Knox College officially opened the 2014-15 academic year on Monday, September 15, with the traditional Convocation ceremony, where President Teresa Amott called on Knox students, faculty, and staff to move closer toward truly becoming "One Community."

One Community is the theme of Knox's new student orientation, and it echoes the "beloved community" -- characterized by social justice and understanding -- that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned, President Amott said.

"One Community is a place where diversity walks hand in hand with unity, with respect, with inclusion, and with full participation in every educational opportunity," President Amott said. "Calling our orientation activities One Community is only a step."

Knox offers everyone the "extraordinarily rare opportunity" to stretch beyond the familiar and to gain new perspectives, she said.

"Let us all resolve to become One Community by seeking out those most different from us, to listen to a different point of view and endeavor to understand it," she said. "Try every week to listen to someone else's music, attend a program by a club to which you don't belong, seek out a blog or a website with which you profoundly disagree."

"In other words, break the rules of exclusion and conformity that increasingly separate us from others and that are driving this society toward greater violence and injustice," she added. "The nation needs you, the world needs you, to build bridges across difference, to listen respectfully to voices with which you disagree, to transform yourself so that society may be transformed."

• View President Amott's Address on YouTube
• Full Text of President Amott's Convocation Address

Several College prizes and honors also were awarded during the Convocation ceremony.

• Gabrielle Raley, assistant professor of anthropology-sociology, and Brenda Haack Fineberg, professor and chair of Classics, were selected for the Philip Green Wright/Lombard College Prizes for distinguished teaching. Raley received the award for non-tenured faculty, and Fineberg received the award for tenured faculty.
• Araceli Salgado, a senior majoring in educational studies, received the Elbridge Pierce Prize for scholastic improvement. It goes to the senior who has made the greatest increase in academic performance during the sophomore and junior years.
• Celinda Davis, a senior history major, received the Faculty Scholarship Prize. The highest honor that the Knox faculty accords a student, it goes to a senior who has exhibited exceptional academic ability while participating significantly in extracurricular activities.
• John Schlaf, director of campus safety, and Tom Griffith, carpenter foreman for facilities services, were selected for the Janet C. Hunter Prizes that recognize outstanding accomplishments and service to the College by members of the staff. Schlaf received the prize for salaried staff, and Griffith received the prize for hourly staff.