The Kenyon College Board of Trustees convened for its winter meeting on Feb. 8-9 in San Francisco. Trustees Matt Winkler ’77 and Nina Freedman ’77 generously hosted the board at one of Bloomberg’s financial news and technology hubs — Winkler is editor-in-chief emeritus of Bloomberg News and Freedman is a member of Bloomberg’s global philanthropy and engagement team.
The meeting coincided with the first stop on Kenyon’s bicentennial tour of cities, which brought together nearly 100 alumni, parents and admitted students from the Bay Area to celebrate the College’s special, interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. Professor of Physics Maddie Wade and Jodi Kovach, the Pamela and Christopher Hoehn-Saric Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Education of The Gund, were the evening’s featured speakers. The two have collaborated on several projects using exhibitions and works from The Gund collection to help physics students hone their observational and computational skills, and explore how aesthetics can contribute to their understanding of physics. Following their presentation, President Julie Kornfeld joined them in a rich and stimulating discussion with the audience.
With this as a backdrop, the board engaged in a series of conversations over two days about how to preserve and strengthen Kenyon’s distinction in an increasingly competitive and volatile higher education landscape. For the plenary session on Thursday afternoon, Steve Poskanzer, a legal and political scholar who served as the president of Carleton College for 11 years, led a discussion of the headwinds facing liberal arts colleges, including demographic shifts, shifting public sentiment and legal and political actions that present new challenges for how colleges and universities fulfill their missions.
In her report to the board on Friday morning, President Kornfeld provided an update on Foundations for Kenyon’s Third Century, the strategic plan adopted by the College in 2021 following a yearlong, College-wide planning process. She shared the work that has been done to prioritize, integrate and scale initiatives in the strategic plan that have the potential to bring even greater distinction to a Kenyon education, and the next and necessary steps the College can take to ensure that every graduate is prepared to pursue both a life and career of purpose.
President Kornfeld also reported on Kenyon’s partnership with the American Talent Initiative, a collective of top colleges and universities committed to enrolling and graduating more high-achieving, lower-income students. Vice President for Enrollment Diane Anci provided an update on applications and admissions to date for the fall 2024 entering class, which includes a strong early decision cohort. And Vice President for Advancement Colleen Garland reported on the Kenyon Access Initiative, an effort that has secured more than $26.5 million in commitments for endowed scholarships from Kenyon alumni and parents who believe deeply that a Kenyon education should be affordable for talented students of any means.
As is the routine of every winter meeting, the central business of the board was to discuss and approve the operating budget proposed for the next fiscal year. For 2024-25, the operating budget will be $197,398,000. Highlights include:
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The financial aid budget will grow to $65,773,000 for the 2024-25 fiscal year, a 10% increase. Increasing access and affordability is a top goal of the strategic plan, and continued investment in financial aid reflects this commitment.
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The general salary pool will increase by 2%. Faculty and staff compensation, like student scholarships, is always a top budget priority. Every year the College must balance salary increases with other critical needs, and the 2024-25 budget has a number of pressures, including financial aid.
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Overall health insurance costs will increase by 5% for both participating employees and the College. This reflects rising health care costs, particularly for prescription drugs.
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The maintenance of buildings, grounds and equipment will continue to prioritize health and safety, along with critical maintenance of student residences.
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Total student charges will be set at $87,160 for the 2024-25 academic year, an average increase of 3.5%, depending on choice of housing. The budget assumes an opening enrollment of 1,838 students on campus.
In other business, the Campus and Finance Committee heard an update on carbon neutrality planning, while the Investment Committee reviewed the performance of Kenyon’s endowment investments. The Audit and Risk Committee heard from Dave Dietz, President of Educational and Institutional Insurance Administrators, about key areas of risk for colleges and universities and strategies for managing them. And the Governance and Nominating Committee discussed processes for onboarding new trustees and transitioning board chairs.