Dear members of the Kenyon community,
There’s no better time to be in Gambier than the start of a new school year. It’s full of firsts for our newest community members and happy reunions for those returning. This year we were blessed with perfect weather, whether you were a student settling into one of Kenyon’s newest residence halls or a faculty or staff member readying your office or lab.
We welcomed over 400 new students from across the country and all over the world. They join a student body that is more than 1,700 strong, including about 125 studying abroad this semester. Also new to campus are nine tenure-track faculty selected from very competitive searches. Kenyon has always been a destination for top scholars, artists and teachers, and these new colleagues continue that tradition.
This fall also marks the launch of our interdisciplinary program in computing. It builds on the strength of Kenyon’s faculty in many departments and disciplines who rely on computational methods to advance knowledge in their respective fields. It also underscores the importance of equipping students not just to build and leverage technology but to understand its impact on the human experience and to deploy it responsibly.
A timely launch in many ways, our new computing program coincides with conversations Kenyon (and the world) is having about the role of AI in our teaching, learning and work. It is increasingly clear that AI is not just a technical tool; it is a cultural, ethical and social force that is moving very fast. I believe that Kenyon is well positioned to prepare students for this moment, thanks in large part to the nimbleness of our new program, the strong foundation it is building on, and our long-established interdisciplinary approach.
This is just one example of the advantage a liberal arts education can offer in periods of rapid change. A Kenyon education cultivates adaptability — the capacity to step into the unknown, sort through complexity, and respond with clarity and empathy. We have an opportunity to make this advantage clearer and even more resonant for a generation eager to engage complex, global challenges.
Over the summer, more than 50 faculty from across the College explored ways to enhance opportunities for interdisciplinary inquiry and experiential learning around several pressing issues. These cross-cutting themes, or pathways, include data and technology, democracy, health, sustainability and public expression. At the same time, we are working to create the infrastructure to support the faculty's interdisciplinary aspirations and ensure that all students can participate in the dynamic and immersive programs we build.
We are living in a time of both unprecedented disruption and unprecedented opportunity. I have said many times that to thrive in a shifting landscape — technological, economic, political, competitive — we cannot stand still. This does not mean change for change’s sake. It means evolving to meet the world as it is so that we can shape it into the world we want it to be.
I recently heard someone describe the choice we face as educators and students in this way: We can choose to position ourselves as victims of an overwhelming and fractured world, or we can choose to position ourselves as we really are — architects of tomorrow. I choose the latter, and I invite you to join me.
Warmly,
Julie Kornfeld
President