350 New Students Join Knox Community
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| President Roger Taylor '63 welcomes a new student and her mother, September 1. Each year, President Taylor helps first-year students move into their new college home at Knox. |
Taylor and Lawrence Breitborde, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, addressed new students at an afternoon welcome session on the East Lawn of Knox's Old Main -- the students and their families seated in the same location as the crowds who thronged to the Lincoln-Douglas debate held at Knox 149 years earlier.
"Knox is a 170-year-old institution whose present and future are informed very strongly by its past," Breitborde said. "This is a place where greatness began . . . it was on this place where Abraham Lincoln denounced slavery on moral terms for the very first time" in the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. Lincoln's argument against slavery "has never stopped resonating with our nation and our world."
Other first-day activities included a reception for parents of first-year students at the Ingersoll House. Read more.
Attorney General to Students: "Get involved right now."
"Use
your talents and skills to make a difference," Illinois Attorney
General Lisa Madigan told Knox College students at the College's
2007-2008 Opening Convocation on September 6. Madigan, whose first job after college was as a teacher in South
Africa, gave a two-part history lesson, covering the Knox's founding in
1837 by anti-slavery activists, as well as Abraham Lincoln's opposition
in the 1850s to the expansion of slavery in the U.S.Madigan urged students to consider Lincoln. "Lincoln's concern for the future of the nation motivated him to speak out and to re-engage in public service," Madigan said. "Every generation faces its own social, moral and political battles, and yours is no different . . . You can get involved right now." Read more.
Students, Staff Tackle Storm Damage, Debris
More than 150 fall sports
athletes and coaches, along with Knox staff and outside
contractors, swept across campus on Friday, August 24, to
clean debris and repair damage from a windstorm that struck campus the day before. The severe windstorm, which hit the Galesburg area Thursday, August 23, caused severe damage across the City of Galesburg and surrounding communities. Damage but no injuries were reported on the Knox campus. See The Register-Mail coverage.
In addition to a number of trees and branches down on campus, two trees blew into the west side of Neal-Conger residence hall, causing some damage to the roof. The wind also lifted the southwest corner of the roof of Old Main and knocked a few bricks and blocks from the tower at the southwest corner of the building.
"We can be thankful that the
campus suffered relatively little damage and very thankful there were
no injuries," said President Roger
Taylor '63.After working on campus, the students helped the City of Galesburg clean up fallen limbs in nearby Standish Park. The following Monday, August 27, the women's golf team helped clean Soangetaha Country Club golf course in Galesburg, where they practice and host meets.
Read more.
A Note
from the
EditorCountdown to Homecoming!
Homecoming is less than a month away. Have you registered yet? Don't miss your chance to catch-up with old friends, chat with your favorite professors, visit classes with current students, or wander around campus. A new award will be given at Homecoming Convocation for the Reunion class with the highest number of registered guests. Register now and encourage your classmates to do the same!
Happy Birthday Old Main
Don't forgot to celebrate Old Main's 150th birthday at Homecoming! Knox alumni, faculty, staff, and friends will gather on the South Lawn on Saturday, October 19, to wish Old Main well as it enters its 150th year. Please join in the celebration.
Fall 2007 Knox Magazine Misprint
We've received a few reports
of misprints in the Fall 2007 issue of Knox Magazine. If
your copy of the magazine has missing or repeat pages, please e-mail us.
We need to keep track of any misprints and, more important, we want to
send you a complete copy of the issue. And, remember, it's your
magazine -- tell us what you think! Knox Magazine
encourages letters to the editor. Simply e-mail the editor
or write to Editor, Knox
Magazine, Knox College, Box K-230, 2 East South Street,
Galesburg, Illinois, 61401. Read the Fall 2007 issue.
Campus News
Washington Monthly:
Knox among Best for ServiceKnox College has been ranked by Washington Monthly magazine among the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the nation. Knox is ranked 36th among 201 liberal arts colleges -- the third year in a row that Knox has been ranked in the top 50 nationally by Washington Monthly. The rankings are based on a school's support for community service, research, and a commitment to access and affordability. Read more.
Knox among "Top Schools" in 2008 Rankings
Knox College shows consistent strength in the newly released annual college rankings from The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. In The Princeton Review, Knox is named one of the nation's 366 Best Colleges. The Princeton Review also named Knox a national "Best Value College" -- an "overall bargain, based on cost and financial aid, among the most academically outstanding colleges in the nation." Knox and 160 other schools are also ranked by The Princeton Review as "Best Midwestern Colleges." In U.S. News, Knox is ranked 80th among more than 260 colleges in the National Liberal Arts classification. Read more.
Extreme Makeover: Hamblin Edition!
Put together a Knox College
residence in line for expansion and renovation, a growing student
enrollment, several dedicated contractors, and a highly compressed
construction schedule... and what do you get? The answer is -- "Extreme
Makeover: Hamblin Edition!"Just like its TV cousin, this "makeover" project featured a race against time and a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who had just over two months to totally rebuild an entire apartment-style residence hall for more than 100 students. The $6.2 million project that normally would have taken six to nine months was completed in 10 weeks, said Scott Maust, director of facilities services for Knox. Read more and see photos of the renovation.
Tours of the newly-renovated Hamblin Hall will be available at Homecoming. Check the Homecoming schedule for more information.
Theatre Department Announces 2007-2008 Mainstage Season
The 2007-2008 season for the Knox College Department of Theatre and Dance will feature Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill; the English language world premiere of Rosa and Blanca by German playwright Rebekka Kricheldorf; Hamlet by William Shakespeare; and a formal dance concert. Read more.
Student News
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| Class of 2011 legacy students and their families on the east side of Old Main. |
There's no better approval for a college than when its alumni send their children to their alma mater. On September 1, Knox welcomed 26 legacy students to campus on move-in day. "It is great to know that so many Knox alumni value their Knox education enough to send their sons and daughters to their alma mater," says President Roger Taylor '63. Many Knox legacy parents accompanied their sons or daughters to campus, and all gathered for the annual legacy photo at Old Main.
Who is the Class of 2011?
Every new class that enters Knox each fall has its own personality -- students from around the country and the world bring their own unique academic and extracurricular interests and talents. From 18 countries and 33 states, the Class of 2011 is one of Knox's strongest and most diverse entering classes. The class's top academic interests, where noted on a student's application, were creative writing, pre-medicine, biology, psychology, English, English literature, history, international relations, and political science. Additional facts on the Class of 2011:
- More than 200 community service volunteers;
- More than 100 members of National Honor Society;
- 23 National Merit Commended Scholars, seven National Merit Semi-Finalists, and four National Merit Scholars;
- One National Achievement Scholar; two National Hispanic Honorable Mentions;
- Nine Eagle Scouts or Gold Award Winners;
- 95 athletic letterwinners, including 39 team captains;
- 41 high school newspaper or literary journal editors;
- 46 student club presidents, 13 class or student body presidents;
- 35 leads in a high school theatre production;
- 39 percent rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class, 74 percent in the top quarter;
- 11 percent international students;
- 20 percent students of color.
Ojaswirajanya (Ozzie) Thebe '09 and Nikhil Tuladhar '08 -- both from Nepal -- and Knox's campus safety director John Schlaf pitched in to help Galesburg's South Street Block Party make a splash. Read The Register-Mail coverage.
Andresson Novel Named Semi-Finalist
Troy Goes Greek, a novel by Matt Andresson '08, was recently selected as a semi-finalist for the 2007 James Jones First Novel Fellowship, conducted through Wilkes University's Master's in Creative Writing program. The contest is open to all U.S. citizens who have not previously published a novel; the prize is $10,000, and partial publication in Provincetown Arts.
More coverage of Knox students is available on the Knox news page.
Alumni News
Were You a Peace Corps
Volunteer? Share Your StoryKnox College takes considerable pride in the new Peace Corps Preparatory Program, which was initiated on June 20, 2007, at a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. At the signing, President Roger Taylor '63 and the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps Jody Olsen agreed that Knox would be the first college in the country to establish a new initiative identifying and preparing current students interested in becoming Peace Corps volunteers. Knox has 159 alumni and alumnae who were volunteers, the first of whom volunteered back in 1961 when J. Sargent Shriver initiated the Peace Corps. Are you one of them?
If you are, would you be willing to send a paragraph to Knox saying where and when you served and where your life has gone since? You are welcome to send more than a paragraph . . . indeed, we would be very happy to share what you have to say with other alumni and, especially, with current Knox students considering Peace Corps. If you have any photographs of yourself as a volunteer in your country of service that you would like to share on our Web site, please send an electronic version of the photo. Please caption all photos with your name, class year, and country of service, as well as a brief description of photograph. Share your Peace Corps Story!
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| Duke Petrovich '74, James Kilts '70, and Bell Perez, president of Chicago's Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, present Knox College with a $10,000 check. |
James Kilts '70, founding partner of of the private equity firm Centerview Partners, former chairman and CEO of the Gillette Company, and Knox College trustee, lends his business insights in his new publication Doing What Matters: How to Get Results That Make a Difference -- The Revolutionary Old-School Approach. Praised by Jack Welch of Jack Welch, LLC as an "insightful and practical approach to business by a transformative leader with a great track record of success," Doing What Matters is a first-person account of Kilts' system for success that is both cutting-edge and back-to-basics. "I've learned much from Jim. So, too, will readers of this book," says Warren E. Buffett.
Prior to the publication of Doing What Matters in September, Kilts met with the senior leadership of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company -- including Duke Petrovich '74, fellow Knox trustee and senior vice president and chief administrative officer of Wrigley -- in Chicago to discuss his management philosophies and to provide his leadership insights from the book. In appreciation for his time and insights, Bill Perez, Wrigley president and CEO, donated $10,000 to Knox College in honor of Kilts.
Listen to a podcast of James Kilts discussing Doing What Matters.
Ted Fleming '55, 1934-2007
Ted Fleming,
a Life Trustee of Knox College, died September 3, 2007 in Peoria. A
1955 graduate of Knox, Fleming was elected a Knox College Trustee in
1985 and a Life Trustee in 2005. "Ted and his family are among the
College's most generous benefactors," said Knox College President Roger Taylor
'63. "They were the principal donors to construction of the T. Fleming
Fieldhouse. Ted's wit and straight talk at trustee meetings will be
missed." Fleming graduated from Knox magna cum laude, with honors for
academic and athletic achievement. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa,
earned varsity letters in tennis, swimming and diving, and received the
Hunter and Zetterberg awards. He was an NCAA national finalist in
diving in 1955. Read more . . .Alumni Notes
Summer 2007 saw yet another film adaptation of a novel by Walter "Jack" Finney '34. The Invasion, released in August and starring Nicole Kidman, was based on Finney's classic science fiction novel The Body Snatchers. Read The Register-Mail story.
V.R. (Swede) '51 and Martha Jacobsen Roskam '52 are featured in the Summer 2007 issue of Beta Theta Pi magazine. The Roskams discussed their efforts to return 35 military dogtags that they found on a business trip in Vietnam to Vietnam veterans. Read the story.
Albert "Jack" Metzel '52 won the Catalina 25/250 National Championship. The competitions were held at the Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland.
Alvin Crumbliss '64, a professor of chemistry at Duke since 1970, was named the dean of natural sciences at Duke University. He previously served as director of undergraduate studies and chairman of chemistry. Read more. Crumbliss was the recipient of a 2005 Knox College Alumni Achievement Award.
David Axelrod '67 is the executive producer of a new PBS weekly science series, Wired Science, a coproduction of PBS and Wired Magazine. The show premieres in October 2007. Axelrod was the recipient of a 2006 Knox College Alumni Achievement Award.
Ken Shaw '73, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Kropik, Papuga & Shaw, was invited to represent the lenders' perspective at the July 24 Illinois Homeownership Preservation Summit in Chicago. Shaw served as a member of the panel presenting "Foreclosures and the Legal Process: Reflections from the Field." Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan called the summit in response to increased foreclosures in Illinois.
Alex Kindler '75 recently received the 2006 State Chapter Presidents' Leadership award from the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. He is partner with Horovitz Rudoy & Roteman in Pittsburgh.
Linda Nelson Langston '75 completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government on June 29, 2007. This is an executive education program offered at the Kennedy School of Government.
Susan Hughey Walker '78 was recently named Bank of America's top executive in Florida. She was named Florida state president, where she oversees the bank's network of 700 branches and 18,000 employees in the state, in August 2007. Read more.
Rochelle Barron Streeter '86 is the new principal at Steele Elementary School in Galesburg. Prior to coming to Galesburg, she was the principal at Prophetstown High School in Prophetstown, Illinois.
Danielle Shullaw Filas '93 directed the Midwest premiere of Resort 76, a play based on the novella A Cat in the Ghetto by Rachmil Bryks, at Chicago's Raven Theatre West Stage. Rachel Sypniewski '01 was the costume designer.
We Declare You a Terrorist, a play by Tim Lord '98, was produced at the HERE Arts Center in New York City in August. Lord recently received his M.F.A. in playwriting from the University of California San Diego and works as a freelance writer in New York.
Jessica Drew '07 worked simultaneously as a dresser/wardrobe crew for the Steppenwolf Theatre's First Look Repertory of New Work, which ran in August, and as a costume design intern at the Goodman Theatre for their production of Passion Play by Sarah Ruhl, which opened in September.
Faculty & Staff News
Knox Mourns Steve Farris
Steve Farris,
director of dining services, died early Monday, September 3,
2007. He and his wife, Cecilee, a 2005 Knox graduate, had been in
Indianapolis, Indiana, to attend drag races, when he apparently
suffered a heart attack. Farris joined Knox College in 1985 as a
storekeeper in Dining Services. He moved through several positions,
including business manager, and became director of dining services in
2001. "Steve led those with whom he worked by example," said Knox
College President Roger
Taylor '63 in a message to campus. Read
more. . .Faculty, Students Receive Awards at Opening Convocation
Five awards were presented to faculty and staff during Opening Convocation on September 6. President Roger Taylor '63 announced the winners of the Faculty Scholarship Prize and the Janet C. Hunter Prizes.
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| Karen Benedict receives the Janet C. Hunter Prize for salaried staff from President Taylor. |
The Janet C. Hunter prizes are intended to recognize outstanding accomplishments and service to the College. One prize is awarded to a member of the hourly staff and one to a member of the salaried staff. The winner of the 2007 Janet Hunter Prize for salaried staff is Karen Benedict, office manager in the registrar's office. The winner of the 2007 Hunter Prize for hourly staff is Sherrill Zaric, project coordinator in the Admission office. The prizes were established in 2000 by contributions from friends and colleagues of Janet C. Hunter, a longtime member of the staff.
Dean of the College Lawrence Breitborde presented the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Awards for Distinguished Teaching. The award for untenured faculty was presented to Emily Anderson and Gina Franco. The award for tenured faculty was presented to Lawrence Welch, professor of chemistry, who has taught at Knox since 1988. The awards are endowed by gifts from Sewall Wright, Theodore Wright, and Quincy Wright, whose father, Philip Green Wright, was a noted faculty member at Lombard College in Galesburg.
Associate Dean of the College Stephen Bailey presented the Elbridge Pierce Prize to Matthew J. Stockov, a senior from Canton, Illinois. The award is given annually to the student who has made the greatest academic improvement during the sophomore and junior years. The prize was endowed by a gift from Elbridge Pierce, a member of the Knox College Board of Trustees from 1956 to 1960. Read more.
London Theatre Produces
Blackadder TranslationThe Gate Theatre in London is currently producing The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents by Lukas Bärfuss and translated by Neil Blackadder, associate professor of theatre. The production has been reviewed in numerous venues, including The Guardian, The Times, The Evening Standard, The Sunday Times, and British Theatre Guide, among others. More information on the production.
McAndrew Named APS Fellow
Frank McAndrew, Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology, has been named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). Fellow status is conferred by the APS on members who have made "sustained, outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, service, or application" of psychological research in business or industry. "Being named a Fellow of the APS is a recognition that any psychologist would be honored to receive," said McAndrew, a noted researcher in evolutionary psychology and member of the Knox faculty since 1979. Read more.
Kasser Lending Expertise Across the Country
Tim Kasser, associate professor of psychology, is becoming a household name when it comes to personal happiness and materialism. Kasser's research on personal happiness and materialism was recently featured in articles in MarketWatch and the Tacoma News Tribune, as well as on Minneapolis Public Radio. Earlier this summer, Kasser was quoted in The New York Times and USA Today. Kasser is the author of numerous research articles and book chapters and gained critical praise for his book, The High Price of Materialism.
Knox Welcomes New Registrar
Knox welcomed a new registrar to campus in August. Sheryl Kristensen joined the Knox community from Methodist College of Nursing (Peoria, Illinois), where she helped support the establishment of their baccalaureate program. She has also served as assistant dean for records and information management at Eureka College and held several administrative positions at Bradley University. She replaces Kevin Hastings '76, who served as registrar since 2001. Hastings will continue to serve Knox as professor of mathematics.
Contact Us
Submissions to The Gizmogram should be made to the editor at gizmogram@knox.edu. Submissions may be edited for space.
Editor
Megan Scott '96
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