This Monday, Sisterhood Kenyon distributed an open letter entitled “On Behalf of Sisterhood Theme House.” The letter outlined some of the issues covered in last week’s Collegian article “Sisterhood residents voice housing concerns” and also dove into issues we were not able to cover at the time.
Since then, over 30 student organizations, including Greek organizations, affinity groups and even sports teams, have voiced their support by sending the letter out through their own email addresses.
The letter addresses residents being “seen naked by construction workers” who were sent to their house without notice, dust and insects from windows left open causing “a hygiene/health hazard,” locked doors and “instances of miscommunication and poor planning.”
Vice President for Student Affairs Meredith Harper Bonham ’92 initially responded to the string of emails with a brief Student-Info of her own, stating that she had reached out to Sisterhood but not directly addressing any of the points made in the open letter. The emails from student organizations continued.
In light of the letter, the Collegian wishes to re-emphasize our support of Sisterhood and the six residents living in R-17. Last week, based on our reporting, we called for the administration to take the residents’ concerns seriously. We reiterate that call with urgency. Kenyon has repeatedly put the residents of Sisterhood theme housing in unsafe and unacceptable conditions. At the very least, the Office of Residential Life and the Office of Student Engagement owe them an apology.
It is our hope first and foremost that talks between Sisterhood and Bonham lead to a long-overdue sense of respect and safety for the students. We also urge Kenyon to make sure that a situation like this will never happen again.
On Kenyon’s website, the Residential Life webpage states that campus housing is “where you hang out, banter, make friends, make music, organize mayhem, improvise parties, snack, study, and sleep. Above all, you choose.” It doesn’t appear that the College is delivering on these promises.
The staff editorial is written weekly by editors-in-chief Cameron Messinides ’19 and Devon Musgrave-Johnson ’19, managing editor Grant Miner ’19 and executive director Matt Mandel ’19. You can contact them at messinidesc@kenyon.edu, musgravejohnsond @kenyon.edu, minerg@kenyon.edu and mandelm@kenyon.edu, respectively.