Dear members of the Kenyon community,
On a college campus nearing the end of an Ohio winter, spring break and the hope of warmer weather can’t come soon enough. While this may be true every year, I feel it especially so this spring. Uncertainty is unsettling and we have experienced much of it over the past several weeks, with many new national and state policies and proposals affecting higher education.
So what do we do in the face of so much uncertainty? First, we must take care of ourselves and one another. The rhetoric and policies of proposed and adopted regulations have serious implications for members of the Kenyon community and our loved ones. There is no doubt that this weighs more heavily on some than others, but it is a burden we must carry together. At Kenyon, we reject the paradigm that success is a zero-sum game, where one person’s gain necessarily results in another’s loss. Instead, we embrace the idea that our community’s success depends on the success of each one of us, and we must devote ourselves to supporting every member of our community.
Second, we must work to understand as much as we can about the proposed policies, pushing past the headlines to understand what is actually happening, what is speculation and what is misinformation. Kenyon is fortunate to have a skilled, experienced and compassionate general counsel to help us make sense of the legal and regulatory landscape. Reading her Q&A, which was updated last week with information about the Education Department’s “Dear Colleague” letter, is a good place to start.
Third, we must remember what we decide and what remains firmly within our control: our educational mission and values. Student success, in college and in life, is at the core of our mission and the most important measure of our success as an institution. We know from decades of research that a critical condition for any student’s success is a sense of belonging. We will continue to foster an environment where all students can thrive, employing the best pedagogical practices, grounded in research, to deliver on our educational mission. As a liberal arts college, this means engaging a wide range of viewpoints and lived experiences, just as we engage a wide range of disciplines across the arts, humanities and sciences. We simply cannot offer an excellent education without it.
Finally, we must try to make sense of how we got here. As an educator and public health scientist, it is hard to understand why anyone would question the value of scientific research, creativity or innovation to a society, or the value of making these tools and resources available to students from all backgrounds. Yet, confidence in higher education has declined steadily over the last decade, and as a sector we must turn a critical eye on ourselves if we want to earn back the trust of a plurality of Americans. Making the case for the value of higher education and a liberal arts education is critical work, something I am deeply committed to as Kenyon’s president.
Even as we are bound to comply with laws that make fulfilling our mission more challenging, we also have a duty to deliver on the promise of a Kenyon education and the strength of the Kenyon community. I know that we will continue to lean into and on our shared values, confronting questions with honesty, imagination and intellectual rigor, embracing differences, treating one another with respect and kindness, and recognizing our place within a vibrant and diverse local, national and global community. This moment demands that of us and, while much remains uncertain, we can and will meet this moment as a community rooted in informed inquiry and shared values.
Please make time in your routines to rest and recharge in whatever ways fuel you over spring break and beyond. I look forward to spending extra time with my family and getting outdoors for some sunshine (I hope!) and some long, deep breaths.
Sincerely,
Julie Kornfeld
President