As a senior at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, Professor Hamilton participated in the first convocation for young poets at Indiana University, an event financed by the philanthropist Ruth Lilly.

For instance, this allowed scientists to identify nine new and already-extinct species of helicinid land snails by combing the Gambier Islands in the Pacific for empty shells and combining these with specimens that already existed in museums.

In August, the village of Gambier, home to Kenyon College, approved a temporary mask requirement for public buildings, including schools, with a $25 fine for violators.

The group had been planning to build a larger school building, but the violence has made it harder to travel and get supplies, said Kenlyn Miller, 46, the chairman of the school’s board in Gambier, Ohio.

Dr. Rivest is now an assistant professor of history at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.