Notes from Ransom Hall: A Higher Ed Blog

Sean Decatur

Hometown  —  Gambier, OH

Sean Decatur, an emerging national leader in higher education, became  the nineteenth president of Kenyon College on July 1, 2013. A champion of the liberal arts, President Decatur earned a bachelor's degree at Swarthmore College and a doctorate in biophysical chemistry at Stanford University. 

Reasons to Believe

By Sean Decatur on November 16, 2016

Bruce Springsteen ends his great (but depressing) album Nebraska with the song “Reason to Believe,” each verse telling a Job-like story of a character facing loss but ending with the phrase, “At the end of every hard-earned day people find some reason to believe.” To our Kenyon students — all of you, regardless of political views or your vote in the past election — you represent my reasons to believe.

A President's Playlist

By Sean Decatur on November 14, 2016

Creating a playlist is a way for me to respond to events happening around us. This playlist is a reflection of the mixture of emotions that I have felt, and emotions that others have shared with me, over the past week.

2 a.m. Snapshot of a Diverse Democracy in Action

By Sean Decatur on November 9, 2016

This is a place where ideas are meant to be challenged and contested. Where baseless and ignorant claims are countered and confronted with powerful facts. Where we listen respectfully and challenge forcefully. This is the spirit of a liberal arts institution, and we must work to practice these actions each day.

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