Alumni Return for Classroom Reunion

Four former Kenyon students stepped back in time this April when they returned to campus to take a seminar with their former teacher, Professor of American Studies Peter Rutkoff. During the weekend of April 5 - 7, Carole Badalamenti Stewart '76, Kenneth Thompson '76, Janet Byrne Smith '76, and Murray J. Smith '75 spent several days reading and talking about August Wilson, one of America's premier playwrights.

The event was the inaugural Kenyon Weekend Seminar, sponsored by the Office of Alumni and Parent Programs and the American Studies Program. Rutkoff's former students engaged in a free-flowing discussion of two Wilson plays, Jitney and Piano Lesson, punctuated by dinner at Rutkoff's.

"We all hung out last May during the twenty-fifth reunion of the Class of 1976 and discovered that we enjoyed each other," says Rutkoff. "That sense of intellectual camaraderie was enhanced by the group's discovery that they had all been friends on campus, continued to stay in touch over the years, and had all taken courses with me. When one of them suggested getting together again, the only question was when."

The Office of Alumni and Parent Programs and the Department of Political Science are planning a similar event this summer with Professor of Political Science Kirk Emmert and Professor Emeritus of Political Science Harry Clor. "Having alumni return to campus to relive their educational experience is the ultimate alumni experience because it's their education that ties them most closely to Kenyon," says Director Lisa Schott '80. Anyone interested in exploring a future Kenyon Weekend Seminar is encouraged to contact Schott at 740-427-5148.

Do you have feedback on this page?