Sounding Off: North Campus Architecture

via kenyon.edu

The construction of the NCAs and the new Health Center on campus marks a new period in Kenyon’s architectural history. Moving away from the gothic style that marks much of south campus, the new construction on north campus is characterized by a uniformity that verges on the cookie-cutter style of suburbia. Is the college losing its character, or is this change for the better? Tell us how you feel in the comments!

Claire: So I kind of like the new, suburban-style housing on North campus. It’s kind of like when you move from South to North, you’re moving in time from Kenyon’s beginning up to the 21st century.

Kenyon Baby Names

“I’m so happy my parents named me after Graham Gund! I can’t wait to get to college and get made fun of all the time!”

As we can tell from more than several Kenyon Confessions, people at Kenyon long to be in relationships with other individuals from Kenyon, leading to actual Kenyon marriages and will possibly lead to Kenyon babies, who then go to Kenyon and repeat the process. But naming your eventual child Kenyon is far too cliché for our hipster campus and, let’s face it, more than a bit confusing. Never fear! Here is a list of Kenyon-related names for your future children. Or your current ones, if you’re an alumni or just good at hiding babies in your NCA.

Spotted: Bean Bag in Sculpture

Well, this is strange…

Courtesy of David Hoyt

Graham Gund ’63 is Apparently Watching the Same Period Dramas You Are

Here is one more thing you can potentially add to the list of things that Graham Gund’s money has bought that have enhanced your life: the brilliant PBS period soap opera drama Downton Abbey. Gund and his wife, Ann, are supporters of the Masterpiece Trust, a fund that was  launched in January to support the venerable program Masterpiece Theater.

Their names appeared on a title card before the premier tonight of the second season of Abbey, which won six Emmy Awards last year and has become a runaway hit for PBS stations around the country.

(hat tip: Paul Hoehn ’14)

Don’t Think Graham Gund Anticipated This

Maybe it counts as installation art?

The new gallery building’s inevitable deterioration has begun. There seems to be a serious problem with leaves blowing in through its shiny glass entryway and scattering all over the pristine lobby. True, this will only be a problem for a few more weeks, but what about when the snow comes? We’ve all seen the slushy mess that Peirce’s entryway becomes, and there’s no way they’re keeping that floor clean all winter. Before you know it, this Gund is going to be just as depressing as that other one.

In Case You Missed It: There is Now More Bike Parking by the Library

So shiny. (David Hoyt for The Thrill)

During peak Olin hours (read: this Sunday) the bike racks on either side of the building can get mighty  full. Luckily, the benevolent deity known to us as Graham Gund has come to the rescue.

Last week, this shiny bay of bike racks appeared on the side of the library. You may recognize them from their debut performance at the KAC. Presumably, they are meant mostly for those students who have class in the Gund Gallery, but we doubt it will take long for Olinites to claim them as their own.

Graham Gund Keeps Giving Us Stuff

This didn't fit in Graham Gund's house. So he gave it to us! (David Hoyt for The Thrill)

The statue in front of the Apple Store Gund Gallery that looks a lot like a mermaid without a tail now has a name. And it is Ariel. We wish. In fact, the statue is a French work called “La Montagne” (it means “The Mountain”), and is a lead (Don’t make your pledges/newbies/prospies lick this one, kids!) cast of a 1937 work.

It comes, like almost all the art on this campus, from the collection of Daddy Warbucks Graham and Ann Gund. So next time you see Kenyon’s own Robert Moses (he’ll probably be here for the Gallery’s opening), stop and say thanks.