As Thanksgiving (and, by extension, the much-needed Thanksgiving Break) draws closer, Kenyon students are busy with the veritable avalanche of assignments and tests that seem to accumulate each November. A dive into the Collegian archives reveals that November has always been a busy time on the Hill, with a flurry of activity associated with the Thanksgiving holiday keeping generations of Kenyon students on their toes.
In 1891, the Kenyon Alumni Association of Northern Ohio hosted its first annual banquet and meeting in Cleveland. The Collegian reported that invitations to the dinner, which was to be held on Dec. 23 of the same year, were forthcoming and highlighted the fact that alumni of the College could do a world of good for their alma mater by being successful and respectable. But how exactly should they achieve this? This issue of the Collegian offered some examples: “Our representation at the Thanksgiving football game did good work; Kenyon, though beaten, was heard from. The banquet will take up the strain where football left it, and add its tiny pipe to the mighty chorus of re-awakened interest in Kenyon to be found in all parts of our broad land.”
Indeed, the Thanksgiving football game proved to be a staple of the season throughout the late 19th century, with Kenyon’s big 1896 win over The Ohio State University going down in College history. Even so, some members of the Kenyon community were skeptical of the victory: A January 1897 Collegian piece questioned whether the team had really pulled it off without professional help. “We were much surprised to see in the State Journal a statement to the effect that the Kenyon team that played Thanksgiving Day was composed largely of hired men,” the editors wrote. “To resort to the use of such slurs is most disgraceful.” The article continued to quote an editorial from the Intigral claiming that “[the win] is an exhibition of what an institution with seventy-five students possessing a good, clean amateur spirit and plenty of college patriotism can do against another with a thousand.” To be sure, Kenyon remains thankful for this win to the present day, with the traditional College song “Stand Up and Cheer” commemorating it.
Back in the days of yore, the Collegian often published a general account of what students did for the Thanksgiving vacation. In the Dec. 5, 1905, issue, for example, special attention was paid to the Bexley Hall Seminary students who left the Hill for the “one day long” break: “Mr. M.B. Long was in Columbus; Mr. Symons spent two days visiting friends in Greenville, Pa.; Mr. Babin went to Massillon; Mr. Albus held services on Thanksgiving Day and the Sunday following at New Philadelphia, Oh., in place of Mr. R.A. Clayborne…” The article continues on in this manner for several lines, allowing readers to catch up on their peers’ comings and goings in a manner that rivals the present-day Find My Friends.
In 1942, the Collegian ran a supplemental volume on account of rationing associated with WWII, and in an austere typewriter font, the Nov. 20 issue reported that “Thanksgiving finds men on Hill.” On campus, the holiday was marked with a “turkey dinner” in the “Commons” at 1:30 p.m., and no academic appointments were held in the evening out of respect for the event, which was “the only holiday of the term” that year. The same article noted that a joint religious service was held at the Methodist church to mark Thanksgiving morning.
As it happens, the length of the Thanksgiving vacation was a hot topic of discussion in the 1970s, when the College was debating whether to lengthen it to a full week off from classes. The Campus Senate finally endorsed the proposed changes in 1975, citing the following reasons: “1). Many students and faculty are fatigued by the lengthy period from September to the end of November. 2). More persons would be able to take advantage of a vacation in October. 3). The November break, with the College remaining open without classes, could provide for a community Thanksgiving celebration. In families where the holiday is an important occasion, the five days off will provide students a chance to return home.” A four-day Thanksgiving break (encompassing Thursday, Friday and the weekend) was proposed in 1983, but luckily for current students, the College retains its weeklong vacation in the present day, providing a valuable respite from the tedium of College life.
As we get further into the season of gratitude, Kenyon students are lucky to have plenty to be thankful for. “I am grateful for Peirce [Dining Hall] desserts, especially birthday cake and all types of cheesecake, they light my day everytime I walk into Peirce,” Silvia Martinez Gargallo ’27 shared with the Collegian. Many students also expressed appreciation for the people around them: “I am thankful for my family, girlfriend, having taken a gap year and for the Kokes,” Alex Goldin ’28 said. Marcella Ma ’27 concurred, stating “I’m grateful for [having] such great friends, [who] always try to rescue me when I fall into a self-torturing mode (practicing instruments) in the basement of Rosse on a Friday night by persuading me to go to a musical.” Despite the busy November schedule, it seems, the community is finding a way to take stock of the good things. As the archives show us, it is the latest in a long Thanksgiving-time tradition on the Hill.