Kenyon College Top Questions

Racial, religious and LGBT groups are fairly vocal on campus--sometimes to the point where they make some people angry. I don't think any student can feel out of place at Kenyon--unless they're close-minded. That's the thing I love about Kenyon: there are so many different types of people here, who all interact and become friends with people who are completely different from them. In the cafeteria, you can occasionally point out one table as the soccer guys, or another as kids from the Unity House (the LGBT meeting place on campus), but in general, I find people to be unclassifiable, which is absolutely wonderful to me. Geographically, politically, religiously, and economically, students at Kenyon are extremely diverse. There is frequent political debate, though you can easily stay out of it if you're not into that. Generally, I think Kenyon is a more left-leaning campus, but there are definitely conservative people here, too, which differentiates us from a place like Oberlin. The diverse student body is what makes the school so appealing to me. And even better is that are all unclassifiable.

The Christian community here at Kenyon is small, but amazing. They're like a family to me. Most people are very respectful of students' religious beliefs and I've never witnessed any problems with racial discrimination. East-coast fashion styles seem to be fairly popular here, although people tend to wear whatever suits them. Walking down Middle Path you'll see everything from high heels to sweats. People can pull off a lot here at Kenyon. Kenyon students aren't from any specific location. Less than 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} are from Ohio and the other 80-some percent come from all over the US and from abroad! I have friends from New York, Nevada, Florida, etc. There's really a nice mixture of backgrounds which lends to more cultural learning (and connections around the world!). I'd say students have predominantly left views, but all opinions can be voiced.

Students are predominantly liberal. Very casual dress. Most students are from wealthier backgrounds. I think most of the students have a skewed view on what is really important. You will hear complaints about administration having to stop a "bonfire." However, the bonfire was a safety hazard. Or you will hear complaints about the dining hall.

Pretty white, people don't really go to church that much or it's not a big deal at school. Very liberal campus with a mixing of conservatives. Pretty wealthy, a lot of BMW's and Volvo's to be found on campus. Most students are from the Northeast, New York, New Jersey, and Boston are probably the most prevalent.

I think the student body is more socio-economically diverse than one would expect, but as intellectual as you would expect. By this I mean that people are very smart in and out of class. I really enjoy it, and like that people understand my really nerdy references. You learn a lot about the other disiplines just by talking to people, which I think is really cool. There are definately the frat boys and the sports cliques, and I wouldn't recommend living by division housing if you're not in that frat, but on the whole they're respectful and throw good parties. There are a lot of people from Ohio and the surrounding states, but there have been a growing amount from New York and California. Some people dress up for class, which I think is kind of dumb, but most people just dress how they like and nobody bothers them about it. Again, most people think everyone who goes here is really wealthy and has money to throw away, but that's not true at all. You do hear through the gossip mill things like "oh, that's so and so's daughter/son," but that only happens once every so often and other than that we don't really talk about money, at least with my friends, beyond where to order dinner from.

Students tend to be wealthy, liberal, and white, but there isn't any noticeable prejudice against other groups. There is a sizable LGBT group on campus. Liberal campus organizations tend to be the dominating political voice. The Kenyon Libertarians club has more members than the Republicans club. The majority of students do not strictly practice a religion. Students come from all over the world, but a majority of students are from the east; Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania have the largest contingencies.

I believe that the student body is very considerate of everyone. Everyone really just gets along and there is never really any conflict between groups of people.

Kenyon is great and as diverse as you'd expect. There are a few muscle-heads and jerks, but 95-98 percent of the people, including townspeople, staff, and students, are super kind and great. One rotten apple shouldn't spoil the whole batch, and it doesn't.

Mostly great people. Very diverse set of personalities for how small the school is, but not diverse racially.

Very diverse range of students (not so much racially, but based on personality). Every 'type' of student you can find--nerdy, sporty, social, shy. I feel comfortable wearing mostly anything to class. However, upperclassmen stress that the student body is changing, especially with my freshman class, to the type of typical college students everywhere in America, instead of the unique off-beat students Kenyon traditionally produced.