Development news
Biology Building renamed Higley Hall in April ceremony
O n the morning of April 26, 1997, the former Biology Building was named Higley Hall as part of a celebration recognizing Albert and Beverly Higley for their $3-million gift to Kenyon's science programs. Albert Higley is president of the Higley Company, a construction company based in Cleveland, Ohio, that has built and renovated many of the College's buildings during the past three decades. The Higleys are also the parents of Sharon Higley Watts '78 of Cleveland.The celebration began with a reception for the Higley family in the lobby of the building, followed by the naming ceremony in the Biology Auditorium. President Robert A. Oden Jr. welcomed a full house, which included the Higleys and members of their family, administrators, faculty members, students, trustees, and representatives of the community. Oden spoke of his earliest knowledge of Al Higley and the Higley Company: "What I had found out in asking around Cleveland about Al and the company, that in the midst of lots of different adjectives--fair, thorough, reliable, trustworthy--the one that kept being repeated was "integrity": that everything about Mr. Higley and the company represented the finest of American business attributes, that they spoke the truth, that they fulfilled what was promised."
Jordan Professor of Environmental Science E. Raymond Heithaus '68 spoke next on "Building on What One Has," explaining how the physical environment of biology research must adapt to changes in the field itself. He recalled participating in the biology department's move from Samuel Mather Hall to the "new" biology building in 1970, and how that move accommodated changes in the field, from Samuel Mather's dedication in 1925 when vitamin and hormone studies were state-of-the-art biology, to the "hot" topics of 1970 when cell structure and biochemical research dominated the field. In contemplating a new science facility, Heithaus noted, "Our goals are fundamentally the same: to teach through mentoring and student participation; to expose students to challenging ideas; to provide a strong base while appreciating the frontiers as well. But we need to extend what we do, to upgrade to meet new challenges and new technologies."
Heithaus's remarks were followed by a slide presentation by Vice President for Finance Joseph G. Nelson, whose pictorial overview of the Higley Company's history featured most of the thirty-two building projects the company has worked on at Kenyon over the years, including Bolton Theater, Gund Commons, the New Apartments, Olin Library, and the Woodland Cottages. Nelson commented on his own satisfaction with the College's working relationship with the company, noting, "There have been many Higley projects at Kenyon thus far, and there will surely be many more in the future, not the least of which is Higley Hall."
The ceremony was followed by an open house featuring student-led tours of the building and greenhouse as well as presentations by honors students M. Brian Becknell '97, Gregory A. Hannahs '97, Amanda K. Rinehart '97, Emily D. Sprowls '97, andDavid T. Kysela '98. Guests were also invited to observe research in the laboratories and to view poster displays created by the 1996 Summer Science Scholars.
McGregor Fund enables research program to expand
A $75,000 grant from the McGregor Fund, a private foundation based in Detroit, Michigan, will enable the College to expand its popular faculty-student summer research program into its fine arts, humanities, and social sciences divisions.For more than a decade, Kenyon has sponsored the Summer Science Scholars Program, in which students and faculty members in the natural sciences division collaborate on research projects. Beginning in the summer of 1998, students in the other three divisions of the College will be able to participate in collaborative projects with faculty members because of the financial support from the McGregor Fund.
"We are pleased to be able to support Kenyon's Faculty-Student Collaboration Program, which will provide the opportunity for extraordinary learning experiences for the College's students," said C. David Campbell, executive director of the McGregor Fund, who announced the awarding of the grant. "The McGregor Fund recognizes the unique attributes of private liberal-arts colleges, and we believe that one of those attributes is the ability of these institutions to foster close academic inquiry between students and faculty members."
Such collaborative research has been the goal of Kenyon's Summer Science Scholars Program since its inception. Each summer, approximately thirty students engage in research with faculty members. Students and professors submit jointly prepared research proposals for funding, carry out the research, and share their findings at a public presentation at the College. Some of the research findings are also published or presented at regional and national scientific conferences and meetings.
The grant from the McGregor Fund will allow students in the fine arts, humanities, and social sciences to benefit from the same types of research experiences, noted Provost Katherine Haley Will. The grant will provide funding for approximately ten summer-research students in each of the summers of 1998 and 1999.
"We are very pleased to receive such a generous gift in support of an excellent curricular initiative," said Will. "The McGregor project will allow students to extend their learning into the summer and to work under the guidance of a faculty mentor. This close student-faculty interaction is a hallmark of a fine liberal-arts education. It is also one of the activities we prize most highly--and excel in most completely--at Kenyon."
The McGregor Fund is a private foundation established in 1925 by gifts from Katherine and Tracy McGregor "to relieve the misfortunes and promote the well-being of mankind." The foundation awards grants to organizations in human services, education, health care, arts and culture, and other areas of public benefit. The area of principal interest for the fund is metropolitan Detroit; however, the fund has a special program of support for private liberal-arts colleges and universities inOhio and Michigan.
Swope bequest funds endowed scholarship
A bequest of more than $150,000 from the estate of John Morgan Swope '48 has been used to fund a new endowed scholarship in his name at the College.A former staff member in the Department of Music and in the Integrated Program in Humane Studies, Swope designated Kenyon as the beneficiary of the remainder of his estate with the provision that the funds be used to establish an endowed scholarship fund for students in good standing with financial need. There are no restrictions on the recipient's class, major, or geographical background.
The scholarship's first recipient, Clayton M. Gahan, is a member of the Class of 2000 from Monteagle, Tennessee.
Manchey Memorial Scholarship Fund established
A n endowed scholarship fund in memory of Bertha Joseph Manchey has been established at Kenyon by Manchey's daughter, Gwen Blumenschein, and her granddaughter, Allison M. Sladek '98, both of Lakewood, Colorado.Manchey, who died at age ninety-two in November 1996, was a 1924 graduate of the University of Cincinnati and a junior-high-school teacher in Cincinnati early in her career. After the birth of her daughter, Manchey became involved in school activities as a volunteer--a commitment to community service that lasted throughout her life. While a resident of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, she helped found its first community library. Later, after moving to Denver, Colorado, at age eighty-two, Manchey volunteered at the Lutheran hospital and in the local schools, helping first graders with their reading lessons.
Blumenschein says she established this endowed scholarship at the College in honor of her mother's commitment to teaching and helping others, a commitment she believes is recognized and valued at Kenyon.
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