Is the American Experiment Still Viable?

Your guide to the United States in 2021 and beyond.

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Laboring for Change

OB-GYN and public health scholar Karen A. Scott ’98 is leading a new research project — the first of its kind — to study obstetric racism.

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Find A Way or Make One

When her senior drama thesis performance was canceled due to COVID-19, Talia Light Rake '20 turned Zoom into art.

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Also In This Edition

To aid Knox County voters, CSAD student associates compiled a nonpartisan voting guide to local candidates and issues. Photo by Rebecca Kiger

General Kenyon

Grace in Crisis

We need to be generous with grace and kindness this year, writes President Sean Decatur.

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General Kenyon

Same Hill, New World

From Plexiglass in Peirce to psychology class in Rosse, fall semester looked a little ... different.

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Kenyon in Quotes

“With all of the challenges facing them, their gratitude — joy, even — in being able to sing together, no matter the current circumstances, has been an inspiration to me.” — Professor of Music Ben Locke, on directing the Chamber Singers.

Kenyon in Quotes

“I am willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the public. I took an oath to that effect when I became a physician. But the public has to sacrifice some too if we want to get through this as safely as possible.” — Dr. Bradley A. Dreifuss ’01, an emergency medicine physician in Arizona, in a June 26 New York Times op-ed imploring the public to help health care workers fight COVID-19.

Arts & Culture

Gentle Resilience

Poetry by Virginia Kane ‘22 encapsulates the surreal nature of living amid tragedy.

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Alumni News

Big League

William E. Lowry Jr. ‘56 H‘99 is a heavy hitter in sports and life.

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Arts & Culture

Book Shelf

Explore new releases from members of the Kenyon community.

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Hot Takes: What's Trending in the Kenyon-verse

Crashing Courses

On Facebook recently, the mysterious account known only as Lorde Kenyon posed the challenge: “Ruin a Kenyon course title by changing one letter.” Some of our favorites from the 100+ responses:

ENGL 213:
Sexting: Reading Like an English Major

HIST 360:
Porn, Farming and the Roots of American Cultures

RLST 470:
Moanings of Death

PSCI 300:
Congress and Public Policyfaking

Serendipitous SMS

Many of our inboxes were blowing up with campaign-related messages this election season, but at least one of them sparked a Kenyon connection instead of ending up in the trash bin. Alise Shuart Barrett ’92, texting on behalf of New Jersey Democrats, was randomly connected with Sophie Silberman ’19, working for Ohio Democrats. Silberman took to Twitter to share her “heartwarming textbank story” of intergenerational Gambier goodwill.

Doorway Disaster

Reflecting how many of us have felt since March, the double doors of Peirce Dining Hall simply decided to give up, lie down and take a nap a few weeks into Kenyon’s fall semester. After all, enough else has gone wrong in 2020 — how much worse could a bit of ingress inconvenience make it? The faulty door was quickly set back on its hinges, but not before achieving minor Twitter fame.

Tofoodies

Tofu: Is there anything these little soy-based rectangles can’t do? The versatile vegan staple has been a cornerstone of Peirce Hall’s modified operations this year, so several first-year students started an Instagram account, @kenyontofu, to rank each day’s offerings, which range from “cooked sponge” to “crispy on the outside, actually seasoned.” Come for the Tofu Bingo and stay for special guest appearances from tofu’s sidekick, “eatloaf.”

West Winging It

Twitter buzzed with excitement at seeing Allison Janney ’82 resume her role as Aaron Sorkin’s iconic White House press secretary CJ Cregg in a “The West Wing” TV special benefiting Michelle Obama’s organization When We All Vote.

The staged reading of the season three episode “Hartsfield’s Landing” reunited the cast and garnered online praise, including, “CJ at the podium again, how I’ve missed this,” and, “I have a queen and her name is CJ Cregg.”

Sadly, there was no reprise of “The Jackal.”

Class Notes

Recent Class Notes
’73

Mark Sandson offers his first-ever class note. “So I have a lot of territory to cover! After a mediocre career at Kenyon I went on to law school at Emory. Thereafter I practiced law in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for 30 years before being appointed to the Superior Court and serving there for about 15 years. I served on the family, general equity, and criminal divisions. My last and favorite assignment was in recovery court, where I finally found my calling. When I turned 70, I was determined to be constitutionally infirm. as the NJ Constitution requires all superior court judges to retire on their 70th birthday. After I had stressed the importance of employment at a living wage with benefits, I was asked to stay on and help run a Supreme Court committee to help get New Jersey’s 130,000 probation clients good jobs. This is what I am doing every day now, and loving it.”

’14

Jeremy M. Peck writes, “Yesterday I accepted that my right knee is my ‘bad knee.’ And today you all hit me with the 10-year anniversary. Might as well just throw me in a home.” Jeremy welcomes visitors to his home in Taiwan. “Haley Abing ’13 is coming to see me soon, which is about to make my year. I have been at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy for the past year, working on supporting democracy and human rights in Asia and around the world. If you have seen any news, you wouldn’t be surprised that there’s work to do. I can’t com-plain — it is great to be working on something that feels so important.”

’92

Joshua P. Rupright, San Francisco, describes “a fun and productive 2023 connecting with fellow Owls! SF sight-seeing and dinner with Tiel Arnot ’91, seeing Guy J. Tino perform in Connecticut, and hosting a great crew for the 1st Annual Memorial Day Weekend Goonfest at the ShermShack.” Attendees included Christian L. “Smitty” Smith, Joshua Zuckerberg, William B. Gregg ’91, Stephen M. Wrinn ’91 and Silvio A. “Sandy” Spadavecchia ’89. Also “a frothy summer afternoon hang with Jay B. Khetani on his back porch in Concord, Massachusetts, dinners in NYC with Richard A. Thompson III, golf in White Plains with Richard C. Mathes
’89, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Fest with Joshua W. Danson ’94 and generally keeping it hazy here in S.F. with Alexander W. Kriney. Who’d I miss? Finley is a senior at Kent but unfortunately she shows no interest in Kenyon for next year. Griffin just started seventh grade at the Cathedral School for Boys and is enjoying his time in the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys.”

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