Kenyon--Academic advising? Social life in isolated town?

[Anonymous]

Is that thread title specific enough that it won't get axed? There was a "tell us about Kenyon " thread that has vanished (or I'm not seeing it--?) while similar threads on Oberlin, Tulane, Haverford, and other colleges are still here. I know there's hate for the "tell us about" threads but there have also been useful posts on them and those posters who dislike them can just not open them if they don't like the idea. And many threads may not be titled "tell us about" but they serve the same function and remain. Seems the "Thoughts on...?" titles are OK....

I had asked a serious question about Greek life at Kenyon and whether it formed a big part of social life, considering Kenyon's tiny student body and geographic isolation. Is campus life fine with or without being Greek or are many social events tied to the Greek system? Not criticizing Greeks per se, just wondering how a student with no interest in that would fit in. I'd still be interested to hear a reply from someone who has a kid there or who is a recent alum.

And I'd like to know how you or your student found the academic advising worked. We were told that students get the same faculty adviser (if they click) the whole time, mostly, with changes based on majors etc. as needed, and that advisers often follow students closely and help them think through course choices etc. Very different from UVA where student guides were frank about saying that undergrads were largely on their own, given random advisers not even in their departments at first, and might get little or no real advising from assigned advisers (but better advising from professors once the students are in a major program).

[Anonymous]

Don't have a kid there nor a recent alum, but have talked with the kid of a friend of a friend who is currently there (2nd year) as my DC has Kenyon on the list of possible schools. In his view: Greek life isn't a big deal at Kenyon. Only about 1/4 of the students are in frats/sororities and they are low-key. He was not in a frat and laughed when I asked if frats were a big thing at Kenyon if that tells you anything (though his older brother went to UVA so he might have a distorted view about what frats being a "big thing" means). I didn't ask him about academic advising, but what he mainly talked about was the close connections he had with faculty and friends. I did ask him about social isolation and he said it could get oppressive--like when he broke up with his girlfriend he felt he couldn't easily 'get away' anywhere and everyone seemed to know about it. And that it gets really cold and gray in the winter. He's happy he went there though, says he has great friends and really hasn't encountered anybody he actively dislikes. He feels he has learned a lot. I had never met him before talking him, but my impression was that he seemed like a quiet, serious kid--but smart, honest, articulate and comfortable carrying on a conversation with a strange adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't have a kid there nor a recent alum, but have talked with the kid of a friend of a friend who is currently there (2nd year) as my DC has Kenyon on the list of possible schools. In his view: Greek life isn't a big deal at Kenyon. Only about 1/4 of the students are in frats/sororities and they are low-key. He was not in a frat and laughed when I asked if frats were a big thing at Kenyon if that tells you anything (though his older brother went to UVA so he might have a distorted view about what frats being a "big thing" means). I didn't ask him about academic advising, but what he mainly talked about was the close connections he had with faculty and friends. I did ask him about social isolation and he said it could get oppressive--like when he broke up with his girlfriend he felt he couldn't easily 'get away' anywhere and everyone seemed to know about it. And that it gets really cold and gray in the winter. He's happy he went there though, says he has great friends and really hasn't encountered anybody he actively dislikes. He feels he has learned a lot. I had never met him before talking him, but my impression was that he seemed like a quiet, serious kid--but smart, honest, articulate and comfortable carrying on a conversation with a strange adult.

1/4 is a lot. UVA is around 30% Greek by way of comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't have a kid there nor a recent alum, but have talked with the kid of a friend of a friend who is currently there (2nd year) as my DC has Kenyon on the list of possible schools. In his view: Greek life isn't a big deal at Kenyon. Only about 1/4 of the students are in frats/sororities and they are low-key. He was not in a frat and laughed when I asked if frats were a big thing at Kenyon if that tells you anything (though his older brother went to UVA so he might have a distorted view about what frats being a "big thing" means). I didn't ask him about academic advising, but what he mainly talked about was the close connections he had with faculty and friends. I did ask him about social isolation and he said it could get oppressive--like when he broke up with his girlfriend he felt he couldn't easily 'get away' anywhere and everyone seemed to know about it. And that it gets really cold and gray in the winter. He's happy he went there though, says he has great friends and really hasn't encountered anybody he actively dislikes. He feels he has learned a lot. I had never met him before talking him, but my impression was that he seemed like a quiet, serious kid--but smart, honest, articulate and comfortable carrying on a conversation with a strange adult.

1/4 is a lot. UVA is around 30% Greek by way of comparison.

I didn't check up on the actual numbers (Kenyon has fallen lower on DC's list for unrelated reasons), but I think what this kid was expressing was more how big of a deal it felt socially. If I understood him correctly, frats and sororities don't even have their own houses at Kenyon--or at least many of them don't.

[Anonymous]

No frat houses at Kenyon. They get space in the dorms to throw parties. Kenyon is such an inclusive student body. All are invited and mesh with one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No frat houses at Kenyon. They get space in the dorms to throw parties. Kenyon is such an inclusive student body. All are invited and mesh with one another.

That sounds lame. Kenyon is in the cornfields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No frat houses at Kenyon. They get space in the dorms to throw parties. Kenyon is such an inclusive student body. All are invited and mesh with one another.

That sounds lame. Kenyon is in the cornfields.

OP here. So glad you took time from your busy life to contribute to the discussion.

Now, back to people who actually have attended or have kids who attended: How about the second half of the question--Academics. Got the impression that students felt they had opportunities to try different things both academically and in terms of activities (like the student tour guide who was not a drama major but had directed a couple of student productions and the dancers we met who said they got lots of opportunities to dance even though they weren't taking the college's dance classes, etc.). Praise from students for tons of interaction with professors too. So alums or parents, this sounds both cozy and potentially insular--Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Per Kenyon's CDS
27% in Frats
32% in Sororities

[Anonymous]

Fraternities have most of the parties. But most kids are not in fraternities. Social life (partying) will rely heavily on fraternities, other aspects of social life are not dependent on fraternities.

Advising is what you make of it. You can be close with your advisor, or you can just use the advisor to sign off whatever needs to be signed off.