A Growing Sense of Appreciation for the Present through an Analysis of the Past

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  February 16, 2025

    On our first day in the archives, I was greeted by a series of what looked to be very, very old documents on our groups table. I was somewhat dreading the process of sifting through the archives, as I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I assumed it would be a boring, tedious process of sifting though historical documents like school records and distant organizations. I was worried that I wouldn't feel like I had any significant connection or attraction to the things in the dusty old cabinets. I was wrong. As I began really analyzing the assortment in front of me, I read that this edition of "The Kenyon Reveille" (a text I had never heard of ) was from 1855, it contained names of fraternity brothers as well as ads for dry goods offered in the colder months. Immediately I was struck by a sense of overwhelming nostalgia for a time and people with whom I shared very little, especially knowing how much Kenyon has changed as an institution. For my analysis, I looked over an edition of "The Kenyon Collegian" from 1856-1857, the first and second volumes ever published. Within the worn binding contained several works of literature, from poems to short stories, and reviews made by both students and professors. This hadn't been what I expected to be sewn within its cover, as the Collegian I know and love contains hardly any of that, just news and events. 

    This kind of change from the past had me torn, morally speaking. In one regard, I felt almost disappointment that we have diverged from this original, writing based focus, as to me that felt authentically Kenyon. I would say that this kind of admiration of the past plays to the favor of the arguments of Edmund Burke, in his epistolary text, Reflections on the Revolution in France, as he insisted on the value of tradition and the importance of inheriting moral compasses from our forefathers. I felt too, at least initially, inclined to entrust my beliefs in the arguments made by Edward Shills, Tradition, that through loss of contact with our ancestors we experience demoralization. I felt, momentarily, that in losing this aspect of the Collegian, we had abandoned some of the original, valiant Kenyon ideals.

    Though, the more I reflected, the more I was in favor of current Kenyon publications reflecting accurately what the students are most interested in. We still have literary publications, but we are also more grounded in the world around us and social issues, campus-wide and world-wide. I would certainly say that I've been swayed by the "presentist" view of things, as presented to us by Hobsbawm and Yazdiha. I would say that, to make the distinction which much occupied Hobsbawm, the practice of Kenyon's publications is a "custom" and not a "tradition" (Hobsbawm, The Collective Memory Reader, pg. 272), as they haven't been invariant over time. I think that as a student-run organization, the Collegian deserves to have changed with the student body, and not be a tradition which has been cast down from the administration to adhere to some specific notion of what it is to be a Kenyon student. I can appreciate that dilapidated text for what it is: an interesting insight into what captured the minds of Kenyon students then. And with that, I can appreciate the current-editions of the Collegian for that very same thing. 

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