In May, more than 1,400 alumni and guests gathered in Gambier to celebrate Kenyon’s bicentennial Reunion Weekend. Everything about the weekend was larger than life: A man on horseback who cosplayed as Philander Chase, a community block party culminating in an Old Kenyon light show and a soirée featuring circus performers and a giant cake in the shape of Old Kenyon.

There was so much Kenyon love in the air, everyone was seeing purple.

After the weekend, attendee Dennis Rom Pannullo ’74 wrote a letter to the editor explaining why he still returns to the Hill after 50 years. He wrote:

“It is impossible to be cynical and detached in the Garden of Gambier. We really are borne away by some strange spell, by something intangible, something ineffable.”

When the magazine team started planning for what would become the “200 Things To Love About Kenyon” project as part of our bicentennial celebration, we knew we wouldn’t have any trouble filling out our list with beautiful, inspiring and “only at Kenyon” items. But we also wanted to capture some of the “intangible” and “ineffable” qualities Pannullo so eloquently described.

And we knew we needed your help.

Through newsletters and social media, we asked you to share the things you love about Kenyon. In response, you wowed us with your passion, insight and humor.

We also mined the College’s archives and read through hundreds of alumni memories shared as part of an oral history project with our partner Publishing Concepts Inc., for a forthcoming book available for purchase this winter. And the editors of the recently published “Place and Purpose: Kenyon at 200” generously allowed us to share excerpts from their extraordinary book, now available at shopkenyon.com.

In this edition of the alumni magazine, which can be viewed online in a special, interactive format, we’ve collected and shared just a tiny collection of the many things that you told us you loved: professors, buildings, traditions, memories and the lasting lessons you took from your time in Gambier. We’ve included some alumni favorites (look for a mega-crossword by David Bukszpan ’02 and a just-for-this-issue selection of bicentennial class notes drawn from your oral history submissions) and plenty of stories about the people who enriched your lives.

Don’t look for order in this list, secret or otherwise: This isn’t homework; it’s a love letter and a gift. And it’s far from comprehensive.

Please email editor@kenyon.edu and tell us what’s on the list of things you love most about Kenyon.

We can’t wait to hear what you think. 

VIEW THE ISSUE

Elizabeth Weinstein
Editor

P.S. Looking for class notes? For this issue, we’ve curated a special bicentennial selection with memories shared as part of our oral history project. You'll find them as you browse through the magazine. Class notes will return as usual in the upcoming fall 2024 edition of the alumni magazine.