2012 Knox Service Awards

The Knox Service Award, established in 1987, is given to any member of the Knox community to recognize outstanding volunteer service benefiting Knox College. Awards are presented during Homecoming Convocation. Annual nominations are due by January 31.

2012 Recipients

Lil Maria Castro-Rosabal '88
Lil Castro-Rosabal was an engaged international student at Knox College. Lil hosted Knox students in her parent's home in San Jose, Costa Rica. She presented an annual folkloric dance presentation for the Knox and Galesburg communities, featuring her "Campesina" elaborate dress, and music from her native country. Lil participated in International Fair, and was a volunteer speaker regarding Costa Rica at Galesburg schools; among many other activities.

As an alumna, Lil served as an ACM volunteer for prospective students, as a member of the Young Alumni Achievement Award Selection Committee, and as a delegate for the presidential inauguration at Trinity College. She contributed suggestions for the presidential search committee and attended the presidential search discussion at Homecoming 2010. Lil regularly attends east coast alumni gatherings and hosted a Knox meeting in her home. Lil joined other alumni in planning an event to honor Professor Jorge Prats. Her 175th Anniversary commemorative essay was titled "What I love about Knox College, besides the red tail squirrels." Lil is a loyal star donor, having given to Knox every year since graduation.

Lil has devoted extensive time to volunteer work in low income communities. She participated in development programs for the YMCA and teen programs in the United States and Costa Rica. In the Hartford metro area she helped various groups of women on welfare, with the goal of workforce integration. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, and historic storm Alfred, Lil led an effort to replace lost trees and assisted with cleanup. Currently, Lil is engaged in a project aiding 31 Indian students in Costa Rica - providing desks, school supplies, blackboards, and uniforms.

Lil's volunteerism reflects her ongoing desire to make visible contributions to her community and beyond.

Thomas J. Crabtree '72
For many years, Tom Crabtree has voluntarily compiled all of Knox's football records. He continues to follow the football program very closely and updates records as they occur. His latest update was received in April 2011. The results of his research are included on the Knox athletics website. Tom is a valued Knox football historian due to his exceptional knowledge of the program from the late 1800s to the present. Because of this he serves as a resource for Sports Information, media, and alumni. In addition, Tom has nominated a number of former student-athletes for induction into the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame. In the current pool of nominees, seven have been nominated by Tom. Two of last night's inductees, Coach John McLean and the 1976 Football Team, were nominated by Tom.

When he is not in the courtroom serving as a public defender, you'll find Tom searching for and identifying birds. He heads up the Christmas Bird Count for Bend, Oregon, a responsibility he's enjoyed since 1983. Tom is a board member for East Cascades Audubon Society and a member of the Oregon Bird Records Committee, a nine-member group that evaluates all reports of rare birds reported in the state.

Tom is chair of the Juvenile Law section of the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association and volunteers for the Deschutes Children's Foundation. You can also find him putting in a few volunteer hours as a coach for the Summit High School track and field team.

H. James Farver '61

In honor of his 50th Class Reunion and inspired by his need to give back to Knox, Jim Farver undertook a special appeal to math majors between the class years of 1948 to 1963. Jim called upon his fellow alumni to support him in funding an endowed chair in the name of legendary professor of mathematics Rothwell C. Stephens. Having started the Chair with a significant pledge, Jim knows that to be truly effective in attracting and maintaining excellent faculty members, endowed chairs in areas such as mathematics need to be endowed at amounts higher than his personal commitment level. Starting in mid-November with a goal of securing additional significant gifts, he reached out to fellow math majors and shared his reasons for creating the chair and the need for more funds. In just under six weeks, Jim secured nearly $420,000 in cash and pledges for the Rothwell C. Stephens Distinguished Chair in Mathematics. He looks forward to continuing his efforts with other math majors to make the Stephens Chair a $2,000,000 endowed faculty salary support fund a reality.

Jim also served Knox as a member of the 1961 Reunion Committee. The committee succeeded in raising $3.4 million. Jim currently serves as a member of the Campaign Advisory Committee.

Outside of Knox, Jim worked with Sterling Schools Foundation to establish a memorial scholarship in memory of one of his former classmates. He then launched and ran a campaign to fully endow the scholarship.

Previous Knox Service Award Recipients