Above: Scenes from Decatur’s farewell celebration. Scroll down for more images.
Students, faculty and staff gathered in the Lowry Center’s Tomsich Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 28, for a celebration of President Sean Decatur’s nearly 10 years of service to Kenyon. Decatur, who became the College’s 19th president in 2013, announced in December that he would leave Gambier to become the next president of the American Natural History Museum (AMNH) in New York, a position he will begin in April.
The event featured a jumbo-sized farewell card for signatures and well wishes, a soundtrack of music by Decatur’s favorite bands (including The Beatles) and cardboard cutouts of characters from Star Wars, Decatur’s favorite sci-fi franchise. Dinosaur-themed table centerpieces served as a nod to the fossilized skeletons on display at AMNH.
In addition to remarks from Decatur himself, representatives of the faculty, staff, students and Knox County community all contributed remembrances of the past decade. Speakers included Acting President Jeff Bowman; Bruce White, CEO of Knox Community Hospital and a past recipient of Kenyon’s Middle Path Medal; Director of the Center for the Study of American Democracy and former Provost Joe Klesner; Professor of Physics Tom Giblin, who is chair of the faculty; Samantha Hughes, director of the Office of Civil Rights; and Student Council President Ubongabasi Asuquo ’23.
Bowman provided introductory remarks before presenting the parting gift of a scale model Plymouth Road Runner from Decatur’s favorite film series, “The Fast and the Furious,” adorned with custom purple Kenyon stickers. Perhaps making Decatur the only museum president with a muscle car, Bowman added.
“There is no doubt this campus will miss you, President Decatur,” said Asuquo. “I will miss your humility, empathy, courage, and willingness to take risks with how you solve problems. Students will cherish the reflections you frequently shared on your blog and how you modeled community involvement and encourage intellectual thought. We hope you know how deeply you inspired us all.”
When we hired Sean as a young and dynamic leader 10 years ago, we all knew this day would come,” said Klesler. “He has positioned Kenyon for many decades of future success.”
“President Decatur taught us it’s ok to be intellectual and a leader,” said Giblin. “He taught us — a big ‘ole pack of nerds — it’s ok to geek out. Kenyon is shaped and changed by all of us who work and study here; President Decatur, you have changed this place, and you have changed all of us.”
Throughout Decatur’s tenure, Kenyon made unprecedented gains in the strength and diversity of its student body, resources for financial aid, the breadth and distinction of faculty, and enhancements to the College’s world-renowned campus. Notably, this included skillfully navigating the pandemic, with record enrollments in each of the last two years. His departure for AMNH, with its more than five million visitors each year and a research enterprise that includes a graduate school as well as one of the most important scientific collections in the world, will provide an extraordinary opportunity to advance science education and scientific discovery, and continue the significant impact of all he accomplished at Kenyon.
“Curiosity and rigorous inquiry coupled with a genuine sense of friendship and care for others are the things that really matter about Kenyon,” Decatur said. “Those are the things that I take away from here.”
