05/26/2026
The Vail Series was endowed by a generous gift from the late Mary and Foster McGaw in honor of Jeanne Vail, class of 1946. On this 80th year of her graduation, we reflect and give gratitude.
As a Spanish major and a straight-A student with a deeply sensitive and artistic spirit, Vail was active in many extracurricular activities while at Denison.
Vail was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority where she was treasurer during her junior and senior years.
She was active in the Glee Club, the A capella Chorus, YWCA, Sigma Delta Pi (Spanish honorary), Phi Society (scholastic honorary), the Committee of 100, and the Denison Decade Committee.
Elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year, Vail was one of only five students to receive general honors at her Commencement exercises in 1946.
Jeanne Vail died in 1949, a victim of Poliomyelitis, but her memory will live in perpetuity at Denison through the Vail Arts Program.
And just as it was intended to do, the Vail Series enriches the artistic experience of the entire Denison community, giving us the opportunity for faculty, staff, and Denison students to meet Vail artists in the classroom, and attend concerts with world-renowned artists at no cost.
Then and now, Denison acknowledges, with deep gratitude, this fitting memorial to a gifted alumna of great promise who exemplified the very best in our tradition and our continuing mission.
