Lifetime Giving

 

Many Knox alumni and friends have made life-long philanthropic commitments to the College, generously supporting Knox's academic program, its students, its faculty, and the campus itself.  Two giving societies honor these leadership donors -- the Ellen Browning Scripps Society and the Lincoln Douglas Society.

Ellen Browning Scripps Society

This new giving society recognizes those donors who have given $1,000,000 or more in their lifetimes.

Ellen Browning Scripps graduated from Knox College in 1859 -- when women were only beginning to attend college. She received a ladies "certificate of graduation" because no diplomas were given to women at that time. She taught school before coming to Knox so she could save enough to pay the tuition. While here she witnessed the Lincoln-Douglas Debate and later called it "the most important event of her time here."

Unlike most women of her era, Scripps' life was devoted to knowledge for its own sake. She was particularly interested in education, free speech, women's suffrage, temperance, and world peace. She and her brothers were in the newspaper business; they formed what would eventually become the national Scripps Newspaper chain. She invested her own money in the papers and also wrote a syndicated column for them. She was a self-made woman who amassed a fortune on her own, and when combined with her brother's estate, she became one of the earliest women philanthropists and the first woman to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.

She has been called philanthropic for the transformative gifts she gave, but she disliked that word. She preferred to refer to her significant gifts as "investments in humanity." She made several investments in Knox. The first was $1,000 in 1902. The second was $10,000 in 1908. The third was $100,000 to endow the Office of the President in 1915. At the time, these gifts were the most generous of any living benefactor to the College.

To express appreciation for Scripps' many contributions to Knox College,  the Old Main bell rings for one minute at  noon on her birthday each year. It is, therefore, fitting that the Ellen Browning Scripps Society should honor those donors who are our most generous living benefactors.

Permanent recognition on campus is currently under discussion.

Donors at the Ellen Browning Scripps Society level:

Edward J. & Edith G. Andrew	The Associated Colleges of Illinois
Booth Ferris Foundation	Richard W. '39 & Dorothy Johnson Burkhardt '39
Caterpillar Inc.	Jarvis B. '48 and Kathleen N. Cecil
John E. '37 & Elaine A. Fellowes	Theodore J. '55 & Patricia Roze Fleming '57
The Ford Foundation	Richard P. '55 & Sophia D. Henke
Howard Hughes Medical Institute	The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
James R. '63 & Mary Jo Howe Potter '62	Paul K. & Evalyn E. C. Richter Memorial Trusts
Diane B. Smatlak Rosenberg '63	Roger L. '63 & Anne Taylor '63
Gerald '65 and Carol Klail Vovis '65	Richard '57 and Joan Whitney Whitcomb '56
Anonymous (2)

 

Lincoln Douglas Society
This giving society recognizes those donors who have given $100,000 - $999,999 in their lifetimes.

Established in 1991, the Lincoln Douglas Society is named  for two people who left a permanent imprint on Knox College -- Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Their images remain emblazoned in bronze on the east side of Old Main, the only remaining site of the famous 1858 U.S. Senatorial debates.

Just as the debate between Lincoln and Douglas transformed the College, the individuals, foundations, and corporations who give at the Lincoln-Douglas Society level are agents of change. They empower Knox to provide academic excellence for current Knox students. In total, this group has donated more than $50 million to Knox College.

Lincoln Douglas Society donors are recognized by receiving a set of hand-sculpted bookends  (pictured above) featuring the likenesses of Lincoln and Douglas. Physician and trustee Fay Stevenson-Smith '64, whose interest in art was kindled by Knox Professor Harland Goudie, designed, and sculpted the bookends.

View the list of Lincoln Douglas Society donors (PDF).