Now
that the 2006-2007 school year has begun, you might want to keep up
with what's happening on campus on a regular basis. Whether
you
want to stay tuned to the campus with 
Can't wait to
visit campus,
catch-up with old friends, cheer on the football team in the Knox Bowl,
or boogie down on Saturday night at the Homecoming Hop? You're in
luck. Homecoming is just 25 days away!And remember, there's a ton of new Homecoming events, including the Homecoming Variety Show, the "Taste of Galesburg" All-Class Reception, the Homecoming Celebration & Hop, and much more. Rooms are going fast -- make your hotel reservations and register today! Look to your Homecoming 2006 brochure or online for more information. Come home to Knox!
Knox Welcomes 439 New Students to Campus
Knox College welcomed one of its largest entering classes in recent history -- 439 new and transfer students -- when student residences opened on Saturday, September 2. Knox expects to have a total enrollment of 1305 students this fall -- an increase of 60 students
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| Pumphandle wound its way through Old Main on September 6. |
On Wednesday, September 6, Knox hosted Pumphandle, an annual tradition that includes every student, faculty, and staff member in a hand-shaking reception line that twists and turns around the grassy knolls of the campus. This year's Pumphandle featured someone in a gorilla costume and another in a cat woman outfit. Other students brought couches, and even a shopping cart, to the event. "Pumphandle is one of the best experiences at Knox College, and it truly was one of the best experiences of my first year," sophomore Randy Geary said. "You normally don't get to do this. I have friends at other colleges that really wish they could experience something like this."
Read more about the start of the academic year . . .
The News is Good
The annual fall ratings and
guide book results are in, and the news is good. Knox ranked in the top
25 among more than 200 of the nation's liberal arts colleges
by Washington Monthly
magazine. The rankings, published in the September 2006 issue, are
based on three factors -- community service by students and
graduates, research by students and graduates, and a school's
commitment to access for lower-income students.This is the second year in a row that the College has been ranked in the top 50 nationally by Washington Monthly. Knox is ranked 23 this year, compared to 46 last year, and is one of only two Illinois colleges in the top 100. Read more . . .
Knox continues to
show strength in the newly released U.S.News & World Report
rankings and in The Princeton Review's The 361 Best Colleges.
Knox's ranking of 79th among more than 200 liberal arts colleges places
it among the "Top Schools"
in the U.S. News
& World Report's Liberal Arts
classification. Knox
also
tied with Wheaton College for highest national liberal arts
college in Illinois and was ranked at 19 in the nation for
international diversity. And the just
released Princeton Review entry for
Knox is
favorable. Knox received top national rankings for
"Best Campus Radio Station" and "Students
Satisfied with Financial Aid." Read
more . . . Other recent college guide books that include Knox are:
Colleges That Change Lives -- Knox is one of just 40 schools in the best-selling guide book that looks at distinctive characteristics, student-faculty relationships, learning styles, and other qualitative measures of the student experience.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance -- The magazine ranks Knox in the nation's "100 Best Private College Values."
The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students -- Knox has been selected as one of the "100 Best Campuses" in the nation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered
students.
A Note from the Editor
Hot College Boasts Hot President
Knox College
is "hot."
After welcoming Stephen Colbert as Commencement speaker, having
an exceptional fundraising year, ranking in the top 25
of the nation's top liberal arts colleges in Washington Monthly magazine,
and welcoming 439 new students, Knox
is on a roll. But there's one more ranking that you
might not 
have heard about yet that
may just put Knox over the bar as a "hot" commodity. According to The Insider's Guide to the Colleges 2007, published by Yale Daily News, President Roger Taylor '63 is one of five men chosen as the country's most attractive college presidents. Taylor joins the ranks of presidents from Amherst, Middlebury, and Pitzer Colleges, as well as larger universities like Brown, Columbia, and Pennsylvania. When asked about the ranking, Taylor replied, "Anne says it will make me more insufferable than I already am."
Campus News
Opening Convocation Address
Stresses Political ParticipationVolunteering and community service are popular among young people, but political participation is disappointingly low, according the U.S. Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, in Knox's Opening Convocation address on Thursday, September 7, 2006.
Citing national surveys of college-age people, Lefkow said that "forty-seven percent joined an organization or club, and 38 percent volunteered at a homeless shelter or other community organization." She contrasted that with political activity, stating that "about one-tenth have participated in a political march or demonstration, joined a political club, or worked for a political party." Read more . . .
Critically-Acclaimed Mother Courage Unites Alumni, Faculty, and Students
More
than 20 Knox alumni, faculty, and current students are participating in
Vitalist Theatre's acclaimed production of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children.
From actors to stage managers to lighting and graphic designers,
Professors Elizabeth Carlin-Metz and Robin Metz, founders of the
Chicago theatre company, take full advantage of the talent being
produced by the Knox College Department of Theatre and Dance.Faculty involved in the production include Elizabeth Carlin-Metz, theatre/dance, Robin Metz, creative writing, Craig Choma '93, theatre/dance, and Margo Shively, theatre/dance. Current students include junior Annie Lawrence, post-bac student Christopher Storey, junior Beth Golemo, junior Martin Helms, and junior Bri Benson. Alumni include Heather Courtney '06, Rachel Sypniewski '01, Aly Greaves '97, Nathan Thompson '05, Bethany Woodard '05, Jaclynn Jutting '01, Ralph Sledge '00, Helen Drysdale '05, Tara Weeks '01, Kelly Lynn Hogan '92, Jason Connell '06, Jake Hebert '05, Chelsea Lynn '05, Jacqueline F. Dehne '05, Doug Porter '05, and Vince Singleton '03.
In an outstanding review in the Chicago Sun Times, renowned Chicago theatre critic Hedy Weiss calls Mother Courage an " . . . altogether terrific production . . . another splendid piece of work." Weiss further praises director Elizabeth Carlin-Metz. "[A] teacher at Knox College, [Carlin-Metz] has arrived in Chicago with a Vitalist Theatre production each fall for years now, and they are invariably smart, original, and bold in their use of movement and music," says Weiss in the review. Weiss also spoke with Carlin-Metz, director of the show, prior to her review. The two discussed the cultural and political influences of Vitalist's production.
Other reviews of the production:
"Elizabeth Carlin-Metz's canny staging and her smart and assured ensemble deliver a powerful . . . journey . . . Kelly Lynn Hogan's Kattrin, wide-eyed and almost feral at time, is utterly captivating in her raw-nerved need." -- Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune
"Every serious theatre patron needs to see this worthy production." -- Tom Williams, chicagocritic.com
" . . . eclectic, stylized, and riveting . . . Lori Myers as this ‘hyena of the battlefield' is relentless, and so are Kevin O'Donnell's Stomp-like score and set designer Craig Choma's assemblage of dadaist detritus. Seldom have eight actors created a world so full." -- Lawrence Bommer, Chicago Reader
"My personal pick [for the week] is Bertolt Brecht' s Mother Courage . . . it' s timely, it' s well-sung." -- Dueling Critic Kelly Kleiman, Eight-Forty-Eight, WBEZ-Chicago
Attend a performance of Mother Courage and Her Children.
Knox on the Road with Colleges that Change Lives
Knox Admission
representatives hit
the road with 40 other schools on the Colleges that Change Lives Tour
in August and early September, stopping in more than 20 cities across
the
nation. Knox will continue with the
tour,
traveling to South America and more cities across the USA, this spring.
Knox is one of 40 colleges in the nation featured in the new
edition of Colleges
That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About
College by Loren Pope, former education editor of the New York Times and
founder of The College Placement Bureau. "Loren
Pope has gone beyond
the guidebook rankings to focus on the characteristics of Knox that
help develop potential, values, initiative and risk-taking in a wide
range of students," said Paul Steenis '85, dean of
admission.
Read more
about Colleges that
Change Lives. . .Copies of Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools that will Change the Way You Think about College are available in the Knox College bookstore (please call or e-mail only).
Prairie Fire Burn Red Devils in Season Opener
Debuting a new offense, the Prairie Fire crushed the Eureka College Red Devils in the 23-0 season opener on September 2. The Prairie Fire rolled for 314 yards on the ground, led by the one-two punch of running backs senior Kevin Megli and junior Aaron Willits. Megli finished with 122 yards rushing and two scores on nine attempts, while Willits added 120 yards on 18 carries. Read more about the game in Galesburg's The Register Mail . . .
Trevor Field Renovation Nearing Completion
 |
| See current photos of the Trevor Field renovation . . . |
More Colbert Buzz
The August issue of Wired magazine sported Stephen Colbert on its cover. Inside, he gave readers advice on how to "Be an Expert on Anything." One tip is to get an honorary degree: "I have a doctorate in fine arts from Knox College in Illinois . . . and now everybody has to call me Dr. Colbert!" Colbert was also featured in the August 4, 2006, online edition of the magazine In These Times. Colbert's Commencement Address is quoted extensively in the article, "In Politics, Comedy is Central."
Student News
33 Legacies Join Knox Ranks
 |
| Knox
legacies from the Class of 2010 with their parents and siblings, all
Knox alumni. |
NCAA Student Appointed a Knox First
Junior Katie Schneider, co-captain of the softball team, has been appointed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The first Knox athlete in the history of the College to be appointed to the committee, Schneider will represent the interests of the Midwest Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to the national athletics body. "I am excited to serve on the national SAAC, not only because I am honored to be bringing athletes' views and ideas from the Midwest Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to the NCAA, but also because I want to serve out of love for the game. I hope to be a part of ensuring that athletes in years to come experience the joy and passion of athletics," Schneider said. Read more . . .
What Bill Mayeroff Did on His Summer Vacation
Like many Knox students, senior Bill Mayeroff had an internship over the summer. But his had one nice perk -- his internship resulted in a by-line. From June until August, Mayeroff, an independent major in political journalism, worked as a general assignment reporter for the
Chicago Journal, covering the West Loop, South Loop, and West Haven areas. In one of his final assignments, Mayeroff discussed the reactions he receives when contacting individuals for interviews, even comparing reactions in Chicago to those in Galesburg. Now that he has returned to campus, Mayeroff is still working the beat -- he is currently editor-in-chief of The Knox Student.
 |
| Sarah Elizabeth Johnson and Shari Eva Kay accept the Faculty Scholarship Prize from President Taylor. |
Each year, Knox presents two awards to students during Opening Convocation -- the Faculty Scholarship Prize and the Elbridge Pierce Prize. The Faculty Scholarship Prize, awarded in recognition of exceptional achievement in academics and extracurricular activities, was given to co-winners Sarah Elizabeth Johnson '07 and Shari Eva Kay '07. A senior from Plainwell, Michigan, Johnson is a dean's list student, member of Mortar Board, recipient of the Sutton Prize in Organic Chemistry, and a letter winner in track and cross country. A senior from San Antonio, Texas, Kay is a dean's list student, member of Mortar Board and the Pi Sigma Alpha honor society in political science, and has studied in an off-campus program at the Virtus Institute in Russia.The Elbridge Pierce Prize, awarded to the senior who has made the greatest scholastic improvement since the end of the student's first year at Knox, was given to William Clemente. A dean's list student, Clemente is a senior English literature major from Ripon, Wisconsin. This fall he is studying at an off-campus program in Great Britain.
Alumni News
Joe Moore '80 Takes on the Big Box
Joe Moore '80,
alderman for Chicago's 49th Ward, has taken on some of
Chicago's -- and the nation's -- largest
retailers
by sponsoring a Chicago city-wide ordinance to
require "big
box" stores -- stores
with at least 90,000 square feet and which are part of companies
grossing more than $1 billion a year -- within
the city limits of Chicago to pay its workers a living wage.
Chicago's City Council approved the ordinance at its July 26,
2006 meeting, resulting in state- and nation-wide coverage of the
ordinance, including CNN and the New
York Times, support from labor unions, and opposition from
Chicago Mayor
Richard M. Daley. Mayor Daley vetoed the ordinance on
September
13, resulting in more media attention across the country. Read
more about the ordinance on Moore's official Web site. Moore, who participated in last year's Homecoming alumni symposium on right to life issues, is known as a pioneer in the battle to bring community policing to Chicago. Since taking office in 1991, he has worked to decrease the 49th Ward's crime rate by 40 percent and has been vital in the area's revitalization, which includes the construction of retail centers, a library, and a 2.5 acre park, as well as a theatre renovation and improvements to rental properties. A voice for ethics and reform, Moore sponsored a Whistleblower Ordinance that gives taxpayers the right to recover damages on behalf of the city against corrupt city contractors. He also was the sponsor of the ordinance to ban foi gras in the city of Chicago. Read more about Joe Moore . . .
Honorary Degree Recipient Executive Director of Google.org
Dr. Larry Brilliant, who received an honorary doctor of science degree from Knox in 2004, was recently named executive director of Google.org, which administers Google's philanthropic activities. In his new role, Brilliant will work with the company's co-founders, Larry Page and Wergey Brin, to define the mission and strategic goal of the Google's philanthropy. Founder and director of the Seva Foundation, Brilliant has been involved in a vast array of culture-changing events over the past 40 years, including medical care in the developing world and high tech ventures in the U.S. Read Dr. Brilliant's 2004 Commencement address. . .
Looking for a Few Good Singers! 1958 Choir Tour Reunion Planned
During the summer of 1958, 73
Knox
College Choir members and their director, Creston Klingman, spent seven
weeks rehearsing, performing, touring, and attending concerts in nine
European countries, participating in a week-long international choir
festival. The experience culminated in a grand finale performance at
the American Pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair, where
they
were joined by the Smith College Women Singers and the University of
Illinois Men's Glee Club. All three groups were
selected to
perform as a result of a national competition. The cost for each
student to participate in the tour was approximately $800. Gifts from Knox alumni and
faculty, international business sponsors, concerts and sales of
recordings by the Choir, and efforts by individual
students all
went into providing the Choir members with an experience to be
remembered for a lifetime.As the tour's 50th anniversary approaches, a committee of choir members is being formed to plan and execute the celebration at Homecoming 2007. Heading the committee is Gary Sweatman '65. Gary is currently working with various offices at the College to procure and disseminate information and to keep the ball rolling until reunion day. E-mail Gary your Choir Tour stories or with ideas for the reunion.
Alumni Notes
Elizabeth Ayson '64 was selected as one of 11 "Outstanding Filipinos" for her educational contributions on Maui. Her honor was part of the celebration of 100 years of Filipinos on Maui. Ayson is the retired principal of the Iao Intermediate School.
Mary Alice Stallard Yund '65 was named one of seven 2006 Honored Instuctors by the University of California-Berkeley Extension. She was honored for her excellent performance in the classroom and her outstanding contributions to extension's academic programming.
Mike Burke '72, CEO of TREK Diagnostic Sytems, was recently honored with the Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award, presented by the Sales & Marketing Association. The award is the profession's premier honor to acknowledge excellence and provide community recognition for outstanding sales and marketing achievements.
The article "Midnight on the Road to Gehanna" by John Mark "Chet" Hauer '81 will be published in an upcoming issue of Surreal Magazine.
Tell Me A Story, a TV show celebrating and promoting the telling of stories and created by Tom Jackson '86, was aired in July on The Speaking Channel, an Internet TV network devoted to showcasing public speaking excellence and building individual presentation skills in business, public life, work life, and family/social communication. Tell Me a Story was produced in Peoria, Illinois, with cooperation from Illinois State University and PBS affiliate WTVP. All 13 episodes of Tell Me a Story are available for download on The Speaking Channel Web site. Download and watch episodes . . .
Danielle Shullaw Filas '93 is currently a member of the faculty at one of the nation's top five schools for arts education, the Chicago Academy of the Arts. The academy is one of two high schools and three elementary schools in the nation to receive the Creative Ticket National Schools of Distinction Award from the John F. Kennedy Center's Alliance for the Arts Education Network. The award includes an invitation to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The Forgotten West, a short film by Vince Singleton '03 was screened in August at
the Gene Siskell Center as part of the "Untold History Short Film Program" for the Black Harvest Film Festival. Read more . . .
Waldemar Szlezak '00 is now a principal in the Private Equity Group at Soros Fund Management in New York.
Christopher Johnson '04, a former Prairie Fire track team member and assistant coach, is the new head junior high school track coach at ROWVA High School, where he is employed as a full-time teacher.
Photographs by Jenna Price '06 were recently on display at Kaldi's Coffehouse and Tearoom in Galesburg. The photographs were part of her ongoing series "The River Project."
Faculty & Staff News
Herndon's Lincoln Launches New Book Series
The Lincoln
Studies Center at Knox College marked the publication of the
first
book in its multi-volume series about Abraham Lincoln with a special
celebration on Friday, September 8. Several
speakers presented remarks celebrating the
forthcoming publication of Herndon's
Lincoln by Douglas
Wilson and Rodney
Davis, co-directors
of the Lincoln Studies Center, published by the University of
Illinois Press, including Willis Regier, director of
the University of Illinois Press; Roger
Taylor, president of Knox
College; Lawrence
Breitborde, dean of the College;
and Julie Cellini,
a member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission and chair of the board of trustees of the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency. Read more . . . Faculty & Staff Honored at Convocation
Each year, Knox presents two awards to members of the faculty and staff during Opening Convocation -- the Phillip Green Wright-Lombard College Prizes and the Janet Hunter Prizes. The Philip Green Wright Prizes for distinguished teaching were presented to Laura Lane, professor of music, and Robin Ragan, assistant professor of modern languages. Lane has taught music and directed choral programs at Knox since 1983. Ragan has taught Spanish at Knox since 2000, and is currently directing Knox's program in Buenos Aires. The Janet Hunter Prizes were awarded to Janet Albert, assistant director of advancement services, and Sherman Kelley, heating plant foreman. The prizes are awarded to employees in recognition of service to the College. Both have worked at Knox for more than 35 years.
Rosenfeld to Lead Series of Book Discussions
Natania Rosenfeld, associate professor of English, will lead a series of book discussions, based on the theme "Between Two Worlds: Stories of Estrangement and Homecoming," over the course of the fall. The first discussion will focus on the novel Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman. Future books are Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow, Out of Egypt by Andre Aciman, The Centaur in the Garden by Moacyr Scliar, and Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman. The discussions are supported by a grant from Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature, a program sponsored by Nextbook and the American Library Association. Read more . . .
Familiar Face is New Visiting Israeli Scholar
Anthropologist Zali Gurevitch is the 2006 Glossberg Visiting Israeli Scholar at Knox College. He has taught previously at Knox in 1995, 1997, and 2003. Gurevitch is teaching two classes this term, "Time and Place in Jewish and Israeli Thought" and "Anthropology of Dialogue." Professor of anthropology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he has written extensively in the fields of identity, communication, and human relations and has published poetry and translations. His book, On Place, will be published this year in Israel. Read more . . .
Franco Awarded Fellowship to attend Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
Gina
Franco, assistant professor of English,
was awarded the
2006 Meralmikjen Fellowship in Poetry to attend the Bread Loaf
Writers'
Conference in Rutland, Vermont, during August. Franco gave a
reading from her own work at the
conference. Read more . . . Romano will be Featured Presenter at Conference
Xavier Romano, vice president for student development and
dean of students, will be the featured presenter at the 16th annual Conference on Legal Issues in Higher Education, October 8-10, at the University of Vermont. The conference includes presentations by the nation's leading experts in student affairs and higher education law. Romano will lead one of the conference sessions, "Sexual Assault and the Collegiate Judicial Process: Challenges for the Contemporary Institution."
Faculty & Staff Notes
Stuart Allison, associate professor of biology, attended the third annual meeting of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy held in Allenspark, Colorado. He provided critical comments on a new paper by J. Baird Callicott entitled "Back to the Earth Ethic: Reading Leopold in Reverse." He also participated in several round-table discussions of various topics in environmental philosophy.
Ivan Davidson, professor emeritus of theatre, recently directed a highly-acclaimed production of Amadeus as well as the musical Man of LaMancha. Davidson is now the managing director of The Joe Jefferson Playhouse, the oldest continuing theatre in Alabama, currently planning its 60th season.
Sue Hulett, professor of political science, reported on what she did on her summer vacation in Galesburg's The Register Mail. In addition to her scholarly work, which included, writing a scholarly article and attending professional conferences, she served on the track renovation committee and played tennis. Read about her summer vacation. . .
Heather Hoffmann, professor of psychology, presented the talk "Classical conditioning of sexual arousal to an olfactory cue in women and men; Who learns and what is learned?" at the annual meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in July.
Tim Kasser, associate professor of psychology, was featured in an August 22, New York Times article, "The Fame Motive." Kasser discusses why fame is an important motivator for some individuals. Read the article . . .
Frank McAndrew, Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology, published the article "A laboratory simulation of parental investment decisions: The role of future reproductive opportunities and quality of offspring in determining levels of parental investment" with Stefanie Turner '04 in Evolutionary Psychology. He also presented a paper co-authored with Samantha Franciskovich '05 at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Philadelphia in June. The title of the paper was "Birth order, personality, and conformity to parental expectations in the choice of a long-term mate."
Together, McAndrew and Kasser published the article "Guns, testosterone, and aggression: An experimental test of a mediational hypothesis" in the July issue of Psychological Science, the nation's leading psychology publication. Jennifer Klinesmith '05 was co-author of the study, which has been discussed in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among a wide range of other media outlets.
Charles Schulz, professor of physics, is co-author of the article "Coordination of Diatomic Ligands to Heme: Simply CO" that recently appeared in the journal Inorganic Chemistry. Schulz also presented a talk on August 3, to the Galesburg Noon Rotary Club on "The Physics of Golf."
Robert Seibert '63, Robert W. Murphy Professor of Political Science, was featured on Wisconsin Public Radio on August 14. Seibert commented on recent events in the Middle East.
Jennifer Smith, assistant professor of dance, performed the duet The Space Between, based on her travels in Egypt, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The performance is part of the MFA program she is pursuing, which is tailored to the needs and ambitions of mid-career dancers and choreographers.
Contact Us
Submissions or responses 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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