Family Weekend Schedule

Kenyon families are invited to join us for a weekend full of festivities on the Hill from Friday, Oct. 13 - Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Confirmed Family Weekend events are below. Additional events will be added to the schedule as they are finalized. Please contact Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement Events Lindsey Colopy with questions.

Confirmed Family Weekend events are below. Additional events will be added to the schedule as they are finalized. Information will also be available at the registration center located inside the Kenyon Bookstore. Please note many buildings and activities are open daily.

If you haven't online registered in advance, please visit the Kenyon College Bookstore on Friday, Oct. 13, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. or Saturday, Oct. 14, 8 a.m. - noon) to register onsite.

Thursday, Oct. 12

4:15 p.m. "A Dealer, an Insurance Salesman, Seven University Museums, Eighty-Eight Investors, and Three Hundred Classical Antiquities: a Cautionary Tale"

Join the Departments of Art History and Classics in welcoming Elizabeth Marlowe, chair of the Art Department and the director of the Program in Museum Studies at Colgate University. Her research focuses on antiquities, museum ethics and repatriation. This talk will recount a recently-uncovered story of a very strange, decades-long antiquities investment scheme that did not end well for most stakeholders. It will also examine the larger ethical implications of the story, raising complicated questions about the relationship of museums to the art market, also asking, is financial investing in art ever a good idea? A special thank you to the following co-sponsoring departments and funds: anthropology, history, the Integrated Program in Humane Studies, law and society, political science, the Fink Lectureship and the Payne Fund for the Arts. Community Foundation Theater, Gund Gallery

Friday, Oct. 13

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Registration Center Open

Stop by to receive your name badge, parking pass and additional information about the weekend, including information about our event app. Kenyon Bookstore, 106 Gaskin Ave.

12 p.m. Chamber Singers Rehearsal

This is the current Chamber Singers' rehearsal, but all are welcome to attend. Rosse Hall

3 - 4 p.m. Ukraine: Hope and Tragedy

How can we understand what is happening in Ukraine? What might (or might not) happen next? How does the war fit in the long sweep of history? What are possible futures for Russia? Is China a beneficiary or loser from the war? Does American policy make sense? Hear Stephen Kotkin P'24 '26 of Stanford University's Hoover Institution discuss these questions and more. Higley Auditorium, Higley Hall

3 - 4:30 p.m. Off Campus Study Info Session

Is your student interested in studying off campus during their junior year at Kenyon? Staff from the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) will discuss the process, give tips and tricks and answer general questions. Lowell 100, Paul Newman Room

4 p.m. Exhibitions Tour with Director and Chief Curator Daisy Desrosiers

Gund Gallery

4 - 5 p.m. Ring with the Kenyon Pealers

Join the Pealers in the Church of the Holy Spirit bell tower. Church of the Holy Spirit

4:15 - 6 p.m. Summer Research Poster Session

Scholars from Kenyon’s summer research programs and other students will present their research and creative work. Toan Track, Lowry Center

5 - 6 p.m. Kenyon Generations Reception

Connect with fellow Kenyon families with multiple generations of Kenyon students and alumni. We invite Kenyon Alumni and their families to join. Peirce Pub

5:30 p.m. Family Weekend Shabbat

Come join Kenyon College Hillel for a Family Weekend Shabbat. We will celebrate Family Weekend as a community with foods of fall including apple cider, cider donuts, apple cake and homemade Challah. All are welcome to join! Lawn in front of Rothenberg Hillel House, 103 West Brooklyn St.

5:30 p.m. Art21 Film Screening

Join us at The Annex for a screening of two short films, produced by Art21, that reveal the ideas and inspirations behind the making of Abigail DeVille’s Light of Freedom (an outdoor mixed-media sculpture currently on display at Kenyon) and her practice. A shuttle to The Annex will be provided following the 4 p.m. guided tour of The Gund Gallery’s fall exhibitions (see above). The Annex, 12 East Gambier St., Mount Vernon, OH 43050

7:15 p.m. Kokosingers Concert

The Kokosingers are back! Feast your eyes and ears on the Khaki Clad A Capella Octet that's been providing dulcet tones to Kenyon's campus since '65. Please note: doors open at 7:15 p.m., the concert will be around 45 minutes long. Rosse Hall

8 p.m. "Alice in..."

Kenyon College Dance, Drama & Cinema Club presents "Alice in..." adapted by Associate Professor of Drama Anton Dudley from the works of Lewis Carroll with music by Michael Cooper and directed by Dudley. Tickets are available through the Bolton Theater Box Office, 740-427-5546, beginning at 1 p.m. on Oct. 9, and at the door if not sold out. More details here. Bolton Theater

In addition to the above events, please check the list of open classrooms if you are interested in attending a class on Friday, Oct. 13.

Saturday, Oct. 14

8 a.m. - 1 p.m. Registration Center Open

Stop by to receive your name badge, parking pass and additional information about the weekend, including information about our event app. Kenyon Bookstore, 106 Gaskin Ave.

9 a.m. Men’s & Women’s Swim & Dive Invitational

Please join the Kenyon Swimming & Diving Team in donating items for Knox County school pantries that provide personal care items for those students who do not have access to them at home. Items needed include men’s and women’s deodorant, body spray, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash (travel size and alcohol free), shampoo and conditioner (travel size), hair brushes, combs, hair ties/clips, hairspray, dry shampoo, soap, body wash, feminine products. Donations will be collected on Saturday outside of the Jim Steen Aquatic Center. Thank you for any help you can provide! Jim Steen Aquatic Center, Lowry Center

8 - 9 a.m. Imagine the Possibilities 5K and 1-Mile Run/Walk

Join Habitat for Humanity of Knox County and the Knox Board of Developmental Disabilities for their annual "Imagine the Possibilities 5K and 1-Mile Run/Walk." A fun time for the whole family! The fully accessible race routes offer a beautiful tour of Gambier and the Kokosing Gap Trail. Pre-registration is available here or register the day of the run/walk beginning at 8 a.m. Gambier Community Center, 115 Meadow Lane

10 - 11 a.m. Keynote Address with Dan Lerner ’93: Passionately Successful: Making the Most of Happiness and Human Potential

Cutting edge science now shows that when we pursue our passions in the correct way, we can realize the highest levels of personal, academic and professional success. In this talk, Dan Lerner defines two types of passion: harmonious, and obsessive. When you’re harmoniously passionate, you not only love what you do, but you are more focused, energetic, and productive. And you live a far more fulfilling life. Conversely, obsessive passions are marked by a compulsive, dogged pursuit of achievement, leading to guilt, shame, pessimism, unhappiness and, far too often, early burnout. Rosse Hall

11 a.m. Phi Beta Kappa Initiation

Denniston Reading Room (#303), Chalmers Library

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Presidential Meet and Greet

Join us under the Peirce Lawn tent for the opportunity to meet with the Kenyon Community including President Kornfeld, her husband Fred Silverman and other parents and families. Peirce Lawn tents

12 p.m. Field Hockey vs. Earlham

Benson Bowl

12 - 4 p.m. Fall Harvest Festival

Stop by the Brown Family Environmental Center for our annual celebration of the season. This family-friendly event will be open to Kenyon families as well as the greater Knox County community and it will feature a number of fall-themed activities including a cider press, hayrides, local vendors, live music and more! Brown Family Environmental Center, 9781 Laymon Rd.

1 p.m. Men's Soccer vs. Hiram

Mavec Field

1 - 2 p.m. ODEI Parent and Family Reception

Co-hosted by Susan Campbell and Don Smith P'24 and Daymond and Valerie Dean P'25. Peirce Pub

2 p.m. Public Art Conversation

With artist Abigail DeVille and her newly installed artwork, "Light of Freedom." Gund Gallery

2 p.m. Symphonic Wind Ensemble Family Weekend Concert

The Kenyon Symphonic Wind Ensemble will present their Family Weekend concert under the direction of Professor of Music Dane Heuchemer. Rosse Hall

3 p.m. Kenyon Review Meet & Greet

Learn more about the Kenyon Review. There will be a subscription offer! Cheever Room, Finn House

3 - 4 p.m. Fools on the Hill Comedy Show

It will be a fun, hour-long performance of short improvisation games that will hopefully make you giggle! Horn Gallery

3 - 4 p.m. Kenyon-Exeter Program Presentation

The Kenyon-Exeter Program is a year-long study-abroad option under the resident directorship of a member of Kenyon’s English Department. Join 2024-25 resident director Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky, former resident director Sarah Heidt '97, and recent Kenyon-Exeter alumni to learn about living and learning in the United Kingdom and to ask questions about the program. Community Foundation Theater

3:30 p.m. Women's Soccer vs. Hiram