Kenyon College names Sarah Kahrl director of development

GAMBIER, Ohio (December 8, 2003) Sarah Kahrl, vice president for advancement at CAPA (Columbus Association for the Performing Arts) in Columbus, Ohio, has been named director of development at Kenyon College. A member of CAPA's staff since 1993, Kahrl has been responsible for generating contributed revenue and directing capital campaigns at CAPA, one of the nation's premier presenters of the performing arts in Columbus as well as Chicago, Illinois, and New Haven, Connecticut.

At Kenyon, Kahrl will plan, implement, and evaluate programs to raise contributed support for the College. Kahrl, a resident of Mount Vernon, begins work at Kenyon on January 20.

According to Kimberlee Klesner, Kenyon's vice president for development, Kahrl will bring impressive depth and breadth of development experience to Kenyon. "Sarah's fresh ideas, energy, and experience, especially in the area of corporate and foundation relations, will help us to continue to move ahead in our efforts to strengthen the College," says Klesner. "Our cash gifts topped $20 million for the first time last year, and Sarah is the right choice to help us maintain that momentum."

"Kenyon is a distinguished institution with a visionary new president and ambitious plans for its academic future," says Kahrl. "I've been honored to be part of the exceptional CAPA organization and to work with two great leaders--Bill Conner and Doug Kridler--during the past decade."

While at CAPA, Kahrl directed a $10 million capital campaign for the restoration of the Southern Theater in Columbus. She also oversaw the $8 million "Building CAPACity" campaign to provide resources for the endowment, improvements to the Ohio Theater, and educational programming. In 2002, she helped lead CAPA's interim management team, administering the search for a new chief executive officer.

Before working at CAPA, Kahrl was coordinator of grants for the Columbus Museum of Art, where she generated foundation and government grants for exhibition support and reinstallation of the museum's permanent collection. Kahrl has also served as director of development for Opera Columbus. Her central Ohio connections run deep, with experience as a fundraising consultant for the Columbus Academy, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Ohio State University Department of Corporate and Foundation Relations. She began her career in development at Kenyon, raising funds for theKenyon Festival Theater from 1980 to 1983. A 1979 graduate of Smith College, Kahrl is the author of Corporate and Foundation Profiles: Columbus Supports the Arts, which was jointly published by the Greater Columbus and Ohio Arts Councils in 1988.