A Letter from President S. Georgia Nugent

As a new academic year begins on the Hill in Gambier, we live in a world which has changed in substantial ways over the last twelve months. Almost exactly a year ago, the worldwide economic crisis began to unfold. Naturally, higher education has not been immune to these developments, as credit froze, markets tumbled, and jobs were lost across America and around the world. And we know that Kenyon families—whether alumni, current parents, or current faculty and staff members—felt the effects of this global downturn.

So it is all the more remarkable that I can say there is much good news to report today about Kenyon. I want to share some updates on what's happening with students at the College. But first, since we are all of necessity so concerned with finances today, let me provide a brief overview of Kenyon's financial situation.

Kenyon has run a balanced budget for almost 40 years—something that not all colleges can boast. This year, like everyone else, we faced particularly difficult decisions. We made these decisions by identifying our priorities: protect our people and protect our educational programs. We did not lay off anyone, we did not cut benefits, we did not make across-the-board cuts. Instead, we made strategic adjustments, focusing on areas that we felt would least affect the quality of the education we provide. You are seeing one example now—we elected not to publish the Annual Report as a paper document, but to offer it online. We realize this is not ideal. But we also hope that members of the Kenyon community will agree with the priority of placing the students' educational experience first.

Of course, understanding Kenyon's financial picture requires understanding our resources as well as our expenses. The College's endowment (approximately $150 million) is quite small relative to our peer colleges (which have endowments of $500 million to $1 billion). Thus, our endowment supports only a small portion of our operating budget (approximately 7 percent). While this is normally a cause of concern, in the present economic situation it was actually somewhat advantageous not to be relying on endowment earnings as a major component of operations. Of course, the corollary is that the vast majority of Kenyon's operating funds (approximately 75 percent) depend on the tuition and fees of current students. The remainder of the funding that keeps Kenyon operating, year to year, comes from grants and gifts, including—very importantly—the Kenyon Fund and the Kenyon Parents Fund.

Because of our dependence on tuition, it is crucial to our future that prospective students and their families continue to view a Kenyon education as valuable, desirable, and an investment worth making. I can report that families do understand and are committed to a Kenyon education. The incoming Class of 2013 is larger than we had anticipated and, at this point, the number of applications for the Class of 2014 is well over twice as large as the number we had received at this point last year.

That applications are up at small, private, residential liberal arts colleges is not what you are seeing in the media. Almost every day, it seems to me, major media stories have claimed that college today is not affordable and that all students will be "trading down"—that is, choosing a public college instead of a private one, a community college instead of a public university, and so on. But this media message is not consonant with what is actually happening. For one thing, it doesn't recognize that private colleges offer much more financial aid than public universities. At Kenyon, we're extremely pleased to announce this fall that the "We Are Kenyon" campaign has reached the $50 million mark for financial aid, doubling the endowed funds available for scholarships.

In fact, a number of our peer colleges, as well as Kenyon, experienced an upsurge in enrollment this past year. How could this be so? I believe it's because, in these tough economic times, families are really asking what's most important. And, as they identify priorities, the long-term value of a Kenyon education seems well worth the investment.

Having provided a brief overview of Kenyon's financial health, let me say a bit about the health of student life on campus. This fall we welcomed a first-year class that is large (469 students), diverse (19 percent students of color, 9 percent international students), and wonderfully excited about arriving at Kenyon. This class includes students from Zimbabwe, Iraq, and the West Bank, as well as from Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia. How did they find their way to this hill in central Ohio? Part of the answer is the Internet, part is the phenomenal efforts of our admissions staff, and part is the enthusiasm of the Kenyon family—which now circles the globe, and spreads the word.

Not only are we extremely pleased with the students who are coming to Kenyon, we're also extremely proud of our graduates. In recent years, Kenyon has become one of the highest producers among small colleges of Fulbright postgraduate fellowships in the nation. (This is a highly competitive international scholarly exchange program run by the State Department.) We are also at the top level nationally for Goldwater Fellowships. (These are elite scholarships in the science and technology fields). Additionally, we have impressively high numbers of graduates going into the Teach for America program.

In these turbulent times, I think those of us in the Kenyon family have reason to feel proud, of both the financial health and the academic health of the institution. This strength owes a great deal to the commitment of Kenyon alumni, parents, and friends, who so generously contribute to the College their experience, their knowledge, their resources, and their time.

This year, especially, I want to express my personal gratitude for the generosity of the Kenyon family.