Finding a New Path at Kenyon

James Kyle '59 and Hannah Petrich '21

Hannah Petrich '21 found the same kind of intellectual freedom at Kenyon that James Kyle '59 GP'17 did, and the scholarship he created made the discovery possible.

Both came to Gambier thinking they would major in English and then switched to economics.

"I took advanced placement macroeconomics in high school, and it didn't make much sense to me. But the way it is taught in college is completely different," Hannah says. "It surprised me how easily it came to me when I had amazing professors to teach it."

James switched to economics in his junior year thanks to the guidance of longtime professor of economics Paul Titus (1933–1972). James would become an associate professor of economics at Indiana State University, from which he is now retired.

"I liked the problem-solving aspect of economics, the intellectual challenge of it," James says. "I liked the faculty at Kenyon and the individual time they gave to us."

Hannah found the same warmth when she came to Kenyon from Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Her high school had 4,000 students, and she did not plan to apply to any college smaller than that. But her mother insisted on a Kenyon visit, and the trip convinced Hannah to apply early decision.

"It was seeing the people walking on Middle Path. Everyone seems to have something here. Everyone has a quirk, and that's what I wanted," she says. "My quirk is that I've always been a very artistic kid and also very athletic. I love that at Kenyon I can fit into so many groups that are fundamentally different."

In her first year, Hannah played on the varsity women's soccer team, was director of operations on Student Council and joined Theta Delta Phi. At spring break, she took her first trip overseas; she went to Belize with two Kenyon professors and 12 other Kenyon students to install solar panels on schools. This year Hannah is playing rugby and serving as a sexual misconduct advisor.

"After I visited Kenyon, I really wanted to come here. If it weren't for the Kyle scholarship, it just wouldn't have been an option," she says.

James also received a scholarship to attend Kenyon. He says, "The whole atmosphere at Kenyon was perfect for me: the small college where I knew personally some of the faculty and the librarian and his wife. It was a real community of scholars."

James created the John K. and Mildred L. Kyle Scholarship Fund in 2009 to honor his parents, who sent three sons to prestigious institutions (Kenyon, Dartmouth and Tufts). Keeping the family tradition alive, James' grandson Will Kyle also attended Kenyon, graduating in 2017.

"We all received financial aid, but we also had significant support from my parents. They saved for our education because it was a priority for them, and this is a good way to honor their commitment," James says. "My mother was of a generation in which many women did not go to college, but she did and got a teaching license during the Depression. She taught several years before getting married. She could have kept working but decided to stay home and raise three boys within a fairly modest income. They made it clear that education was important."

James intends to fully fund the scholarship through a charitable remainder trust created to benefit his longtime partner and husband, Mark Leggett. But James didn't want to wait to see the fund help students, so he started putting money in. As of June 30, 2017, the fund had a market value of just over $91,000, which provides more than $4,000 a year in scholarship funds.

"Someone gave money to Kenyon so I could attend. The way to pay that back is to pay it forward, and I hope that the students who receive the scholarship have the same sense to repay it with their own generosity someday," James says.

You can help make a Kenyon education accessible and affordable for students. To learn how, contact Kate Daleiden at 740-427-5729 or plannedgiving@kenyon.edu.