President Julie Kornfeld talked about the importance of Kenyon’s brand of liberal arts education.
The following is the text of the address delivered by Kenyon President Julie Kornfeld at the College’s Opening Convocation on Aug. 23, 2026.
Today is a wonderful day of celebration as you, members of the Class of 2030 and other new students, take your place here at Kenyon for the first time. Welcome! This is a really special moment — savor it. I am excited to welcome you to this beautiful campus and to your home for the next four years
Many of you have come from a world away to get here. Maybe you’re used to the fast pace of a major city or you hail from a country halfway around the globe. But you all have at least one thing in common. You’ve heard it now several times: You chose Kenyon, and Kenyon chose you. And we really couldn’t be happier that you made the journey here today. Think about this: The average American student who goes to college travels to one that is about 130 miles away from home. For the average student in the Class of 2030 here at Kenyon, it’s 985 miles away. And you’ve come all this way for a reason: to become part of a community that is unlike any other.
Every day when I step out of my home and onto Middle Path, I am invigorated and excited about this community. Each person I encounter is, in their own and unique way, dedicated to exploring the unknown, expanding boundaries and pursuing understanding — and doing it together. While the world around us changes very fast, Kenyon offers a place where things can slow down just a bit and you can take the time to build the skills and character traits that will last a lifetime — and, frankly, which are needed more than ever. Here, you will be exposed to new and different ways of thinking and you will be challenged in a thousand unexpected and beautiful ways. You will have the time to find and form connections, to explore opportunities, to learn. I think you’ve heard it several times today: Make the most of those opportunities.
When I ask students and alumni what is the thing they value most about Kenyon, the No. 1 response is always the people — their friends, their faculty, their coaches. Look around you at our esteemed faculty, all experts in their chosen fields who also are dedicated mentors devoted to student success. I know so many of them who have opened their homes and offices to students, offering tea and cookies and pets of their dogs to go along with good conversation, and who continue collaborating with their students even after graduation. It’s true of our staff, too, who also take a holistic approach to helping you succeed here. From the advisors in the Career Development Office to the dedicated staff at Student Affairs to the medical professionals at the Cox Health and Counseling Center, they all work together to help you thrive — personally, professionally and academically.
Then, of course, there are your classmates. You may be strangers now, but, trust me, that won’t last long. You will find your people here. They might be your roommate or your lab partner. You may find them sitting next to you during a concert at Rosse Hall or tossing a Frisbee on the South Quad. But trust me, you’ll find them. And once you do, as you’re heard already, you’ll never lose them, because a Kenyon friend is a friend for life. When I travel the country and I meet with Kenyon alumni, the lifelong friendships that I hear about last long into the future.
These relationships won’t happen by magic. Just like your work in the classroom, these connections come with responsibility, and they do take work. And maybe more than ever, they require understanding. The world that we’re preparing you for — and the people in it — are full of complexities. Ask all the questions you want to try and understand them — that’s what you’re here for — but don’t expect the answers that you already have. Engage in conversations, not for the purpose of changing someone’s mind, but for understanding better their perspective and what they bring to your story, to your conversation.
Most of you probably have never been in a place like this before. Take advantage of that. Meet your neighbors, both here on campus and in the larger community. Try something new. Test out a career through a local internship. Volunteer at a nearby school. Take a class that gets you out into Knox County. Visit a Mount Vernon coffee shop. Check out a local festival.
As the newest additions to this community, I know that you’ll find your place. After all, in many ways, you already represent the best of what we’re all about. You are spirited and curious. You enjoy stretching yourselves in the classroom, on athletics fields, on stages, and in concert halls. I promise that these qualities will both grow and deepen here in Gambier. Our methods for teaching and learning have certainly adapted over the years — more than 200 and counting — but the end goal of a Kenyon liberal arts education has always been the same: to build strong foundations for lives of purpose and consequence.
This is a place where our differences are our strengths. It’s a place where you will learn to collaborate across disciplines, both formally as part of your academic requirements and informally through many extracurricular activities. You will develop your ability to think critically and synthesize complicated information.
In choosing a liberal arts education, you have chosen a pathway that will prepare you to become the kind of engaged citizen the world needs. Kenyon is and always has been committed to making the world a better place by cultivating curiosity, adaptability, ethical judgement, courage and humility — all essential and durable skills in a rapidly changing world. And you will treasure those skills long after you leave here. Ask any alum and they’ll tell you it’s true.
Just last month, I spoke to more than 100 young alumni in New York City, most of them recent graduates from the past five years. I was so thrilled to hear about the many different and exciting career paths they have pursued since their time here. They are in finance and the arts, design and architecture, marketing and medicine. Amazing paths. Corresponding with one of the hosts of the event afterwards — the president of a major insurance brokerage and consulting firm headquartered in Midtown Manhattan and a proud Kenyon alum — he reminded me of something important, something that may be easy to forget when we’re sitting in our seats everyday. He wrote, “Liberal arts grads win marathons not sprints … and life is one long marathon.”
It’s impossible to say what tomorrow will look like, but I can promise you that you’ll be ready for it. Because Kenyon prepares you for the long haul, for the marathon. Not just the job you think you may be interested in four years from now, but the one you might be interested in 40 years from now. We’re here to prepare you for a fast-changing world that will require you to do many things and to be many things.
That is the heart of a Kenyon education. It is not just designed to fill your head with facts. It’s built to hone an agile mind. It recognizes that it’s not what you know, but how you think. And so it will teach you how to ask good questions, sort through complexity, write clearly, speak persuasively, understand human relationships, and make sense of the world’s rough edges.
And, most importantly, it will teach you how to do all of this together, as part of a community. That’s important. I know this from my own background in public health. As an educator and an epidemiologist, I can tell you that any significant advances you see in the world come from people collaborating, not from the efforts of a single individual.
So, are you ready to get started? Because your work here with us begins today. When you moved into your new campus residence with some of your most favorite things from home — clothes, sheets, headphones and maybe a box full of vinyl — give me a shout out if you’ve got some classic ’80s hits in there — I hope that you also packed your creativity, your inquisitiveness, your empathy, and your determination. All of these traits will serve you well as you continue to grow here as students, leaders and human beings.
I am delighted, as we all are, that you made the choice to be here. You are an essential part of our community, and we all can’t wait to see all that you will become. I look forward to seeing you on Middle Path. Congratulations and welcome.