Professor of Classics Adam Serfass delivered the Founders’ Day keynote address, “Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving.”
This year’s Founders’ Day was an exercise in embracing tradition and togetherness, from the moment new students gathered in Rosse Hall to take part in the Rite of Matriculation to when members of the broader community stood at the hall’s front steps to join in song together.
At the heart of the annual celebration — first observed in 1880 — was a sense of thanksgiving for everyone who has contributed to the College since it was established by Bishop Philander Chase in 1824.
“Founders’ Day is the most conscious celebration of Kenyon’s past, present and future in the College’s calendar,” President Julie Kornfeld said during a morning convocation in Rosse Hall, named for Lady Rosse, one of the British patrons who backed the creation of the College.
“We honor those who first supported Philander Chase’s academic venture in the Ohio wilderness, as well as those who have built and maintained Kenyon’s campus, developed its curriculum, taught its students, and nurtured the College and its programs for 200 years.”
Kornfeld’s remarks came after faculty and administrators wearing full regalia processed through a persistent rain into Rosse Hall, where they welcomed new students as full members of the undergraduate community. In reciting the Matriculation Oath, members of the Class of 2029 and transfer students pledged to devote themselves to a set of shared values at Kenyon.
The assembled crowd heard Professor of Classics Adam Serfass give the keynote address, “Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving,” in which he discussed the history and implications of the Latin verses from two ancient Roman poets inscribed on the Middle Path Gates.
“They are proposing an answer to the question, ‘Why are we here?’” he said. “They are reminding us that this is a place to pause on our journey, a place set apart from, yet a part of, the wider world. They are reminding us to sing: that this is a place in which the arts should thrive. They are reminding us that this is a place … where we are to seek truth, whether we are sitting in an oak-paneled classroom in Ascension Hall, in the cross-beamed nave of the chapel, or in a stand of pines atop a hill across a river named for the owl, the bird sacred to Athena.”
A number of distinguished awards were announced during the ceremony as well. These included five faculty members receiving the Kenyon Medal for Dedication to Teaching, Scholarship, and Service as they celebrated 25 years of teaching at the College:
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Balinda Craig-Quijada, professor of dance;
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James Keller, professor of chemistry;
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Jesse Matz, John Crowe Ransom Professor of English;
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Wade Powell, professor of biology; and
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Reginald Sanders, professor of music.
Two individuals received the Middle Path Medals, established in 2014 to recognize those who have made significant contributions to the Kenyon, Gambier or Knox County communities through volunteer or job-related activities. This year’s honorees were:
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Christopher Ellsworth ’96, technical director in the Department of Dance, Drama and Film; and
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Maureen Tobin P’20, former senior associate director in the Career Development Office who has been active with the Pelotonia fundraising ride for cancer research.
The Faculty Advising Award — honoring a tenured faculty member who has shown dedication, commitment and energy to academic advising for students — was given to Joel Richeimer, professor of philosophy.
