A Different Take on Spring Break

GAMBIER, Ohio (March 11, 2005) The promise of sunshine. The sounds of the surf. These cliches often attach themselves to the term "spring break." But many Kenyon students are fanning out across the states during their two-week break from classes, engaged in endeavors ranging from presenting their work at prestigious academic conferences to helping the poor.

Plenty of college students will travel to Florida this month, but how many of them will be presenting a paper at the Ninth Annual Northeast Florida Student Philosophy Conference, hosted by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville? Thomas Drake O'Keefe, a sophomore philosophy major, is doing just that. His paper, originally written as an assignment for his "Philosophy of Art" course, was one of just twelve philosophy papers selected from submissions by graduate and undergraduate students nationwide for presentation at the conference.

Eight Kenyon students, working as volunteers for the Knox County Habitat for Humanity chapter, flexed their muscles while tearing down sets from the Home and Garden Show in Columbus, Ohio. The volunteers, who also included several members of Kenyon's faculty and administrative staff, gathered enough lumber to build the framework for two houses, to benefit needy families in Knox County.

Geoff Nelson of Two Drink Minimum

Providing comic relief for students at other college campuses, Kenyon's stand-up comedy ensemble Two Drink Minimum, a group of six student comedians, is playing a string of gigs at colleges such as Amherst, Bates, Brown, Franklin & Marshall, and Middlebury. They'll cap their tour with a performance at a nightclub in New York City.

With their annual spring tour in full swing, Kenyon's Chamber Singers, a select mixed choir consisting of forty-three undergraduate musicians, are traveling to venues across the country. With stops in seven cities, including Lexington, Kentucky, St. Louis, Missouri, and Madison, Wisconsin, the ensemble will perform a diverse program, ranging from Bach to Brahms, and from Renaissance masterpieces to moving spirituals.

Classes resume at Kenyon on Monday, March 21.