Courtesy of Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
Kenyon has changed a lot over the years. Gund Commons wasn’t always a life-sucking locale for all-nighters: it was once a student-union. At one time, the Great Hall hosted dance weekends where young men and women would get together and bop to jazz. You might recognize these old time-y men playing baseball on south quad from a picture on the wall at the Village Inn. Kenyon has seen everything from top hats and blazers to Frisbee bros and flare jeans, but in many ways, some things haven’t changed at all.
Check out more cool photos of old Kenyon (i.e. “Kenyon when it was older than it is now”) below!
Look at this guy, fighting fires without a care in the world:
Courtesy of the Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
Middle Path in the Fall of 1956 (there’s no record of whether that one guy makes it over the pole):
- Courtesy of Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
Look at these people lightly shoveling dirt for Middle Path Day on April 8, 1972:
Courtesy of Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
Check out Jay Anania, father of Nick Anania ’14 and member of the Kenyon Ultimate Team in 1981:
Courtesy of Nick Anania ’14
And finally, I’m assuming from this cover of a 1984 campus brochure that springtime is, in fact, a thing that happens at Kenyon:
Courtesy of Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
The Kenyon Thrill 
Ah–the good old days–being in the 2nd class of women, the workday on middle path was especially nice to see…
dope shorts
The so-called ‘scrotum pole’ was much higher back then, or I should say Middle Path was lower. Each year the college adds a layer of pea gravel to the path. Every decade or so they scrape off some of the layers so it doesn’t get too high, but the area by the gates is definitely MUCH higher than it was when first-years and pledges risked their family jewels to vault the fabled pole.