Highlights from on and off the Hill

2010

Hoehn-Saric House, named in honor of a gift from Pamela Feitler Hoehn-Saric ’80 P’10,’14 and Christopher Hoehn-Saric P’10,’14 is dedicated  as the home for the Center for Global Engagement.

2011

In the summer, Josh Radnor ’96 H’24 and Allison Janney ’82 H’00 return to campus to film “Liberal Arts,” a movie written and directed by Radnor.

The Gund Gallery opens, named for architect, philanthropist and collector Graham Gund ’63 H’81. The 31,000-square-foot building includes a variety of exhibition spaces, a lecture theater, classrooms, offices and facilities for the Department of Art History.

2012

Horvitz Hall opens, named for David W. Horvitz ’74 H’98 and designed by architect Graham Gund ’63 H’81 and the GUND Partnership. The hall contains exhibition spaces, offices, classrooms and individual studio space for art majors.

2013

Sean M. Decatur is inaugurated as Kenyon’s 19th president, the first Black person to hold the position. 

2014

Kenyon dedicates both the Cox Health and Counseling Center — named for James D. Cox ’60 H’97 and located on Scott Lane — and the Rothenberg Hillel House — named for Alan E. Rothenberg ’67 H’10 P’96, designed by Peter Bloomfield ’73, and located on West Brooklyn Street.

2016

Bestselling author John Green ’00 H’16 gives the 188th Commencement address, which goes on to gain more than 140,000 views on YouTube. In it, he says, “Your voice gets stronger the more you listen — not just listening to loud voices, but also to those that are hard to hear because they have been systematically silenced.”

2017

Kenyon opens its first satellite space in Mount Vernon, the Wright Center, in the renovated Buckeye Candy and Tobacco Company building. The center houses the College’s film program, the Office for Community Partnerships and SPI, a nonprofit for local families specializing in science-based play.

On April 19, Kenyon celebrates its first Lavender Graduation ceremony for LGBTQ+ seniors in Peirce Pub.

More than 150 Kenyon students travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Women’s March on Jan. 21. 

2019

Pioneering alumni and alumnae gather on campus in celebrations marking 50 years of coeducation at Kenyon and the Black Student Union.

I Was There: Joe Lerangis ’12

One of the reasons I went to Kenyon was the sense of commitment I got from the professors. I was a junior in high school at the faculty-prospective student reception at the athletic center when I met professors Anna Sun and Yang Xiao. I was interested in Asian studies and the two of them talked with me for over half an hour about China, their research and how my interests could fit into the program at Kenyon. We talked for so long that they completely lost track of time and were late to their next meeting.

Yang Xiao eventually became my first-year advisor, and Anna Sun’s Asian studies senior seminar on public intellectuals in Asia unequivocally changed my life. We drifted apart as I spent more time in the music department. 

In 2019, when I returned for Chamber Singers Reunion, I was camped at Middle Ground and Professor Xiao happened to walk by. I expected him not to remember me, but he did. He bought us a massive cookie to share, and we sat together and chatted for two hours, completely losing track of time again.

After graduation, I spent five years living in Mongolia and China, and moved back to the U.S. in 2017 to pursue graduate studies in conducting. Now in Ithaca, New York, I’m an assistant professor in Cornell’s Department of Music and direct its choral program — think Doc Locke of Cornell! I conducted Cornell’s choir tours of Switzerland and Austria last spring, and this fall I returned to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to do archival and ethnographic work. Rest assured I hum “Kokosing Farewell” under my breath as I lead Cornell in its alma mater at university commencement ceremonies.

Pictured above: Lerangis at Bodonchiin Havtsal, the longest canyon in Mongolia, in 2025.