The rural Ohio bubble at Kenyon can make the world feel small. For students looking to engage with cultures from outside of the U.S., you are in luck! This semester, Kenyon has gained four new culturally affiliated clubs: Chinese Culture Club, Eastern European Club, Korean Student Association and Mediterranean Life Club. These clubs have all become either recently active or registered as official student organizations this semester. According to club executive members, students with ties to these respective cultures have felt an absence in representation and appreciation for these cultures at Kenyon, which initiated the creation or renewal of the clubs. These four groups are the newest additions to the nine existing cultural affinity organizations at Kenyon. 

Tiffany Yang ’25, president and founder of Chinese Culture Club, discovered that the organization dated back to 2017. She decided to reimplement it at Kenyon last fall. Chinese Culture Club hosted its first independent event this semester, a Chinese Tea Party. In reintroducing this club at Kenyon, Yang wanted to provide a space for students interested in learning more about Chinese culture specifically, as this particular perspective is not explored in depth in Kenyon Asian Identities or the International Society at Kenyon. 

“We want to offer more authentic Chinese events that Chinese [people] would do back in our country,” Yang said. The club plans to “focus more narrowly and deeper on the roots of Chinese culture.” At the tea party event, with Chinese snacks in hand, attendees enjoyed a wide variety of teas from regions around China and learned of traditional tea ceremony etiquette. After the event ended, attendees were given ceramic cups that had been purchased for the event. Seven students participated. 

The club, while serving students interested in exploring Chinese cultural traditions and celebrations, is also excited about collaborating with the various groups dedicated to highlighting international presences at Kenyon. Chinese Culture Club was a part of the Culture Fair that the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) put on last spring, and it plans on co-hosting the International Formal along with some of the other internationally focused campus organizations. 

For Eastern European Club and Mediterranean Life Club, exploring the possibilities of international cuisine that Kenyon’s club budget can support is an important goal. Eastern European Club’s first event was hosted in partnership with the CGE and focused on food. Students learned how to make a selection of traditional Slavic foods like borscht (a soup made with beets, beef and cabbage), kompot (a fruit drink) and banitsa (a traditional cheesy pastry).

Mediterranean Life Club plans on bringing in new types of food to Kenyon for their events as well, co-President Despoina Katsiokali ’27 explained: “I feel like for some clubs they do have food but it’s usually from the same place and sometimes it’s not very good, so we want to find more options to introduce Kenyon students and faculty members to.” 

Mediterranean Life Club also hopes to invite speakers to campus and host parties. “We want both the fun part and the education,” Katsiokali said. Nearly 30 students expressed interest in their initial interest poll that was sent out to students over email. Katsiokali hopes this interest remains as the club begins to host events.

Korean Student Association, similarly to its peer organizations, is interested in recognizing a specific culture. Their focus on incorporating language practice into their club, however, is something that sets them apart from the eight other cultural affinity groups that exist at Kenyon. “We plan on curating events, celebrating holidays and language,” their mission statement claims. Their first event, held this Monday,  was a ceremony honoring UN veterans who fought in the Korean War. The club’s email called for a moment of silence to “turn toward Busan, a city in Korea and the location of the UN Memorial Cemetery for veterans who died in the war.” 

Hopefully, these new Kenyon funded and supported groups will allow international and culturally engaged students to feel more represented and acknowledged by the College. “I am from Greece, and there aren’t really any clubs that represent that part of the world or hold any events around that region,” Katsiokali said of the reason she decided to co-found the club alongside Kaan Orhan ’26, Ayesha Aslam ’27, Eva Konstantinidou ’28 and Berkay Kurnaz ’27. 

These additions to campus life have been important supplements to the increase in events and discourse around Kenyon’s international presence both through the CGE and the international student population. This increase in intercultural engagement hopes to make Kenyon a more appealing and welcoming environment for students interested in transnational and cultural opportunities.