Here on purpose. That’s what the brochures say. They remind us that, out of any number of small liberal arts colleges perched on rolling hills, we chose this one. We chose to make our home on the Hill for four years, to study where Paul Newman ’49, Allison Janney ’82, John Green ’00 and many more studied, in the same rooms where they sat and in buildings that were not even thought of until years after they graduated.

Change is a natural part of life, even for the “Kenyon bubble.” One year, the land behind McBride Field was open, and the next it was filled by the Meadow Lane Suites. We were here when the Lords and Ladies metamorphosed into the Owls, and we heard the bell ring in the Old Kenyon tower to mark the installation of President Julie Kornfeld. Many that come after us will have no memory of the Senior Studio Art Show in The Gund. As seniors, we remember how the Hill once looked, and we know Kenyon won’t look like this ever again. Change happens whether we want it to or not, for good and for bad.

We aren’t powerless against the winds of change, though, and we should not allow ourselves to simply be buffeted by them. As students, we have the ability to shape what kind of school Kenyon is. We don’t get to decide how the administration allocates the majority of its funds, or which professor gets to stay, or even what will be for dinner. But we have the power — and the responsibility — to shape our community. 

So make Kenyon what you will. If you want to spend four years complaining about the ways Kenyon could be different, that’s a choice you can make. But, just know that while the College is far from perfect, you have the power to change Kenyon’s community and culture for the better. 

We can keep alive the traditions that made our time at Kenyon special, such as First-Year Sing. We can leave behind and still remember the parts of our history that should not survive into the future. We can be the people to speak up and act out against injustice in Gambier and throughout the world. We can be the ones to share a smile and a nod with a stranger on Middle Path. And we can be the people who write it all down so that, decades from now, when the New Apartments have finally been torn down and there are three more buildings named either Gund or Mather, students will see how much the Hill has changed and how much it hasn’t. 

Kenyon is what you make it, and we’re endlessly grateful we made it our home.

Sincerely,

Katie, Annalia and Audrey

This editorial was written by editors-in-chief Katie Sparvero ’25 and Audrey Baker ’25 and managing editor Annalia Fiore ’25. You can contact them at sparvero1@kenyon.edu, baker10@kenyon.edu and fiore1@kenyon.edu, respectively.