Forgotten Moments in Kenyon History

President Robert A. Oden Jr. reflects on Kenyon history in honor of the College's 175th anniversary.

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A British View

Sir Lloyd Tyrell-Kenyon, Lord Kenyon and Sixth Baron of Gredington, delivers the 1999 Founder's Day address.

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The Long-Lost 'Kenyon House'

Peter Dickson '69 explores the history of Mount Vernon's first brick hotel.

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Also In This Edition

Image of Old Kenyon from the College archives.

Kenyon in Quotes

"There is little in our history that is beyond dispute, there is much about which good and wise people have disagreed. Put rather differently, our past has witnessed historical revisions, and this process will and should continue." —Former President Robert A. Oden Jr.

Kenyon in Quotes

"Will Kenyon still exist as a collection of buildings and people on an Ohio hilltop twenty-five, fifty, or one hundred years from now? The future, of course, has a way of surprising us, but I believe it will. The campus ideal, introduced here by Philander Chase almost one hundred seventy-five years ago, will prevail." —Tom Stamp '73

Class Notes

Recent Class Notes
’88

Tara L. Jones, Eugene, Oregon, describes her busy summer in the garden: “We harvested and processed pears, apples, elderberries, aronia berries, goumi berries, black currants, grapes and a variety of medicinal plants. Helping to install a drip irrigation system, a highlight of my summer, made me think about a career change.” Tara recommends an eight-week online class called The Work 101, based on “The Work” by Byron Katie, for anyone “looking for a tool to get yourself back on track emotionally when you find yourself going off the rails.” Daughter Sophia, now completing her materials science degree (minoring in physics), was offered a job as a graduate assistant in the department of nuclear engineering at Oregon State University this spring while she pursues her master’s.

’97

Laura (Witek) McDonald has worked at Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School in Joplin, Missouri, since graduation — first as a science/math teacher and coach, and for a decade as head of school and college counselor. “What is even stranger to me than coming up on our 25th reunion,” she writes, “is that my son graduates from Oberlin this spring.” Although unable to recruit him for Kenyon, she confesses, this fall she did recommend her alma mater to a student, who emailed her: “You were right! Kenyon is a perfect fit. It’s beautiful here, and I’ve already made many friends.”

’77

“It’s the first time in four years we have not had to deal with smoke or fire threats in our beautiful Pacific Northwest autumn. I’ve returned to the creative writing that originally sent me to Kenyon in 1973. A prose poem I initially penned in 2018 just as the Kavanaugh hearings were wrapping up is still in the works, but the wordsmithing is nearly done — just in time to address the latest onslaught of attacks on women’s rights via Texas. Recall that when we entered college in the fall of 1973, we were the first class of women to enjoy the benefits of a woman’s right to choose regarding reproductive rights.”

— Linda (Isako) Angst, Portland, Oregon

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