Kenyon in the News
The Chronicle of Higher Education, in its May 11 edition, mentioned Kenyon's bond-rating upgrade. Moody's Investors Service moved Kenyon to A1 from A2. The rating applies to $178 million in outstanding bonds. Reasons for the upgrade include a 50-percent increase in total financial resources, to $330.9 million at the end of fiscal year 2006; financial flexibility, thanks to half of the College's resources being unrestricted; and a diversified and "well-managed" investment portfolio.
Kenyon was mentioned in several news reports in June following the decision by a majority of members of the Annapolis Group, an association of liberal arts colleges including Kenyon, to eschew participation in the U.S. News & World Report college-rankings reputational survey. S. Georgia Nugent, Kenyon's president, told the Plain Dealer, "As educators, many of us are concerned that this instrument and magazine report is not offering families meaningful material." The New York Times mentioned Kenyon as part of "a growing rebellion" against the rankings. The Times story was also published in the International Herald Tribune. Kenyon was mentioned in reporting on the story by the Tampa Tribune, Tampa Bay, Florida; in a favorable editorial in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio; and in a critical column in the Washington Post by Robert J. Samuelson.
A $2.25 million gift to the College's campaign from Kenyon trustee Barry F. Schwartz '70, executive vice president and general counsel at MacAndrews & Forbes Worldwide Corp., was reported in the June 8 edition of the Wall Street Journal. In the story, Schwartz credited Kenyon with "my ability to think critically and to connect with people who come from very different backgrounds."
The closing of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, announced June 12, triggered a mention of Kenyon as a successful counterpoint to Antioch in a Los Angeles Times column by Meghan Daum in the June 30 edition. Kenyon was mentioned in the same vein in a column in the Toledo Blade, Toledo, Ohio, in a June 24 column by Peter Benesh, national correspondent for Investor's Business Daily. A June 30 editorial in the Blade mentioned Kenyon as part of the "proud history" of Ohio liberal arts colleges.
Kenyon swimmer Blair Withington '10 of Hastings, New Zealand, was featured in a story in the June 25 edition of Hawke's Bay Today in New Zealand about swimming rivals in his hometown. The story reported that Kenyon is "unrivalled academically" and Withington loves the College's "clean, green, flat 'mile-long campus.'"
The Kenyon College cemetery was included in the June 25 edition of the Columbus Dispatch in a story about active college cemeteries. The story noted that the College cemetery, which dates to the early 1800s, is still used for alumni, employees, and others, with the permission of the president.
David Lynn '76, professor of English and editor of the Kenyon Review, was quoted in the July 10 edition of the News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware, in a story about the character Harry Potter emerging into adulthood. "You know, the remarkable thing about Harry Potter is he is a believable character in an unbelievable setting, and his believability is what makes us believe the rest of it."
John Elliot, professor of political science, was quoted in the July 11 New York Times in the "White House Memo" column by Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Stolberg addressed the relationship of President George W. Bush with the media. "The president is struggling to assert himself as president and as a powerful figure," Elliot said. "It's harder for him to make news. The American public isn't really listening to him."
The financial success of Barrett Toan '69, a Kenyon trustee, was reported in the July 19 edition of the St. Louis Business Journal. The story notes that Toan, the retired chairman of Express Scripts, has made donations to several charities and institutions, including a recent $2 million gift to Kenyon.
The July 10 Cleveland Plain Dealer published an op-ed piece by President S. Georgia Nugent criticizing the U.S. News & World Report college rankings. Nugent called the "reputational" assessment that goes into the rankings "a meaningless exercise" and said that, in focusing so much on measures of institutional wealth, the overall survey neglected the impressive learning opportunities at small colleges like Kenyon. "Embarking on a college education is not like buying a car or a major appliance," wrote Nugent. "Yet the consumer-oriented production of rankings relies on that false analogy."
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