Kenyon College Top Questions

kenyon has been a bit of a disappointment for me. Academically speaking (keep in mind--ive only been here a semester!) and socially (repetitive and limited). there is almost no political activeness on campus that i've seen. people here are very friendly, but can be fake. i've found that kenyon is a bit more high school-y than i expected, maybe that comes with the size and the location, but don't expect people to be super-mature and to have completely outgrown high school. getting off campus is virtually impossible unless you want to go to the local wal mart for an hour. if you consider yourself a city person, don't come here. its SO isolated. I cannot stress this enough. You must love nature and be willing to stay in one place for months on end.

Because Kenyon is small, you really get a strong sense of community. The small population also allows students to form deeper bonds not only with each other, but with the faculty and staff aswell. When walking down middle path (a ten foot wide path that runs the length of the College), it is not uncommon for one to know the majority of the people they pass, including professors. Even if you don't know the person by name it is almost a guarantee that you have seen them around campus before or that you know someone else that knows them.

Kenyon food is disgusting. Terribly seasoned, always overcooked, and covered in laxative oil. You take a bite of the food and you don't know whether to shit or puke. The administration is also super grimey, and as of late, have been trying to destroy the party scene. It's absolutley ridiculous we're in the middle of nowhere and the people in the surrounding towns are either obese or addicted to crystal meth. Kenyon is also known for having really friendly people. This is true. usually when you see someone on middle path, even if you don't know them, you say hello or nod or make eye contact. However, this friendliness is quite conducive to spinelessness, and many Kenyonites are rather passive-aggressive. For example, if someone is making too much noise in the library, people will complain about it on allstu instead of turning around and telling you to shut it. Kenyon is also known for having busted girls. There's some cute boys, but many of them are pussies. But they mean well.

There is a strong sense of community that fosters the pursuit of knowledge for personal fulfillment rather than careerism.

Everyone knows everyone. That can be good and it can be bad; it's certainly very intense--but we're a school that's very into community, into our collective history, into keeping Kenyon "Kenyon" and being active within the community as well as in the outside world. There's a hell of a lot of activism, political and otherwise, and it's an enormous inspiration. There are negative things about any environment, and believe me, Kenyon drives me bat-shit insane sometimes...but one thing you can't say about this school is that we don't care.

There is a strong sense of community on our campus that strongly appealed me that I did not find at the other schools I applied to. In addition to the sense of community, the professors seemed genuinly interested in the lives and interests of thier students.

Kenyon is a very close-knit environment with a lot of supportive people. In addition, the students can be kind of quirky, but in a good way.

The school is academically very strong, yet it lacks the element of intense competition that one might expect. People really are more focused on learning than on grades, and they take time away from work to enjoy each other and the beautiful campus.

It had a homey feel to it

Because it is rather small, Kenyon allows professors to get to know all of their students in a very personal way. Most students can tell you stories of when they had dinner at a professor's house, or sat in office hours just to talk about anything that came to mind. Kenyon is also very focused on writing, so no matter your major, you will come out of this school with an exceptional ability to express your ideas.

TAMMY GOSCIAL IS A BITCH! (she is the Dean of Students but I can't imagine for too much longer)

I love Kenyon and have never regretted coming here.

Kenyon is Great!!!!

The athletic center is amazing! If I would have gone to another school I probably wouldn't have worked out that often, but at Kenyon I work out on a regular basis. The facilities are amazing--you have to see it to believe it.

there are better places to go for a good education and college experience.

Kenyon is great, I didn't want to come here originally but I don't think it would be possible for me to be happier anywhere else.

Our food is not good, and included in tuition (as of right now... hopefully they're changing this). Basically, you pay for the meal whether or not you go, and usually it's not worth the $7 or so they're charging you. A lot of people complain about it, and I think the food service is trying to take into account the feedback they're getting. I've gotten food poisoning a couple of times from things as basic as salad. You can usually find something to eat, but it won't necessarily be tasty. Our housing is just OK. The housing lottery is the most stressful day of the year!! Bushell and Manning have TINY rooms, because they were originally built to be nice singles, but have since been made into doubles. The was the worst housing I ever had. Two people should not be squished into a room that small. Tafts are wonderful, but you have a be a senior to live there. New Apts are nice, but were built as temporary housing so the walls are really thin and they're far far away from classes. For freshman housing, Lewis and Norton have the thickest walls and biggest rooms. They're about to start building new housing, but nobody knows what it's going to be like.

Our administration sucks!

Let me reiterate... the food is very very bad and hard getting away from, since there are very few (4) restaurants in the direct vicinity, and not many more in the town (Mt. Vernon) a little less than ten minutes away.

Kenyon used to be more of a hippie school, but now that it's harder to get into, there are a lot more emo over-achievers that suck. They don't contribute to the social scene.