Lost Founders, Lasting Friends
Associate Professor of English Adele S. Davidson '75 reflects on the lost founders of Kenyon in an adaptation of…
Read The StoryThe daughter and mother team of Liz Forman '73, the College's assistant director of admissions, and Helen Forman, one-time Kenyon bookstore clerk and all-time raconteur (as well as daughter of John Crowe Ransom and inheritor of his gift for rhyme) contributed this ditty to the Celebration of Twenty-Five Years of Women at Kenyon that took place during Homecoming in September 1994.
The original "Philander Chase" — written by George Franklin Smythe, author of "Kenyon College: Its First Century — is sung to the tune of "The Pope" (as is this version), arranged by Alfred Kingsley Taylor, a member of the Class of 1906.
The first of Kenyon's female line
Arrived in fall of sixty-nine;
They climbed the hill and postured there;
Of them the men were well aware.
They climbed the hill and postured there;
Of them the men were well aware.
To form the pure and perfect man,
Now that was old Philander's plan.
But isolation failed, 'tis true;
Bring women in, see what they'll do.
But isolation failed, 'tis true;
Bring women in, see what they'll do.
They studied hard, they read their books
And often me resentful looks.
They entered every classroom door;
When called upon, they took the floor.
They entered every classroom door;
When called upon, they took the floor.
They brought in A's, the garnered B's;
They held their own with graceful ease.
Indeed their scholarship corrects
The notion they're the weaker sex.
Indeed their scholarship corrects
The notion they're the weaker sex.
Soprano voices found their place
Mixed in with baritone and bass;
They added fullness to each note
That every good composer wrote.
They added fullness to each note
That every good composer wrote.
Athletic prowess brought rich yields,
On tennis courts and hockey fields.
They proved they're really in the swim;
Sports are for her as well as him.
They proved they're really in the swim;
Sports are for her as well as him.
Thus women worked with all their might
For Kenyon College, day and night.
Now Kenyon men and women strong
Stand side by side where they belong.
Now Kenyon men and women strong
Stand side by side where they belong.
Associate Professor of English Adele S. Davidson '75 reflects on the lost founders of Kenyon in an adaptation of…
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