Rock Around the Clock

GAMBIER, Ohio (April 22, 2004) It's Kenyon's version of Woodstock, Lollapalooza, and the Battle of the Bands all rolled into one. Nine bands out under the spring sky. Food. Dancing. Games. We're talking about Summer Send-off, an end-of-the-year festival that students begin to anticipate as soon as the first bulbs poke up on Middle Path. This year's edition of Summer Send-off takes place on Saturday, May 1, on Ransom Lawn.

"This is the weekend before the last week of classes, so it's sort of the last hurrah before the crunch for final exams," says Jessica Cheatwood-Alvarez, area coordinator for first-year students, who works with the student-run Social Board that coordinates the event.

Nappy Roots, a six-man group based in Kentucky, is this year's headline band. They were the number-one-selling hip-hop group of 2002 with their label debutWatermelon, Chicken, and Grits. Their sophomore album, Wooden Leather, was released in 2003.

Kenyon student and alumni bands will begin performing at 12:00 noon, kicking off a twelve-hour music marathon. The evening will begin to crest around 11:00 p.m. when Nappy Roots takes the stage. Kenyon students elected the Dead Cover Band to open for the hip-hop group at the Social Board's battle of the bands competition.

The Social Board will sell commemorative T-shirts designed by first-year student Andrew Ritter, whose artwork was chosen in an all-campus contest.

"Summer Send-off is a great opportunity to come together and have a good time," says Yohanca Delgado, Class of 2006 and a co-chair of the Social Board.

One of the nation's leading liberal arts and sciences colleges and home to the Kenyon Review, Kenyon College offers 1,594 students a challenging educational experience enriched by a culture of friendship. Graduates of the College have included actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and author E. L. Doctorow.