Marriott Park Scavenger Hunt

Our journey begins where Marriott Park begins. Superstition says that if you and a companion split the post in the middle, you may sever your friendship. No bad vibes today! Stick together while you focus your energy on the plaque inscription to the right: inter sylvas academi quaerere verum. “Seek for truth in the groves of academe.” Very Kenyon!

Part of the English Quad, this house is named in honor of Charles. Despite not being a student at Kenyon himself, two of his children and two of his grandchildren are Kenyon alumni, and he served as a trustee for almost 20 years. We can’t wait(e) for you to find this one! In recognition of his outstanding service and generous estate gift, this house was named in 2022.

More than half of all estate gifts at Kenyon go to support scholarships and financial aid. Gifts range from a few thousand dollars to several million, and they have a huge impact for our students.

Take a trip to Lowell House. Here, you will find the Office of Financial Aid and the Hubbard Conference Room, call it Scholarship Corner? Bob Hubbard ’53 studied three years at Harvard before leaving for military service. When he returned to Harvard after serving, he didn’t know anyone and someone suggested he finish up at Kenyon. Despite having only been a student here for three semesters, his profound love of Kenyon will help our students in perpetuity. He established the Hubbard Scholarship through his trust.

During his lifetime, David ’59 was an actuary, so no surprise that he loved math. For many years, he and wife Patricia gave to the math department with the goal of enhancing the quality of classroom teaching — so others would love math, too! When deciding how to put his generous bequest to work for Kenyon, his family opted for a room with a view.

Head to the top of Chalmers Library and enjoy the view of Sunset Point from this west reading room.

You may have heard that Kenyon is known for excellent writing, and this couple exemplified that better than most. The pair worked at Kenyon for a combined total of 70+ years — he as an English professor, she as a writer for the Kenyon Review and Advancement Division. Having spent much of their lives in Gambier and at Kenyon, Gerrit and Janet left an unrestricted estate gift to the College, so that our campus leaders might choose how it could best serve the current needs of the community.

You may pay your respects to them and many other Kenyon wordsmiths in the cemetery behind Rosse Hall. 

Alan ’71 loved his work as a research chemist in the natural gas industry. And he loved the idea of helping students at Kenyon who are studying chemistry. When interviewed about his estate gift he said, "I wanted the money to go to enhance the classroom experience and more specifically to benefit individual students studying chemistry. I do feel I'm paying back a little for the things I learned there."

Head to the Science Quad and peek through the windows in the Tomsich first floor chemistry lab to view the equipment and technology that Alan’s estate gift helps to provide. 

Today there are more than 550 alumni, faculty, staff and friends who have included Kenyon in their estate plans. Not all of them have their names on a room or scholarship, but each of these donors are vitally important to Kenyon’s future, and we thank them for their generous gifts of all sizes. 

"In recognition of the members of the George Wharton Marriott Society," we raise a glass off the Alumni Dining Room, in the lower level of Thomas Hall, connected to Peirce. 

Before you leave Peirce, visit Indian Hunter and Pronghorn Antelope. Do you like their view? So do we! That’s why the Philander Chase Conservancy has preserved it in perpetuity. Many alumni and friends have included the conservancy in their estate plans, which will help to preserve and protect the rural character around Kenyon. 

For our last two stops, we take you beyond the confines of Marriott Park and send you north on Middle Path. This building behind the post office is named in honor of Jim ’60, a professor and the chair of radiation oncology at M.D. Anderson in Houston.

During his lifetime, Jim championed the need for a health center at Kenyon and generously made a gift through his estate to provide ongoing support. Jim dedicated his life to encouraging good health, but he was also known for being an exceptional mentor to student physicians.

If you want to join Charles, Bob, David, Gerrit, Janet, Alan, Jim and the many others who have chosen to enhance life at Kenyon through their estate, visit Advancement Division staff in these connected houses. It would be our privilege to help you make plans for a gift that shows your passion and love for this wonderful place.