Girl with the Arrow

Elysa McKinney '07 (March 2008)
Kianu Alumna

Nomination:

Elysa and Sarah

It was the summer before my senior year (and before her sophomore year) that I got to know Ms. McKinney. I stuck around campus that summer to bartend at the Doctor's Lounge at night and work in the Financial Aid office during the day. To be honest, I think the reason why I started spending time with her was because she was the only other person in town (Elysa was a townie)!

Elysa chose not to pledge her freshman year and that summer we sometimes talked about what she thought of Greek life. I might not be able to capture it quite as she said it but I was very impressed the night she told me that she thought "Some girls are so beautiful on the outside but when it really comes down to it, their mean-spirited core overpowers and makes them ugly. I think Kianus are truly beautiful girls – inside and out."

Sarah and Elysa

I don't think for a minute that Elysa said what she said because she wanted me to "like her." In fact, at that time I don't think she had much interest in Greek life at all. Elysa just had such a mature way of viewing the world and human character for such a young person. Her observations were made not because she had a bunch of Kianu friends that she thought were "cool" -- she just took in what she saw at Muskingum over the years. I think that even from afar she was able to appreciate the Kianus for what they really are – a group that will always be much more about community, loyalty, friendship and much less about partying and rivalry. We always say that Kianu is something that you can't understand from the outside looking in – but I believe that Elysa did. I was ecstatic when she decided to join us the following spring.

Elysa is the epitome of independence, she is the model of strength and she is the essence of Kianu beauty.

Sarah Olexsak
XAN Class of 2005

Last Update: March 2008