Knox College, Illinois
Encyclopedia : K : KN : KNO : Knox College, Illinois
- For alternate meanings see Knox College (disambiguation)
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History
Knox College was founded in 1837 by anti-slavery social reformers, led by George Washington Gale. One founder, Rev. Samuel Wright, actively supported the Underground Railroad. The original name for the school was "Knox Manual Labor College", but it has been known by its present name since 1857.
The naming of the college is a curious story. Though founded by a colony of Presbyterians and Congregationalists, the college was named after the county in which it is located, Knox County. Knox County was named for Henry Knox, the US' first Secretary of War. Arguments have been made that the college was named for Calvinist leader John Knox, but George Candee Gale, a (great-)great-grandson of two of the founders, explains that "contrary to general belief, Knox was not named for either General Knox or the Scotch Presbyterian Knox, according to my father.... Certainly most of them were pious enough to want the churchmen and fighters enough to want the soldier as well."
Knox was the site of the fifth debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. The "Old Main" building is the only site from the debates that still exists today.
Two years after the debates, and during his presidential campaign, Lincoln received the first honorary degree ever conferred by Knox College—a Doctor of Laws degree, announced at the Commencement exercises of 5 July, 1860.
Author George Fitch (graduated 1897) wrote a series of popular stories set at fictional Siwash College, based on Knox. "Old Siwash" became a popular nickname for Knox College, and was for many years the name of the mascot as well. (It was changed to the "Prairie Fire" in 1993.)
U.S. Senator Barack Obama was the commencement speaker for the class of 2005. Stephen Colbert spoke and received an honorary diploma in the 2006 ceremony. Also receiving an honorary degree in 2006 were Jimmy Wales and former Ambassador to Madagascar Shirley Barnes.
Students and faculty
Student Profile- Size: 1,205
- Points of Origin: 46 states; 43 countries
- Credentials: 66 % graduated in the top quarter of their high school class; 32 % graduated in the top tenth.
- Diversity: 55 % women; 45 % men; 15 % students of color (5 % African American, 5 % Asian American, 5 % Latino, <1 % Native American); 8 % international.
Faculty Profile
- Size: 119 (91 full-time, 28 part-time)
- Student-faculty ratio: 12:1
- Qualifications: 95 % have Ph.D. or equivalent degree
- Average Class Size: 17
Athletics
Knox College is a member of the Midwest Conference in the following NCAA Division III sports:
Men Basketball - Cross Country - Golf - Swimming and Diving - Soccer - Track and Field - Tennis - Football - Baseball - Wrestling
Women Basketball - Cross Country - Golf - Swimming and Diving - Soccer - Track and Field - Tennis - Volleyball - Softball
Facilities
Knox College has 42 academic and residential buildings on its 82-acre campus. Knox boasts electron microscopes, a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, a Celestron telescope, access to the Inter University Consortium for Political & Social Research, the Strong Collection of 18th and 19th century maps and photographs, the Hughes Collection of manuscripts and first editions from Hemingway and his “Lost Generation” contemporaries, and a 700-acre natural prairie reserve, the Green Oaks Field Station. The new E. & L. Andrew Fitness Center was dedicated on February 17, 2006, a $2.4-million, state-of-the-art facility.Libraries
Built in 1928, the handsome Seymour Library is the soul of the campus and was ranked as high as 3rd in the nation by the Princeton Review. Inside its leaded glass windows and oak paneled reading rooms, the library houses more than a quarter of a million books and subscribes to more than 700 periodicals. Its special collections include the Finley Collection of Midwest History, the Strong Collection of 18th- and 19th-century maps and photographs, and the Hughes Collection of manuscripts and first editions from Hemingway and his “Lost Generation” contemporaries.In addition, Knox offers the Kresge Science & Math Library, which houses the scientific and technical collections of the college, and the Center for the Fine Arts Music Library (CFA), which has collections of compact discs, vinyl record albums, printed music scores, and a core reference collection.
Radio Station
Knox has a radio station - WVKC. Its frequency in Galesburg is 90.7. It is ranked by the Princeton Review as #8 in the nation for "great college radio station."
Computer laboratories
Four public computer laboratories are accessible to students, with several more departmental labs available and a dedicated language laboratory.The largest, Founders Laboratory (a converted smoking lounge from many years ago), which is located in the student union, is open 24 hours a day throughout the year. Scanning (including film-scanning and optical character recognition) and faxing are available freely to student users, and printing and copy services are available for a small fee.
Addressing the issues of paper waste and in a move to become more environmentally friendly, beginning fall of 2005, recycled-content paper is being phased in for use in all college printers. In addition, one printer is stocked with reused paper—printed on one side, the paper remains suitable for scratch copies, rough drafts, and other informal printing needs.
The Honor System
Knox College introduced the Honor System by students in 1951. All students are held responsible for the integrity of their own work, and students are required to abide by the system. Because of this policy, tests are not proctored, and in many cases students may take their exams in any open, public place within the same building. Any cases of students caught disobeying the system are evaluated by their peers through the Honor Board, a committee consisting of three seniors, three juniors, three sophomores, and two faculty members.Alumni
- Amy Carlson—former star on the weekly NBC television series Third Watch, currently a cast-member of .
- Barry Bearak - New York Times journalist, winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
- Job Adams Cooper— Former governor of Colorado
- Ethyl Eichelberger—famous drag queen.
- Eugene Field -journalist, children's author.
- John Huston Finley—former editor of The New York Times.
- Jack Finney—author of The Body Snatchers.
- George Fitch - author, journalist, and humorist
- Hobart R. Gay - U.S. Army general
- Mikiso Hane - Internationally renowned scholar of Japanese history
- Robert Hanssen—FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.
- Otto Harbach— 1920's songwriter who is the namesake of Knox's Harbach Theater
- Bob Jamieson—ABC news correspondent.
- James M. Kilts—former CEO of Gillette.
- Ismat Kittani—former United Nations Ambassador of Iraq and President of the United Nations General Assembly who also helped start Knox's Honor System.
- Edgar Lee Masters—author of The Spoon River Anthology.
- S. S. McClure—muckraking journalism pioneer, founder of McClure's Magazine.
- Ander Monson—novelist and poet, author of the novel Other Electricities, and Vacationland, a collection of poems.
- John Podesta—Chief of Staff for President Clinton.
- Rose Polenzani—independent folk musician.
- Gene Rayburn— Announcer for the Tonight Show, host of The Match Game and other game shows.
- Hiram Revels—first black U.S. Senator.
- Barnabas Root (also known as Fahma Yahny)—probably the first black man to receive a college degree in Illinois.
- Ellen Browning Scripps—newspaper magnate, philanthropist. Scripps College named in her honor.
- Joseph J. Sisco—former diplomat under Henry Kissinger.
- Mimi Smartypants—Internet personality and author of The World According to Mimi Smartypants.
References
- Knox College 2004-2005 Catalog
- Knox College Student Handbook 2004-2005
- Calkins, Earnest Elmo. (1937) They broke the prairie, University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252060946
- Muelder, Hermann R. (1959) Fighters for freedom, Columbia University Press. ISBN 1581524099
External links
- [Official website]
- [Campus map]
- [WVKC, Knox College radio station official website]
- [Knox College English Department]
- [Knox College Math Department]
- [Knox College Department of Anthropology and Sociology]
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