Colleges Kenyon College

Kenyon College www.kenyon.edu

Kenyon College is a private institution that was founded in 1824. Located on a 1,000-acre campus in Gambier, Ohio, it’s hard to tell where the Kenyon College campus stops and the small downtown begins. The hilly campus of the liberal arts college runs into the town’s quaint shops, and the main walkway of campus, Middle Path, intersects downtown. On campus, there are more than 120 student clubs and organizations, including about a dozen fraternities and sororities. Freshmen must live in a common residential area. The school offers more than 150 study abroad opportunities, including the Kenyon-Honduras Archaeology and Anthropology Program and the Kenyon in Rome program. The Brown Family Environmental Center is the 382-acre nature preserve on campus. At the site, Kenyon students can take courses in biology, ecology and environmental science, as well as hike, bird watch and volunteer. Columbus, the state capital and home of Ohio State University, is a 45-mile drive away.

Academics

Kenyon is a four-year liberal arts college. There are 18 academic departments, 14 interdisciplinary programs, and more than 50 majors, minors, and concentrations. Kenyon requires students to take classes in each of the four academic divisions: fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. In addition, students must study a foreign language. The academic year follows a schedule of two four-course semesters, as well as research opportunities in the natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and fine arts during the summer. The student-faculty ratio at Kenyon is 10:1, and the school has 74% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. Popular majors include English Language and Literature, Economics, and Psychology.

Special Highlights

Kenyon Review. If you know anything about Kenyon, you likely are familiar with our long-standing literary tradition. We are home to the Kenyon Review, one of the country’s most respected literary magazines. The Kenyon Review hosts a two-week summer writing workshop on campus for high-school students. The Review also sponsors an annual summer writers workshop for adults. The Kenyon Review also operates the KR Associates Program, allowing Kenyon students to gain experience in literary editing, publishing, and programming. Student associates work with Kenyon Review staff in manuscript evaluation, publicity and marketing, and event planning, among other creative and editorial projects.

The Center for Global Engagement. The CGE oversees off-campus study, is responsible for international students and scholars, and serves as an international resource to the campus and local community. Activities include: Meet the World in Knox County, which brings Kenyon College’s international students to Knox County classrooms to offer supplemental information at appropriate grade levels; Global Engagement Week is celebrated every October and is filled with activities including dinner and discussion to film viewings; Kenyon Global Crossroads is a four-year initiative to advance internationalization to the programs of learning that define our undergraduates’ experience of the liberal arts.

School Mission & Unique Qualities

Founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase, Kenyon is the oldest private institution of higher education in the state of Ohio. No matter what you study at Kenyon, you’ll explore more than just the “how” of the subject; you’ll dig deep into the “why”. You’ll also grow invaluable skills as a writer and researcher from your first year. We believe that good writing is good thinking and that the ability to put words to ideas moves us closer to shared understanding. Whether it’s composing a critique of Chaucer or arguing the pros and cons of nuclear energy, you’ll learn how to put content in context and ground your writing in data. Kenyon invented academic advising. In 1841, it was the first institution in the US to introduce the model of professors serving as academic advisors.

Student Reviews…

“I am a proud graduate of Kenyon College. I am currently a physician approaching the end of my career. Kenyon taught me how to think, communicate, and write. Kenyon is an academically rigorous place, however, with the personal attention and support offered to students by faculty, anyone serious about education can thrive.”