How well do you really know your professors at Kenyon? Since it’s unlikely that you had the chance to play any of those classic icebreaker games with them (name an adjective that starts with the first letter of your name, never have I ever, lost on a desert island, you know the kind of things I’m talking about), we reached out to Kenyon faculty members so that we could learn a bit more about them. And so they could experience the unique joy of thinking up random interesting facts about themselves on the spot, too. The game of choice: “Two Lies and a Truth,” a twist on the more common “Two Truths and a Lie.” Why switch it around you ask? Because it’s more fun that way, and alliteration is overrated. Now, scroll on to learn exciting new things about our beloved Kenyon faculty! Answers are listed at the bottom of the article.
Royal Rhodes, Donald L. Rogan Professor of Religious Studies:
1. I was born in Toronto, Canada.
2. I am the nephew of former Governor of Ohio, James Rhodes.
3. I studied Boolean Algebra at M.I.T.
Sarah Murnen, Samuel B. Cummings Professor of Psychology:
1. I was once arrested for disorderly conduct.
2. I was captain of my high school chess team.
3. I am an accomplished poker player.
Celso Villegas, Assistant Professor of Sociology:
1. I had my ears pierced early in grad school.
2. My cousin was a professional basketball player in the Philippines.
3. In my a-cappella days, I sang a duet on “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.”
President Sean Decatur:
1. I studied abroad in my junior year.
2. I went to my first Grateful Dead concert while in high school.
3. My first dog was named “Polly Puptide.”
Sarah Heidt, Associate Professor of English:
1. I have six toes on one foot.
2. I sat outside a Manhattan movie theater for hours to get a seat for Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
3. I own approximately 6,000 books.
Bob Milnikel, Professor of Mathematics:
1. I made my stage debut in 1984 as Farmer Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz with a broken ankle.
2. In a prank gone awry in college, I shorted out the elevators in our equivalent of Caples and people had to use the stairs for over a day.
3. I was once so sleep-deprived that I fell asleep while actively playing an instrument in a rehearsal.
Laurie Finke, Professor of Women’s & Gender Studies:
1. I qualified for the Olympic trials in swimming.
2. I was a contestant on Jeopardy.
3. I once worked in a brewery.
Sarah Blick, Professor of Art History:
(Minor but informative digression: Yes, this is the third Sarah interviewed. No, it was not intentional. If anything, it just proves that Sarah’s are more reliable at responding to interview questions, or more likely, I know more of them on campus. And yes, we do have female professors at Kenyon who are not named Sarah.)
1. I seriously considered studying Astrophysics instead of Art History.
2. I dropped out of college to pursue a career as a cashier selling cigarettes and lottery tickets for the big-money glamor of $4 an hour.
3. I hand-raised a family of abandoned baby bunnies to adulthood and released them into the wild.
Lee Schott, Assistant Director of Career Development
1. I own a watch that’s water resistant to 340 feet.
2. I can hold my breath for more than 67 seconds.
3. I can do a great impersonation fo Sean Connery.
The Truth:
Rhodes: I studied Boolean Algebra at M.I.T.
Murnen: I was once arrested for disorderly conduct. (specifically, as a child, so she doesn’t have a record!)
Villegas: In my a-cappella days, I sang duet on “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.” (In his own words: “Ugh, truth.”)
Decatur: I went to my first Grateful Dead concert while in high school.
Heidt: I sat outside a Manhattan movie theater for hours to get a seat for Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. (For the record, option #3 is only a lie because Professor Heidt believes she has over 6,000 books. Wow. Now, that’s something to aspire to when I grow up.)
Milnikel: I was once so sleep-deprived that I fell asleep while actively playing an instrument in a rehearsal.
Finke: I qualified for the Olympic trials in swimming. (Specifically, the 200-meter butterfly in the 1972 Olympic trials in Chicago!)
Blick: I dropped out of college to pursue a career as a cashier selling cigarettes and lottery tickets for the big-money glamor of $4 an hour. (As she explains, “That was a lot of money back then [early 1980s], and I hadn’t yet convinced myself that Art History was a viable career. I held that job for a year but returned to school the following semester.”)
Schott: I can hold my breath for more than 67 seconds.
Image Credit: Kenyon College, USU