September 11, 2006
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Dear President’s Circle Member,  Five years
ago, the United States experienced the most brutal terrorist attack in
its history. Even though we at Knox were thousands of miles away from
the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., we still felt powerfully
the impact of these events. In honor of this day, a special American
flag flies in front of Old Main—a flag given
to the College by United States Marine Corps Major Tolan Pica
’93, former chief of security at the United States Embassy in
Kabul, Afghanistan. This American flag flew over Kabul’s
embassy on
September 11, 2004, and flies in front of Old Main each year in honor
of September 11. At 9:03 a.m., the time the second plane hit the World
Trade Center, the Old Main bell rang for one minute, and members of the
campus community gathered at the flag pole for a moment of remembrance.On Saturday, September 2, 2006, Knox may have started a new tradition. In the past, the Opening & Welcome for new students and their families has been held in Harbach Theater. Harbach seats 650 and, over the last few years, has been filled to capacity for this event. With the largest entering class on record, Facilities Services erected a platform and 1,000 chairs on the east lawn of Old Main for the Opening. About 900 people attended, including virtually all of the 439 new students. This is one more student than the all-time Knox, recorded, world’s record for an entering class of 438, set in 1971.
Knox welcomed 33 legacy students to campus on move-in day, one of the largest groups in recent years. It is great to know that so many Knox alumni value their Knox education enough to send their sons and daughters to their alma mater. One of the legacy parents, Nancy Barrick Carlin ’72, did more than send her daughter, Sarah ’10, to Knox. Nancy also established the John D. Carlin Career Development Support Fund, named in honor of her late husband and 1972 Knox alumnus. The $100,000 endowed fund will be used to support an annual career development forum/workshop organized and presented by the Center for Career & Pre-Professional Development. Special thanks to Nancy for her generous support and best of luck to Sarah as she begins her Knox career. The Prairie Fire Football Team added to the excitement of Opening Day by showing off their new option offense and defeating the Eureka College Red Devils 23-0 in the Knox Bowl. The new training facility, new Porter Wrestling Complex, new Nordin Wrestling Room, and new film room are completed and look great. I dug into the President’s Discretionary Fund and purchased a computerized video machine for Athletics. The machine enables the coaches to sequence sections of the film. It is an excellent teaching tool and will allow the coaches to make better use of game films. Prairie Fire Athletics will have a little more glitz this year thanks to the father of first-year student and cross country runner Ryan Maniscalco. Ryan’s dad, Chuck, is president of Gatorade. Knox now has several new Gatorade coolers in various sizes, as well as Gatorade cups, bottles, Gatorade sideline carts—just like the NBA!—Gatorade powder, and assorted accessories—six pallets of Gatorade products altogether. Jan Koran ’71, our new Board chair, spoke and represented the Board of Trustees at Opening Convocation. Federal Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow gave the principal address, “This Land is Your Land: Reflections on Civic Responsibility.” Many will recall that Judge Lefkow’s husband and mother were murdered by a deranged litigant in February 2005. Her address focused upon the importance of liberal arts to citizenship. It was well-received. Because of the size of the student body, we “streamed” Opening Convocation to a screen in Kresge for those who could not be seated in harbach. Harbach was full, and Kresge had a big crowd also. Now that Orientation, Pumphandle, and Opening Convocation are over and classes have begun, I can now proudly report that the 2006-2007 academic year at our prairie college has officially started!
The new track and field venues at Trevor Field are nearing completion. When finished, Knox will have one of only five NCAA purple tracks in the nation! I would like to extend a special thanks to Board Chair Jan Koran ’71 and her husband, Steven Handler, for a $200,000 gift, split between the current track renovation and renovation of the Knox Bowl. The College is doing well in the fall ratings and guidebook sweeps. On July 25, the third edition of Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) by Loren Pope, former New York Times education editor, was released. This book—along with the CTCL Tour, a Web site, and presentations at professional conferences—represents a tremendous opportunity to get out the word on Knox—one of the 40 Colleges That Change Lives! Dean of Admission Paul Steenis ’85 spent two weeks this summer traveling to 12 cities with the CTCL admissions consortium and reported big turnouts for both the group’s and Knox’s presentations in the  cities
the CTCL Tour visited. And we’ve just found
out that the new edition of Colleges That Change Lives
is out of
print less than two months after its original publication! A new
printing is in the works. The External Relations Group has developed a marketing plan to exploit the publicity and enthusiasm surrounding this latest edition of Pope’s book. Knox plans to take maximum advantage of the book and the momentum generally that has been developed around admission. Knox moved from 46 to 23 in the September Washington Monthly rankings, which emphasize graduation rate, community service, percentage of students going on to graduate school, and access to low income students. Knox is one of only two Illinois colleges in the top 100. 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.” In the U.S. News & World Report rankings, Knox dropped from 73 to a three-way tie for 79 with Gustavus Adolphus and Lewis & Clark University. Because of the way U.S. News handles ties, no colleges were ranked 75-78. Rated 3.0 (on a five point scale) for academic reputation, Knox tied with Wheaton College for highest national liberal arts college in Illinois. And Knox was also ranked at 19 in the nation for international diversity. U.S. News collects data in April, so that neither the Hobbs Gift nor the 2005-2006 fundraising and admissions results at Knox this past year were taken into account by the magazine (see top of page for these numbers). In other publicity news, the August issue of Wired magazine sports Stephen Colbert on its cover. Inside, he gives 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!” The continuing exposure that Colbert’s visit has brought Knox, in addition to the latest rankings and Knox’s inclusion in Colleges that Change Lives, make Knox a “hot” commodity, as demonstrated by the increased number of campus visits. They are now running 21 percent ahead of last year. As always, thank you for your continued support, and I hope to see you at the President’s Circle Reception in October. Sincerely,  Roger Taylor ’63 President
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