The Kenyon Color Palette

Though I tell prospective students that most people consider fall the best season in Gambier, I think winter has an underrated beauty.

By Caleb Newman '24
Date

While sitting on the purple couches, I look out of the window on the Chalmers fourth floor east reading room. I smile as I see many iconic Kenyon buildings. I feel like legends of the past are smiling at me offering advice on my Kenyon experience. Ransom Hall, where I worked before the Office of Admissions moved to Lowell House, is the closest. Peirce tower stands in the background keeping a watchful eye on campus. 

In the fall, the trees sparkle and dance in the wind colored in orange, red, and yellow leaves. Below, the leaves cover Middle Path.

During information sessions in Lowell House, the admissions director will usually ask the student panel a question. One of my favorite starter questions to be asked is: “What is your favorite season?” Each of us will pick a season to explain to the prospective students, all hope to go first to state the seemingly obvious answer. Fall is usually lauded  by the community. The trees on Middle Path and the Ohio countryside are captured in a quilt of color. That autumnal palette warms my heart like a glass of hot apple cider on a cool fall day.

I suddenly snap out of reminiscing about the fall weather as my breath has completely fogged up the glass. It is freezing outside, and the trees are bare on Middle Path. I look at the weather on my phone and  see the amazing pictogram for Friday’s forecast: a snowflake.

While giving tours during the warmer months, stopping to say hi to people brightens my day and shows prospective students the communal nature of Kenyon. In the winter time, this is harder to do—people are often inside, playing games and exchanging stories. Though I tell prospective students that most people consider fall the best season in Gambier, I think winter has an underrated beauty. 

To me, the first snowfall is the prettiest time of the year. The campus suddenly transforms into a winter wonderland, with snow sticking to Middle Path like a thick blanket on a cold day. When the sun springs out from behind the clouds, campus lights up like the blinds have been opened on Gambier. 

When the sun springs out from behind the clouds, campus lights up like the blinds have been opened on Gambier. 

Caleb Newman '24

During the day, the snow acts as a mirror, reflecting the sun’s rays all over campus. The light brown stones of Ascension and Samuel Mather stand in contrast to the white background of the snow and cloudy sky above. Within their walls, coats and scarfs sit idle on chairs as their owners engage in conversation.

Under a full moon, Kenyon continues to shine. Last year, as I walked back from a late night study session in Chalmers to Old Kenyon, the snow lit up Middle Path like a runway leading me to the heart of South Campus. The three iconic buildings stood like walls of a fortress watching over Kenyon students as they embarked on their way back home after a night spent studying, attending a club meeting or at a friend’s place. The yellow glow coming from the windows of Leornard Hall bounced across the snow onto the tan color walls of Hanna Hall.  A calmness washed over me, seeing Old Kenyon’s spiral stand above south quad, keeping a watchful eye on all of campus.

There is no doubt that the colors of fall explode onto the color palette of Kenyon; the burgundy reds mixed with the lush yellow produce the roaring rust and outstanding oranges. Upon first glance, the fall seems like the best time of year, but don’t discredit winter for it is not all dreary, dull, and gray. Its color palette mixes yellow, white, and black to create a winter wonderland. The palette of simple colors makes me feel calm.