Community Message: Kenyon Farmers Meet With Provost and President

Dear Kenyon Community,

As many of you are aware, we, the Kenyon Farmers, were recently informed that the residential program at the farm will be discontinued, effective next fall. This news came as a huge blow to us because the farm house is the core of our community, and we cannot imagine our lives or the farm without it. In the wake of the decision, we have been extremely grateful to everyone who has supported us, from signing our petition to picketing with us. We were not consulted by decision makers, nor were we even aware that the possibility of ending residency was on the table. We requested a meeting with President Decatur and Provost Bowman, who we were informed had been involved in the decision, to gain clarity and express our concerns, and they agreed to sit down with us on Tuesday. We were accompanied by several Community Advisors, an Admissions worker, and Professor Ed Schortman, all of whom chose to attend in support. The answers–and lack of answers–that we were met with in this meeting have only deepened our concern about this decision. In the interest of full transparency and communication with the broader community–1,300 of whom have signed our petition of support–we thought it appropriate to provide everyone with an update on our meeting. Below you can find a summary of the conversation.

After a round of introductions, we began the meeting by simply asking President Decatur and Provost Bowman their knowledge of daily operations on the Kenyon Farm. Provost Bowman responded: “you shouldn’t assume knowledge on my part about specific questions” and President Decatur said that he would “probably put [his] level of knowledge below that” and advised that we should “assume that [he] know[s] zero.” We are concerned that knowledge of the daily workings of the Farm was essential to making a responsible decision, as evidenced by the fact that neither administrator could account for how students would be able to maintain a 20 hour/week schedule without living at the Farm. Although we do not expect upper-level administrators to have in-depth knowledge about the Farm, both Sean Decatur and Jeffrey Bowman were directly involved in the decision to end the residential program–a decision that will have direct consequences for the day to day workings of the program. In trying to understand how they came to an informed decision, we inquired as to who else was consulted. Although they insisted that the termination of the residential program at the farm was a curricular decision, neither the President nor the Provost could demonstrate that they discussed the residential program or the idea of eliminating it with any faculty member in an official capacity, as they previously claimed. Additionally, as far as we are aware there was no procedure in place for consulting relevant faculty before the decision was final and we understand that many faculty members did not learn of the change at all until it was published in the Collegian. That faculty were seemingly as blindsided as we were by a curricular change is concerning to us.

Provost Bowman stated that this decision was made due to concerns over how to best use the farmhouse as a building and how to “optimize everything about the farm so that it reache[s] the most number of students.” The Provost assured us that “financial considerations haven’t come into [the decision].” In response to our concerns that the relevant students and faculty were not included in the decision making process, Provost Bowman and President Decatur had little to say. When asked what role he had in the decision making process, President Decatur stated that he relied on people “on the ground” to make the decision, yet he admitted he could not recall a point at which he asked what the student farmers might think of this decision. 

On a personal level, we are deeply disappointed in President Decatur and Provost Bowman’s apparent lack of interest or concern in resolving an issue that, as we repeatedly demonstrated to them during this two-hour meeting, will drastically impact our working conditions. President Decatur explained at multiple points that he does not oversee matters related to the Farm, issues that “don't reach the second floor of Ransom.” It is strange to us, then, that the decision itself would reach his office if everything else about the farm does not.

We are grateful to Provost Bowman and President Decatur for their time on Tuesday. Ultimately, our concerns were confirmed in that the administration made the decision to end the Farm’s residential program without consulting the Kenyon Farmers, and that they have no concrete plans as to who will replace the four to six students who live in the house and care for the livestock on a daily basis. Throughout this whole process, we have been overwhelmed by the amount of community support we have received. Thank you to everyone who has signed our petition, given us words of encouragement, picketed with us on Middle Path, and supported us during our meeting on Tuesday. We will be holding a rally outside Ransom Hall at 4:15 on Monday in conjunction with our coworkers and fellow K-SWOC/UE members. If you want to support us and learn more about our next steps, we hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

The Kenyon Farmers