Alma Mater

I was interested in Alma Mater, the chronicle of a year in the life of Kenyon College partly because I looked at Kenyon when I was visiting colleges, but mainly because I wanted to see how what Kluge had to say about Kenyon dovetailed with what I experienced at another small, private, liberal arts college. The answer? There was some dovetailing, but I was left feeling very pleased with having chosen not to apply to Kenyon. Kluge finds himself discouraged at the end of the book that what he experienced in a year at Kenyon led so many people to tell him, "everything you talked about happened here where I work/studied." He found out that his experiences weren't unique, and admittedly, private liberal arts colleges are all going to share some characteristics. I was disappointed not to learn more about what Kluge felt made Kenyon unique--what led students to choose Kenyon over another school? More than anything it seemed as though students were choosing other places over Kenyon. Alma Mater is an interesting read for anyone interested in higher education, and for those of us who are products of small liberal arts colleges.

[Interesting note: the main reason I didn't apply to Kenyon? The man who interviewed me spent half the interview talking about the swim team. I can barely swim.]