When he came to Kenyon's philosophy department in the fall of 1984, associate professor Juan De Pascuale entered an environment altogether different from anything he had known before.

"I am a foreigner from the working class," he recalls thinking. "I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and now I'm in this unusual land called the Midwest."

DePascuale quickly came to appreciate the intimacy of Kenyon and Gambier. One-to-one contact with students, he says, "is possible here in ways I've never seen...anywhere else," whether that's in the dining hall, along Middle Path, or on the basketball court across from his home.

"I think the structure of the College makes it easier for an interested student to develop a relationship with a teacher that will enrich both their lives. I still have contact with students who graduated several years ago."