Dear Knox Friends,
As I turn the page on my fourth year as president, I am grateful for the many celebratory moments from the last 12 months—welcoming one of our largest entering classes, launching the Venture Boldly comprehensive campaign, granting tenure to four dedicated faculty members, completing the renovations of Green Oaks, breaking a Knox Fund fundraising record, and celebrating the Class of 2025. In addition to more than 200 bachelors degrees, we awarded honorary degrees at our 2025 Commencement ceremony to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, renowned Chicago artist Theaster Gates and our very own Honorary Trustee, Mary Kent Knight ’60.
Mary received an honorary doctorate in humane letters for her life-long dedication to the liberal arts and as Knox’s most loyal advocate, generous collaborator, and truly inspirational friend. The night before the Commencement ceremony, she shared her journey from California to the Illinois prairie in 1956. Her tremendous spirit, infinite curiosity, transformative generosity, and deep love for her alma mater was felt by all:
“I owe Knox College, my beloved Alma Mater, big time. And it's been my great honor and pleasure to be able to repay my financial debt in what I hope are good, meaningful, and lasting ways . . . It was indeed a long, long road that led to my Alma Mater. As our beautiful hymn relates, a road which has afforded me a whole host of burning bright memories.”
I am honored to have a partner and friend like Mary as we work to make a great College even better, and her life-long dedication to the liberal arts, Knox, our mission, and our community is forefront in my mind as I begin my fifth year as president. Knox is starting this academic year the same as we have done for the last 188 years—with excitement, expectation, and opportunities to learn and grow. Yet we’re sailing into ever stronger headwinds, facing an increasingly competitive landscape and many who are questioning the value and purpose of higher education. I remain steadfast in my belief that the power of the residential liberal arts experience we provide for our students here at Knox is transformative, not only for our students, but for our global society. At this moment, there is only one way forward for our little college on the prairie—we’re going to double down on Knox’s mission and values.
As our mission states, we will continue to “. . . provide an environment where students and faculty work closely together and where teaching is characterized by inviting and expecting students to pursue fundamental questions in order to reach their own reflective but independent judgments.” While we may be sending Knox graduates out into a global society that continues to change and evolve at an extraordinary pace, we know that a Knox education prepares them with the fundamental skills to adapt, lead, and create that change. Their Knox education will “. . . foster a lifelong love of learning and a sense of competence, confidence and proportion that will enable [them] to live with purpose and to contribute to the well-being of others.”
By affirming the power of a Knox liberal arts education, exploring new opportunities, and venturing nimbly and boldly into the future, together, we will ensure that Knox College lives up to its full potential for decades to come
With warmest regards,
Sincerely,
