their sophomore years of college, and Archie lives his best life here at home with his dad and me.

My Kenyon degree has served me in ways I never imagined. It turns out educated parents raise enlightened children who are poised to change the world.