Kenyon Home » Academic Advising » Kenyon First

Kenyon First

Making the most of your first year.

Your first year at Kenyon will lay the foundation for your whole college career, and in many ways for your life beyond. We want you to explore, take on challenges, and flourish--as a student, as a person.

Kenyon provides an array of opportunities for first-year students. All of them reflect some central ideals--the "big stuff."

  • Think big and launch your dreams. Kenyon will help.
  • Get involved. Give back.
  • Do it right--with integrity, with respect for others.
  • Put it all together: academics, activities, community service.

Opportunities and Activities for First-Year Students:

Orientation is about much more than the logistics of moving in. Above all, it's a time when we help you make some key connections. You'll meet your faculty advisor and an upperclass counselor. Together, they'll help you register for fall classes and give you guidance as you start thinking about your academic program longer-term. You'll meet roommates and hallmates, and you'll get to know community advisors, the upperclass students who will work with you to keep life in the residence halls happy and harmonious. You'll learn about many campus resources, and you'll discover some Kenyon traditions. You'll also learn about our expectations for you, academically and socially. You'll get a sense of what diversity means here, and why we value it. In short, you'll begin to put down roots in the Kenyon community, and to appreciate the importance of community on Gambier Hill.

For more information, call 740-427-5760 or email orientation@kenyon.edu.

Back to Top

A number of incoming first-year students choose to participate in our Pre-Orientation program. Designed to be both meaningful and fun, Pre-O offers two options: a ten-day session filled with creative activities in writing and critical thinking, or a four-day session devoted to community service. It's a way to get an early taste of the Kenyon classroom and the Kenyon spirit--and, as such, it strengthens the transition from high school to college.

For more information, call 720-427-5760 or email preorientation@kenyon.edu.

Back to Top

Academic advising is really a four-year process, but the experience--individual mentoring and support--begins during first-year Orientation. Your faculty advisor will help you choose courses with the aim of constructing a meaningful academic program. You'll see how you can pursue your intellectual passions and experiment with subjects that intrigue you, while at the same time embracing the breadth that is the hallmark of a curriculum grounded in the liberal arts and sciences. You can also count on the help of your upperclass counselor and community advisor, plus the staff of the dean for academic advising and support, and eventually a faculty advisor in the department of your major. Together, these advisors will encourage you to challenge yourself and even take some academic risks. You'll undertake increasingly rigorous coursework, knowing that you're never far from people whose main goal is your success.

For more information, contact Dean Martindell, or call the Office of Academic Advising and Support at 740-427-5145.

Back to Top

Kenyon's departments and interdisciplinary programs offer a wide range of courses designed primarily for first-year students. They range from introductory classes, covering the fundamentals of a discipline, to seminars on specific topics. All of these courses will help you to develop crucial academic skills--careful reading, critical thinking, coherent writing, and productive participation in discussion. Read through the offerings in the course catalog. Ask your faculty advisor to make some recommendations. And feel free to contact other faculty members and department chairs.

For more information, contact Dean Martindell, or call the Office of Academic Advising and Support at 740-427-5145.

Back to Top

Clubs, sports, organizations of all kinds: Kenyon offers scores of extracurricular activities, and we see them as vital, not tangential. Research consistently shows that getting involved outside the classroom, early in your college career, can help you succeed. That's because extracurricular activities can improve your time-management, organizational, interpersonal, and leadership skills. Whether you're interested in music or politics, poetry or science, ethnic awareness or volunteer work with children, you can find a group of like-minded students on campus. Some students mistakenly believe that they should wait until they're more "settled" before joining a club. Experience shows otherwise. Get involved during your first year!

For more information, contact the Student Activities Office at 740-427-5661.

Back to Top

The residence halls are an integral part of a Kenyon education, fostering community, friendships, activism, creativity, and good campus citizenship. Our residential life staff works hard to provide opportunities for students to shape daily life in the halls. We recognize that many of your most meaningful experiences in college will take place here, in the residence halls, talking (and sometimes debating), spending time with a few close friends, or organizing larger gatherings. We also believe that the experience of dealing with differences in a diverse community, hands-on and up close, will serve you well throughout your life.

For more information, call the Office of Housing and Residential Life at 740-427-5142.

Back to Top

The rewards of volunteering include, of course, the knowledge that you are making a difference in the lives of others. But civic engagement also adds a valuable dimension to college life, which can sometimes feel insular. Volunteer work connects your academic experience to real-life issues, bringing greater meaning to both. Moreover, it cultivates a sense of place and a sense of belonging--in Kenyon's case, to the fascinating region of Knox County and central Ohio.

Every year, starting in 2008-09, the incoming class will focus volunteer efforts around a theme. The first is food. Students will work on two initiatives in particular: the Kenyon program called Food for Thought and the community drive called Food for the Hungry.

  • Food for Thought seeks to build a sustainable market for local foods in and around Knox County, with the aim of helping farmers, strengthening rural communities, preserving farmland, and giving consumers better, fresher food. In addition to bringing local foods into Kenyon's dining hall, Food for Thought involves students in conducting research, organizing public events, writing articles, and creating exhibits. Learn more at the Web site of the Rural Life Center: http://rurallife.kenyon.edu.
  • In recent years, local charities have been struggling to ensure that Knox County's needy families have access to a stable and nutritious diet. The squeeze has made Food for the Hungry, a holiday-season food drive, all the more crucial. Kenyon students will make the drive a year-round cause, collecting food and money in residence halls, at concerts and varsity games, and at other special events. For more information, contact Karl Stevens, Kenyon's Episcopal chaplain, at 740-427-5223.

We encourage you to get involved in these and other volunteer efforts. Opportunities include Habitat for Humanity, tutoring in schools, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, and the local hot-meals program. Kenyon organizations like Circle K, the Archon Society, and the Off-Campus Activities Program in Psychology are actively involved in volunteer work and can help you find a role to play.

For more information about volunteer opportunities, contact New Student Orientation and Community Programs at 740-427-5760.

Back to Top