Ascension Hall

Almost every Kenyon student has occasion to take a class in Ascension Hall, one of the stately stone "castles" that overlook the historic south campus. This masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture, which dates from 1859, houses a variety of typical classrooms as well as some of the College's treasures. The rich wood paneling of the Campbell Meeker Room, for example, lends elegance and warmth to seminars. For many students, a favorite place to read or write is Nu Pi Kappa, a spacious top-floor study lounge furnished with cozy armchairs and long wooden tables. Light shines through stained glass windows, while the beams and high ceiling overhead add a comfortable sense of depth. Just below Nu Pi Kappa is its equally distinguished counterpart, Philomathesian, a medium-sized lecture hall that also hosts poetry readings, colloquia, and Common-Hour presentations.

Ascension is the home for five academic departments: classics, economics, modern languages and literatures, philosophy, and religious studies. Students frequently come to Ascension to meet with professors in their offices or to use the ground-floor computer lab.

Ascension Hall Fast Facts
Ascension Hall: In Our Own Words
Offices and Departments in Ascension

Ascension Hall Fast Facts

Built: 1859

Named for: The Church of the Ascension in New York City, which donated the funds for the building

Current use: Classrooms, faculty offices, academic departmental offices

Historical notes: Until the early twentieth century, Kenyon's science departments occupied the north end of Ascension. As experimentation became more sophisticated, the departments were relocated to Samuel Mather Hall. Ascension's tower houses an observatory, which was restored in the 1980s and which can be toured by special arrangement.

Ascension trivia: Nu Pi Kappa and Philomathesian, the elegant central rooms on the building's upper floors, were named for the College's two famous nineteenth-century literary societies, which held discussions and debates and housed their libraries in these rooms. The restoration of the 1980s returned these rooms to their original wood-paneled splendor.

Insider information: The armchairs in Nu Pi Kappa sometimes prove too comfortable. Students have been known to sink happily into the upholstery and nod off, open book on lap.

The computer lab in the basement is a favorite with many students.

Ascension Hall: In Our Own Words

"Ascension Hall is beautiful, with its big rooms, hardwood tables, and fireplaces. A great place to study."
—Liz DeLisle, Class of 2004, English major

Offices and Departments in Ascension

Classics, economics, modern languages and literatures, philosophy, and religious studies