Congratulations President-Elect Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the third American elected President of the United States to receive an honorary degree from Knox College: In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was a candidate for the presidency; President Bill Clinton, who served in office from 1993 to 2001, was honored by Knox in 2007; President-elect Barack Obama was honored in 2005, following his election as U.S. Senator from Illinois.

"In this 150th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Knox, it is not possible for me to think about this historic election without taking pride in the facts that Knox College was founded in 1837 by individuals who were strongly anti-slavery, that Knox gave Abraham Lincoln an honorary degree on July 3, 1860, and that, on June 4, 2005, Knox gave an honorary degree to the individual who would become the first African American President," said Knox College President Roger Taylor.

Even in 2005, two members of the graduating class, Sarah Lammie (left) and Sarah Legowski, were looking forward to Barack Obama's future in politics. Legowski writes: "I was just looking at the photo in question on Facebook yesterday [one day before the election] with one of my colleagues here in the Czech Republic, and she was totally astounded -- to say nothing of somewhat confused -- by the photo. She thought that it had been doctored or something. When I told her that no, Sarah and I had done this in 2005, she was, as I said, rather surprised... Who'd have thought that a silly sign we made three years ago would be such a sensation? Our friends thought we were nuts!" Photo by Andy Fitz '08.
Barack Obama and Knox President Roger Taylor walk across campus just before the commencement ceremony.	Barack Obama to the Knox College Class of 2005: "What will be your place in history?"
Obama speaks at a news conference on the Knox campus following the commencement ceremony.	Obama talks with Knox trustees Harold Bibb and Diane Rosenberg.

Senior Class Speaker Dan Lieberman at Knox on June 4, 2005, with the commencement speaker, Barack Obama, seated behind him on stage:

"...Hi President Obama! Whoops, sorry about that, I was just trying it out, seeing if it fits. ..."

Dan Lieberman, by phone from California on November 5, 2008:

"I told you so!"

Lieberman works in San Mateo, California and is a field representative on the staff of Dr. Leland Yee, a member of the California State Senate, who was not up for re-election this year. Lieberman did some work for Obama, but mostly helped two local candidates -- one won and one lost. "I made 324 phone calls on election day... the whole world is excited about where we can go next."

Video of Senior Speaker Daniel Lieberman

Video of Barack Obama's Address

Text of Barack Obama's Address