Mount Vernon and Kenyon College have been neighbors for two centuries, and new investments soon will bring them even closer together.
The Wright family of Mount Vernon has created a new scholarship to pave the way for a top Mount Vernon High School graduate to attend Kenyon College tuition-free for all four years.
In addition, the family has created new endowed funds at Kenyon to support internship stipends for students from Ohio, plus an additional five for students from anywhere who choose to intern in the state. The total value of the investments in Kenyon is $5.8 million.
The newly endowed initiatives strengthen the College’s commitment to Mount Vernon and aim to introduce more students to the many opportunities in Knox County, Columbus and Ohio — now and after graduation, according to Kenyon President Julie Kornfeld.
“Thanks to this generous new gift — a powerful continuation of all the great work that the Wright family has done in our community and at Kenyon — we will be able to do more to nurture exceptional students from this region and connect Kenyon students with the many opportunities available to them on and beyond campus,” she said.
It also sends an important message about the College’s strategic priorities. “This important gift demonstrates that Kenyon is closely connected to this region and to Mount Vernon and hopes to be a vibrant partner in its success for years to come,” Kornfeld said.
The Wright family’s ties to the College and surrounding community are strong. Alex Wright, Kenyon Class of 2005, grew up in Mount Vernon and now serves as a member of the Kenyon Board of Trustees and CEO of the Ariel Corporation, a leading manufacturer of compressors used in the natural gas industry and Knox County’s largest employer.
“Our family has experienced firsthand the immense benefits of a Kenyon education. We’re excited to create a permanent pathway for a talented student from Mount Vernon, our hometown, to share in that same rich experience, while also helping other students explore the many opportunities in this region,” said Alex Wright.
His spouse, Libby, also attended Kenyon as did his late brother, Hunter, and Hunter’s spouse, Katherine. Their mother, Karen Buchwald Wright, is a former Kenyon trustee and former Ariel CEO who established the Ariel Foundation in 2009 to improve the quality of life and increase opportunities in her hometown of Mount Vernon.
The new Wright Family Scholarship established by the family’s latest gift to the College will be awarded to a top Mount Vernon High School graduate not already eligible for tuition remission through a Kenyon family member, further strengthening an existing enrollment pipeline and affirming that Mount Vernon families have an exceptional educational opportunity in their backyard.
The stipends to support experiential learning through internships and research in Ohio will showcase the region’s thriving business and professional climate. Not only are they intended to involve Kenyon students in supporting the area’s economic development, but they will expose more students to all that the state has to offer post-graduation.
These initiatives are the latest in a concerted effort by the College to support students from Ohio with exceptional financial aid opportunities. Others include the Ohio Promise Scholarship and the Governor’s Merit Scholarship Match. There also are five full-tuition scholarships awarded annually to the top applicants from the state, and the Kokosing Scholarship is available for high school graduates from Knox County.
Kenyon recently concluded the most successful fundraising campaign in the College’s history. Early in the campaign, the Wright family made a gift to allow for the creation of Kenyon’s first satellite space in Mount Vernon, the Wright Center, in a renovated Buckeye Candy and Tobacco Company building. The center houses the College’s film program and the Office for Community Partnerships as well as SPI, a nonprofit for local families specializing in science-based play. They also gave to endow a faculty position in the economics department to explore the traditions and values that have built American democracy and free enterprise.
A total of 22,886 people gave during the six-year Our Path Forward to the Bicentennial campaign for a grand total of over $532 million that was used to transform campus and the educational experiences of current and future students.