It was like a sign of the apocalypse for some of us, especially Head Baseball Coach Matt Burdette, when the Baltimore Orioles drafted Jack Graham ’12 last year in the 38th round of the 2012 MLB Draft.

But it’s impossible for the apocalypse to happen twice, and just a year after Graham began his pro journey in the Orioles organization the Milwaukee Brewers selected Jesse Weiss ’13 in the 36th round (1,082nd overall) of the 2013 MLB Draft. Weiss is the second player from Kenyon to be drafted in two years, an extraordinary feat for a Division III school of our size and location. Burdette told The Collegian this past February that before Graham, he’d never had a player drafted ever before in his 17 years at the helm of the baseball program. Now, he’s got two in as many years.

A three-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference athlete, Weiss spent his four years with the Lords primarily as a first baseman and designated hitter. His name is all over the Lords’ all-time hitting record books. Weiss’s 47 career doubles rank second all-time, and his 223 total bases rank third. He also ended his career fifth all-time in Lords’ history in four other batting categories: batting average (.357), runs scored (103), hits (150) and RBI (102). In his senior season, Weiss played in all 37 of the Lords’ games, hitting .311 and leading the Lords in slugging percentage (.557), walks (23) and home runs (4).

We all know that playing professional sports is an opportunity very few people have. But now Kenyonites past, present, and future who dream in the pros and live in the reality of sandlots have one more athlete to relate to and to live vicariously through.

Not the most flattering angle of our dear SMather, but it will do.

Once again, Buzzfeed featured Kenyon in a list about college life. Indirectly, Kenyon is the star of Buzzfeed’s 31 Sure Signs You Went To A Liberal Arts College. Besides the fact that almost all of the points apply to the average Kenyon student (#31 is hard to swallow), Samuel Mather Hall is pictured in number 10 for “You picked your school in part because it reminded you of Hogwarts.” Suck it UChicago!  Adding to Kenyon’s liberal-arti-ness, the source of the photo is a class project on “The Women’s Coordinate College at Kenyon,” which was apparently a thing. Well played, Buzzfeed.

Even though we reported on it previously, the sad news didn’t really hit home until the first of this month: allstu2, created by Mark Larus ’13, has shut down for good.

Larus explains that he’s shutting down his “hobby project” to focus on his post-college life, but reminds those of us who hate inbox clutter that allstu can still be read through a gmail filter or (less elegantly) on the College website. This Thrill article explains how to configure gmail for maximum allstu convenience.

In his farewell message, Larus also notes that at least half of Kenyon students used the site, which sometimes reached over 600 students in a single day.

On campus for the summer, Madeleine Thompson ’15 snapped this photo proving that the College’s controversial smoke-free policy has, in fact, come to pass. Because it is within 15 feet of a building, the patio area in front of Farr Hall is now a no smoking zone, sporting this stylish purple placard.

Smoking will still be allowed in the area between Olin Library and the Gund Gallery, on the patio behind Horvitz Hall, on the patio outside Gund Commons, and around all residential buildings — but no closer than 15 feet to any building.

wofford.edu

According to an Office of Public Affairs news bulletin, Provost Nayef Samhat has been selected as the 11th president of Wofford College, a liberal arts college of similar size to Kenyon located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Samhat has served as Kenyon’s provost for four years, and assumes him new position on July 1, the same day that Sean Decatur becomes Kenyon’s 19th president. Associate Provost and Professor of Political Science Joseph Klesner will become acting provost. Read Wofford’s announcement here.

Time for us bloggers to ride off into the sunset.

It’s the end of Kenyon’s 189th year, and the Thrill’s second. Thanks for reading as we’ve spent another year making inside jokes, talking about some mediocre TV show that only lasted three four seasons, and comiting embarasing spellign erors. Thanks to your relentless commenting, we are aware of our flaws, but occasionally we’ve also done some good stuff, which we really hope you’ve enjoyed.

We’d like to take this time to announce that next year, the Thrill will be headed up by David Hoyt ’14 and Spencer Kaye ’14.  There are so many things that have changed over the last two years and things will continue to grow and change as we settle in.  We’d like to thank you all for sticking with us for these two years and we look forward to the times that lie ahead.  We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming in August, with more of what you love, less of what you don’t, and maybe a few surprises. Until then, be safe, have fun, enjoy the summer — and polish those blogging skills in case you want to join our team in the fall.

Love,

David Hoyt ’14 and Spencer Kaye ’14, and the rest of the Thrill team.

It’s commencement time again, which means people are getting in the graduation speech spirit, gossiping about who’s speaking where (President Obama went to OSU again, since it’s not like he practically lived there last fall) and reminiscing about the commencement addresses of yore. With that in mind, watch this hot new adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s hit 2005 Kenyon address, “This is Water” — now with pretty moving colors for those of you who can’t sit through a brief speech without getting bored and taking a Tumblr break, or something. It’s a great way to end another beautiful year on the Hill, or for the seniors, to get extra emotional about your own upcoming commencement.

Gentle folk of Kenyon, an anonymous source has leaked the following link to the Thrill for your listening pleasure.  Those of you who don’t know who James Plunkett ’13 is, I suggest you click play and get introduced.

Or perhaps you may already have been introduced to James through the Stairwells, or the Cornerstones, or perhaps a while back in our Thrill Session with Townships. If not, the man has been making bad-ass music throughout his Kenyon career, and although he may be leaving us next year for the Big Sky Country, he’s left behind a wonderful EP of four solo acoustic jams.  Check it out!