Knox Magazine - Fall 2018 by Knox College

FALL 2018

Andy Gibbons, Fitness Center Director and Strength & Conditioning Coa

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PETER BAILLEY ’74

Andy Gibbons’ office has one of the most inspiring views on campus: a wide bank of windows looking out on the sunlit second floor of the E. & L. Andrew Fitness Center. He doesn’t spend a lot of time at his desk, however. “The work I do isn’t in here,” he says, “it’s out there.” When classes are in session, you’ll find Knox students, including Prairie Fire student-athletes, working out from daybreak until late into the evening under his guidance. Coach Gibbons spent 27 years coaching football, as well as seven years as a part-time strength and conditioning coach. Last year, he took over full-time responsibility for the Fitness Center. He also teaches football coaching as part of Knox’s sports studies program. His work brings him in contact with a large percentage of the Knox student body. “My door is open to any student who wants help in the fitness center or the weight room.”

Welcome to his ofﬁce.

Open Door ch 3 2

1. A desktop montage of photos. Coach Gibbons keeps an everchanging array of photos under the glass top of his desk—former teams, memorable students, and, of course, his family (he and wife Carla have five children: Ella, Annabeth, Charlie, Gracie, and IdaMae). 2. The seniors from the 1998 Knox football team after they won the Bronze Turkey game at Monmouth. “They gave me the photo along with the trophy.” 3. The 2002 football team walking out for its game against Eureka College. The Prairie Fire won 6–4. 4. Shelves filled with books about coaching. There are the football greats—Papa Bear, about founder of the NFL George Halas, and Saban: The Making of a Coach, about former LSU football coach Nick Saban—but Gibbons also collects books about hockey, basketball, and baseball. “I am a huge biography fan,” he says.

5. Memorabilia from his years coaching football, including signed game balls and a Knox helmet. 6. Beyond the glass: treadmills, elliptical machines, and selectorized weight machines. “What we focus on, first and foremost, is how to do lifts correctly. Then we move on to getting students stronger and better.” 7. The weight room on the first floor, where students can access free weights and locker rooms.

MAGAZINE VOLUME 102, ISSUE 2

FALL 2018

“I THINK WE LEAVE THIS PLACE KINDER.” TRICIA DUKE ’19 (PAGE 36)

Looking at the Land/Scape

Departments

In Professor Lynette Lombard’s landscape painting course, she challenges students to examine the campus around them and try to express not just how those places look, but how they feel. Take a fresh look at some familiar places.

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Major Disconnect

Open Door

Inside front cover

2 East South Street

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The South Lawn

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Knox Writes

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Class Knox

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Parting Shot

Inside back cover

Every Knox student pursues studies in at least two different academic disciplines—and sometimes those disciplines can be very different. We talked to eight students about the surprising connections they’ve discovered between art, science, social science, and the humanities.

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Alive with Research & Collaboration After Commencement, the campus may seem quiet, but inside the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center, the work is just getting started. Professors and students share the latest discoveries from inside their labs.

On the cover: A painting of the Old Jail and the former Second Baptist Church as viewed from the Whitcomb Art Center, by Shifa Dandia ’21. Photo by Peter Bailley ’74

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layout designers Ami Jontz

assistant editor Pam Chozen assoCiate editor Peter G. Bailley ’74, News & Photography

Special thanks to Amanda Malik and Robyn Hepker.

Becky Hale

Contributors, Writing & photography Adriana Colindres Ethan Crow Brea Cunningham Cheri Siebken

Knox Magazine is published twice yearly by the Ofﬁce of Communications, Box K-233, Knox College, Galesburg, IL 61401-4999; Phone: 309-341-7760; Fax: 309-341-7718; E-mail: knoxmag@knox.edu. It is distributed free of charge to Knox alumni, students, parents, and friends. The magazine welcomes information and story ideas. Please query before submitting manuscripts. ISSN: 0047-3499 Visit us online at magazine.knox.edu.

PETER BAILLEY ’74

editor Megan Scott ’96

Honoring an Icon At Opening Convocation on September 13, Knox awarded Civil Rights icon Elizabeth Eckford ’63 an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in recognition “of the courage she exhibited as one of the Little Rock Nine, of her enduring legacy as an icon of the American Civil Rights Movement, and of her inspiration as a role model for past, current, and future human rights activists.” Read more at www.knox.edu/news.

Editor’s Note

Letters to the Editor

So Long, Farewell

Math is an Art, Not a Science

little more than 14 years ago, I returned to my alma mater to coordinate communications for the Office of Advancement, which included serving as editor of this very magazine. I had never been an official magazine editor before, but it had always been one of my dream jobs*, and I was excited to finally have the opportunity to dig into the work. Now, after 28 (yes, that’s 28) magazine issues, I am officially signing off as editor of Knox Magazine and leaving my alma mater to lead the Office of Communications at Lawrence University.

EVAN TEMCHIN ’10

To say that this is a bittersweet moment is putting it lightly. While I’ve taken on a variety of different roles during my professional career at Knox, editing Knox Magazine has always been a part of my portfolio, and telling Knox’s story in this format has served as a welcome creative outlet. During my years as editor, we moved from black-and-white to color, doubled the page count, redesigned the entire magazine, and maintained a robust Class Notes section (despite worries that Facebook would overtake our dedicated correspondents’ work). We’ve featured profiles of alumni, faculty, and students who are making a true difference in our world. And I’ve had the privilege of working with an amazing group of designers, writers, photographers, alumni volunteers, and students along the way. I am excited about my new professional opportunity (and about the fact that I can finally submit to Class Notes without editing them), but I can honestly say that I will miss this work. Pam Chozen, who has served as associate editor of the magazine for the past four years, will serve as the magazine’s next editor, starting with the Spring 2019 issue, and I look forward to seeing the direction she will take her new role. I have been inspired by Pam’s creativity throughout our work together, and I am certain that Knox Magazine will thrive under her leadership. Thank you to all of the class correspondents and others that I’ve worked with over the years. It has been a pleasure to tell Knox’s story with you. Sincerely, Megan *If you remember my dream magazine editorial job, let me know! You can reach me on Twitter @msco.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

When I was a mathematics major at Knox in the 1960s, planning was under way for what became the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center. At that time, Rothwell Stephens was the chair of the Department of Mathematics. When discussion of the building ﬁrst began, it was referred to as “the new science building.” Dr. Stephens, who was a well-respected mathematician, was upset. He said, if the Department of Mathematics was moved into a science building, he would resign. According to Dr. Stephens, mathematics is an art, not a science. Actually, he said it is a branch of philosophy. Knox did not want to lose this honored mathematician, so the building is called the ScienceMathematics Center, rather than the Science Building. I am very proud of my bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from Knox College. My degree from Knox opened doors for me later on. The fact that Dr. Stephens was an integral part of my education contributed to the respect for my degree. I hope many future students will recognize mathematics as the art that it is and choose to earn a B.A. in mathematics rather than a B.S. I cringed when I read your recent article where you included mathematics in a list of sciences, imagining Dr. Stephens’ reaction. —Janet Wittig Warﬁeld ’66

2 East South Street More Thoughts on College Costs Megan Scott’s article “Yes College is Worth It: Busting Myths about Higher Education” was full of interesting information and perspective about the the value of a liberal arts education. (I certainly value mine at Knox.) However, like most articles on this subject, when it comes to the issue of the skyrocketing cost of going to college, I think it misses the boat on three key points: 1. It is true that the “net price” for a year of college is often far less than the “full sticker price” due to ﬁnancial aid. Still, the fact that the sticker price (at Knox) has increased more than 1,000 percent since the late 1970s (while the consumer price index has increased only about 300 percent) is dismaying to college shoppers. The sticker price is scary high. 2. The difference between the sticker price and what people actually pay is befuddling. When one is thinking, “What does it cost for a year at this college?” there is no coherent answer. It could be $55,000. It could be $5,000. Or it could be zero. This undermines conﬁdence in the process. 3. Financial aid is what brings down the sticker price, but that can be grossly misleading because loans are called “aid” and excluded from the net price. But loans must be paid. They do not bring down the net cost. Obscuring this fact is manipulative (even if common practice these days). Imagine shopping for a car and having the sales rep refer to the down payment as the “net price.”

Thanks to Megan Scott and the Knox Magazine for addressing the difﬁcult and uncomfortable issue of the cost of college today. —Mark Gallagher ’79

Send us your letters! Knox Magazine welcomes the opinions and comments of its readers. Write to the Editor, Knox Magazine, Box K-233, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 614014999, or email knoxmag@knox.edu. Letters should refer to material published in the magazine and may be edited for length or clarity.

Corrections Editor’s Note: Well, I think we got a bit too conﬁdent after the Fall 2017 issue of the magazine, in which no errors were noted. We surely made our fair share of errors in the Spring 2018 issue. We sincerely regret these mistakes (as noted below) and have doubled downed on our prooﬁng efforts on this current issue.

section; Jim Buechl ’68’s daughter graduated from Emory University, not Knox College; Ted Jelen ’74’s name was misspelled; the wrong photo of Phil Singer ’76 and Paul Cimino ’76 was featured; and Meagan Kapes Busby ’14’s name was misspelled in the caption that accompanied her wedding photo. Knox Magazine regrets these errors. (Do we ever!)

In the “Go Figure” section, it was the Class of 1972, not 1973, who received the attendance award at Homecoming 2017. Professor Emeritus John Dooley’s new publication, Software Development, Design and Coding, was misidentiﬁed as his last book, Software Development and Professional Practice. In the Class Notes section, the following errors were made: Danny Littell ’61’s name was misspelled; the names of Rovelle Bois Bersted and Marcy Ashenhurst, both members of the Class of 1967, were misspelled in the Deaths

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

President’s Note On the Front Lines of the Battle Against “Truth Decay”

ver the past three years, the Knox faculty has been working to define a 21st century educational program that builds on our historic liberal arts tradition, which the catalog defines as “the broad learning our students pursue to shape themselves as multifaceted and well-informed critical thinkers.” I can think of no environment more suited to shaping critical thinking than a residential liberal arts campus. That these critical thinking skills are essential to the future seems also clear.

KENT KRIEGSHAUSER

The definition of critical thinking takes on greater importance at the start of this academic year, when new and returning students are engaging once again with faculty and fellow students, exploring new ideas, testing the limits of their knowledge, and even questioning the ideals and values they hold dear. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are necessary foundations to this process. Yet we start this new year in the midst of ongoing political turmoil and polarization on issues ranging from the Supreme Court to immigration, from foreign policy to climate change, compounded by heated debates on social media. As educated citizens, we take seriously the threats of political polarization and its companions of confirmation bias, selective consumption of media, and “the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life,” as outlined in a very interesting study entitled “Truth Decay” by the RAND Corporation, a nonpartisan institution that seeks to advance the public good through research and analysis. The study defines truth decay as a set of four related trends: “increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and data; a blurring of the line between opinion and fact; an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal experience over fact; and declining trust in formerly respected sources of factual information.”

One of most distressing results of truth decay, as you can imagine, is the erosion of civil discourse. Other results, according to the study, include “political paralysis, alienation and disengagement of individuals from political and civic institutions, and uncertainty about U.S. policy.” I am sure that we can all bear witness to these results in our communities and, potentially more so, among our family and friends.

“As an educator and leader of an institution of higher learning, I am particularly aware of the role that education plays in helping to battle truth decay.”

As an educator and leader of an institution of higher learning, I am particularly aware of the role that education plays, especially a broad-based and engaging education like the one Knox provides, in helping to battle truth decay. It’s something we take very seriously at Knox. In addition to the teaching and learning taking place in our classrooms, the College recently hosted Vikram David Amar, dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, who gave a standing-room-only talk on “Free Speech on the College Campus.” Throughout the months of September and October, the College has hosted voter registration drives in advance of the November midterm elections, as well as a campus-wide Day of Dialogue. Each of these events has encouraged our students to engage with new ideas, learn to actively listen to those with whom they disagree, and to engage with our political process—all life-long skills that are necessary to battle truth decay.

The nation has a long way to go to rebuild trust within our communities and in the institutions that uphold our society, but I can assure you that we at Knox will continue to introduce our students to new concepts and ideas, challenge them to explore thoughts and concepts outside of their comfort zone, encourage them to ask difficult questions, and leave Knox as thoughtful and critical participants in our world. —Teresa L. Amott

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Knox College students offer their visual interpretations of campus and other places, near and far, while their professor explains the annual course in landscape painting.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND INTRODUCTORY TEXT BY PETER BAILLEY ‘74. HANDWRITTEN TEXT AND COMMENTS BY LYNETTE LOMBARD, PROFESSOR OF ART.

Elise Goitia ’18 places her easel near the spot where she made this painting of Old Main and its iconic bell tower.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

’er hills and plains, by lakes and lanes, our woodlands, our cornfields… As the lyrics of the Knox Hymn evoke the incomparable prairie landscape, students in Art 163 explore their landscapes and memories of landscapes. This spring, we followed some of the students and spoke with Professor Lynette Lombard about her beginning course in Landscape Painting. (Right) View of the Whitcomb Art Center, by Thu Nguyen ’19. (Right) Landscape by Fletcher Summa ’18, for the assignment on switching complementary colors; (Below) Seascape by Elise Goitia ’18, based on her experience at an off-campus program in Dublin, Ireland.

(Above) View of Auxiliary Gymnasium and Old Main, by Shifa Dandia ’20

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Fletcher Summa ’18

Thu Nguyen ’19

1. “Switching complementary colors makes students focus on color. Instead of painting just the local color, they have to understand how colors are related, have to really pay attention. They’re not sure what it’s going to look like. They’re discovering, and that’s when they’re really painting. And you have to learn how to mix neutrals to make it unified, to make the painting work. You may learn something about the scene. Instead of a blue sky that makes it feel cooler, the intensity of the heat is conveyed by an orange sky. And the grass—green can be a passive color, and the reds can make it seem more alive.”

2. “You can see how I have them hold the paintbrush. It’s not like writing, or wristwiggling, I call it. Hold the brush like a hammer or a tennis racket. When you paint with your arm, you don’t get caught up in the details. You make big shapes of color, moving through the space.”

3. “I have the students use Color-aid. You find colors similar to the colors you’re thinking of changing. Then, when you make the change, you’re very clear. When you’re not clear, the painting reveals it. It looks wobbly, unconvincing. Matisse worked that way. He’d put a piece of colored paper on the painting, to figure out the exact color he wanted.”

Sachika Goel ’20 places swatch on a view of Old Main, by Shifa Dandia ’21

Teaching assistant Olivia Peterson ’19 (left) with Shifa Dandia ’21

4. “Olivia [TA for the class] is very astute, very articulate, very good at helping students activate different parts of the painting in different ways so that it holds our attention and has the richness of nature. She’s painted landscape, completed an independent study with me about landscape into abstraction, and last year, she worked for a term with an alumna, Megan Williamson ’82, who also works in the landscape.”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

“There’s an urgency to painting the landscape today. We are witnessing catastrophic shifts in nature, which are part of climate change. The eco-diversity we see in our environment is disappearing.” (Right) A view of Old Main from the “art bowl” outside the Ford Center for the Fine Arts, by Sachika Goel ’20. (Right) A field near the rural Galesburg home of Stephen Fineberg, professor emeritus of classics, and Brenda Fineberg, professor of classics, by Caroline Hickey ’18; (Below) The boat dock on Lake Sharvy at Green Oaks, by Meghan Mohn ’18.

“We hadn’t gone out and painted a really big space. When we went to the Finebergs’, it took the students to a big space with a deep horizon.” 4. 10

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

1 1. “By the time we get to the final critique at the end of the term, we celebrate how the artists improved, how they grew during the term. Up until then, the in-class critiques can be intense. I want them to start with the positive, then something critical. The painting might be brilliant, but where do they go next?”

2. Lynette Lombard, professor of art, has taught at Knox since 1990, with special emphasis on landscape in her teaching and personal work. She has shown throughout the U.S. and internationally, most recently in a joint exhibition with Tony Gant, associate professor of art, at the La Barquilla Gallery in Sorbas, Spain.

“I feel strongly about teaching visual issues, but I also ask them: what does this place feel like? What’s the narrative? Where does the artist place you? ”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

BY PAM CHOZEN

hen nearly 300 Knox students received their diplomas on a sunny morning last June, each had fulfilled the requirements for at least one major and at least one minor, per the curriculum. But among their ranks were a surprising number of people pursuing double majors (44), double minors (69), or, in the case of a presumably weary Ren Barkey ’17, who received their diploma with the Class of 2018, a double major (in environmental studies and theatre) and a minor (studio art).1 When it comes to choosing a second—or third—field of study, there seem to be two distinct approaches. In the first group are the students we might think of as Intensifiers. Intensifiers have a clear idea of what interests them, what they’re good at, and what they want to do with their lives, and their various academic interests look like an obvious fit: financial mathematics, economics, and business and management (looking at you, Jonathan Banham ’182). Chemistry and secondary education (hello, Elyssa Glenn ’18). Then there are the students we might call Synergists. They are perhaps the purest embodiment of the liberal arts educational model—the opportunity it offers to give in to the tug of curiosity and follow wherever it leads. When students do, they often discover some surprising connections. These are their stories.

1. Ren also graduated cum laude. 2. Jonathan Banham says that financial mathematics was actually his Plan B. “I always wanted to be an economist, but I loved the intro to financial mathematics class and sat down with Professor Kevin Hastings ’76 to see if I could major in that instead.”

ECONOMICS was the most popular major among members of the Class of 2018

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KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Number of current students doublemajoring in economics and biochemistry

PHOTOS BY PETER BAILLEY ’74, BREA CUNNINGHAM, GRADIMAGES

Knox students are required to pursue a concentration in a field beyond their major. What happens when the two are almost totally unrelated?

SAMANTHA BURGESS

JAMES WOOLLEY

Class of 2019 MAJORS: Music and Neuroscience

Class of 2018 MAJORS: History and Computer Science

“I always knew I wanted to major in music—I’ve played the violin for 12 years now. I’ve also always wanted to pursue a second major in the sciences. Chemistry and environmental science were both quite interesting, but neuroscience blew my mind. (Pardon the pun.) There is a lot of really interesting research being done on how music interacts with the brain, which gave me a way to integrate my two majors.”

“I had toyed with the idea of doing some combination of creative writing, history, and computer science. When I arrived at Knox, I chose history when I realized I could do the writing I wanted to do in those classes. Even though I was a sophomore transfer student changing majors, I didn’t really struggle to fulfill my academic requirements. My AP and transfer credits all transferred. I worked two terms with Professor John Dooley to create data analysis software for the football coach. I had enough flexibility to start an Honors project, but I took too large a courseload to handle it—I wish I had been able to finish.”

How she managed her time: “Between the foundations and key competencies—as well as two majors without a single overlapping requirement—it takes a lot of time to get everything done! Even so, I did a whole year abroad at Oxford University. If you work with your professors, they are very willing to help you figure things out! It was such a formative experience for me. I will also be able to take a few independent studies and pursue an Honors project during my senior year.” What comes next: “After I graduate, I’d like to pursue a master’s degree in orchestral conducting and eventually a Ph.D., either in conducting or music psychology, and become a professor.”

Favorite course: CS322: Software Engineering What comes next: “I was pretty busy finishing up my schoolwork and working on my Honors project, and I haven’t put too much effort into finding a job. I do hope to continue to work on my former Honors project, where I combined the skills of both of my majors to create a historical simulation.” Update: James is now an applications analyst with Northern Trust Corporation in Chicago.

18% of the Class of 2018 minored in a second language LUBA LIUBVINA Class of 2020 MAJORS: Studio Art and Biology “When I started making art, it was usually about animals or nature. Knox was one of a few schools that offered me an opportunity to pursue a double major, and they recognized my artistic talent with a significant scholarship. Getting all the credits I need has been hard. I did Green Oaks Term—one of the reasons I chose Knox!—but out of five credits, only one counted towards my majors. It is hard to negotiate which classes I want to take because I am the president of art club, and I work in the art building, do art internships, plan to start taxidermy as a hobby, and, hopefully, work for the biology department.” Why art and science are a good combination: “My art is definitely influenced by biology—I tend to be better at organic shapes. My favorite piece is Elk Island—16 prints inspired by the conservation biology course I took with Stuart Allison and a project I did at Elk Island National Park in Moscow.” What comes next: “I hope to combine my majors in my future job, perhaps as a museum curator, exhibit designer, scientific illustrator, or taxidermist.”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

TAMIA PHIFER

BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT/SPANISH (tie) Most popular minors among members of the Class of 2018 pursuing double minors

LARA BRAVERMAN Class of 2018 MAJORS: Chemistry and Theatre “I knew I wanted to double major in chemistry and theatre since high school, and it was the driving force in my college search. I looked at small liberal arts schools, in part because most larger schools make it incredibly difficult to double-major in very different areas. I also made sure that the schools I looked at had a theatre minor, as I knew that if I was forced to choose one, I would go with chemistry, but I didn’t want to completely stop taking theatre.” How she managed her time: “I doubt I would have been able to graduate in four years if I hadn’t come in with credit for gen chem. I was able to start with sophomore-level chemistry courses, which allowed me to fit all the necessary coursework in. Someone very dedicated might be able to double-major without having this (my advisor and I worked it out both ways), but having credit allowed me to take more electives in my majors as well as courses outside either department. It also gave me room to do several credits of independent research in the chemistry department. I was also a member of the Knox College Choir and Soulfege A Cappella all four years and served on both their exec boards, and have participated in student-directed theatre productions almost every term. Last fall, I played the title role in the student-directed production of Doctor Faustus and was also the production’s dramaturg—that was definitely the highlight of my Knox theatre experience.” What comes next: “I will begin Washington University’s Ph.D. program in chemistry. I plan to become a professor, and I hope that my performance experience will help in that respect! I’ve found that many of my theatre skills are useful when presenting research-I’m not nervous in front of a crowd, and I know how to project. I plan to continue singing and maybe doing community theatre if I have the time.”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Class of 2018 MAJOR: Biology MINOR: German “As a first-gen student, I didn’t have a lot of help available when I applied to college. After six weeks in organic chemistry, I decided to focus on biology instead. I’d also planned to minor in creative writing, but I realized Knoxies take their creative writing more seriously than a hobby writer like myself. I’d studied German since I started high school, so German at Knox was a breeze for me.” How she managed her time: “I did lots of research with Professor Matthew Jones-Rhoades and got a summer research opportunity at Penn State because he believed in me. Working in a lab with graduate students was a completely different experience, and I ended up with a co-author credit on research published in Nature. I considered studying abroad in Germany—Professor Todd Heidt told me they’ll give money to students to come do research. I didn’t make it there as an undergraduate, but graduate school is definitely an option I’m keeping open.” What comes next: “I’m in the process of applying to graduate programs in evolution and ecology and biotechnology. But I’m also interested in attending seminary to pursue a master’s in mission and intercultural studies.”

5 Members of the Class of 2018 with a self-designed major

6 Members of the Class of 2018 with a self-designed minor SELF-DESIGNED MAJOR/SELF DESIGNED MINOR Liliana Coelho ’17 graduated with a self-designed major (sustainable social change), a self-designed minor (social justice dialogs)—and a second minor in studio art

CREATIVE WRITING Most popular double-major among members of the Class of 2018 JESSICA PETERSEN Class of 2019 MAJOR: Anthropology & Sociology MINOR: Business & Management

ZACHARY BARNES Class of 2019 MAJORS: Computer Science and Music “I wanted a small college with a substantial jazz program—surprisingly rare! I was drawn to the immediate sense of craft that computer science provided. But I’m also a pianist. I got my start on saxophone, then picked up other instruments—trumpet, drums, guitar, bass—and started singing in various vocal groups in high school. The fields aren’t that different. Finding simple and elegant solutions are core tenets of what programmers strive for, and having that mindset is especially useful when it comes to composition and improvisation. On the flip side, music opens up creative pathways in those moments when computer science seems routine and one-dimensional.” How he managed his time: “Honestly, I’m amazed I’ll be able to graduate in four years. Even so, I was able to study abroad in China and am about to do research in the field of music information retrieval. I’m looking forward to integrating both of my academic interests into something that is cohesive and relevant. I’ve also composed several pieces—jazz and classical—that have been performed here at Knox.” What comes next: “Graduate school, either in data science or music technology.”

ELENA IATROPOULOU-BANNAT Class of 2019 MAJORS: Biology and Studio Art

“I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to major in before I got to Knox. Originally, I thought I wanted to study psychology or creative writing. I took an ANSO [anthropology & sociology] course and fell in love with it. The same happened with business—I took a class with Professor John Spittell, and knew I wanted to take more courses.” How she managed her time: “I was able to complete three internships (with a fourth this summer), study abroad—I went to Denmark, Ireland, and Finland and got a credit that counted toward my major, and still graduate early. I have been able to do more than expected.” What comes next: “This summer, I participated in Penske’s management training program and plan to start working for them fulltime in the fall. My ANSO background is really helpful—to be an effective manager, you need to be able to work with and understand different groups of people from diverse backgrounds. I think majoring in ANSO gives me an edge in the field.”

“I was relatively confident I wanted to study biology and economics. Ha! With only one class remaining on an economics minor, I decided I should major in studio art as well at the end of my junior year. Thankfully, I got ahead in my biology requirements and now have the rest of my time at Knox for art. Study abroad is something I would have liked to explore, but with the new art classes I have to take, it doesn’t seem rational. But, after all, studying at Knox is already study abroad for me!” Why art and science are a good combination: “I’ve always wanted to learn something that I could count on—facts and rules that aren’t subject to change. However, once I get deeply into something, I feel like I’m losing perspective on it and my head isn’t as clear anymore. This is why I need to counterbalance myself by getting active with my hands, and this more physical involvement helps bring me back to a clearer mindset, expand my horizons, and widen my take on everything else.”

SPANISH Most popular language minor among members of the Class of 2018 KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

The Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center—or SMC (pronounced smack) as it is affectionately called—is one of the campus’ largest buildings, made up of a central core and a series of four wings and various corridors. When terms are in session the classrooms and labs tucked within the wings burst with activity at all hours of the day. One may think that when spring term ends, such activity will cease. Yet walk into SMC on a hot July day, and you’ll quickly find that student researchers and faculty members are busy at work in labs and offices across the building. Some students are putting their research skills to work for the first time, others are utilizing their academic skills to assist—or improve upon—faculty research projects or classroom offerings, and more are collectively adding to new fields of science. Whatever the case may be, SMC is certainly alive with student research and faculty collaboration over the summer months.

WRITTEN BY MEGAN SCOTT ’96 PHOTOS BY PETER BAILLEY ’74

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

SUPPORT FOR THIS WORK IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY . . . Committee on Faculty Resources Paul K. Richter & Evalyn E. Cook Memorial Fund

It’s not often that two undergraduate students are given an opportunity to improve upon the work of international scholars, but computer science majors Nhi Cung, a senior, and Billy Nguyen, a junior, got the chance here at Knox. They spent their summer building upon the work of Associate Professor of Computer Science Monica McGill on a game called If Memory Serves. “This is an educational game designed to teach a concept called ‘pointers’ (which are similar to an entry in a book index) to computer science students. It was developed by a team of computer science professors (including myself) from New Zealand, England, and the U.S.,” McGill said. “The work that Nhi and Billy are doing is extremely important to let us be able to test the game with students and see if they are actually learning from it.” “The game was already created, and we needed to improve it and make it better in terms of coding, interface, and art,” said Cung. “My project was to create a tutorial or clear instructions so that players can understand better how to play the game.” Nguyen, who has a passion for art and drawing, focused his work on the visuals of the game. “Anything that you will see on the outside, it’s possible that I drew it,” he said.

Once their work is done, the new and improved game will be released to the world. “Our goal is to get it out to the larger computer science education community so they know it’s there as a resource,” said McGill.

“This project created a chance for me to better myself in coding and creating games, which is a big part of my major,” said Cung about her summer research. “Also, it gave me a better idea of how to work on a ‘real’ project, which requires much more effort.” “Working visually on computer science, using my creativity, was huge for me,” said Nguyen.

Cung and Nguyen both recognize how competitive the computer science job market is today, and their research was geared toward preparing them to enter that world. “I would love to find a job and create something on my own, using the Unity platform,” she said. “Ideally, I’d like to get into the game industry,” said Nguyen. “It’s a very competitive field, and this experience is good preparation.”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

When biology professors Judy Thorn and Matt Jones-Rhoades received a research proposal from senior Markus Barbosa, they knew that they had something special on their hands. After working with him on a series of revisions, Thorn explains, “Markus brought us a real proposal.” She and JonesRhoades immediately realized that Barbosa would be a great candidate for the Baker-Velde Student Research Fund, which helps rising juniors and seniors pursue independent research by covering the costs of summer housing, travel, and research equipment. Barbosa ultimately received the funds and spent his summer in the company of small worms, namely nematodes, in the B wing of SMC. Barbosa, who ultimately plans to attend medical school, focused his research on “the study of aging and longevity in a model organism using worms or nematodes. I’m studying how they are able to fight aging.” He divided his research between two labs— Professor Jones-Rhoades’s, where he nurtured and observed the nematodes, and Professor Thorn’s, where he exposed them to various stressors. “Professor Jones-Rhoades helped me with the molecular side of the process, and Professor Thorn helped me with the developmental side,” he adds.

Barbosa’s work wasn’t easy, putting in long hours to observe the evolution of his subjects. “I was usually here every day because I needed to take care of the worms and make sure they were alive. I ran time courses in which I subjected the worms SUPPORT FOR THIS RESEARCH IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY . . . Baker-Velde Student Research Fund

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

to different stressors and scored their survival every hour. One week, I was here from 8 a.m. to 2 or 3 in the morning.” Yet while the hours are long, the results of his research have lasting benefits. “We can study age-related diseases such as ALS, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, using worms in the lab and ultimately apply them to humans because of the similar genetic composition of worms and humans.”

While Professors Thorn and Jones-Rhoades don’t specialize in the exact research Barbosa conducted over the summer, both found his work to be invaluable. “Doing a project like this is tremendously valuable for anyone contemplating a career in science or medicine,” says Jones-Rhoades. “This is what I think is Knox’s very strongest suit—giving students a chance to do these types of projects.” “I think it’s interesting to have a system that’s potentially shareable between the two of us,” adds Thorn “We have collaborated on classes in the past and to have shared a student whose work crossed both disciplines provided us with a lot of things that we can learn, expand out, incorporate into our courses.”

SUPPORT FOR THIS RESEARCH IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY . . . Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program Paul K. Richter & Evalyn E. Cook Memorial Fund Leland Harris Undergraduate Research Fund Robert G. Kooser Memorial Research Fund National Science Foundation COAST Program Knox College Mellon Fellowship Award

Associate Professor of Chemistry Helen Hoyt ’01 has been exploring green chemistry—a field of chemistry motivated by environmental sustainability—since her days pursuing postdoctoral work at Cornell University. Her work continues, only with some additional help. Three students worked with her in the lab exploring new chemical catalysts that are more environmentally sustainable and affordable. Junior Diego Morones explored copper catalysts; junior Allen Irvine investigated iron catalysts; and junior Reshma Rajan used a server to virtually run experiments that supported the lab work being done by her colleagues. “We were looking for the Goldilocks catalyst to help escort our compounds to the final product,” said Hoyt of their work. The work each pursued over the summer has tangible applications to their educations at Knox and beyond. “It was invaluable having the opportunity to be in the lab all the time, doing constant lab work,” said Irvine. For Morones, his goal was to find a way to keep copper stable in the presence of water, a process that may ultimately contribute to ongoing research being done at Indiana University. “Building on past student research, we got some positive results, and we hope to carry that forward,” he said. For Hoyt, her work mentoring her students is both integral to and a direct extension of her own research. “To be a liberal arts chemist means

working with students as collaborators,” she said. “If I’m doing my job right, I’m teaching, training, and collaborating to the point where they are taking ownership over a piece of my ongoing research.”

Morones is part of the McNair Scholars Program, which aims to increase the number of underrepresented students who successfully attain Ph.D. degrees. “If I can help move the world to a more sustainable way of living, it would be great.” Irvine is a biochemistry major with minors in chemistry and economics. “I took Environmental Economics with Professor Steve Cohn . . . [and] it all kind of connected for me,” he explained. “I’m now on the chemistry side researching these new compounds, not just talking about it.” Rajan, a biochemistry major and Africana studies minor, isn’t often in the lab itself, but her work is integral to the success of her colleagues’ research. “The ultimate goal of computations is to confirm a computational method where eventually we can predict the best molecules to then go back into the lab and start creating,” she explained.

One of the unique advantages of the work being done in Hoyt’s lab is her access to necessary resources beyond her department. For example, Irvine needed a Mössbauer spectromer—a tool that is rarely found at undergraduate institutions—to study his iron catalysts. Luckily, physics professor Chuck Schulz ’72 had one right down the hall from the chemistry lab. In addition, Rajan’s ability to do multiple computations relied on equipment purchased with a grant to Professor David Bunde in computer science to teach parallel programming.

American Chemical Society

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

SUPPORT FOR THIS WORK IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY . . . *Committee on Faculty Resources

One of the first lessons of research is that plans can change pretty quickly. For example, senior Peter Driscoll, a physics major with a double minor in astronomy and computer science, planned on working with Assistant Professor of Physics Nathalie Haurberg ’02 to survey low mass dwarf galaxies. “We actually shifted gears and worked to upgrade our telescope (located on the roof of SMC) and on projects and new applications for the telescope,” Driscoll said. “I may be developing projects that students can work on in future astronomy classes.” In July, Driscoll was joined by senior physics major and philosophy minor Tom Trudeau, who was interested in working with a spectroscope to do what he calls “fun little interstellar forensics.” But he soon joined Driscoll on the telescope and its surrounding observatory. “We both took Observational Astronomy together in spring term,” said Trudeau, “and it was a really, really cool class, but we were besieged by problems with the weather not cooperating, the equipment not working, or having too many people in the observatory at the same time. I wanted to take time now to do things properly.” So Driscoll and Trudeau worked most evenings—at least when the weather cooperated— with Haurberg to ensure that the telescope and observatory not only functioned but also conducted experiments in order to help future students know the proper steps to take, as well as what issues may arise and how to fix them. “I’m a trained astronomer, but I’m not trained to curate an observatory,” said Haurberg. “This is a co-learning experience for us, which is why I really value having students.”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Paul K. Richter & Evalyn E. Cook Memorial Fund

While spending a summer essentially playing trial and error with a telescope doesn’t necessarily sound like valuable academic experience, the opposite is true. “Upgrading the telescope has actually provided me with a lot of engineering problems, which helped me tremendously,” said Driscoll. “Just having the experience of interacting with the instrument itself, touching it, plugging it in, having something go wrong. This is absolutely professionally applicable,” added Haurberg.

Aside from helping improve astronomy courses for future students, Trudeau also found connections to the past in his work. “You feel connected to time and the world around you and the history of all these people who have been doing this for years,” he said.

Robert Mariner Research Award

*The Committee on Faculty Resources is a faculty committee that grants funding assistance for faculty research and other support; grants are based upon applications from individual faculty members.

Senior Zach Gregory, a physics major and computer science minor, was looking for a summer job that would put his education to work, perhaps even enable him to develop new skills that would better prepare him for graduate school. He ultimately needed to look no further than his very own department. Professor of Physics Tom Moses has long focused on the study of liquid crystals, which are rod-shaped molecules that form different phases of matter, but he needed help better regulating the temperature of those crystals during his experiments. Zach found his summer job. “Liquid crystals have to be at different temperatures in order for us to observe the different phases of matter that they are putting out,” said Gregory. “I had to basically create a program that would control the analog input of our heating and cooling system, which would get the crystals at the right temperature so that we could run experiments and observe them.” (For those non-physics folks, Gregory used his computer science skills to create software that more accurately controlled the heating and cooling system and, consequently, the temperature of the liquid crystal.) “There’s some tricky issues in controlling the computer over a web interface, which we worked to solve this summer,” said Professor Moses. “We used old hardware and built new software around it.”

SUPPORT FOR THIS WORK IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY . . . *Committee on Faculty Resources

“And when it does work the first time, those are the rare moments where you question, does this actually work the way I want it to,” added Gregory. “When things work, we change our goals!” said Moses.

In his free time, Gregory is the vice president of the Knox Engineers, a newly formed student organization that brings students from across STEM fields to explore engineering problems and projects. Since its formation three years ago, the organization has acquired a 3D printer and laser cutter, among other equipment. Most recently, they crowdfunded for a new metal lathe that can be used across disciplines to build equipment. The club meets regularly in a transformed storage space in the basement of SMC, and members gather for meetings, lessons, and projects.

One of the ways that Gregory gained both valuable and applicable skills from his work was through simply trial and error. Moses noted that “You tend to pick up a lot of skills in a physics experiment—programming, building things in the shop, just the general troubleshooting. Because nothing works the first time.”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

SUPPORT FOR THIS WORK IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY . . .

Alex Kellogg, a senior psychology and music double major, spent her summer researching a subject one doesn’t read about regularly in a general-interest alumni magazine: variables that affect sexual arousal and activity in people attracted to their own gender. “Alex encountered a concept that I really didn’t know a lot about, called rejection sensitivity,” explained her advisor, Professor of Psychology Heather Hoffmann. “Negative moods tend to decrease sexual arousal. There’s some literature out there, but Alex tried to expand what’s available and combine it with information on rejection sensitivity.” “My original interest in psychology was in mood disorders, and one of the best classes I’ve taken was Professor Hoffmann’s course on human sexuality,” said Kellogg. “My independent research combined those two interests.” Kellogg’s goal was to have a research proposal for a laboratory study based on the work she did throughout the summer. “It’s more than likely going to feed into a senior research project,” she said. Having served as a lab assistant to Professor Hoffmann on her most recent research, Kellogg was familiar with the type of methodology needed to assess her research question. Her lab work, she explained, “will involve interviewing subjects who report being attracted to men about their mental health or instilling some kind of particular mood to gauge effects on their sexual arousal.”

ASSET (Artists, Scholars, Scientists, and Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow) Program

While research may sound like a relatively straightforward task, there’s much more involved, from understanding how to find the best sources to simply figuring out which information is useful. “Learning how to research . . . this was all new to me,” said Kellogg. “I’ve learned that when reviewing existing literature and articles there’s simultaneously way too much info and nowhere near enough information.”

The first phase of the five-phased renovation of the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center officially starts this fall, when work begins in the central core of the building. This phase will re-imagine the main entrance of the building and add much-needed collaborative space to the center of the building, along with updating all the HVAC. It will also add five modern classrooms, while laying the groundwork for improvements to each of SMC’s wings.The additional phases will address the four individual wings of the building, each of which houses individual departments.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

The South Lawn Knox Debuts New Major in Business

THERESA MURPHY ’17

Bluebrick Collective, one of five teams participating in StartUp Term 2017, presents its business plan to professors John Spittell, Jaime Spacco, John Dooley, and Tim Stedman ’09.

“This isn’t business as usual,” said Garikai Campbell, provost and dean of the College, upon the announcement of a new business and management major at Knox. The new program, which is available to students starting this fall, offers real-world opportunities to work as entrepreneurs, lead diverse teams, and tackle some of the thorniest issues in the global economy—from sustainability to international trade relations. “At Knox, our goal is to prepare students to identify complex problems, come up with creative solutions, and become effective and ethical leaders of diverse, global teams and organizations,” added Campbell. “By asking students to combine traditional business learning with knowledge from several other areas, I believe that Knox is launching one of the most innovative business programs for undergraduates.” Business majors will be able to choose among five focus areas, including finance and accounting, mathematical finance, human relations,

global business policy and development, and environmental policy and management—or work with faculty to create a personalized focus area to align with their speciﬁc career goals. They will also spend a good deal of time learning outside the classroom. In recent years, Knox has added popular immersive programs in business, including StartUp Term, a 10-week academic experience where students create and launch their own businesses. At the end of their ﬁrst year, students can also enroll in the Business Intensive Seminar, a program that brings alumni in business back to campus to coach students in communications skills, team-building, and entrepreneurship. Students will have the opportunity to pursue summer internships with

leading companies in their desired ﬁelds. Recent graduate Phelipe Graske ’18 began interning with Goldman Sachs and received a full-time employment offer before he began his senior year. Other students have gone on to work at Google, Amazon, and Epic Systems. Knox’s new $2,000 Power of Experience Grant, which all students receive in their junior or senior year, can help cover housing and living expenses while students are away from campus. “Business and management has long been one of the most popular minors at Knox,” says John Spittell, Wagner Distinguished Chair in Business. “Employers are looking for people who have strong communication skills, who think critically and analytically, and who can apply their knowledge to realworld situations, which is what a liberal arts education prepares students to do. The new major ﬁts seamlessly into the Knox curriculum, but it also provides a clear pathway for students who plan to pursue careers as entrepreneurs, business leaders, and changemakers.”

Two additional academic programs were recently added to the curriculum: Students can now major or minor in environmental science, which is also one of the nine program areas where students can pursue a bachelor of science degree; and minor in peace and justice studies. For more information on Knox’s courses of study, visit www.knox.edu/majors.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

“All the Living Still Up Ahead” Beck, Polay, Rosenfeld, and Swanson Retire, Named Professors Emeriti

“We congratulate these esteemed colleagues on their many years of service to the College and wish them long tenures as professors emeriti,” said Michael Schneider, who served as interim dean of the College during the 2017-18 academic year.

“Diana Beck is Knox.” At the end of her initial one-year appointment at Knox, Diana Beck was brought to tears because she didn’t want to leave the College. Twentyeight years later, she leaves Knox as the George Appleton Lawrence Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Educational Studies, having served the College and its students with unwavering dedication. “She has been ‘the rock’ in our department and has been depended upon for guidance, assistance, and inspiration,” said her colleague Joel Estes. “To many students and faculty, current and former, Diana Beck is Knox.” Diana served as the chair of the educational studies department numerous times, helped to expand its majors from four to nearly three dozen, shepherded the department’s Elementary Education Proposal through the Illinois State Board of Education in 2015, and introduced an immersion experience taking students to teach on the Navajo Nation Reservation in Arizona each summer. She has also served a wide variety of professional organizations over the course of her career, including the American Educational Research Association, Phi Delta Kappa, the International Reading Association, the Illinois Reading Council, and the National Association for Multicultural Education. PETER BAILLEY ’74

Four faculty members officially retired and were awarded the rank of professor emeritus in June: Diana Beck, George Appleton Lawrence Distinguished Service Professor of Educational Studies; Natania Rosenfeld, professor of English; Bruce Polay, professor of music and conductor and artistic director for the KnoxGalesburg Symphony; and Barry Swanson, visiting assistant professor of educational studies. Combined, they have accumulated 91 years of teaching and service at the College.

“An extraordinary colleague.”

PETER BAILLEY ’74

During his 35 years at Knox, Bruce Polay held a position unlike any other faculty member, serving as a full-time professor while simultaneously providing musical leadership for the Knox and Galesburg communities as artistic director of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony. He came to Knox in 1983

(Above) Diana Beck, George Appleton Lawrence Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Educational Studies, taught at Knox for 28 years. (Left) Professor Emeritus of Music Bruce Polay holds up a few parting gifts at his retirement celebration.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

The South Lawn poetry collection Wild Domestic, and the literary critique Outsiders Together: Virginia and Leonard Woolf. “She has carried forth into her classrooms, into her writing, and into her life the belief that there exists an organic relationship between the scholarly act and the creative one,” wrote Professor of English Monica Berlin ’95, “and what luck to send Natania off from here to make all the rest of the poems, to write down all the living still up ahead.”

PETER BAILLEY ’74

after receiving his doctorate from Arizona State University, already an active conductor and composer. During his career at Knox, he taught music theory and history, contemporary tonal harmony, composition, songwriting, orchestration, experimental and avant garde music, and music of the United States. Bruce’s students remember his passion, energy, and enthusiasm. “You helped me understand that the world of classical music is fresh, fun, sometimes informative, daring, and a reﬂection of the vastness of the universe,” shared one former student at Bruce’s retirement party. Bruce also composed more than 30 pieces of music for various publications across the United States and is the only conductor to be named Illinois Conductor of the Year for Professional Orchestras three times, winning the accolade in 1994, 2004, and 2010. “Bruce was an extraordinary colleague,” said Professor Laura Lane in a citation read to the Knox faculty. “Generous, kind, thoughtful, and respectful, he always did what was best for the well-being of his colleagues. His love for the College and the department was 100 percent sincere.” “The English professor’s English professor.”

PETER BAILLEY ’74

“Natania is an English professor’s English professor,” wrote one of Natania Rosenfeld’s colleagues upon her retirement. During the course of her 20-year career at Knox, Natania broadened the College’s offerings in 20th century literature, especially modern and contemporary British and Irish literature, with courses that focused on literature of the city, World War I, the Holocaust, JewishAmerican literature, and postcolonialism. Her classrooms were known for their expanse and complexity, and her work, including articles, reviews, poems, ﬁction, and essays, has been published in more than 60 journals. She is the author of three books, including the essay collection She and I, the

“The constant sharing of ideas.” Barry Swanson celebrated 10 years at Knox College—and 40+ years in education—with fellow faculty, students, and members of the Knox and Galesburg communities at his retirement reception in May. He joined the Knox educational studies department in 2008, teaching full-time, supervising student teachers, and advising College Honors and independent study projects. He also served as assistant men’s basketball coach. Joel Estes, chair of educational studies, said that Swanson was always looking for ways to improve his own teaching. “I have watched Barry work and rework lessons and approaches to his courses. He never wanted them to get stale,” said Estes. “He aimed to make his instruction unique and relevant, constantly sharing ideas of things he had found or read for his courses.” (Left) Professor Emeritus of English Natania Rosenfeld at a reading of her work last spring. (Above) Barry Swanson, assistant professor emeritus of educational studies, with Harley Knosher, retired director of athletics.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

PETER BAILLEY ’74 (6)

BETA House is being renovated to house today’s students.

Borzello Gallery in the Ford Center for Fine Arts will be the College’s first secure art gallery.

BETA and Soccer and Post (and CFA and Intercultural Life) Oh My

Second Baptist Church will be the new home of Spiritual Life and the Center for Intercultural Life.

Jorge Prats Field was updated to include field turf and fencing.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Summer 2018 was a busy one, with multiple construction and renovation projects taking place across campus. You can follow the progress of each of these projects, along with other small scale construction, repair, and facilities tasks, on the blog knoxworks.tumblr.com.

Tree trimming, and lots and lots of painting, were also big parts of Facilities’ summer work.

The Post Hall lobby and patio were both given a facelift.

The exhibit 1968, which was the culmination of the class “Museums, Monuments, and Memory,” explored the influential events of that tumultuous year, including the Vietnam War and Tet Offensive, Civil Rights Movement, assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and riots at the Chicago Democratic National Convention. Students in the class, taught by Bright Professor of American History Catherine Denial, were assigned all of the tasks involved in developing a museum exhibit, including research, design, construction, and publicity.

PETER BAILLEY ’74

The South Lawn

Exhibits Explore, Memorialize History Ford Center for the Fine Arts was the home to two exhibits this spring: 1968 and 99 Lives. While one was the culmination of the class “Museums, Monuments, and Memory,” the other was the result of combined efforts of Knox students, alumni, and staff. Both were examples of how student learning is applied outside of the classroom.

ETHAN CROW

99 Lives: The Knox College Gold Star Memorial Project provided a picture of the lives of all 99 members of the Knox community—98 alumni and one faculty member—who died in U.S. military service during the wars of the 20th century. The project began several years ago, starting with research by Jamie Bjorkman, a 1957 alumnus who wanted to track down the burial places of Knox soldiers who died in World War II. As Bjorkman worked in the Knox College Archives, staff put him in touch with students who were doing their own projects on Knox alumni in World War I—Ben Hosto, who graduated from Knox in June, and Sarah Pawlicki, who graduated in 2017.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

encem

ent

ETHAN CROW

EMMA FABERT ’21

C om m

ELENA IATROPOULOU-BANNAT '19

. Be c i t a ram ” “Be d e stupid.as ’02, B D —Vir Speaker bold.

Embrace, Follow, Reach Advice for the Class of 2018

“Enjoy your last days on campus.” —Facebook comment

33 94 15 28

seniors inducted into Phi Beta Kappa

seniors graduated with Latin honors seniors earned College Honors

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

“Embody the astonishing range of things we all feel at moments like this.” —Catherine Denial, Bright Professor of American History & 2018 Senior Toastmaster

BREA CUNNINGHAM

The members of the Class of 2018 likely received more advice over Commencement weekend than at any other time of their lives. Whether it be Commencement speeches or toasts, mortar board decorations, or good old well wishes from family and friends, you couldn’t attend any of the weekend’s festivities without receiving words of wisdom. Here’s just a small sample (that all of us can put to use as well).

“Embrace what makes us different.” —Jaime Alejandro (Alex) Contreras, Senior Class Speaker

“Follow the example of this year’s honorary degree recipients. Like Vir Das, laugh fearlessly, live in brave spaces. Like Michael Young, ask hard questions and discover new answers. Like Mary Meg McCarthy, seek justice for all.” —President Teresa Amott

The South Lawn $1 Million “Campaign for Our Knox” Highlights Another Strong Year of Fundraising Knox received more than $13.2 million from donors during the 2017–18 fiscal year, including more than $1 million for financial aid and scholarships raised between May 1 and June 30, 2018, through The Campaign for Our Knox. From July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018, more than 7,000 alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends made gifts to the College. Those gifts included $3.8 million to the Knox Fund—annual operating dollars that help cover College expenses that student tuition doesn’t. The K Club, the official booster club of Knox College Athletics, also had a banner year, raising half a million dollars to support Prairie Fire student-athletes and the athletics program, including new weights, racks, and bumpers in the Cecil-Porter Free Weight area, synthetic turf and fencing at Jorge Prats Field, and Prairie Fire graphics in T. Fleming Fieldhouse. “I was thrilled by the support and enthusiasm our alumni and parents showed during The Campaign for Our Knox,” said President Teresa Amott. “Keeping a high-caliber liberal arts education within the reach of any bright, promising student has always been Knox’s mission—and our donors make it possible.” In addition to gifts to the Knox Fund and K Club, donors contributed $3.7 million for enhancements to the physical campus, including gifts toward phase one of renovations to the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center, $2 million to support endowed scholarships and student experiences, and $3.7 million in realized estate gifts in support of scholarships and College operations. The majority of all of these gifts support Above & Beyond: Initiatives for Knox, a series of fundraising projects and priorities that make possible the goals of the College’s strategic plan, Knox 2018. Since 2012, the Above & Beyond initiatives have received gifts totaling $12.6 million for Alumni Hall; $8.4 million for the Whitcomb Art Center; $6.5 million to support the first phase of renovations to the Umbeck ScienceMathematics Center, and $57 million in support of faculty, students, and other campus facilities. In total, Above & Beyond has raised more than $87 million to date. “We’ve talked the last several years about it being a ‘transformative moment’ at Knox,” said Beverly Holmes, vice president for advancement. “You can really see that transformation taking place across campus—new construction; new academic options for students, like the introduction of the bachelor of science degree; and expanded opportunities for students through initiatives like the Power of Experience Grant.” In recent years, private gift support has surpassed endowment income to become Knox’s second-largest source of income after tuition. As of June 30, 2018, Knox’s endowment stood at $160 million, an increase of $18 million over the previous year.

Sparks “Our graduates are

SOUGHT AFTER by employers because they bring the skills of the future into the workforce.” President Teresa Amott, from her speech “What Employers Want, We Do: Liberal Arts and Workforce Development” at the City Club of Chicago, February 21, 2018

“As a community, we are here to catch those who fall, talk to those who hurt, listen to those who are oppressed, and act toward

BUILDING a more accepting future.” An excerpt from “Thoughts from the Embers: Show Support by Showing Up to Community Dialog,” The Knox Student, April 19, 2018

“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate

FLUNKTORY” 2018 Flunk Day Theme, May 2, 2018

“‘VERI TAS’ this is the worst spelling of your name I’ve ever seen, Vir!” A tweet in response to Commencement coverage (comedian Vir Das ’02 was the speaker), June 9, 2018

“One of the greatest gifts [Laura] has given our state is the gift of

NEW MUSIC.” Mary Hopper at the presentation of the 2018 Illinois American Choral Directors Association Decker Award to Laura Lane, June 27, 2018

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

PETER BAILLEY ’74

Nicholas Nurre ’18

Monica Weller ’18

Building on Knox’s long history with the prestigious Fulbright program, two of the College’s newest alumni have received Fulbright awards for the 2018–19 academic year. Nicholas Nurre ’18 and Monica Weller ’18 will be English teaching assistants, with Nurre based in Macau and Weller in Mongolia. They are among a select group of U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research, and provide expertise abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Since 2006, 24 Knox students have been selected for Fulbright awards. Overall, dozens of Knox students, faculty members, and alumni have received Fulbright fellowships and scholarships. “To be selected for a Fulbright is a big accomplishment,” said Sara Kitsch, director of the Vovis Center for Research and Advanced Study. “Because the Fulbright program is about promoting cross-cultural understanding, the program seeks individuals who offer a unique embodiment of U.S. culture and who display enthusiasm for experiencing a new one. Knox College students are particularly well-suited to apply due to both the encouragement and availability of these types of experiential and learning opportunities during their time at Knox.” Nurre double-majored in English and philosophy. He served as president of Sigma Nu fraternity, co-chair of Honor Board, and section editor for Catch magazine. He studied abroad through the IES Oxford Direct Enrollment program. Weller majored in international relations and minored in Japanese and gender & women’s studies. Her Knox experiences include serving as co-president of International Club, participating on the Prairie Fire swim team, playing women’s water polo, serving as a resident assistant, working as a writing tutor, and managing cultural houses on campus. She studied abroad for two terms in Amman, Jordan, and in Tokyo, Japan, and participated in a two-week winter break program in Ghana that focused on West African dancing and drumming.

Go Figure

195

300

Galesburg students in 1st through 8th grades participated in College 4 Kids 2018

career wins for long-time Knox baseball coach Jamie Isaacson ’92

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

91 years of combined teaching at Knox accumulated by 2018’s retiring faculty

ANDIE CARLSON-DAKES ’20

PETER BAILLEY ’74

Two Recent Graduates Selected for Fulbright Awards

The South Lawn Prairie Fire, Prairie Snow?

ETHAN CROW

Team Snowflakes beat Team Smoky Flames by a score of three to one during Green Oaks Term 2018. Snow fell three times after the annual spring Prairie Burn in late March, during what the National Weather Service called a “frigid and snowy start” to this year’s spring. But it was perfect weather for the burn on March 22—56.7 degrees F and sunny, with 36.4 percent relative humidity and wind at 1.2 mph—when biology Professor Stuart Allison, a dozen students, and two of Allison’s faculty colleagues set a series of controlled fires. For the students, this year’s burn, plus the bonus snowfalls, were highlights of the first week of class in Green Oaks Term, a 10-week-long interdisciplinary immersion program. Green Oaks comprises some 700 acres in all, including native and restored prairie, a lake, and old growth forests. Farming and strip mining impacted much of Green Oaks and the surrounding area during the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Prairie restoration began at Green Oaks in 1955, making it the second oldest prairie restoration in the country.

63 years since Knox acquired Green Oaks Biological Field Station

19 Illinois College Press Association Awards awarded to The Knox Student

710.6 pounds of produce grown on the Knox Farm last year

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Two for Tenure Two members of the Knox faculty received promotions this June—William Hope and Helen Hoyt ’01 received tenure and were promoted to associate professors. Knox Magazine asked each of them questions about their time at Knox, their current research, and their personal aspirations (we even asked them to pose with a meaningful object). Here are a few outtakes from the conversations.

Associate Professor of AnthropologySociology William Hope

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

PETER BAILLEY ’74

William earned his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, his master’s from Winthrop University, and his bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston. His research in Cuban popular music has been published in the Latin American Music Review. He has also pursued new pedagogy and research interests in ecological design and presented in this new area at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association. In recognition of his innovative teaching, he received the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for

Excellence in Teaching for Untenured Faculty in 2015. He has served on the Curriculum Committee, Cultural Events Committee, Off-Campus Study Committee, and the President’s Sustainability Council; been a member of numerous search committees; and served as director of the McNair Sophomore Seminar. Why Knox? I was immediately drawn by the intimacy and accountability that Knox’s size affords, and I’ve often characterized my experience of working with Knox students in terms of creative engagements. For example, I recently traveled to Cuba with a group of alumni in December 2016, and with a student group in December 2017. While the two groups were very different in their ages, outlooks, and situations, one commonality that I observed were the ways both sought to do more and be more than mere tourists. I was very happy to witness their respectful and focused interactions with our Cuban hosts and teachers.

William holds a Hypsizygus ulmarius, or White Elm mushroom, which is the result of a classroom project allowing students to combine focus on the art of noticing, waste streams, and fungal life cycles. Using discarded materials of cardboard, straw, and spent coffee grounds to provide the mycelium a nutritional base, they re-used oatmeal containers and milk jugs to serve as “fruiting containers.”

Describe your current research/ creative work: What is most interesting about this project? How does it impact your teaching? My current research and creative work focuses on ecological design, what Sim van der Ryn deﬁnes as “any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes.” Speciﬁcally, I’ve been interested in the ways that knowledge, skills, and techniques of ecological design are shared through collaborative endeavors. What has been most interesting to me is the recognition of how intimately entangled my daily life is with so many other life forms—human and nonhuman alike. What is your favorite thing about Galesburg? I have really enjoyed Saturday mornings at the Galesburg Farmers Market. It’s often a wonderful convergence of people, fresh produce, and local crafts. If money and time were no object, what problem would you tackle? Collaborative survival.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Helen Hoyt ’01 Helen earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her B.A. from Knox College. She is an active and creative researcher in the ﬁeld of “green chemistry,” the study of using readily available starting materials in chemical processes while

The South Lawn minimizing the amount of wasteful byproducts. Helen has received several honors and awards, including the Knox College Philip Green Wright-Lombard Prize for Distinguished Teaching, and is a recipient of the 2018 Early Career Chemist Award from the American Chemical Society. She has received external grant funding from the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society, the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation, and the Midstates Consortium for Math & Science. Helen has served on the Academic Standing Committee and Curriculum Committee, leads the Knox chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, and is a frequent contributor to Admission ofﬁce events and summer academic advising.

formation of important chemical products. In our work, we prepare catalysts that have never before been made, and we collect data to solve the puzzles of their structure, properties, and reactivity. Students who work in my research lab or take my advanced synthesis laboratory course have the opportunity to design their own new catalyst structures and to test them out in catalysis reactions! The most interesting outcomes of this ongoing research allow us to begin to understand the patterns of how small structural changes we make affect the reactivity functions we’re hoping to accomplish. What is your favorite thing about Galesburg? Friendly neighborhood walks.

What is your most memorable moment at Knox? Getting my research lab set up and working with my ﬁrst research student is a great memory!

If you weren’t a professor, you would be a ____? Research scientist or writer. To read the full interviews, visit magazine.knox.edu.

Helen holds a model of a chemical catalyst created in her lab. She and her students design and test these structures in order to understand the patterns of chemical reactivity.

PETER BAILLEY ’74

Describe your current research/ creative work: What is most interesting about this project? How does it impact your teaching? My research group focuses on catalyst design, following a green chemistry approach of incorporating abundant and relatively nontoxic metals (such as iron and copper) into strategically designed compounds to catalyze the

LEED Gold for Whitcomb Art Center Already recognized for its innovative design and construction, the Whitcomb Art Center is now gaining national recognition for its energy efficiency. The College’s newest academic facility, which opened in 2017, recently received LEED Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). It is the second LEED Gold building at Knox. The renovation of historic Alumni Hall received LEED Gold certification in 2016. Designed by Lake|Flato Architects, the Whitcomb Art Center gained strong scores from USGBC for energy efficiency, reduction and recycling of construction waste, reuse of historic building materials, and the high quality of the indoor spaces for teaching and advanced work in the visual arts and art history. The center scored 61 out of a possible 110 points to achieve LEED Gold status, the second-highest certification level recognized by the USGBC. The 30,000-square-foot art building houses studios and classrooms for painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, graphic design, and art history. The Whitcomb Art Center also received major awards in 2017 for its design and construction, including a Master Builder of the Year award for P.J. Hoerr from Star Building Systems and an Honor Award to Lake|Flato from the American Institute of Architects.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Progress through Passion and Engagement

PETER BAILLEY ’74

Meet Knox’s New Board Chair, Charles Smith ’84

With 15 years of service as a general trustee, including terms as chair of the Advancement Committee and the Committee on Trustees, Charles “Chuck” Smith ’84 brings a wealth of experience to his new role as chair of the Knox College Board of Trustees. Yet he didn’t always appreciate the very organization he is charged with leading as of July 1. “When I was a student at Knox from 1980–84, I had no idea the College had a Board of Trustees, or who they were, or what they did. Even as a young alum, this was all hazy,” he says. Yet Smith’s original ignorance has led to a deep appreciation for the College’s governing body. “The current Board is one of which the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of our College should be proud,” he says. “It brings together people

from around the country—and, indeed, the world—who all have a passion for the future of our great College.” After graduating from Knox with a degree in political science, Smith received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He is currently a partner at the international law ﬁrm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He leads the ﬁrm’s litigation practice in Chicago, representing a broad array of U.S. and international companies, as well as their top executives, in complex regulatory investigations, enforcement matters, and litigation. In addition to his volunteer work for Knox, Smith is a longtime volunteer for public interest legal organizations, including the Chicago Bar Foundation (whose board he recently chaired) and the National Immigrant Justice Center. He serves on the board of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and volunteers regularly at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Smith has also been honored by the National Diversity Council for his leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Knox Magazine had an opportunity to talk with Smith shortly after he assumed his new role, and his enthusiasm for his alma mater and the Board, as well as an appreciation for the challenges both face, became evident. “Progress comes through real engagement on hard issues, and the Knox Board does a lot of that.”

“I look forward to working to consolidate [Knox’s] great strengths and manage the changes necessary to keep it on the leading edge of a liberal arts higher education.”

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

The South Lawn The ’Burg Detours No More!

What do you look most forward to during your tenure as chair?

Those of you who’ve visited campus or Galesburg during the past few years may have been routed to some winding detours through town thanks to construction on a new railway underpass on Main Street. We’re pleased to report that these detours will no longer be needed.

I look forward to working with the terriﬁc faculty, students, staff, and alumni of our College to consolidate its great strengths and manage the changes necessary to keep it on the leading edge of a liberal arts higher education.

Where would you like to see Knox progress during your time as chair?

The new Rev. Jon A. Sibley Sr.* Underpass officially opened on July 18, 2018, which allows for Main Street traffic to flow freely even when that 100-car train is passing directly through Galesburg. We have to admit that it’s a bit odd to drive underneath a freight train as you’re traveling into downtown, but it sure beats getting caught at railroad tracks . . . or on those detours!

I would like to see real progress made on needed renovations to the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center, even though I barely set foot in the place as a student. Alumni Hall and Whitcomb Art Center have become such shining examples of the difference a major capital project at Knox can make, and I am excited to see the next major step forward on our campus.

Knox faces internal and external challenges, which are also opportunities. Internally, Knox needs the capital to fund the programs and facilities that will strengthen its hand in the coming decades. The challenge is raising that money, but it also presents great opportunities for all of us to give back to the College we love. Externally, higher education—and the liberal arts in particular—is under assault on a variety of fronts, generally from a position of ignorance. The opportunity is to speak clearly and forcefully on the value of a liberal arts education from a place like Knox and how it truly can change a life. I know it did mine. Six new trustees also joined the Board in July: general trustees Robert Long ’75, Susan C. Plomin ’86, Tino Schuler ’87, Donald Harmon ’88, and Keith Lee ’94; and young alumni trustee Celinda Davis ’15. See page 43 for more information.

STEVE DAVIS, THE REGISTER-MAIL

What do you believe is Knox’s greatest challenge right now? Greatest opportunity?

*If this name is familiar to you, it should be. Rev. Jon A. Sibley Sr. is the late husband of Vicki Sibley ’75, who worked in Advancement and Student Development for more than a decade before retiring in 2011. In addition, his sons, Jon Jr. and Kyle, both graduated from Knox.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

I am Knox — Tricia Duke ’19 Vitals Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colorado Major: Psychology Minor: Journalsim Campus Involvements: Improv Club, Quiver Magazine editor, The Knox Student columnist and arts writer, Studio Theatre, Psi Chi Honor Society, Enharmonic Fire, Live-Lit Storytelling Club, McNair Scholar, writer/editor for the Office of Communications

Three Facts about Tricia She is co-president of Improv Club—surprising when you consider she originally joined “because I didn’t like improv, and it was another way to get out of my comfort zone.” Though she was heavily involved in theatre in high school, she says focusing on improv “has made me—not confident, exactly—but brave. I’m more willing to be scared and act in spite of that.” Her Myers-Briggs type is ENFJ (Extrovert Intuitive Feeling Judging). Her Hogwarts house is Hufflepuff, though she likes to remind people that the Sorting Hat isn’t a scientifically valid form of personality testing.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

BREA CUNNINGHAM

How did you choose Knox? I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and that meant not going to a Christian university (though my parents’ Bible study leader still sends me transfer applications!) and not going to a school in Colorado. I was really drawn to the diversity of Knox—we all come from such different backgrounds. I think what we have in common is that we all want to be around other people who are also out of their comfort zones. Knox isn’t free of the divisions of the larger world, but on a one-on-one basis, we’re good at taking care of each other. I think we leave this place kinder. Tell us about your summer research project in psychology. You know how when someone puts the toilet paper roll on upside-down and you think, “Oh, that’s so wrong!”—versus when you hear that someone murdered someone else and you think, “Oh, that’s so wrong!” What I’m trying to do is figure out a way to quantify degrees of “wrongness.” Our moral judgments are incredibly subjective and can be affected by any number of factors, mostly selfish ones. We find it very wrong to insult one of “our people” but don’t find it nearly as wrong to insult “one of them.” What do you hope to do after Knox? There are so many things! I came into Knox interested in creative writing, international relations, and journalism and gravitated toward the psychology program. I’m probably going to pursue a doctorate in psychology. I feel a little impatient to get out there and start making a difference in the world, and in clinical psychology, you can start practicing as early as your second year of graduate school. It’s also a career with transferable skills, so perhaps I might spend time traveling around the world with Doctors Without Borders, and later, when/if I have a family, I’ll have the skills to find a job and set down roots.

The South Lawn Fired Up/ Burned Out

BREA CUNNINGHAM

Fired Up

Softball on the Rise The Prairie Fire softball team finished the 2018 season with their best record (10-26) since 2005. An influx of six talented newcomers joined a strong returning group to show improvement across the board. Head Coach Erin Rutledge believes leadership from her seniors paved the way for the successful season. “These women showed that they would not let the previous three years discourage them from having the season they were capable of having,” said Rutledge. “We have come a long way and still have a long way to go, but I am extremely proud of this group. This season is a testament to the strength of their will.” The 2018 team won as many games as in the previous four seasons combined and broke a number of school records along the way. Kristen Koviekis ’18 ended her record-setting career by setting the single season record for hit by pitches (15). First-year pitcher Tegan Doherty ’21 set the school record for wins in a season (9) and most innings pitched in a season (143.2), and tied for the most shutouts in a season (3). Third baseman Emily Stevenson ’18 became the first allconference honoree for the Prairie Fire since 2014. Despite losing three seniors, a strong core remains for the team with five returning starters, all of whom are sophomores. “You look at our team this year and see so much youth,” said Rutledge. “Our seniors laid the groundwork for these young players to continue where they left off. I am sad to see Kristen, Emily, and Val leave, but their legacy will live on. I am excited to see where these talented women can take us in the future.”

Helping others has been one of Knox’s core values since the College’s founding, and this past spring, Knox students carried on this historic tradition. Knox’s Best Buddies chapter received the Community Partnership of the Year award from the Illinois Health Care Association. An initiative by students to distribute surplus cafeteria food to local charities resulted in a first place award in the national RecycleMania competition. And Knox students pushed for the removal of plastic straws in the cafeteria and Gizmo, making Knox the second college in the country to take on this sustainability initiative. Well done, students. Well done.

Smoldering Especially if you considered yourself a “SMC rat,” spare a kind thought for all the literal Rattus norvegicus that currently call the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center (SMC) home. These hard-working occupants of the psychology and neuroscience labs are extremely sensitive to noise and other disturbances. As the College prepares to renovate SMC’s central core, faculty realized the rats will need a more comfortable place to live during renovation. After much deliberation, they decided to house the rats in a special trailer outside the building. So let’s send them some good (but very gentle!) vibes.

What happens when you mix torrential rains, a 100+ year-old campus, and nearly 400 first-year and transfer students? New Student Orientation 2018! That’s right— Galesburg received more than four inches of rain in 24 hours, causing transformers to blow, tunnels across campus to fill with water, and steam to billow. And, to top everything off, the main power line between the T. Fleming Fieldhouse and Ford Center for Fine Arts literally “burned out.” All just two days before new students were set to arrive. But thanks to the heroic efforts of staff across campus and the patience of new students and parents, we were all able to, as President Amott said, “Keep Calm and Knox On.” KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

First Impressions Some nights I think that the stars have died First line of Absolute Zero (Mayapple Press), the title poem of David Lunde ’63’s 10th book. Lunde’s work paints an always fantastic, often tender, and occasionally frightening portrait of humanity’s place among the stars, where black holes resemble Shakespeare characters, subatomic love stories rise out of quantum foam, and stars live and die just like us. Whether exploring bacterial empires or brewing the first beer on Mars, Lunde’s verses are delivered with a humor, wit, and charm that is sure to satisfy science fiction devotees and poetry lovers alike.

Unique Look at Chinese Econ An almost 50-year fascination with China led economics professor Steve Cohn on a journey that has culminated in a book on the country’s economy. In Competing Economic Paradigms in China: The Co-Evolution of Economic Events, Economic Theory and Economic Education, 1976-2016 (Routledge, 2018), Cohn, who holds the Charles W. and Arvilla S. Timme Chair in Economics, provides a unique look at the evolution of Chinese economic thought over the last four decades. Cohn ﬁrst became interested in China as a Peace Corps volunteer living in a Chinese community in Malaysia. But over the next 30 years, his academic focus took him in a different direction—the economics of nuclear power and theories of macroeconomics—which resulted in two books on the subjects. In 2007, he had the opportunity to again pursue his interest in the country when he and other Knox faculty were invited to spend two weeks in China through the Caterpillar China Project. That trip shifted the focus of his research to the Chinese economy.

You took courses to give you the background needed to pursue your research. Were you surprised at the support you received from Knox after taking what seemed like an abrupt turn in your research? My ability to do what I’m doing has really been supported by the College, and I’m thankful. I think a lot of colleges wouldn’t have been as welcoming of [the shift in research] as Knox. But the College beneﬁts because faculty are excited to try new things. I’m now a part of the Asian Studies program and teach a course in Chinese economy. It’s an example of doing more with limited resources.

Your research focuses on the economic evolution of China from a socialist economy “with Chinese characteristics,” based on Marxist economics, to a capitalist economy “with Chinese characteristics,” based on neoclassical economics. Why did your research take you in this direction?

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

I wanted to understand how an economy dominated by one approach was replaced by a different approach. It’s not like you turn a switch to get people to suddenly think differently. There are all of these different strands that create that shift, from reorienting students’ courses, to shifting discussion in the media, to re-engineering think tanks. It’s a complicated process. I was surprised that there wasn’t that much attention to this change. It’s a major intellectual revolution in the history of ideas.

Why do you think understanding China is critical to the modern world? China is four times the size of the U.S. and has been growing at more than three times our rate. Whether we’re talking about the environment or resources or geopolitics, China is going to be a major part of the discussion. I think colleges like Knox, to prepare people for the future, have to be able to have some contact with China. The 20th century was the American century. It didn’t matter where you lived

Knox Writes omic Thought because it was going to inﬂuence you, whether it was the culture or the economy or military. You couldn’t get away from America in the 20th century. I think China is like that for the 21st century. So I think the College wisely needs to be a resource for understanding China, preparing people for interacting with a Chinese presence, and solving tensions between Chinese and American people. I think we’re going to need to expand our treatment of China because of its centrality to the future. Steve Cohn is the author of two other books, Reintroducing Macroeconomics: A Critical Approach (2007), and Too Cheap to Meter: An Economical and Philosophical Analysis of the Nuclear Dream (1997). In addition to economics, Cohn is a member of the Asian Studies, environmental studies, and the peace and justice programs.

Books by Members of the Knox Community Seeing the Light: The Case for Nuclear Power in the 21st Century Cambridge University Press, September 2017 by scott Montgomery ’73 and thomas graham Jr.

Rising Star, Setting Sun: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and the Presidential Transition that Changed America Pegasus Books, May 2018 John t. shaw ’79

Montgomery makes the case for nuclear power as an absolute necessity for the future, with nuclear and renewable energy working together as non-carbon sources of energy. Readers will learn how, why, and where the new nuclear era is happening, what new technologies are involved, and what this means for preventing the proliferation of weapons.

Rising Star, Setting Sun is a riveting new history that explores the complicated, poignant, and consequential transition of power from Dwight D. Eisenhower to John F. Kennedy. The exchange of leadership between the 34th and 35th presidents marked more than a succession of leaders. It symbolized—and triggered—a generation shift in American politics, policy, and culture.

The Fifth Column

The Road South: Personal Stories of the Freedom Riders

Breathe Press, March 2018 tom rendall ’77 and John Frenzel Rendall, a retired senior Special Forces officer, tells the story of a retired Special Forces colonel who is called back to Langley. He soon finds himself as the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist as he fights an entrenched government network of high-level officials who will stop at nothing to take over the United States from within.

University of Alabama Press, May 2018 b.J. hollars ’07 Hollars offers an intimate look into the lives and legacies of the Freedom Riders, who took harrowing bus trips throughout the South to protest segregation in May 1961. In The Road South, these Civil Rights veterans’ poignant, personal stories offer timely insights into America’s racial past and hopeful future.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Flashback Ladder to Nowhere The Galesburg Fire Department extension ladder served as a camera boom for which movie that was filmed on the Knox College campus in 1940? Share your memories at knoxmag@knox.edu. To read responses to last issueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Flashback photo, Concentration on the Court, visit knox.edu/knoxmag.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Class Knox Alumni News

KNOX COLLEGE ARCHIVES

Two years ago, a small group of Knox alumni, who also happened to study in France on the Knox Besançon Program in 1969–70, came up with a crazy idea—to plan a reunion trip to their “beloved Besançon.” “We decided at our 45th Knox reunion,” said Mary Myers Fasbender ’71. “We planned the trip two years in advance to give the group time to prepare.” Shortly after this reunion, the group formed a small steering committee, consisting of Fasbender, Sara Gummersall Treacy ’71, Jane Langer McGuire ’71, Charley Stivale ’71, Ted Fagerburg ’71, and Bruce Wyatt ’71, and they met “across eight time zones and several months to plan the four-day reunion trip to France.” Fast-forward to May 2018, and a group of more than 20 individuals, including 13 Knox More than 20 alumni and faculty of the Knox Besançon Program traveled to France for a alumni, two Besançon Program alumni from life-changing reunion. Pictured in bottom row (left to right): Rick and Barb Eastman Hillestad, Charley Stivale ’71, Francoise Guinle, Riley O’Connor ’71. Middle row: Connie Johnson ’71, other colleges, and a former faculty member and David and Jane Langer McGuire ’71, Mary Myers Fasbender ’71, Sue McCullough, Andrea advisor, along with numerous spouses, gathered in Stamm ’71, Carol Siegel Clegg ’71, and Isolde Dimitrov Burik ’71. Back row: Joe and Sara Gummersall Treacy ’71, Ted Fagerburg ’71, Carol and Bruce Wyatt ’71, Meredith Fradine this medieval French city to reconnect and reO’Connor ’71, and Paul Burik member the past. The reunion included touring the Citadel; a Bateau Mouche river cruise; a bus experience had forged a bond among this group that, trip to the sentimental city of Ornans, the Source de la Loue; amazingly, 48 years later, allowed us to share the time without and a celebratory return—complete with TV cameras and missing a beat.” local press coverage—of the group’s return to the interna“Not only did Besançon result in a much more international Centre Linguistique Appliquée (CLA), where the Knox tional outlook in our lives and for many in our work, but it Besançon Program has been hosted for the last 51 years. The built close friendships that have lasted for 48 years and countgroup presented the CLA with a certificate from the College ing,” said Ted Fagerburg ’71. “We hope that the benefits of that recognized the long-standing relationship between Knox international study will be available to many students; it is and the CLA, thanking them for “helping us and so many one of the ways of opening minds to the world.” other students change lives through collaboration and quality “Many thanks to Professors Minn, Jeffries, Guinle, Chase, instruction.” and others for providing Knox students this life-altering For the travelers, experiencing France was as memorable experience!” noted Bruce Wyatt. today as it was 47 years ago. Established in 1966, the Knox Besançon program is the “Besançon, as well as many of us, has cleaned up somewhat oldest American program in Besançon. Students live and since 1970!” joked Jane Langer McGuire ’71. “But a year study at the Université de Besançon in the Jura Mountains of there was life-changing for all of us. It was great fun eating, France’s Franche-Comté region and are enrolled in the drinking, and rekindling our friendships.” CLA, a world-renowned institute for teaching the French Reunion attendee Carol Siegel Clegg ’71 added, “The language. Besançon reunion was simply magnifique! Our shared

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

SUBMITTED

Bon Retour à Besançon

Alumni News

PETER BAILLEY ’74

Seniors Give Back

This year’s Senior Challenge was organized by a committee of 14 student volunteers. Front row, left to right (kneeling): Lucas Sanchez and Mike Resch. Second row (standing): Co-Chair Hannah Robinson, Atithya Ghai, Angelica Gamez, Jeannie Mora, Alyssa Stepanian, Maria Ha, and Co-Chair Hank Horwitz. Back row: (standing) Kendall Davidson. Not pictured are: Vela Lu, Carmen Luthy, Haley Domin, and Jacqlynn Milligan.

“Accept the Challenge, and Give Back!” That was the appeal that the Class of 2018 Senior Challenge Committee posed to their fellow classmates as they worked to meet the challenge presented by Knox College alumni John Heyer ’68, Glenn ’92 and CJ Moore Waddell ’87, and Reid ’94 and Jennifer Quinn Broda ’94. This collective challenge, asking for the Class of 2018 to reach a goal of 200 pledges among classmates, resulted in $3,500 of challenge money on the table. Inspired by the alumni challenge, a total of 154 seniors made a gift in April at the Almost There Fair, at the Boat Bash in May, during tabling at Seymour Union throughout the spring, and even during their ﬁnal hours on campus at Commencement rehearsal. By the end of the campaign on June 2, seniors gave back a grand total of nearly $9,800.

The Knox Department of Theatre announces New Plays Festival III, to take place in spring 2019. As with the inaugural festival in 2013, the 2019 festival will feature original works by current and former Knox students, as well as Knox faculty. For more than six weekends in spring term, the department will present new plays in staged readings and workshop productions in Studio and Harbach Theatres, as well as other spaces on campus. All alumni (whether you were involved in theatre at Knox or not) are invited to submit one-act and full-length plays of any style or genre (no musicals, please). Maximum of three submissions per person. Email scripts to newplays@knox.edu by January 16, 2019.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

PETER BAILLEY ’74

Calling All Alumni Playwrights!

Class Knox The Knox College Board of Trustees officially welcomed six alumni to its ranks on July 1, 2018: Celinda Davis ’15, Donald Harmon ’88, Keith Lee ’94, Robert Long ’75, Susan C. Plomin ’86, and Tino Schuler ’87. Harmon, Lee, Long, Plomin, and Schuler will serve as general trustees, Davis as young alumni trustee. Davis is currently a graduate student in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership Program. Before pursuing her master’s degree, she taught at Montessori Habitat School. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was the recipient of the Lincoln Laureate, Faculty Scholarship Prize, the Outstanding Senior Award, and a Ford Fellowship. Harmon is the Illinois State Senator from the 39th Legislative District. He is in his fifth Senate term and was appointed president pro tempore in 2011, offering him a key role in shaping policy and moving legislation through the Illinois Senate. He previously served as an alumni trustee. Lee is CEO and co-founder of Feenix Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in New York City that provides debt, equity, and hybrid capital to early stage growth companies. Lee worked at Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and UBS Investment Bank as a structurer and trader in structured credit before joining H/2 Capital Partners, a multi-billion dollar commercial real estate debt platform, as a partner and head of capital markets. Long worked at a Chicago law firm for more than 24 years before joining Littler Mendelson in 2003, where he is founder and co-chair of their Restructuring Practice Group. He works with corporate clients and private equity firms to guide them in structuring corporate transactions to minimize risk and maximize the value and success of those transactions. Plomin has served as a member of various nonprofit organizations, including Conner Prairie Alliance and Oakland County Lighthouse, and on the board of directors as treasurer for Christ Child Society of Detroit. After graduating from Knox, she was a board member for the Chicago Knox Club. Schuler, who returns to the Board after serving as an alumni trustee, is the founder of Schuler Educational Consulting, which guides young people and their families on the college selection journey and provides them with a host of financial, database, and management services. He previously served as a medical device marketing executive at Medtronic for 20 years.

Meet The New Young Alumni Trustee: Celinda Davis ’15 Knox Magazine recently spoke with new Young Alumni Trustee Celinda Davis about her Knox experience, life after Knox, and plans for her new role on the Board.

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Board Welcomes Six Alumni

What were some of the highlights of your Knox education? Some of my favorite moments include building a museum exhibit in Catherine Denial’s “Museums, Monuments, and Memories” class, bringing Blessings in a Backpack’s numbers from 34 children to more than 300, and partaking in the pilot Social Justice Dialogues course. Of course, in between all those highlights are a million memories of laughter, learning, and growth.

Why have you chosen to stay involved with the College? We must nurture the best parts of ourselves, and without question, Knox is one of them for me. Though imperfect, Knox College has been preparing bright, curious, empathetic, and innovative students for more than 180 years. That is a legacy worth cherishing and cultivating. Current and future students deserve the chance to feel the power of a liberal arts education that prepares them for the tumultuous, difficult, and hopeful world we live in today. Besides, purple and gold is a good color combination.

What do you hope to accomplish as a young alumni trustee? I hope my time as an alumni trustee will allow me to help the other trustees make solid, sound decisions that position Knox to succeed in the next 10-20 years—and keep me connected with the students while I’m a part of the group. It really is an honor.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Barbara Pebler Hughbanks ’51 was awarded a 50-year membership

1940

We are Knox. You are, too. If you attended Knox for one year, two years, or graduated with honors, you are a Knox alumnus/a. You are the best reflection of Knox College and the education it provides. So, keep us informed. Tell us what you’ve been up to, if you’ve been promoted or honored, or simply say hello. Here’s how: • Contact your Class Correspondent; • If you don’t have a correspondent, email, call, or “snail mail” us directly (see below); • Or have other media sources send us press releases, articles, and publicity. Please send information about births, marriages, and deaths directly to: Alumni Records Knox College, Box K-230 Galesburg, IL 61401-4999 Email: records@knox.edu Send all other updates, correspondence, or questions to: Pam Chozen Class Notes Editor, Knox Magazine Knox College, Box K-233 Galesburg, IL 61401-4999 Email: pachozen@knox.edu Please note that Class Notes may be edited for space and in accordance with the Knox Style Guide.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Believe it or not, 101-year-old Ed Jurkens continues to serve as a volunteer at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor. I received a wonderful email from someone who encountered Ed at the museum. He wrote, “On a recent trip to Hawaii, my family and I had the tremendous opportunity to meet a distinguished Knox alumnus. Major Edward A. Jurkens graduated from Knox College in 1940. In his last year, he participated in the Civil Aeronautics Program and served in the Army Air Corp during World War II. While serving in the Pacific theatre as a heavy bombing group leader, Major Jurkens received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement. He has lived in Hawaii for the past 50 years, and he volunteers at the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor naval base. Meeting him was coincidental and a great thrill for my family.” Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1941-1943 Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1944 Barbara Lemke still lives at home despite advanced macular degeneration. She manages with the help of caregivers, who take her to appointments. Says Barbara, “At age 95, life slows down a bit. I send regards to my classmates who are aging, as I am.” Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1945-1947 Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1948 Jim Moser writes, “As we age, it often is more pleasant to look back to times, places, and friends. One help is the tales of my fellow students, ‘The Stories of the Class of ’48,’ assembled by Sid Norris, a fascinating story of their lives after Knox. How fortunate I was to know them. But I still have friends at my senior living facility. Many I worked with or knew socially. Life here is pleasant but slowing the last few months with heart problems. Fortunately, my doctors forecast improvement. Being largely homebound, much of my time is spent reading and watching national news, not on FOX. I am very concerned about the inward turn of our government and abandonment of our friends and allies and believe we

must return to the true American values that have served us well for centuries. It might not only help our country and the world but also my health.” ❯ Harry Babbitt writes, “Spouse Luis Ríos and I currently live in different cities depending on the climate. We alternate among Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Lima (Peru), and Medellin (Colombia). At 91, I am still active, although with the normal pains that go with age. Colombia is very American, while Buenos Aires is European. I am publishing a series of bilingual books (English/Spanish) on Amazon for use in high school and college. Luis, who is Argentinian, looks after me well, and we go out for lunch every day. We don’t live around other ‘gringos,’ so I seldom hear English spoken. I fondly remember Dr. Sherman Brown, my Spanish professor at Knox, who encouraged me in my love of Spanish and photography.” ❯ Elizabeth Harler Van Steenwyk’s daughter, Kedrin, wrote in with an update about her mother. “Elizabeth has lived in a dementia care facility for two years now. She is healthy but not ‘with it’ enough to live on her own. Her mental status varies daily, but she still knows her closest friends and family.” Her daughter hopes to send a personal message from Elizabeth soon. ❯ I haven’t heard from Bob White since Christmas, but he was well, still golﬁng. ❯ As for me, Sid Norris, I am well into my nineties … I never thought I would last that long. I golf with my youngest son, and each day, I despair over what is happening with our current leader … a disaster. He too shall pass. Class Correspondent: Sidney E. Norris 3135 Agate Street, Eugene, OR 97405, 541-683-6160, senorris@comcast.net

1949 Elmer Chessman is very proud of his six grandchildren. He says three of them graduated from college, while the other three are currently in college. Of those who have graduated, one is a lawyer, and another has gone into physical training. Of the three who are in college, he reports that one is an honor student preparing to be a doctor, one is preparing to be a nurse, and the third is studying to be an astronaut. Elmer says that Knox prepared him well for his own career as a college chemistry teacher and a research chemist. Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1950 Writes Bob Willett, “We are a complete family now, with daughter Barbara having moved from Washington, D.C., to our compound in Rockledge just a few weeks ago. Now we have both daughters and a grandson in our home for the ﬁrst time in many years. Son Tom lives in Satellite Beach, about 20 minutes away, so our circle is complete. Both Tom and Leslie have bands that

Class Knox pin from the American Association of University Women. play locally: Tom has been with Absolute Blue for about 25 years, and Les with Bittersweet for about 10. We go to see them frequently and are considered band groupies or something. Travel plans included a four-day cruise to Cuba in August, then Traverse City for Donna’s family reunion later in August, and a cruise with our immediate family on the Oasis of the Seas in September. Then the bank account tells us to stay put for a while, but Tom and I plan to go to China in October to join the search party for my MIA cousin, Jim Browne. My book, The Hunt for Jimmie Browne: The Story of an MIA, will be out in January, which recounts our 25-year search for Jim. The Class of 1950 has really dwindled, but those of us still around send greetings.” Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1951 The Reverend Carlee Bengtson Hallman continues to share daily prayers online. Her prayers are especially aimed at the concerns of older people, she says. You can follow Rev. Bengston at prayersforeveryday.wordpress.com. She would be happy to hear from you. ❯ I received a note from Mary Von Fossen Sheridan, who enjoyed a visit to the Knox campus this year. She and daughter Liz drove from Rochester, Minnesota, to Illinois last fall to visit friends in Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Peoria (home of Mary’s former Whiting Hall roommate), and Macomb, her own hometown. The two toured the campus, took many snapshots, and made a stop in the Gizmo, where Mary talked with several students there. She reports that they were surprised that she had been a student in the late ’40s. She enjoyed visiting with friends she had not seen in many years. Despite shoulder surgery, she still drives a bit and travels to visit family several times a year. ❯ I was happy to learn that Barbara Pebler Hughbanks was awarded a 50-year membership pin from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) at an award lunch. She has served in many capacities with AAUW, including president of two branches, since she moved from San Bernardino to Ontario, California. Barbara keeps busy with other volunteer activities, too. She has been a docent for 27 years at the Claremont Botanic Garden and still leads tours for them every week. Her proudest volunteer accomplishment, however, is working for the Shakespeare Club of Pomona Valley. She writes, “Two years ago, the club had only 15 paid members and had voted to give any funds they would leave, if disbanded, to the Pomona Library. This club is an organization established in 1904 with a list of prestigious past presidents and associated closely with the ﬁve colleges and a graduate university located in Claremont. I joined and became membership vice president. My aim was to save this group, and I took this goal to a Shakespeare class I have attended for many years. With enthusiastic friends from the class, we changed the club’s

format, which consisted of high tea in a member’s home with a speaker or a paper prepared by a member. We now meet at a centrally located Claremont recreation center in their attractive dining hall and serve light refreshments before the meeting. Our membership committee actively welcomes guests, and good publicity attracts many each month. Our program chair has brought us excellent speakers drawn from local theatre groups and from the many in the Los Angeles area who do Shakespeare plays. We’ve had actors, directors, writers, and professors. We present them with a $100 thank you gift, and we can afford that because at our end-of-year meeting in May, we had a paid membership of 50 and have more prospective members to contact for our season opening meeting in October. Prospects look good for the club’s future thanks to many of us working together and enjoying this, to us, worthwhile project.” ❯ Jay Burgess and wife Shay have dealt with some health problems, but they are happy to have their son, who is general manager for the Orlando Magic, closer to them in sunny Florida. Jay sends his greetings to his classmates. ❯ John Schoeph wrote to say that he now lives at the Illinois Veterans Home in LaSalle, Illinois. He is 89, but that doesn’t prevent him from doing a monthly karaoke show for the other residents. He told us he’d love to get back in touch with George Rendall but has lost his address. George, let us know if you need help connecting with John! Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1952 Ann Carlson Carnahan wrote that she traveled to Washington, D.C., this past spring. She and her family were given an outstanding tour by U.S. Representative Peter J. Roskam, son of her former classmates Verlyn “Swede” ’51 and Martha Jacobsen Roskam. Nice to have friends in high places, says Ann. From there, she traveled back to Illinois where she visited classmates George and Dorothy White Mrkvicka. Ann enjoys life in Southern California and plays golf four times a week in an effort to attain that elusive hole-in-one! ❯ Frank Johnson wrote to say that he visited with Bob Corkill and wife Jean, who stopped in to visit last July on their way back from Arizona. Frank and wife Carol also enjoyed lunch, as they do every year, with Roger and Marilyn Nelson Coleman ’53 during the winter months, when they all winter in Florida. ❯ In his last message, John Cooke wrote that he was involved in the development of a senior living and memory care facility in Galena, Illinois. He says the group is now 50 percent leased and moving gradually (too gradually) toward being in a cash ﬂow situation. He has now turned his attention to creating a marketing and operating co-op in the Driftless Area in the Upper Midwest. He hopes the area might end up

as a National Heritage District with support from the congressional delegations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1953 It was a pleasure to hear from Jerry Santas. Retired for more than 10 years, he writes that he misses teaching. Says Jerry, “I live in Vista, California, with Ann, my wife of 38 years. I miss teaching a lot, even though I taught philosophy for more than 50 years at Hamilton College, University of California-Berkeley, Brandeis University, Wellesley College, Johns Hopkins University, and, for the past 39 years, at University of California. Occasionally, I teach a seminar at University of California, San Diego, because I still enjoy it, and to see if I can still do it! I have very fond memories of my four years at Knox. I had been in this country only two weeks when I started Knox in September 1949, and everyone was so kind and helpful—just what I needed. It was at Knox that I fell in love with America and decided to stay—the best decision I ever made. Recently I had occasion to talk with one of the librarians at the Seymour Library, and, when he showed me pictures of the Reading Room, it all looked so familiar—well-preserved but with chairs and tables that looked exactly like the ones I remembered. It was one of my favorite places: quiet enough to study, but full of friends with whom I could exchange encouraging smiles. Hamilton and Wellesley College had ﬁne students and faculty and a very collegiate culture and friendly community, but, in my memories, Knox is right up there with them.” ❯ Richard Griesenbeck and wife Jean will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this fall. They were married the day after Thanksgiving in 1958. Class Correspondent: TBD We are looking for a new Class Correspondent for the Class of 1953 Could it be you? Email Pam Chozen at pachozen@knox.edu to learn more about the position.

1954 Kay Eastwood Gredell writes, “The most important news I have is that Gordon Gredell ’52 died February 22 in Milwaukee. He was 89. Both our sons were with him, along with his wife.” Kay says that things are ﬁne with her; she remains active in her Unitarian Universalist Church in Palatine, Illinois, with family events, “and of course all kinds of medical stuff at this age.” ❯ Pam Pierson Glass “still volunteers at our local hospital, when I’m not there as a patient, and do water aerobics to try to stay active.” Pam also says it is great fun when eight grandkids come to visit—“wall-to-wall airbeds and lots of food! They were horriﬁed when I showed them my old Phi Mu paddle! Had a hard time convincing them that college in the ‘old days’ wasn’t

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Every time Mack Trapp ’56 hits—or mis-hits—a golf ball, really that bad.” ❯ Jack Bandy reports that he and wife Betty are “pretty well, no major problems, just the usual aches and pains, which come and go.” There has, however, been a major change in their lives. For several years, they have been foster parents to great-granddaughter Bella, now a teenager, due to the illness of the girl’s mother. “Fortunately,” Jack writes, “our prayers were answered, and our granddaughter has regained her health. In February, she was again able to take Bella, so our guardianship is being terminated. The experience of raising a teenager these days is a genuine challenge, not like when we were that age. Fortunately, Bella is a good kid, and Betty and I are now trying to adjust to the newfound freedom—which also has its challenges.” ❯ Ron Leganger’s usual pattern of spending part of the year in Chicago, part in Florida, and a month or so in Europe was disrupted when his Chicago house froze and iced up in January. Major repairs have gone very slowly and were not yet completed as summer came on. ❯ Like Ron, Jim Wirt divides time between homes in Illinois and Florida, but, unlike Ron, he had no problems with his New Lenox, Illinois, place freezing up. Jim was sad to hear of John Betts’s death in February and reminisced about the 1954 Old Siwash baseball team, which won the Midwest Conference championship. Jim was first baseman and John centerfielder for that team. Jim wondered if any team since ’54 had won the conference title. Thanks to Pam Chozen and James Clark at Knox, I could answer, “Not until 1986, and then again in 2008.” ❯ As for your correspondent, I was scheduled for a laminectomy, or spinal decompression, for lumbar spinal stenosis, also known as a pain in the back. I also find painful almost every utterance or tweet from the White House, but thanks to Kay, I close with this from the much greater and gracious president of our Old Siwash days, Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Class Correspondent: Jim Dunlevey 27419 Embassy Street, Menifee, CA 92586-2005, dunlevey@aol.com

1955 Dear Friends, with an anticipated heat index of 105, I am happy to spend time in air conditioning writing to you. We spend a lot of time in this weather reading. (In truth, we spend a lot of time reading in any weather!) While reading a Jack London short story recently, I had to look up a word in the Notes and spotted “siwash” in the list. The deﬁnition given was that it was a term used in the Klondike as a synonym for Native American. Another entry was the term “siwash socks”—the meaning was “rawhide leggings,” I assume the kind worn by Native Americans. I don’t know why you would need this information,

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

but I found it uselessly interesting. ❯ I thought the picture of Whiting Hall waitresses in our last issue was touching, bringing back my years of being part of that “we” group. Thank you Marian Tenhaeff Trythall ’51 for sharing your photo. Lynn Weise Victor, one of our “gracious livers,” was similarly touched and called Marian, who lives in Portland, Oregon. Lynn remembers with affection the good times, the laughs, the sharing around “our” table. She writes, “We shared a conviviality that was precious. Can you imagine—linen tablecloths twice a week?”…. And no slacks/pants in the dining room. ❯ Mort Weir reports he and Ceil stay very busy in spite of their age. They usually spend February and March in Tubac, Arizona, escaping the winter weather in Illinois. In the summer, they escape hot, muggy Champaign by traveling to Lake City, Colorado, where they built a cabin 20 years or so ago. They have booked a Viking River Cruise on the Danube for next year. Last October, they cruised the Rhine. On the home front, they travel to visit their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in Texas, Maryland, and North Carolina. They stay in touch with Jack and Marilyn Foster Weidman ’56, Len Kuchan ’53 and wife Maureen in Peoria, and Rol Peaslee and wife Bonnie. They don’t plan on slowing down until their health gives out, and we all surely agree that’s a great plan. ❯ Jerry ’56 and Jackie Geis Treece celebrated the college graduations of two of their three grandchildren this year: Michael from the University of New Orleans and Robin from the University of North Florida. Their third, Lindsay, will graduate from Florida State University in spring 2019. They still do a lot of traveling; their last trip was to Cuba in May to celebrate their 60th anniversary. They loved seeing the old cars that took them right back to the ’50s, and they saw many models of Jackie’s first car—a ’57 Chevy. ❯ Russ Fuiks and Jan haven’t let health challenges slow them down. In their Christmas card, they wrote that, in 2017, they flew from their home in Littleton, Colorado, to Cottonwood, Arizona, to Samoset, Maine, and to Acadia National Park. Their sons and grandchildren all live near them, which is a wonderful thing, especially during the holidays. Last November, they enjoyed being in Branson, Missouri, for the Christmas decorations and shows. ❯ Jim Lockett’s book, Recreational Mechanics: A Source Book for Walkers and Track Coaches, is being proofread and should be available for purchase soon. He has worked long and hard on it and will now have a lot of time on his hands, unless he has already started on book #2. ❯ Al Paulus writes that he and Barb Behringer Paulus ’56 have been cleaning house—meaning cabinets and closets. We hope they are having better luck passing treasures along to their children and grands. Guess we’ll have to try the Smithsonian next. ❯ George Elliott’s wife, Margie, died almost two years ago, and, after a 62-year marriage, of course carrying on without her is difficult. His business, Woodmart Building Center, in Quincy continues

to thrive. I looked at his website, and it is impressive. He was at his home at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, when he wrote and had caught several 14-inch crappie—I assume for dinner. He and his daughter have been to South Padre Island, Texas’s Isle Grand Resort a couple of times lately. He has three granddaughters in their first year of college this year. George remembers ROTC at Knox being a great thing for him, as well as graduating from Command and General Staff College. ❯ Here is what Gail Holmes Curtis sent me: “What a joy and privilege to be able to attend the second of Logan and Dorothy Thomas Wharton’s granddaughter’s wedding. Dorothy and I were bridesmaids for one another and still cherish our long friendship. It is a definite ‘perk’ to aging to be able to mature with good friends by your side.” ❯ That is so true, isn’t it? The Curtises spend the winter near us here in Stuart. We used to play golf with them, but our golfing days are over. Not for them—and they recently returned from their annual trip to the islands in their trawler. They are seasoned sailors. ❯ Our youngest granddaughter was married in May, and as Gail wrote, it was wonderful to have the Curtises with us for the weekend of celebrations. We now have three great-grands—two girls and a boy. Too bad I can’t include the hundreds of photos of them that we have. Take my word for it: they’re really cute. ❯ My thanks to all of you who gave me the means to write this column. I will now take a deep breath. Until next time, stay safe. Class Correspondent: Dorothy Thomas Wharton 3511 S.E. Fairway West, Stuart, FL 34997-6033, 772-220-9433, dtwharton33@gmail.com

1956 Of interest to all of us ’56ers, Jack Reiners reports that the recipient of the class scholarship for the 2017–18 academic year was Yvette Rodriguez, a sophomore from Ontario, California, majoring in psychology and minoring in both educational policy and social service. Income from the fund generated more than $2,800 for the scholarship. ❯ Jack and JoAnn Nystrom Reiners ’55 have completed ﬁve years in their Prairie Point home in Madison, Wisconsin. They keep active, with Jack serving on the social committee and both of them stafﬁng the model home every Wednesday morning. They attend many music events, the weekly happy hour, and JoAnn enjoys the art studio at Attic Angel Place. In September, Jack attended his 65th high school class reunion weekend in LaGrange, Illinois, and reminisced with long-time friends. Daughters Janet in Houston and Jenny in Chicago came to be with Julie and JoAnn (a family of Js!), with JoAnn continuing her slow decline in her struggle with dementia. Their Prairie Point friends enjoy joining Jack and JoAnn for dinner at ‘Jacques’ Gourmet Bistro,’ where Jack demonstrates his recently acquired culinary skills. ❯ Both Ed and Marianne Adler Beck ’55 are involved with various activities in and around

Class Knox he thinks about how much he loves fly fishing. Waverly, Iowa. Ed plays in two bands, UNI New Horizons and Greater Waverly. The UNI band does several concerts within 30 miles of Cedar Falls and regularly does an end-of-semester concert at University of Northern Iowa. The Waverly band does weekly concerts during the summer. The Becks made a pleasant trip to the Chicago area to celebrate a birthday and to visit old friends. They hoped to get together with family in Seattle in the late summer or early fall. ❯ Stan Anton and wife Jenny continue to live in Naples, Florida, and enjoy every minute of it in spite of hurricane threats. Their church, Trinityby-the-Cove, has proven to be a tremendous source of spiritual and social stimulus. Daughter Georgina moved to their area from Baltimore and thrives on the freedom of easy parking, security, and access to year-round fitness opportunities. ❯ Mack Trapp writes that every time he hits, or mis-hits, a golf ball, he thinks about how much he loves fly fishing! In June, he and Carol fished for trout at Ruby Springs Lodge—no word on their success. They also proudly celebrated the Ph.D. awarded to granddaughter Molly Farnham by the University of Zurich by taking her to their favorite sites in Kyoto and Tokyo. Molly has joined the faculty of the University of Basel, putting Switzerland on their travel itinerary. ❯ Robert Atchison sent an update. He and Mary McKevitt Atchison ’54 celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary on June 17. They love to travel, garden, and serve their church and Gideons International. He says that thanks to “Flunk Day 1952,” they have been blessed beyond measure. Among their blessings are four children, five grandchildren, and three greatgrandchildren. ❯ Bob and Judy Bowers Rothe ’58 continue their preparations for their somewhat poignant—and a little scary—move from their Boulder, Colorado, home of 55 years into a retirement community in the spring of 2020. Part of these emotions stem from the need to dispose of Bob’s 16' x 35' HO scale model railroad, which has been visited by more than 13,000 guests since 1964 and has earned Bob the distinction of being labeled Master Model Railroader #281. A website serves as an electronic art museum of his work: yampavalleyrailroad.wordpress.com. Bob is a retired experimental nuclear physicist. ❯ Gay Taylor Jolley feels blessed by having had her granddaughter live with her for the past two years as she finished studies at Oglethorpe University. Her granddaughter graduated magna cum laude in May, which Gay did not know until she looked at the graduation program—a nice surprise! Gay has joined an Episcopal religious community for women over 50 that ministers to the elderly and to the very young. She has moved to an apartment and loves not worrying about maintenance and yardwork. This fall, she plans to take her grandchildren to England, and looking ahead, to Knox next year, where she hopes to see at least a few of our class. ❯ George Melton and wife Sara were snowbirds again in Chandler, Arizona. Besides the weather, they enjoyed spending time

with visitors and with their son and his family, who live nearby. They will return to Arizona in December. Meanwhile, they will spend time with their Minnesota- and Massachusetts-based offspring, both in those locations and at their Peoria home. George and his long-time ﬁshing group of seven guys had their usual May and September trips, and, as usual landed many ﬁsh to take home to eat. George also leads Us TOO Peoria, a local prostate cancer support group. It is a chapter of Us TOO International. George is a 25-year survivor. ❯ By the time this is printed, Bob and I will have enjoyed a much-anticipated visit in July from granddaughter Kerry and her two lively offspring, Elouise and Jem. They live near Nelson, New Zealand, so actually seeing them is a rare treat. Like the Atchisons, we celebrated our 62nd anniversary in June. I think there are others of you marking the same milestone. ❯ My thanks to those who shared their news. I’m happy to receive items from any of you at any time at schwarzler@msn.com. Class Correspondent: Ricky Jung Schwarzler 854 Cessna Street, Independence OR 97351, schwarzler@msn.com

1957 Jamie Bjorkman wrote, “The special collections and archives section of Seymour Library allowed me to participate in their 99 Lives: The Knox College Gold Star Memorial Project. This pictureproﬁle was displayed in the Ford Center for the Fine Arts. It serves as a reminder of the 99 Knox-connected individuals who either died, were killed, or declared MIA during WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. The department is now seeking a permanent home for the exhibit.” ❯ Casey Martin Clark emailed that she and daughter Elizabeth spent June and July at their cabin in the Sierras (6500' altitude) to escape the heat of the Sacramento Valley. She’s been retired from the classroom since 1993. Since her retirement, she has worked as a consultant at reservation schools for the Department of Interior, Paiute, Shoshone, and at Riverside boarding school. She also found time to serve as resource teacher two days a week for the last 18 years. Now totally retired, she enjoys attending Learning in Retirement classes at a local state college. These have included Shakespeare and a writing seminar. She says she is “happily busy, and, thank heavens, healthy.” ❯ Janet Ritchuck Voss, who lives in Sumner, Washington, ﬂew to Metamora, Illinois, last June to visit classmate Julie Engel Schertz and husband Bob. She said that they had lots of fun. The group especially enjoyed a delightful concert at the bandstand in the town park, along with an excellent picnic on Grand View Drive overlooking the Illinois River in Peoria, Illinois. ❯ Bill Shaffer writes, “Two fossils reunited after 59 years in Carmel, Indiana, in May. Lynn Nelson ’53 drove out to the Midwest from Massachusetts, bringing culture and civilization to Peoria for his high school class

reunion. En route back to the safety of the Atlantic Seaboard settlements, he stopped in the frontier town of Carmel, adjacent to Indianapolis, to bring a word of cheer to Bill and Judy Shaffer. The vice president of the Class of 1957 and the ink-stained editor of The Knox Student spent hours lying to each other about how wonderful they were back in the day. It wouldn’t have taken hours but for the need to stop every once in a while, reintroduce themselves to each other and ask, ‘Why am I here, and what are we doing?’” Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1958 Dr. Bill Baker attended the alumni advisory meeting in May. I was down with a ﬂu bug and didn’t attend my last meeting of the committee. I enjoyed my time serving as FYC representative. It was a great learning experience. Bill will continue on that board. ❯ The Fifty Year Club luncheon was held after June graduation at the campus. John Norton and I attended from the Class of ’58 and enjoyed the interesting program on the history of the FYC by Owen Muelder ’63. The FYC celebrates its 75th anniversary during 2018–19. ❯ Carl Krauss and his wife moved into Cedar Lake Village in Olanthe, Kansas. After practicing law for 44 years, Carl retired in 2005, and now enjoys life in a retirement community, with his wife nearby in memory care. ❯ Nancy LaMotte Foster writes that she still works with her dogs and boarding/training business. ❯ Richard “Dick” Mayne reported that he retired in 1999 after 42 years in the pharmaceutical chemical industry. He now ﬁlls his time working as the bookkeeper for the Augusta (Georgia) Sailing Club. He and wife Lurla have enjoyed many river cruises with long-time friends. ❯ Ken Turner writes that he and Sue, being still vertical, spend most of the year in Naples, Florida, and several months in the North Georgia mountains. Ken still “lunges” at golf balls, he says, with few results. They love to travel and left the middle of June for a cruise to Norway and Scotland … their motto being “gotta go while we still can!” ❯ Ron Streibich retired from a career in institutional fundraising, but he keeps busy directing an effort to fund a memorial for the Apollo, Challenger, and Columbia astronauts. It will be located at the entrance to NASA Johnson Space Center, which is across from his apartment in suburban Houston. ❯ Starr Kirklin responded to my inquiry telling me that if you live in Minnesota, as he and Mary do, you spend the winter in Naples. He and Mary attended the Knox lunch in Sarasota, where they were able to visit with Bob Moist and wife Marilyn and connect with Bob Bennett ’60. ❯ Can you believe 60 years have passed since we started “at the great institution we call KNOX?” Bill Baker has stepped forward to chair our 60th Class Reunion at Knox. It should be a fun October weekend, and I hope many of our ’58

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Cynthia Morse Latta ’62 writes, “I have become a Florida resident classmates are willing and able to attend. See you there! Class Correspondent: Letitia Luther Schactner 246 East Dayton Street, Galesburg, IL 61401-1833, 309-342-0748, letnor@comcast.net

1959 Class Correspondent: Louise Bost Wolf 3 Gilbert Park, Knoxville, IL 61448, 309-337-6435 (cell), wolfl@grics.net

1960 Hiking with family members in the Medicine Bow, Sierra Madre, and Laramie Mountains and Basin gave Chuck Dunn and Bill Reiners ’59 many opportunities to recall the learning they shared under the guidance of Knox biology professors George Ward and William Neff. It also brought back memories of developing trails and building a cabin at Green Oaks under the direction of Paul Shepard, whom Chuck described as a “complicated and dedicated Pied Piper of ecology.” Chuck’s recent article in the Fifty Year Club Bulletin described his hike with Bill, during which they renewed their friendship while exploring and continuing to learn about ecology. Chuck also cited the inﬂuence of his Knox education on his career which led through the University of Illinois College of Medicine, the National Centers for Disease Control, and to Cincinnati, where, “at the university and other hospitals, I practiced and taught the specialty of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiology, the latter being a human and indoor version of biology not that far removed from what Paul Shepard taught us in 1960.” ❯ Teaching, travel, and music continue to ﬁll Janet Drew Larsen’s time. She wrote, “I am retired but teach a couple of classes at John Carroll University [JCU] most semesters.” Dick’s Note: Her honors include being named professor emeritus with JCU’s psychology department. “Last spring semester, I did some traveling instead of teaching. I went on a threeweek tour of Southern Africa and took lots of wonderful pictures of the wild animals there. We were in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana. I also went on a tour of the Holy Land with an interfaith group, half Christians and half Jews, which was very interesting. In my free time, I still play hammered dulcimer with the string band Mud in Yer Eye for contra dances. I occasionally call contra dances, and I am also learning to call English country dances, which I do every Sunday evening at Kendal at Oberlin, the retirement community I intend to join in another year or so.” ❯ Gordon and Anne Wetzel Faubel still live in Overland Park, Kansas, and have been there since Gordon retired from the Army at Ft. Leavenworth in 1984. He reported that about 4 ½ years ago, they sold our house and downsized to a wonderful apartment, which was “a really positive move.” Like many members of the Class of 1960, this is a big year for the Faubels. “Anne

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and I both turn 80, and, in June, we celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary. We were married the summer before our junior year at Knox. Son Brad Faubel ’82 was born three weeks before we both graduated in June 1960. He has now become a grandfather, and we have two adorable great-grandchildren! We treasure our Knox friendships and have contact with many classmates. A few weeks ago we had a delightful breakfast with Kath Sturgeon, who was here in Overland Park representing Knox.” ❯ Finally, Mary Lu Hudson Aft has been elected to a second two-year term as president of the Fifty Year Club. Her feelings about this way to give back to alma mater appear regularly in the FYC Bulletin “President’s Message.” Class Correspondent: Dick Aft aftd@fuse.net or 775 Windings Lane, Cincinnati, OH 45220

1961 Dear Classmates: We asked you if, during your time at Knox, there was a defining moment you would be willing to share. ❯ This came from Norm Porter: “Two defining moments for me. First: Amazingly enough, in my senior year I was accepted at Northwestern med school. Second: Even better was finishing my time on the swim team under Coach Harold Turner. I was from a small farm town (Marengo, Illinois) and decided to try out for the swimming team with no experience. Coach said maybe I could try out for diving, as they needed a diver. So I worked at it and ended up in third place in diving in the conference as a sophomore. Then I went undefeated in diving for all the swim meets for two consecutive seasons during my junior and senior years. My only claim to fame at Knox.” ❯ Nancy Fuchs Krueger wrote: “Performing The Messiah as a cellist in the Knox/Galesburg Symphony. It was thrilling to me to have the audience spontaneously stand for the ‘Hallelujah Chorus.’ It was a wonderful feeling to give glory, honor, and praise to God as musicians and audience together.” (Incidentally, Nancy and husband Brian celebrated their 60th anniversary this spring. Congratulations!) ❯ Here is a memory from Bob Grubb: “In our freshman year, on May 9, 1958, the Galesburg Public Library burned down. It was the depository of many historic, one-of-akind documents. Just after dinner, that annoying CB&Q freight yard whistle kept blowing, alerting volunteers to assemble at the scene. The library was built in 1901 with money provided by Andrew Carnegie. The lack of sufficient water available to the firefighters caused the complete loss of the structure. Many Knox students were involved with crowd control and bringing drinking water to the overworked firefighters.” He also remembers, “Williston Hall was built as an apartment building and was purchased by Knox College in 1959. It was then converted to a girls’ dormitory. The thing that went mostly unnoticed was that the building was located across the street

from the TKE house. It was the answer to every adolescent boy’s dream. I heard there were notices posted all over the dormitory that warned ‘The Tekes are watching.’” (And the Betas, too.) ❯ The following Classmate asked to remain anonymous: “My senior year, I was a waitress in the faculty dining room. I heard a college official talking with two men who were at Knox to interview some seniors (our classmates) soon to graduate. He was describing these guys even to the point of a ‘don’t bother because....’ I wanted to drop the tomato soup in his lap. Of course, I knew these guys as fellow classmates, and I also felt they’d be worth being interviewed without prejudice. What I heard the Knox official describe was not what I saw and knew about these guys. I knew these guys as peers, and classmates, so knew them differently. I just felt this professor was overstepping his position. And I wanted to tell the men there to interview to talk to these guys with an open mind, forgetting what they’d heard. But I didn’t tell them. Afterwards, I decided that when I heard or saw something that I felt was wrong, I’d speak up. That was my Defining Moment.” ❯ Tom and Suzanne Summers Knauss wrote: “A defining moment for both of us was the re-enactment of the fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate on October 7, 1958, the centennial of the original debate held in front of Old Main. As famously quoted by Abraham Lincoln after he walked through Old Main for the debate, ‘At last I have gone through college.’ Amor wrote, ‘Since 1858, every Knox College student has learned the story of Abraham Lincoln’s memorable visit to its Old Main building and the famous remark he is said to have made as he stepped through a window and onto the platform to debate Stephen A. Douglas. Though his visit created a lasting legend, Lincoln never returned to Knox, not even to receive his first honorary degree, awarded him at the Knox Commencement in 1860.” ❯ Denis Bohm struck a familiar chord: “My ‘aha’ moment was when I started classes. Most of my freshman classmates were also National Honor Society members, had high grades and rankings in high school, and were involved in other extracurricular activities— athletics, theatre, etc. And I better get to work to keep up with them!” ❯ We received a note from April Lander ’88 about her mom, Meribah Sperry Amendola, who was recently honored for 50 years of membership in the PEO philanthropic organization. Meribah lives in Modesto, California. ❯ By the way, Old Main had just been completed in 1858. And how appropriate for us to remember that outstanding event on the 160th anniversary of the Debate. ❯ Keep writing, folks! Class Correspondents: Susan Shea Worthington 1611 South Street, Lexington, MO 64067-1431, 660-259-4559, ssworth@centurylink.net Ella Major Morin 11234 54th Avenue N., St. Petersburg, FL 33708-2949, 727-290-6984, ellanell1963@yahoo.com

Class Knox somewhat by accident, but it’s working out.”

1962 Monica Graham writes: “I have news this time: After 60 years away, I moved back to my birthplace of Phoenix, Arizona, in October of last year. I left at 17 to attend Knox College and never returned except for visits. I never intended to move back after all these years, but THEN, walking the dog in the early a.m. and late p.m., I began to feel the cold! So here we are at 128 East San Miguel Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85012. And today I am HOT. I used to sweat profusely as a little girl, and I still do as an old lady! I have had the opportunity to meet up with Bob and Barb Cady Schmid … and, as is true for all of my Knox friends whenever the opportunity exists, it seems no time has passed in-between. So, in the winter, come and visit the beautiful desert and us—Monica and Francesca the dog.” ❯ Doug Rushing writes: “I retired in 2016 after 55 years at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences as professor emeritus and former dean of the College of Biosciences. I don’t miss lecturing and administrative work, but I do miss the students, so I facilitate small group discussions in biomedical ethics with med students and advise some graduate students. I am involved with the local KC jazz scene, serving on the planning committee of the annual celebration of local native and jazz icon Charlie Parker. I was elected to the board of Friends of Jazz affiliated with the Conservatory of Music—not bad for someone who can’t read music or play any instrument.” ❯ Cynthia Morse Latta writes: “I have become a Florida resident somewhat by accident, but it’s working out. We are in St. Augustine but still have the condo in Winchester, Massachusetts. Florida is flat, but like everywhere else, it depends on the people, who—also like everywhere—are quite nice. Ed plays golf and poker, and I ice skate and play bridge. I have retired for the second time and so will have to find some other way to be useful even if it doesn’t pay. This fall, we have planned take a Barcelona cruise, which will include time with friends from our sister city, St. Germain-enLaye in the Loire Valley.” ❯ Dick Wertz tells us his time is primarily focused on teaching his younger grandkids the ins and outs of political activism. “We have attended two protest rallies on the Mall in Washington, D.C., and two meetthe-candidate debates here in Northern Virginia. Aaliyah (7) can already quote long passages from MLK’s speeches and has a wicked power-to-thepeople fist gesture (clearly Knox material). Arianna (6) leans more toward Che—that recess should be a constitutional right (probably better suited to the University of Chicago or Berkeley). Grandchild #9 or 10 is due to arrive in July—not sure of their politics yet.” ❯ Paul Mellican writes: “Wife Nancy and I just returned from a tour of Southern Portugal and Spain. We learned a lot about their history, including how Muslim mosques were recycled into Christian churches after the Moors were expelled from Iberia. A lot of UNESCO World Heritage sites were included

in the tour. Hot weather, steep hills, cobblestone streets, and myriads of tourists made for a strenuous test that was well worth the effort. Our pride and joy—our ﬁve grandchildren (ages 14 through 20)—are all well and happy. It is interesting to watch them transitioning from active teens into successful adults.” ❯ At this delightful age, I now share life with a terriﬁc guy. Scott Dryburgh is a Wisconsinite who has been a good friend for 45 years. After his wife died, Scott and I discovered a wonderful new dimension to our friendship. He looks forward (or so he says) to the Knox crew at Chautauqua this year, which includes the Temples, the Fergusons, the Herminghouses, Lynda Faut Hungerford, Harriet Remaley, Cindi Morse Latta, and a new addition—Lee and Alex Houston Benham ’61. We will miss our dear friend Bruce Butterfield, who is working his way through the Almighty’s book collection. Class Correspondent: Kate Bloomberg hankandkate@msn.com

1963 From Paul and Eileen Klimick Schoaff: “We have spent our retirement traveling and being involved with our grandkids. We have a grandchild who turned 18 in May and is off to college in the fall. Two of our grandchildren live about 20 miles from us. We live on two acres in the woods, 10 miles outside of town. In 2016, we toured Alaska by train, bus, and small boat. We did get to breakfast with Bruce Turner before taking off for our adventure. Last year, we visited Hawaii, after which we spent a week driving around California to visit the state and national parks, avoiding big cities as much as possible. This year, we have planned a trip down the Snake and Columbia Rivers to cross off the last states on our list. We have also managed to visit Germany, Scotland, and Russia—our ancestral homelands. Not sure what is on our agenda for future adventures, but we are open to suggestions. We look forward to visiting Knox for our 55th Reunion.” ❯ Amy Zehr Aspell writes, “Things here on Bainbridge Island, Washington, continue pretty evenly. I am still a Centers for Spiritual Living minister, but part time, leading a study circle and doing weddings occasionally. I also manage my own two rental properties and an additional residential acreage. This year, I’ve had fun remodeling my laundry room. I get to California occasionally and into Seattle to the art museums and galleries more often and still plan to get more active in making art again. One daughter and her family are nearby on the island, while the other is in Minneapolis (where I go in the fall now, NOT the winter).” ❯ Kaaren Wellman Scanio says, “Since our last Reunion, I am fully retired from the music world. As long as husband Charlie has a phone and a computer, his business is strong. Other big changes have happened, too. Charlie and I now live in Queen Creek, Arizona. We moved out here because both of our sons and

families live in the Phoenix area. We have truly learned to love Arizona. It was so hard for us to leave the East Coast; however, skiing in the morning and driving two hours home and spending the evening in the pool is pretty easy to take. Being close to our children and to our 2½-yearold granddaughter, Emily, is even easier to take. We still spend up to three months a year in our home just outside of Geneva, Switzerland, as well as in other parts of the world. We and our family are happy, healthy, wealthy in experiences, and best of all, friends. What more can one ask? Life is good.” ❯ This from Ken Nachtnebel: “It has been such a long time since we walked the campus of Knox College. A lifetime has passed in a flash. Since retiring in 2010 from my private practice, I have been employed part-time in the Evansville, Indiana, V.A. Clinic, working two days a week. It is a wonderful mission because of the myriad of interesting people that I encounter with stories that enlighten those of us who have not served actively. It is my privilege to have been invited to participate in the surgical service established when this new clinic was recently built. Many of the other participating specialists and nurses are professionals whom I worked with during my years of practice here in Evansville, making for an environment that is productive and yet laced with the camaraderie of past acquaintance. It is very satisfying to work on a less arduous schedule without the night and weekend call that were the burdens of private practice. I feel fortunate to have the health, the energy, and the ability to ply my trade for the honor of serving those who have sacrificed so much for this country. Circumstances may not allow my participation in the Reunion; if not, my thoughts will continue to be riveted to the days of fond remembrance of Knox that have remained a part of my life.” ❯ Colin Harding reports, “We continue to travel as much as we are able. We took a threeweek trip to Australia, including stops in Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs (Uluru was on our bucket list), and the Great Barrier Reef (yes, it is dying), ending up in Sydney. Then, this winter, three weeks to Southern Africa visiting South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls was on my bucket list), and finally to Botswana. We visited a number of national parks and saw all types of game. This fall, we head to Tuscany in Italy. My wife has a painting workshop there. I get to tote her artist supplies and test the Chianti. We will also spend some time in Florence. Then, next spring, we are off to Morocco for three weeks, including a stop at Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca. I’ve also taken on an interesting avocation as a volunteer beer pourer at local craft beer festivals here is northern Virginia. It’s a tough job, but I’ve been up to it.” ❯ As for me, the last international trip Ted and I took was a cruise from New Zealand to Australia in spring 2016. After disembarking in Sydney, we went on to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, then to Alice Springs, and a sunrise visit to Uluru. In January 2018, now traveling with a friend, I took

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

“My wife and I highly recommend miniature donkeys; they make very good pets. Jim Foley ’78 Entrepreneur Returns to Knox to Guide a New Generation Since graduating from Knox, Jim Foley’s career has taken him to Los Angeles, Mexico City, all over Europe, and back to Galesburg. Foley began his career in the software industry before pursuing an MBA from the London Business School at the University of London. “A third of my classmates had graduated from either Oxford or Cambridge University,” recalls Foley. “At ﬁrst I was intimidated, but I soon realized I was fully prepared to contribute and succeed, and I consider my learning at Knox to be a critical part of that success.” Foley spent seven years in Europe working in technology before returning to Illinois as director of the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship & Illinois SBDC International Trade Center at Bradley University. Since then, he has served and led professional business associations like NASBITE International. More recently, Foley has collaborated with the Bastian Family Career Center to develop the Business Intensive Seminar, which provides business knowledge and leadership training for Knox College students.

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What about your experience at Knox prepared you for your life abroad? Knox helped me better understand myself as a person and, through leadership work, understand how to relate to others. This was critical for my success in international business because I was dealing with different cultures on a daily basis. The key to success was to be honest and to show respect and openness for all cultures and people. Knox gave me a foundation and a sense of self for those years in Europe and beyond, as I continue to travel internationally. Did you have any key mentors at Knox? Both my advisors, Bill Pillsbury and Bill Rippinger, spent so much time with me beyond the classroom and helped me grow personally. Also, Chuck Gibbs gave me a job at the computing center, which allowed me to put into practice what I was learning in classes. Funny enough, Chuck’s wife, Mary Gibbs, taught me piano lessons all four years at Knox. She became a mentor because she always believed in me, even though I was not a music major. But there were so many more faculty and staff beyond them. I somewhat took it for granted at the time, but now I realize that all the relationships we had, from the classroom to cafeteria, everyone was welcoming, caring, and interested in each of us. They all inﬂuenced me. Why did you decide to continue your relationship with Knox through the Business Intensive Seminar? I believe in the importance of understanding business. My work at Bradley University’s Turner Center for Entrepreneurship has shown me that regardless of whether your passion is the arts, sciences, or public service, understanding business makes you more effective and more competitive. I also really enjoyed working with Terrie Saline in Career Services—she and her team work so hard to make the seminar a success. And of course, I wanted to be involved because it’s very rewarding to be back at Knox, and to teach students at the same college you attended.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

a cruise to Antarctica. Lots of penguins, seals, and whales, plus glaciers and icebergs. We went to Southern Africa—South Africa, Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls, Botswana, Namibia, and Capetown—this summer. Class Correspondent: Ramona Reed Landberg 21500 Baltic Drive, Cornelius, NC 28031, 704-892-4637, landberg.group@outlook.com

1964 Class Correspondent: Terry Klopcic klopcicjt2@roadrunner.com

1965 Mary Rushing Barbezat is a retired English teacher. She gardens, loves to sew and make wall hangings, and is active in the American Association of University Women. She also recently traveled to Switzerland and New Zealand. She told me she is very concerned about what she describes as “the catastrophic decline of American democracy,” as well of the detrimental effects of Illinois’s recent budget woes on the state’s college students, and has resolved to be more politically active. ❯ Vicki Walker Brunberg has been battling deer and rabbits in her Columbia Gorge property and trying to sustain the 200 pine seedlings they recently planted to reforest the area. If you have any advice on deer and rabbit control, it would be much appreciated! ❯ Joe Thompson reports back on the mini-reunion in Washington, D.C., this summer. Attendees toured The Museum of the Bible and took a double-decker bus tour of our nation’s capital. He enjoyed socializing at the bar in the Willard Hotel and spending time with Richard Eisinger (for whom this was his ﬁrst “reunion”), as well as Rodney Ross and Zane Lubaus Ecksteins. ❯ Glen Dallman retired from his work as an Illinois high school principal in 1994. His family then moved to Bradenton, Florida, where he now teaches middle-school mathematics. He has four daughters and six grandchildren and travels often, especially to the Caribbean. ❯ Don Klein retired from the City of Galesburg after 40 years. He and his wife have been happily married for 28 years, following the deaths of their respective spouses. Son Kelly Klein ’91 graduated from Knox, and four of his wife’s cousins are alumni, too! ❯ One last note: My wife and I highly recommend miniature donkeys; they make very good pets. They bond deeply with humans and are kind and gentle. Class Correspondent: Terry Rothstein, M.D. 220 N. 32nd Street, Parsons, KS 67357, antiquarian@wavewls.com

1966

It was a busy spring and early summer for many in the Class of ’66. ❯ Catherine Hardinger Shriver writes: “Just returned from a wonderful family trip—11 of us!—to Spain and France.

Class Knox They bond deeply with humans and are kind and gentle.” —Terry Rothstein ’65 Barcelona first, then across to San Sebastian via Pamplona. In San Sebastian, we had a lovely reunion with a former exchange student and his family. Then on to France, where, in Oloron, daughter-in-law Erin met a fourth or fifth cousin. We went to the place where her great-grandfather had lived and met other family members. ‘On the road again’ to our destination in the Lot, St. Martin de Vers. There, we stayed in a twelfthcentury tower built by the Templars to watch over pilgrims on their way to St. Jacques de Compostèle. The Lot is of particular significance to our family, because my father, a member of the O.S.S., and his ops group parachuted into the department the night of June 8–9, 1944. There, they linked up with the resistance to impede or prevent German troop movements. Our sons had been able to discover where many of their operations occurred, but, nearly 75 years later, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where. A heavily forested, hilly area, loaded with caves, the Lot was ideal for guerrilla warfare. Of course, not all of our time was spent tracing Dad’s positions. On the way to visit one of the prehistoric caves, we were delayed by a flock of sheep in the road. I do hope our grandchildren will remember much of this trip. All in all, this trip was definitely à la recherche du temps perdu on many levels.” ❯ Kathryn Knepper Roblee writes, “Exactly one year ago I moved from Perry, Iowa, to Lawrence, Kansas. My last 19 years in Iowa, I lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house designed by my late husband, Mel. He and I were grateful and thrilled to enjoy that home together for more than eight years before his untimely death. Now I live in a comfortable apartment in a very nice retirement community. My three children and two grandchildren live nearby, and Lawrence is a culturally rich university town; however, Kansas is surely not among the 45 most well-governed states. I just returned from three days at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA in St. Louis and visited friends from my teens and early 20s, including an old roommate who shared a place with Carolyn Grimm Nolan and me. When I got married, my spot was taken by Geri Hamai Cantwell. Dear friends of Carolyn and Geri, please touch base with their widowers occasionally. And join me, like them, in giving thought to priorities and making a bucket list. Email me at kathrynroblee@gmail.com.” ❯ Vicki Lewis Suyat wrote for the first time since graduation. “After Knox, I accepted a two-year assignment with the Peace Corps, teaching English as a Second Language in the Philippines. After my husband completed his law degree, we returned to Honolulu, and I began my first career as a full-time mother of two wonderful children, Stacey and Jonathan. After the children got older, I worked for 27 years as a chief development officer or executive director of several nonprofit national health organizations in Hawaii. Over the years I worked for these organizations, I raised more than $10 million to support health and human service programs in Hawaii. I retired to

an equally beautiful state, Oregon, and the wonderfully weird city of Portland, to be closer to my children. I live in a beautiful retirement community in Happy Valley, Oregon, am still active with my Pi Phi alum group, and an active PEO Chapter, and do volunteer work in my community (teaching computer skills and producing their ﬁrst resident directory). I have three beautiful granddaughters and live for the days spent with them on Hawaiian beaches and jet boat rides on Oregon rivers. My trips to explore Europe are over, but in 2017, I was blessed to be able to attend my Peace Corps Training Group’s 51st Reunion in Charleston, South Carolina. Unfortunately, in 2016, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. Under superlative care at the Knight Cancer Institute at Adventist Hospital, I’ve survived surgery, nine months of chemotherapy, a pulmonary embolism, and, this year, a return of cancer in my lungs. I’ve spent the summer undergoing radiation in advance of, perhaps, a second round of chemotherapy. Each day is a treasure and I am so grateful for the loving support of my families in Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Idaho. Aloha!” Email her at suyatvhi@comcast.net. ❯ Greta Kallio Nagel is very involved with the Museum of Teaching and Learning and has sent me a copy of their most recent newsletter. “We are enjoying life and grateful for Loren’s recovery from oral cancer. Friends and family have been wonderful. Now we are entertaining again and getting out to plays and movies. Hoping to check Barcelona off our bucket lists soon!” ❯ Jim Johnson spent June bicycling from Booneville, New York, to Bar Harbor, Maine, to complete the Northern Tier across America. He next joined Tod Brown ’65 in Central Maine before hiking 60 miles on the Appalachian Trail and up Mt. Katahdin. “Then I returned home to mow my grass.” ❯ Mike Denniston, writes, “We have stayed fairly close to home of late. In May, we traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and stopped on the way home for a Neil Simon play at the Springer Opera House in Columbus, Georgia. We toured the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank with a bunch of fellow retirees. I saw Knox partnered with Thomas Gohagen & Co. on a trip to“The Trade Routes of Coastal Iberia.” We were on the same ship and tour a year ago. In August, we circumnavigated the British Isles with Viking, starting in London and ending in Bergen, Norway.” ❯ Bob Misiorowski reports daughter Bekki runs a B&B, the Duquesne House, in Patagonia, “one of the world’s better birding areas, and enjoys life in the high desert.” ❯ Larry and Joelle Strehle Sommers live in Madison. (We are practically neighbors!) “In June, we spent a week in San Diego for a church convention, followed by a trip to Alaska in August and a return home across Canada via rail. In September, we planned an 11-day group excursion to Croatia. We spend a lot of time with grandchildren Elsie and Tristan, 9 and 6. Joelle is re-teaching herself elementary piano so she can play

duets with Elsie, and she has built an elaborate HO train village in the basement. I just completed the 85,000-word ﬁrst draft of a novel titled Freedom’s Purchase: A Novel of Immigration, Adaptation, and Survival in Civil War America. Now I’ll turn to something else until I get some feedback from a selected cadre of beta readers on how to improve it into a work of merit.” ❯ My husband and I returned from a Viking river trip from Budapest to Amsterdam, where the new Van Gogh museum was a high point of the trip. We met up with our middle daughter and her family for a few days in Paris before visiting wonderful friends in Grenoble. They hosted our daughter for six months 25 years ago; the mother of that family was an AFS student who stayed at my husband’s home in 1961! We have traveled with them here in the States and in Europe many times, and they have become extended family for us. ❯ I am so grateful to have such engaging responses for the Knox Class of ’66. A job I was hesitant to take on has turned into a task I relish because you all make it simple and compelling. Be well, travel safely, and keep your wonderful updates coming. Class Correspondents: Judith Holland Sarnecki 630 Wheeler Street, Neenah, WI 54956, 920-725-1430, jsarnecki@new.rr.com

1967 Sheryl McKee Kenny: “As of summer 2018, we here in Rockport, Texas, are still recovering from a direct hit from Hurricane Harvey. I had no idea how long insurance, contractors, and supplies take. We were still missing major highway signs and fried chicken!” ❯ Helen Gilbert: “Connie Bond and I spent a marvelous three days together in Port Orchard, Washington.In addition to the superb seafood, excellent wine, and nonstop conversation, the visit predictably took on a nautical theme. Friend Peter gave us a guided tour of his progress with the renovation of his Alberg 35 sailboat, The Wild Wahine; we observed the antique El Primero, a luxurious steam yacht built in 1893; and Connie and Peter delighted in exploring a secondhand boat parts store in Poulsbo while I walked along the waterfront. By the time this hits the press, I will have gone with a son and granddaughter to enjoy a Ziggy Marley concert at the Portland Zoo.” ❯ Doug Hunt: “I was invited and have agreed to join the Unitarian Universalist Ministry For Earth’s national board of directors.” ❯ Julie Badel: “I sing with Encore Illinois and ﬁnd life to be a lark.” Class Correspondent: Anne Talley Turner 50 East 39th Place, Eugene, OR 97405, anneturner345@gmail.com

1968 JoAnne Rawlings Vieweg reports that all is well. The Viewegs just retired and moved back to St. Charles, Missouri, in the middle of May. With several trips back to Fargo, North Dakota, for

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

M. Stephen Doherty ’70 was featured in the April/May edition husband Bruce to ﬁnish his work and a trip to New England for a niece’s wedding, they have taken a while to get fully settled in. Their new address is 120 Foxtail Dr., St. Charles, Missouri 63303. JoAnne has been retired for a while and served as president of the board of directors of Red River Valley Asperger–Autism Network for nine years. Her volunteer work within the autism community was a major focus of their years in Fargo. She found that her Knox education prepared her for her work as an educator and counselor. She was able to apply that experience to her volunteer work. She especially enjoyed facilitating caregiver support groups. They were able to write a fully funded grant to develop a training module for starting and running a support group. They used one of their adults with Asperger’s to be the videographer for the DVD portion of the module. She also has her BunnyLuvCreations shop at etsy.com, where she sells handmade smocked and appliqued children’s clothing. It is a hobby that she really enjoys. She and Bruce have two daughters and four grandchildren—three boys and one girl. They keep them busy and young! ❯ Bill and Nina Palmer Sweeney happily celebrated their 50th anniversary in concert with many 1968 graduates. They continue to love rural retired life in Bedford, Pennsylvania. They are deeply involved in the resistance and trying not to give in to despair. ❯ Jean Matlock Fletcher shared, “I am a practicing attorney for Prairie State Legal Services in their Ottawa ofﬁce. At this time, I do mostly domestic violence work and family law. I prosecuted for 25 years and then retired to Prairie State. I have a passel of grandchildren who range from 12 to 22. I spend some of my spare time serving on the board for the small (170 students) but mighty Newark High School. If you follow high school basketball (boys or girls), volleyball, or softball, you might be familiar with the Class 1-A teams that have done very well. I have three inside cats, all rescued, and 25 chickens who live in their chicken house. The chickens include a rooster, who is loud but not terribly obnoxious. My hens lay beautiful eggs of various colors. I sell some but mostly give them to friends. I have enjoyed following the exploits of our class members through Facebook. I will say that my experience with the Knox group is much more positive than any of my clients’ reported mishaps. Good job! I look forward to the reunion.” ❯ Bill Kowinski just granted permission to reprint the “Kids in the Mall” chapter from his book, The Malling of America, in the latest Bedford Select Anthology for students. Dozens of anthologies like this have included it and other examples of his work for well over 30 years. He gets a kick out of these mostly because of the company he keeps within their pages: from Tom Wolfe and Joan Didion to Thoreau, Whitman, Joyce, and Shakespeare. ❯ Chip Evans wants everyone to know that the “Knox 68” Facebook group has videos of the Alumni Achievement Award presentations and acceptance speeches by Bill Barnhart, Marcea

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Bland Lloyd, Greg Duick, and Harvey Sadow, as well as the induction and acceptance of Brad Routon into the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame. We celebrate several of our classmates’ 50th wedding anniversaries this year and plan to have more than 100 photos and some videos from our 50th Reunion. All ’68ers are welcome. ❯ This summer, the Paul Madsen family, including wife Diane Koeppel Madsen ’67 and son Erik Madsen ’97, took a trip back to Denmark to celebrate 60 years since Paul came to the U.S. They traveled to Aarhus, the city of his birth, and saw family and friends. He hoped to see a couple of friends with whom he played soccer in the 1950s! They then drove to Copenhagen and spent time sightseeing and visiting the amusement park, Tivoli. Of course, along the way, they found time to enjoy the wonderful open-face sandwiches and toast with local brews Tuborg and Carlsberg. Copenhagen is a great place to enjoy rides, see live shows, and listen to music. In fact, Tivoli was an inspiration for Disneyland. On the way home, the Madsens stopped over in Iceland and spent a little time in Reykjavik to take in the natural springs there. ❯ Husband Wes and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary and enjoy retirement. I love volunteering in the church ofﬁce and at Twice Blest in Palatine, Illinois, a thrift shop supporting Misericordia, where our Down’s son, Judd, lives. Eldest Josh Mika ’97 works for Apple, and youngest Ross is still with the White Sox. Luckily, they live close so we can enjoy their families and our three grandchildren. I’m involved in teaching crafts for Bible school and at Night Owls, where our church provides an evening so parents can leave their special-needs children and their siblings for a night for themselves. ❯ By the time we read these notes, we will likely have celebrated our 50th and had a wonderful time reconnecting and sharing. Therefore our notes in the future will mean even more, so keep them coming. Class Correspondent: Susan Meyer Mika 1519 North Kennicott Avenue, Arlington Heights, IL 60004, 847-253-7719, pottatea@comcast.net

1969 Paul Behnke’s New Year 2018 letter came too late for the previous publication, but is here now for our enjoyment: ❯ “We didn’t start out the year with a goal of minimizing our time in Durham, but it did kind of work out that way. The earliest sign of wanderlust showed up on Christmas Day last year, when wife Deb, daughter Nikki, and friend Julia saw adverts for low fares to Iceland and, within a few hours, had booked a March trip to the island complete with AirBnB and rental car. Perhaps it’s easiest to track us one at a time, since none of the trips worked out to include all four of us (this was not intentional—it just worked out that way). Daughter Cammie started 2017 in Ghana studying West African history and culture for a month. There, she worried her parents by getting very close to a

crocodile in the game park and also entering Togo (by about two yards) without any travel documents. Deb continued her 10-year run as coach of Trinity’s girls’ varsity tennis team and added the middle-school boys’ team in the spring. The rest of the year she was frequently on the road, visiting her parents in Arizona for her dad’s 90th birthday and heading to the UK and Denmark in December. Paul’s work as an instructor in airport management ramped up in year 10 of the U.N. program, taking him to Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, Seoul, Jamaica, Cincinnati, Ft. Worth, Atlanta, Montreal, and London. He also got out to Colorado to see the big kids and grandkids twice, and Dana and her daughters came to North Carolina for a beach holiday in the spring. Deb and Paul joined the other three Behnke brothers and wives on a trip to Bend, Oregon, in July—mostly fishing and hiking in that beautiful area. Deb and Paul also got out to Boone, North Carolina, for fly-fishing in the spring and autumn. As we send this message, we are in the Blue Ridge near Asheville, North Carolina—just the four of us and the dogs in a cabin billed as a “minispa” (they got the ‘mini’ part right).” Class Correspondent: Bill Combs bcombsi@yahoo.com

1970 From Jim Kilts: “I still work full-time but find some time to hunt and fish. I just completed a great prairie dog hunt with Pete Drummond in South Dakota. Bagged a trophy desert sheep in Mexico in January and headed to Alaska in August to fish.” ❯ Ralph ’71 and Sue Kamp Norman: “Not much new here. To celebrate my 70th in September, Ralph and I are going to Prague for a few days and then traveling to Nuremberg, where we will board a boat for a cruise to Budapest on the Danube. Our five grandchildren keep us busy with concerts, soccer, basketball, t-ball, and babysitting. We treasure every minute we get to spend with them. I volunteer in a local elementary school and am also active in PEO.” ❯ From Isobel Cole: “Thanks for being such a good sport and trying to round us up to write about our lives after Knox. I haven’t written in a while so will play catch-up. In 2013, a former employee called and wanted to buy my business, so I sold it. In 2014, someone called me up and wanted to buy my house, so we ended up swapping houses. I traded my 1906 house for a 2006 house.” ❯ I also heard from Dave and Judy Waggoner Lambert ’71. “Judy and I were excited to welcome our third grandchild and first grandson, Dylan. Since granddaughters Ellison and Matilda are both 3 years old, we enjoy our status as professional grandparents. As one of my friends put it, being a grandparent is one of the few things in life that lives up to its billing. Other than that, we are both retired (other than some consulting) and still in Palatine, Illinois (for the time being).” ❯ From Alan Spear: “Nothing

Class Knox of AARP MAGAZINE. major here. Judi, Shamus (dog), and I love retirement and spent 10 weeks in a motorhome on the coast of Maine this past summer. There are few places more beautiful, and I get to spend much of the time on a boat on the Atlantic. Midcoast Maine is a lovely area with much to do and see. Come. Visit. Call me. I do boat rides.” ❯ Mac Hamilton writes: “Your comment about most of us turning 70 this year reminded me that I have a granddaughter who just graduated from high school. It just doesn’t seem that it could be that long ago that we graduated from Knox. Our sonin-law is slowly eroding from ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis], and the hospice team believes he is likely in his final months. Watching his decline is painful, and it is difficult for our daughter and two grandsons, 14 and 9, to watch their husband and father lose control of his body. It amazes me how strong and positive daughter Danielle has been dealing with this over the last three years. Eldest daughter Nichole is director of contracts for Aeon Insurance in their Minneapolis office. The business climate in Southern Minnesota continues to be strong. In addition to commercial and investment property sales, we are completing development of an office building in Rochester, completing an apartment development in Owatonna, and starting a new five-story apartment in downtown Owatonna, where we are partnered with Federated Insurance. It will be the tallest building in town and stimulate the redevelopment of downtown. We are also working with the Hormel Foundation to hopefully come to an agreement to build a similar project in downtown Austin, Minnesota. I look forward to seeing all of you at our 50th Reunion in 2020.” ❯ Jane George sent the following: “I still work full-time and live in Millersville, Maryland. I enjoy travelling and for my 70th birthday I plan to go back to Barcelona to visit my old haunts—if they still exist. In May, I FINALLY became a grandmother.” ❯ Cliff Scott-Rudnick writes, “I retired June 15 from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago as an assistant professor, and Nancy Scott-Rudnick ’71 retired on June 30 as vice president of Chicago Deferred Exchange Company. We will continue as volunteers helping with community and progressive issues and do some more traveling, and I will continue working on legal projects and presentations.” ❯ Sandra Butler Londos: “In May, I was in Ireland and discovered that the couple across the aisle on our train excursion was from Illinois. Lou Ann Reichle ’74 had not only taught at the high school I went to (years later, of course), but it turns out she went to Knox, was a Phi Mu, and was a dear friend of Jan Novak Dressel ’71. My sister, Carla Butler ’71, was Lou Ann’s pledge trainer! From Dublin, I flew to London to meet Anita Bosky-Vaughan and husband Bob, who is a native of England. He drove us around, helped us with trains, the tube, and buses. It was wonderful spending a week with them! Skip, our daughter Mary, and I are in Germany as I write this for our other daughter Annie’s wedding to a wonderful German man.

Life is good.” ❯ M. Stephen Doherty was featured in the April/May edition of AARP Magazine. He discusses his painting techniques and lifelong commitment to plein air painting. He lives in Virginia and edits PleinAir magazine. Class Correspondent: Nancy Hoover Debelius 865 Gayer Drive, Medina, OH 44256-2901, 330-723-5658, Knox1970@zoominternet.net

1971 We have a class wedding! (They even dated while the bride was at Knox.) Sharron Vincent Porter married Jim Hatfield, whom she started dating at Wheeling High School. Jim visited Knox, but it was not until April 28, 2018, that they finally tied the knot. Congrats! ❯ Larry Baldacci (lbaldacci@earthlink.net) earned a couple of prestigious Chicago Jeff Awards for the production of the musical Ragtime for Griffin Theatre, including Best Musical and Best Ensemble. This is Larry’s first Jeff win! Judy and I saw the production together with Jan Augustyn Dickenson and Mike, and we can say that the award was well-deserved. Larry will be in Gypsy with Porchlight Music Theatre, playing four character roles. He and Ray have been together for 21 years, two of them as a wonderful married couple. ❯ Sue Ganser Levinson (levinson.law@gmail.com) has a new granddaughter, Hana Merri Levinson Wade, born April 29, 2018. She is the younger sister of Louis Levinson Wade. Both grandchildren and their parents live in Richmond, Virginia. ❯ Elliott Vizansky (Elliott.Vizansky@nyshcr.org) still works for the New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal. He and Dr. Eileen Mazola see shows, sailed on the Queen Mary, and have been to many other places, including Chicago for his 50th high school reunion. ❯ Greg and June Schulthes Loy (junesloy@ gmail.com) greeted their third grandchild, Elliot Austin Agnich, when he was born to their daughter Jessica and husband Jon on May 10, joining granddaughter Elizabeth (21 months). Jessica and her family live in San Francisco, nearby. Son Ben lives near Berkeley and just took a new job with Google. He and wife Mary expect a new baby boy in September who’ll join son Joshua (4). Greg still works as president of SC Solutions (check it out at www.scsolutions.com), and June is retired, although she still does a little website consulting. Greg and June recently took a wonderful cruise down the Danube from Passau, Germany, to Budapest. ❯ Carol Hartman Bordet (chezbordet@icloud.com) hosted Jane Langer McGuire and her husband at Carol’s home in Montreux for a couple of days. Jane got to meet Carol’s guy, Tom, with whom she has been for 23 years. ❯ Steve Phillips (knox1971@ gmail.com) and his wife celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in June by flying their daughter in from North Carolina and their maid of honor from Columbus, Ohio. Steve recently established the Schmitt Prize in Science at Knox and enjoys receiving letters telling him about the

annual winners. ❯ Don’t look for Steve and Gail Sims Smith (gssmith.ergc@gmail.com) in Illinois. They now split their time between Leesburg, Florida, (near Disney and their son and his wife) and Temecula, California, where they spend summers sharing a home with their daughter and her family, including Gail and Steve’s grandchildren! Their granddaughter will be a sophomore at San Diego State University this fall, while their grandson starts high school. ❯ Steve Weiner (sweiner@listenup.com) reports that his and Vicki’s daughter, Ruby, graduated cum laude from Brooklyn College in May and is now evaluating her options for a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology while staying in New York City. Coincidentally, the featured speaker and honorary degree recipient at her graduation at the Barclays Center was Judith Heumann, Joe Heumann’s sister. Ruby got to tell her classmates that her dad went to college with the speaker’s brother. Son Graeme ﬁnished his second year teaching middle school and renewed his contract for a third year in beautiful Wray, Colorado. Charlie Stivale and Nancy recently visited Steve and Vicki for a few days. They saw some of Vicki’s art in a Denver gallery, went through the world-class but little-known Clifford Still Museum, and had a great time catching up after too many years. ❯ Jane Langer McGuire (jmcguire@unm.edu) gave a short report about the great Besançon reunion many classmates attended. She reports, “Yes, it was different when we were 21—Besançon, as well as many of us, has cleaned up somewhat since 1970! It was still great fun for 13 program alums, spouses, and Françoise Guinle, Knox program director at the time, to reunite there in May. We shared three days on bateaux mouches and walking tours, exploring la Citadelle, enjoying press coverage, being feted at a reception at the Centre de Linguistique Appliquée, taking a sentimental journey to Ornans, and eating, drinking, and rekindling our friendships. Planners Ted Fagerburg, Bruce Wyatt, Mary Myers Fasbender, Sara Gummersall Treacy, Charley Stivale, and I met online across eight time zones and several months to plan the gathering. Meredith Fradine O’Connor (and Riley), Connie Johnson, Carol Siegel Clegg, Sue McCullough ( from Monmouth), Andy Stamm, Isolde Dimitrov Burik, Barb Eastman Hillestad (from Carroll College), and many spouses came to Besançon for the reunion. We also met Carol Chase, emerita faculty, and Jeremy Gladstone ’69 there. The McGuires also had a great visit with Carol Hartman Bordet in Switzerland. A year of university studies in Besançon was life-changing for all of us. Our lives had an international outlook, many of us lived and worked overseas in some capacity for some period of time, and we all developed close friendships that continue to grow after 48 years. During this reunion, we discussed our hopes that the beneﬁts of international study will be available to as many Knox students as possible going forward.” (Editor’s note: Read more about the Reunion on page 41.) ❯ Judy and I are

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

“I got to spend a day at the Shire!” — Mike Burke ’72 still chugging along. I am now the only member of my family who does not have an agent (other than our State Farm guy), as Judy is acting professionally. She has done a few movies and industrial ﬁlms for a hospital, Allstate, and others. Daniel will be playing The Baker in Into the Woods at Cahn Auditorium at Northwestern in Evanston in December. Michael is busy working and doing some voiceovers. Daughter Laura is making aliyah—moving to and becoming a citizen (dual) of Israel and attending Tel Aviv University for graduate school. I have started to put things together for our 50th. You may hear from me about helping with what will be a wonderful weekend celebrating and learning. Class Correspondent: Jerome A. Tatar 333 Wilshire Drive West, Wilmette, IL 60091-3151, 847251-4889, jerry@tatarlawfirm.com

1972 Mike Burke writes, “It was great to have another wonderful turnout for Reunion. I only hope we double it for our 50th! I have a major update! After almost 16 years together, I married a great gal, Cindy. Although she is a year or so from retiring, she got a four-week sabbatical from her work, and we traveled to New Zealand for a three-week tour last February. We took all the Lord of the Rings tours we could ﬁnd, and I got to spend a day at the Shire! They have made it a permanent attraction; you should have seen me in one of the hobbit holes that was open. Even got an ale at the Green Dragon. We got married over Memorial Day weekend, and, although a hot day, we were fortunate to have our families and friends together at a very beautiful venue.” ❯ Eldon Carvey writes, “Overdue news: Anne and I are ﬁrst-time grandparents as of last August 15. Emmett Murphy Barch, the son of our younger daughter Emily and Colin Barch, is a beautiful, very active young man, with whom we are utterly smitten.” ❯ Dion Cox Mercier writes, “Hey, I still tutor children with dyslexia here in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Daughter Elesha married a man from Neoga, Illinois, two years ago. She has a son, Emiel (7) from a former marriage. I was in Illinois for the birth (June 16, 2018) of my granddaughter, Hope Frances Brinkopf! Who knows, I may end up out there part of the year, but I will never completely leave Colorado. Hi to all!” ❯ Sandy Hroziencik Thompson writes, “It was great seeing everyone at Knox last Homecoming. Robert and I continue working as we have, and daughter Katie just got married. It was a fun, joyous event here in Austin, Texas.” ❯ Ron Lipton writes, “Hi from Albuquerque, New Mexico. My alleged retirement from playing music isn’t as complete as I expected it to be. Did some recording earlier in the year, which whetted my appetite for more, and now have a major project of my own in the works at the same studio. Dealing with some health issues and hope to get them taken care of soon, and start doing some long delayed traveling,

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including, hopefully, Canada, Hawaii, and various points in between.” ❯ Ann Paschall Cohrs writes, “Last November, my brother died from CLL [chronic lymophocytic leukemia]. On April 1, my dad passed away from blood poisoning. On June 6, Mom died from cancer. It’s been tough.” ❯ Carol Smith Giometti writes, “We are proud to announce that we have two new grandchildren. Patrick Douglas Giometti was born on May 30 to son Greg and his wife, Cathy. Caroline Jean Whittenhall was born on July 1 to daughter Renee and her husband, Jeremiah. Ron Giomett, ’74 still works in his dental practice in Niles, Illinois. I manage his office while starting my sixth year of retirement from life as a research biochemist at Argonne National Lab. We enjoy traveling the U.S. as time permits. Just enjoyed a car trip to the East Coast, visiting sites in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—first real Philly cheese steak and hoagie I have had in 30 years—heaven!” ❯ William Sowle writes, “On April 3, I headed to Mallorca for a week of sketching and painting with an art group from Telluride, Colorado. Rather than returning, I planned a bicycling tour of Spain. Coordinated by Tripsite.com, I spent the next two months visiting Mallorca, Barcelona, Girona (Game of Thrones fans), Costa Brava, the Bay of Biscay area, Segovia, and Madrid. After bicycling 1,075 kilometers, I headed back to the U.S. on June 6. The people of Spain were wonderful; the roads excellent; the pastoral countryside filled with olive trees, sheep, and Roman villages. The largest Roman aqueduct in Europe is in Segovia. These are the cities of Gaudi, Goya, Picasso, Dali, El Greco, and Joan Miro. Since this was the off-season (50–60 degrees), I would find myself on a beach devoid of tourists, expecting a 17th century ship to pass by. The cities were crowded (no bicycling), and the metro pass was a must-have in Barcelona and Madrid. Vineyards were everywhere in Spain. I would always ask for La Rioja wines, which are grown along the eastern valley of the Ebro River, Spain’s longest. Bicycling along as it flows from the western snow-capped mountains and forests to the far-as-the-eye-cansee fields of grapes further east. Eating and drinking was a unique treat in Spain. I first had to adjust to eating late. Lunch was from 1–3 and dinner after 8 p.m. Tapas in between. Cafes (open after 8 a.m.) have fresh squeezed O.J., coffee, wine, and beer (the latter two always served with a small bowl of olives). Locals switch to wine and beer at 9 a.m.” ❯ Vince Throop writes, “Still working. This time in the shadow of Hangar 1, where the giant airships docked.” ❯ Wendy Scherwat Ducourneau writes, “This year’s 5,465-mile road trip was great—other than losing the alternator just after cresting the Continental Divide. A fun stop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to see Jerry ’71 and Barb McCauley Baumeister was followed by a visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois. Swam SCY Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana—medalled in four of my five events,

plus swam in two fantastic relays! Picked Tony up in Nashville, Tennessee, and spent three wonderful days in Winchester, Tennessee. Claudia McFadden and Wortham are amazing hosts! Tony got to drive W’s zero-turn mower, and we observed Claudia’s birthday with a great meal at the home of Al Capone’s mistress. Then off to Danville, Kentucky, to celebrate Emilie’s graduation from Centre College. (Extremely proud parents.) One highlight of our trip home was a fabulous dinner and overnight stay at Price Tower, a Frank Lloyd Wright high-rise in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Finally, in keeping with this issue’s theme of excited grandparents—on May 12, son Serge and wife Christine welcomed their ﬁrst child, Audrey Janette Ducourneau.” Class Correspondent: Wendy Scherwat Ducourneau wjsd@jps.net, Facebook Group: Knox College Class of ’72

1973 Nancy Bakos Hunter retired in April after 26 years as a geologist and technical writer and now keeps busy with gardening and home improvement projects. ❯ Bob Bolier writes from Florida, “I really enjoyed attending the K Club alumni golf outing Soangetaha Country Club in June, spending the day on the links with Don Bernardi and Mike Gentile ’74 and sharing cherished memories with my former football teammates, Monty Abbott ’72 and Topper Steinman ’70. We all had a blast! The highlight of the event, as always, was getting to spend time with Harley Knosher, one of my most favorite people, a special, special man!” Bob hopes to see us at the Reunion. ❯ Liz Brasure continues teaching chemistry because she feels too guilty to retire after the college built a whole new building just for her. Steve Giles has not set a good retirement example, as he has been incapable of saying “no” whenever asked to ﬁll in at medical clinics in Ohio, Washington, Wisconsin, and, currently, South Carolina. In those glorious times when they are both free, they travel as far away from home as they can go, and both look forward to attending the Reunion. ❯ Scot Drysdale retired on June 30 after serving as a professor of computer science at Dartmouth for 40 years. He and his wife will celebrate by taking a trip to Iceland. ❯ Reliable sources report that Tim Hardin was last seen in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. ❯ Karen Harris continues to follow her passion for gardening and environmental education. She grows organic vegetables for the Tulsa Farmers Market on her mini-farm (Bad Dog Farm) and helps out on harvest days at Three Springs Farm. She was elected vice president of the local nature center board and volunteers as a nature center host, trail rover, and writer of the naturalist notebook piece for the newsletter. She says she enjoys every minute, in spite of her aching back, and plans to see us in October. ❯ Peter Loiselle gratefully announces his retirement following a

Class Knox 45-year career in social work and addiction counseling. The resulting month-long celebration in France included his two children, Courtenay and Justin, and daughter-in-law Kimberly for part of the time. He is transitioning to retirement by developing other interests and looks forward to the 45th Reunion. ❯ Scott Montgomery and wife Marilyn continue to live in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle, where they’ve resided for nearly three decades. They share their home with Clio, a Rhodesian ridgeback, seasonal raccoons, possums, jays, and various other exiles from Bambi. Older son Kyle just completed his first year in medical school and will soon be engaged, then married. Younger son Cameron graduated from Santa Clara University this June and works for a cybersecurity firm in San Francisco. Scott continues to teach as an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington’s School of International Studies but is much more occupied writing books and articles and giving public lectures, mainly about energy-related matters. His 2015 book, Shape of the New, with Dan Chirot, got a strong endorsement in The New York Times and was selected as one of its 100 notable books of the year. Since then, he has published works on nuclear power (Seeing the Light) and scientific communication (Chicago Guide to Communicating Science, Second Ed.) He writes a column on energy for Global Policy Journal, published at Durham University (UK), and has also done articles and op-eds for Forbes, Fortune, Huffington Post, and Newsweek, among others. He is often interviewed locally and nationally, sometimes internationally, for his (occasionally comprehensible) views. He blames all of this on his time at Knox and the people he met there. In his view, Knox doesn’t only change lives; it creates them. ❯ Joan Raming McGuire retired in October 2015 after 15 years with Downers Grove North High School, where she worked as a job coach and a teacher’s aide. She has two teenage grandsons who have always lived with her. They typically travel to the Wisconsin Dells and fly to California every Christmas to visit Joan’s sister. Joan looks forward to seeing everyone this October. ❯ Jay Reeve writes: “After retiring six years ago after 33 years in the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, I have continued my private teaching of violin, viola, and cello at four studios in three states. (Sioux Falls is near the intersection of South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota.) About eight years ago, wife Katherine and I got into the business of creating and renting supertitles (which are captions projected on a screen to help audiences understand the text, often to provide an English translation but sometimes even when English is being sung). In June, we traveled to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute because they were using not only our supertitles for the German songs, but also the spoken dialogue. What a thrill to hear top professionals rendering the lines I wrote! And so satisfying to watch the audience react to the English translation of the songs

where they would have been oblivious without the supertitles. The translation consumed virtually all of my “spare” time for four months, exceeded only by my translation of Puccini’s La Bohème for the South Dakota Symphony two years ago.” ❯ Mark Skipworth can’t believe that it has been 45 years since graduation. He and wife Mary celebrate 43 years of marriage this September. Their three sons are well, two in Illinois and one in California, and their 17-year old grandson just got his driver’s license. Mark works part-time from home, reads, does woodworking, and is still kicking despite a number of health issues. He hopes to attend the Reunion. ❯ Leon Williams notes that several members of the Knox Class of ’73 were responsible for building up the A.B.L.E. organization, which greatly increased the minority presence at Knox. Class Correspondent: Nancy Bakos Hunter 5280 Easley Way, Golden, CO 80403-1161, 303-278-3163, geo_hunters@q.com

1974 Lin Bowie: “I am winding down my career but still teach at the College of San Mateo. It is a capstone to my profession to once again crack a biology book and teach the subject. I also volunteer for several environmental and human service organizations in my local community. I recently completed a trip to Alaska and viewed the eclipse in Tennessee. Next year, I’ll go on a long-anticipated trip to Iceland and Greenland.” ❯ Allen Kossoy: “I am still in Topeka, Kansas, moving toward retirement. I still love seeing patients, but the administrative issues can be a grind. Daughter Stacie will be married in November in Mexico to a very nice young man who works for HUD and seems to accomplish things regardless of our poor national leadership. Wife Beth and I visited New York and saw several plays, including The Band’s Visit, which has won several Tonys. Highly recommend.” ❯ Terry Algren Bruner: “Husband Steve and I traveled to Scotland, England, and Ireland last year. Puerto Rico, Australia, the Pacific Islands, Hawaii, and Alaska this year. We are also at our place in Florida four or five months a year. Home is still Galesburg, but we are on the road much of the year.” ❯ Leonard Berg: “I still work as an elder law and special needs attorney in Godfrey, Illinois. Hopefully, I will retire in 2019. Last year, wife Fran and I made a pilgrimage to Israel and the Holy Land and went to Delaware this year. Thank goodness she has recovered from her hip replacement surgery. I was honored by Land of Lincoln Legal Services as the recipient of the Joseph R. Bartylak Award for pro bono service and offering continuing education.” ❯ Fritz Nemetz Ketchum: “After five years in Austin, we relocated to McKinney, Texas, for husband David’s new position with LeGrand, where he is regional manager of western territory. I directed theatre in Austin, including Arthur Miller’s The Price, which was named Best Production in Austin for 2016. I join the theatre faculty

at Collin College in the fall.” ❯ Bill Fiedler: “After raising three kids, wife Laura and I sold the family home in Chicago and moved to Mexico in July 2017. We live on the Pacific Ocean in Manzanillo and love the beach life and all things Mexico. I still work in the consumer electronics business and fly back to the states to visit customers and our children. Bill Pazoles, John Siniawski, and I located our old friend Terry Lee Warner. We’ve had a great time re-connecting.” ❯ Terry Lee Warner: “I retired in 2014 and live in Bucyrus, Ohio. My wife and I are raising 13year-old granddaughter Alexis, as well as three dogs and two cats. Enjoying retirement and my grandkid.” ❯ Kevin Waite: “Wife Carol Hansen ’75 and I saw Marianne LeFave Jacobs and husband Gary in Florida last winter and Dave Bauman and wife Susan in Seattle in the spring. I still practice law in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.” Kevin recalled his stint as a Flunk Day Friar, meeting at 1 a.m. for their own party and then running through campus at 5:30 a.m., making as much noise as possible. He’s looking for his fellow 1974 Friars. ❯ Lindy Glaser lives in Galesburg and works at Gates Rubber. ❯ Ardie Ward just retired from Walgreens, lives in Algonquin, Illinois, and is married to Carlos Cortes. ❯ Bruce and Jan Ruthen Shaw ’76 are in the process of moving to a new home in Florida after 41+ years in Texas. Leaving friends is tough, but they look forward to the next chapter, with lots of fishing, golf, travel, and new friends. ❯ Dave Reeder: “I retired July 1 after 23 years with Liberty Mutual Insurance. Holly Macey Reeder ’75 and I still live in the same Newmarket, New Hampshire, house we bought in 1976. She will also retire after 24 years working with special needs students at Newmarket High School. No immediate plans other than spending lots of time with our 10 grandchildren.” ❯ Dave Coons: “I retired from Emerson last year and live in Chesterfield, Missouri, with Jane, my wife of 44 years. We see our four grandchildren regularly.” ❯ Pam Brockman ’75: “I spoke at the Rotary International Peacebuilding Conference in Chicago this past June. I continue to teach courses for the Art of Living Foundation, International Association for Human Values, and the Project Welcome Home Troops program. My husband is the new Rotary governor, overseeing 62 clubs in the Chicago metro area. We went to India in March to help inoculate babies. Son Antonio is in Quito, Ecuador, with a program he started with his friends, MusicaOcupa, to promote European and Ecuadorian classical music. He earned a master’s in violin performance at The University of Texas at Austin. ❯ We have lost three classmates since the last Class Notes. I have shared some of your remembrances because they were so nice to read. Ted Jelen was a University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor. Ken Sezer wrote, “Ted was one of my suitemates through all four years at Knox. One of his great talents was to put our shared experience into context. He was also mostly responsible for a series of catchphrases

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Mary Ann Madej ’75 was elected National Fellow of and one- or two-word references that—even years after the fact—could instantaneously transport the rest of us back to 1970. Ted had a decent stereo and a record collection. So, by default, his music became the soundtrack to our Knox experience. He had strong opinions about music, but more importantly, an appreciation of its importance. Even today, I view my Knox through a lens that Ted helped build.” ❯ Paul Skelton was also known as “Hawkeye” because of his resemblance to Donald Sutherland’s character in the movie version of M*A*S*H. Victor Heintz says, “He was one of my favorite Knox people despite his having coined the nickname ‘Victor Shmictor,’ which unfortunately caught on with my other suitemates.” David Igasaki, one of Paul’s suitemates, remembers a prank where they moved David’s bed to a table in their common area. “Paul expressed sympathy and helped me move the bed back. He didn’t tell me until a decade later that it had been his idea.” ❯ I married Mitch Owens after college in front of a wonderful contingent of Knox friends. Most folks don’t know that Mitch was a good writer. I was always a wee bit jealous of this since I was the one who came from a family of writers, yet he was the one who did it so effortlessly. He also had an easy way with people, so I encouraged him to go into politics. But he chose medicine, which was a good ﬁt. Our son, however, did choose politics. And he is also a writer like his dad. Class Correspondent: Monta Lee Dakin 303-979-9307, mld780@aol.com

1975 For most of us, this is the year we ofﬁcially become senior citizens. To misquote Mark Twain, “If it weren’t for the honor of the thing, I’d just as soon skip it.” ❯ Jenny Lisenby Lockington looks forward to 23 days in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Iceland with friends this summer. She also volunteers with the Orange County (Florida) Council on Aging as an elder ambassador. ❯ Paula Ochs and husband John care for her elders in their West Orange, New Jersey, home, along with 24-hour caregivers. “Life is full of surprises!” Paula still does family therapy parttime and trains clinicians. Her article, “Supervision in Action,” was published last year in the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. ❯ Jeff ’76 and Jan Bouska Elegant, married 41 years, reside in Lincoln Park, Chicago, near their two kids and three grandkids. Jan loves babysitting and tennis. “I winter in Naples, Florida, and spend much time with our college ‘roommates’ Jim Goril ’76 and wife Sue. Jeff hopes to retire sometime soon if I could just quit shopping!” ❯ Brian Hugh Rose writes, “I had the opportunity to play some of my original music at the Little Bear Saloon in Evergreen, Colorado, in June. It was a real treat to play in the iconic music venue!” ❯ In May, Rick Partin and a friend took a three-day backpacking trip to the Porcupine Wilderness State Park in Michi-

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gan’s Upper Peninsula. “The trip turned out to be hot, humid, and buggy (the no-see-ums were brutal) but, on the whole, very rewarding.” ❯ Jeanne Pankanin Leininger completed the 2018 Grand Illinois Bike Tour in June, a five-day, 250-mile bicycle ride. Any takers for next year?! She and her four siblings will embark on a bicycle-and-boat trip along Austria’s Danube River in September. ❯ Tim Dean is “in my fifth year of marriage to my high school sweetheart, the very same girl who tore my heart to pieces early in freshman year. I am still in the geology software business, although I am trying to wind it down and do more bike riding, hiking, going to Knox alumni events with my dear brother James Dean ’69 (yeah, he is that cool), and performing classic rock karaoke.” ❯ Sheri Sprung Morrison and husband Jerry visited Barb Epstien ’76 and husband Julian Gray in Portland, Oregon, in April. Sheri recommends the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals, where Julian is the executive director. Sheri has just joined the Knox Book Club and says she looks forward to interesting discussions. ❯ Tim (TJ) Smith retired after 35 years as high school educator, the last 10 as Reavis High School assistant superintendent. Tim plans to travel and gamble and get together with Chicagoland Delta TKEs Fritz, Junkman, Tokes, and others. ❯ Nancy Knapp’s and her husband’s humanitarian work in Myanmar and Laos concluded in January when they got caught in political crossfire and had to leave for safety. “What a nightmare ... Now I am back enjoying the Alaska summer. Long days, short nights.” ❯ Gwendolyn Webb-Hasan, associate professor and director at Texas A&M, says “Lynne Barney Porter and I plan to attend Homecoming this year.” ❯ Jay Scheid is back in Naperville after his D.C. assignment as chief risk officer for Mars Inc., but is contemplating retirement. He and wife Karen have five children and 11 grandkids— all 4 years or under—with four more babies due this year! “We expanded from a full football squad to three basketball teams.” ❯ Tina Smith Doppler sends greetings to the Class of 1975. ❯ Susan Young-Cole is active with Alliance Française de Louisville (Kentucky), an organization that celebrates French language, culture, and history. “We just celebrated Fête de la Musique. 2019 will be my last year as board treasurer. It’s been fun!” ❯ Dave Langston continues to be security detail, baggage handler, navigator, and trophy husband as Linda Nelson Langston travels on National Association of Counties business. Dave continues to do a little handyman work; all projects for customers have been completed without fatalities thus far. ❯ Mary Ann Madej was elected National Fellow of the Geological Society of America. She will be recognized at the national meeting in Indianapolis in November. She credits Knox’s (now-defunct) geology department with encouraging her to pursue her career. ❯ Drew Debrey was accepted into the Strategic Management Division’s Doctoral Consortium at the upcoming Academy of Management Confer-

ence in Chicago. “I am completing my doctorate in business at St. Ambrose University, where I teach strategic management and statistics. Wife Cindy and I live in Rock Island with our two daughters.” ❯ Jim Petrila is “about to retire after 32 years as a government lawyer, the last 26 or so at CIA, which included nearly two years working as a national security lawyer at the White House (though not for the current crew). We expect our first grandchild in July.” ❯ Fred and Kathryn Giertz Nirde have lived in Asheville, North Carolina, for three years, loving the climate, the views, and the bears. ❯ Since retiring from a 40+ year banking career in 2017, Jeff Baker and wife Beth provide childcare three days a week for twin granddaughters “who are now 2½ years old. They were born two months premature but are progressing nicely and are great joys to us.” Jeff has participated in the K Club Golf Outing the last two years and welcomes “anyone from the 1974– 77 era to join me next year!” ❯ Sue Rehak writes, “Fifteen years ago I left the state health department in Colorado to get a law degree. Since graduating, I have worked as a guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children and as an attorney for persons with mental illness— challenging, frustrating, and rewarding work. I hope to find more time to travel and get back to drawing and painting as I contemplate retirement. I am married to Keith Maskus ’76 and have one amazing daughter, Carol, who is a special education teacher in Los Angeles.” ❯ Deb Griffin Brown continues to volunteer with Boy Scouts as an assistant council commissioner for the Three Fires Council and is also involved with camp inspections. Deb does photography for the Morton Arboretum’s plant identification program and labels and prepares photos for online use. ❯ Cathy Floit (cfloit@earthlink.net) lives in Shoreline, Washington, with husband Steve Schneider. “Since retiring (I was a criminal defense attorney), I have become an avid volunteer with several organizations. We love to spend time gardening, hiking, and taking photographs (Steve is a professional).” ❯ After 20 years in Russia, Pat Davis Szymczak spent last year teaching English in Moscow, hoping all the Russia hysteria would blow over. “Not holding my breath, looking for other options, and would return to the U.S. except that friends who have returned have trouble finding jobs if their persona is ‘Russia Hand.’ If any classmates know of any think tanks that actually value the opinion of someone who has lived in and run a business in Russia … please let me know!” ❯ NOTE TO ALL: OUR 45TH REUNION HOMECOMING DATES ARE OCTOBER 23-25, 2020! Class Correspondent: Jeanne Pankanin jeanne.knoxfriend@gmail.com

1976 Yours truly recently attended a summer BBQ and met Lloy Brodnicki ’94 and husband Mark Johnston ’93, along with their friend, Leslie

Class Knox the Geological Society of America.

1977 Greetings all! In June, I met up with Mitch Baker ’76 and Brian Bond, who were on a road trip to Chicago to meet some of Mitch’s high school buddies. We checked out the venerable Twin Anchors in Old Town for ribs and had to have a couple at the Old Town Ale House. The next day, we met up with Ed Jepson and had lunch at one of his haunts in Berwyn before heading to his digs in Riverside to have our minds blown by his new sound system—contact Ed if you want hear any LP from your Knox days. Cue “Blue Sky!” As Ed is now retired from his 38 years of toil at Chicago law ﬁrm Vedder Price, he now has time for “volunteer work, sleeping in, and having fun.” Congrats, Ed! ❯ I also shared a catch-up lunch with roommate Mary Kay Luby Donnelly ’78 at the Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club in Lincoln Square, Chicago. She was about to embark on a trip to visit daughter Brigid, a Ph.D. candidate in English studying on a fellowship in London for the summer. Son Ryan is a sushi chef in Portland, Oregon. MK still works as an elementary school teacher in a Catholic school in Chicago. She continues to be active in the dog rescue community, and, in addition to her husband Gary, shares her home with a Boston Terrier and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. ❯ Susan Runyon-Davis sends greetings from Seattle, Washington, where she connected with Gary Jacobson while visiting daughter Lydia (who participated in the Knox basketball camp in 1997); Gary was in town for work. Gary

dropped by to help her celebrate granddaughter Luna’s second birthday. “It was glorious to have a momentary meeting of Knox alums!” ❯ Doug Hill writes: “We have three kids, and all three finished grad school within one week of each other: one earned a master’s degree in education, another a nurse practitioner’s degree, and the third a doctorate in physical therapy. Luckily I stopped paying when they finished college. I’m about to try out a Half-Ironman, and if I’m lucky and win my age group, I will be off to South Africa for the world championships. But given that I’m the oldest in the age group now, my chances are a little slim. I also intend to do age group National Championships, along with classmate Bryn Douds.” ❯ Speaking of Bryn Douds: “Doug Hill and I have planned to be in Cleveland on August 11 competing in the USA Triathlon National Championships. This is my first time, and Doug says it would have been lucky number 13 for him, except that last year he fell down the stairs at home. ” ❯ Amy Eichengreen Andrews shared this news: “Steve Andrews ’75 and I are very busy these days. We have one beautiful granddaughter, who is almost 3 years old. As I write this, she will soon be a big sister. Our eldest daughter also expects a baby in June. The babies are both girls, so we will have three granddaughters. We love to babysit. Steve is semi-retired and works a few days a week. I still teach. We love to vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where we have a second home, whenever we have the time.” ❯ From Laurie Anderson: “I enjoyed Knox Homecoming 2017 and our Class of ’77

Reunion. It was also a great reunion with dear friend Rick Kalvin, whom I have known since fifth grade in Kewanee, Illinois. My news is that, in July, I retired after 30 years practicing law, most recently as the general counsel for the architectural framing systems business of Apogee Enterprises. Before law school, I worked eight years as a chemist. I look forward to spending more time with three grandsons, continuing animal rescue volunteering for Secondhand Hounds, and simply relaxing.” ❯ Francis Paradise sent in a rave review for The Fifth Column, the new novel by Tom Rendall. “Just finished reading it. Great novel, non-political, yet so thought-provoking with today’s state of affairs. It is a sequel of sorts, so you might want to read The Sterling Forest first for some context with a few characters, but not necessary.” ❯ Mara Malakoff got in touch: “Very much enjoyed reconnecting with classmates at our 40th (my first back to Knox in 20 years). Another college reconnect this year—I visited a friend in Oregon I met during my junior year on Knox’s Besançon program (and hadn’t seen in more than 15 years). Diane Slaviero and husband visited me in North Carolina in December. I live on a lake north of Charlotte and enjoy evening swims during the summer. I keep active with kayaking, tennis, sailing, and hiking. I work for Bank of America (almost 30 years—I’m now in a technology group with focus on data). My daughter will move on from Cambridge, Massachusetts, soon. She graduated from MIT with a degree in environmental engineering with a heavy focus on computer science and data

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Combs ’94. We immediately exchanged the secret Knox handshake and told many Knox stories. Lloy is the director of aquatics and a personal trainer at the Michigan Shores Club in Wilmette, and has fond memories of her days in Galesburg … Once again I attended the famous (infamous) Phi Delt-FIJI golf outing. This year, approximately 35 golfers attended the event held in Wheeling, Illinois. Numerous classes were represented, including Steve Kaufman ’73; Tony Lee ’75; Chuck Czuprinski, George Pearce, Glenn Ruklic, and Tom Farrell from the Class of 1976; Tom Stelter ’77; Mike Calhoun ’78; Jim Straus ’78; Scott Luthy ’78; Tim Loch ’78; Paul Zucker ’78; Ray Albertina ’79; Bob Szyman ’79; Steven Laudel ’79; Bob Holshouser ’79; Howie Hagemaster ’79; and Scott Calhoun ’81, along with numerous members of the FIJI fraternity, including Norm Hillner ’79, Tom Bannos ’80, Joe Morrison ’79, Doug Duff ’78, Glen Thompson ’78, Jun Adachi ’81. The match once again came down to the ﬁnal hole, with the FIJIs narrowly retaining their trophy. ❯ Dave Chirbas writes me once in a while. His son attended Knox, and Dave likes to get together with Dan England ’75 for vacations. ❯ That’s all for now! As you can see, I could use a few notes for my next column. Class Correspondent: George M. Pearce 1114 Forest Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091-1655, 847-256-5968, george.pearce@hklaw.com

Phil “Cro” Singer ’77 and Paul Cimino ’76 at the Class of 1977’s 40th Reunion in October 2017.

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Tom Daker ’78 is still rooting against the Cubs. analytics. She has two (paid!) research projects this year. One capitalizes on her interest in politics/policy/data analytics and focuses on automatically evaluating local government transparency. The other, which she’s worked on for four years, tracks the evolution of bacteria and viruses as part of a marine microbiology project. This fall, she moves to London to work for Facebook as a data scientist (and her mom is dreaming that there will be a bed for her whenever she wants!).” Class Correspondent: Sarah Kaull 52 Ober Street, Beverly, MA 01915-4733, 978-810-0181, skaull@icex.com

1978

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Sad news from Nan Setterholm VanSandt: “Lynn Hier Verschage died on April 4; her husband, Mick, asked me to let the Knox community know about it. Lynn and I met at Whiting Hall in 1974. She was my roommate at Knox from 1975 until 1976. She left and got married, and I went on to nursing school at Rush in Chicago. Lynn was vibrantly healthy (and her usual gorgeous self!) until she had a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2009. Even after that, she still managed to enjoy a good and happy life—an inspiration to all who met her.” Nan adds, “As for me, I continue the

Chris Bohm Gavlin ’82 shared this photo of husband Tim Gavlin ’80, who she says is prepared for a post-retirement career as Willie Nelson’s stunt double.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

good life in Brownsville, Oregon. I still work as an oncology nurse, but our ever-more-convoluted healthcare system drives me crazy, and I REALLY look forward to retiring in a few years. My husband retired last year, so, for now, I am tied to my job to get health insurance. But enough griping! I love our giant garden, my herbs, my chickens, my bees, my hiking, my quilting, and my very first grandson (even if he is in Denver)! Oh, and I forgot to brag: Our younger son just completed a Ph.D. in agricultural economics at Colorado State University. He now works at Texas A&M. I see lots of travels in my future.” ❯ John Luthy is “busy working on a couple of rental properties and occasionally helping out (gratis) a former coworker who started her own auto repair franchise,” which allows him to stay connected to his love of automobiles. In fact, these activities have kept him so busy that he has not had time to focus on getting his home inspection business fully operational! Meanwhile, his son and daughter-in-law expect a baby in early January 2019. So, he will acquire another job title then—Grandpa! He is now perusing real estate listings in Colorado. ❯ Meanwhile, Darrell Merschak is busy with his successful internet venture (you can find him on LinkedIn or at www.cloudnetworkservices.net). When not working, he spends as much time as possible sailing. He extends an open invitation to all Class of ’78 alums to join him whenever you’re in Chicago. He looks forward to seeing everyone in the fall. ❯ Faith Miller had a June mini-reunion in Chicago (let’s call it a practice reunion) with Kathy Blaze Brown and Deborah Malk Hawkins. In August, she went on an Irish music cruise to Alaska and spent some time in Portland and Seattle. Unfortunately, her mother is now confined to a wheelchair and suffers from dementia so that takes up much of her time. ❯ Tom Daker looks forward to the Reunion. He’s had some unspecified health issue over the last six years, which he says Chris Pogue Allison can verify. But the good news is that he is a bit better and can hit a tennis ball again—and even do a flip turn in the pool. So, all you tennis players, bring your racquets and we can have a tournament, if you like getting beat by Tom just like old times. He still coaches volleyball and lives on the south side of Chicago. He runs into Becky Burton Range once in a while and reports she keeps busy with all her kids. Now, this next part is a direct quote from Tom, not me. In this era of vicious tweets and claims of fake news, I do not censor the news, and I am an Astros fan anyway and therefore don’t have a dog in this fight (although the Astros have been playing like dogs as I write this). Okay, so here it is verbatim from Tom, and remember I am just the messenger: He says he is still “rooting against the Cubs. Go Cardinals.” So, there you have it. I will let you all hash this out in October. ❯ Susan Hughey Walker reports that she and husband Marc Helmick are in the process of downsizing (I suspect many of us are—except my waistline). They

sold their home of 20 years and moved into a gated community not far from his Cadillac dealership. It has been a true test of their strength and fortitude, and they look forward to not doing it again any time soon. Their new address is: 8264 Riding Club Rd E, Jax, Florida 32256. ❯ Paul and Susan Haerr Zucker plan to be at Homecoming in October and hope others plan to attend. Paul says he needs to retire from retirement; he took on way too many volunteer assignments after he stopped working. He also by chance met Fernando ’77 and Nancy Zajicek Lulli on a sidewalk in Lincoln Park, Chicago, a few months ago. They were in the city to visit a new grandchild. Susan traded emails with Pam Berra Swafford, who also plans to be there along with Carol Shaffner Deitch. Susan has been busy planning travel adventures and trying to keep deer from eating the native garden she has created. ❯ And ﬁnally, I was able to see FIJI friends at Norm Hillner ’79’s house before the annual FIJI/ Phi Delt golf outing, although I was not able to stay for the golf (helping the FIJI’s chances considerably). Thanks to Norm and Bob Szyman ’79 for keeping that a strong event year after year. Here in Houston, we had a small gathering of alums at Dean Mento ’81’s house, with Pam Berra Swafford, her husband Wayne, and Tom Yarotsky ’77 in attendance. ❯ By the time this gets published, we will probably have already had our Reunion, and I want to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone for anything inappropriate that I said or did. Faithfully yours, David. Class Correspondent: David Bates 174 Haversham, Houston, TX 77024-6248, 713-722-0815, dbates@gardere.com

1979 Hey Gang! Sorry I didn’t write anything last issue, but I have a lot for you this time. Let’s get going. ❯ On the weekend after Father’s Day, we had the 7th Paul Brauer Memorial Golf Challenge, pitting the Phi Gamma Deltas against the Phi Delta Thetas. There were 35 representatives from ’74 to ’82 at the event at the Chevy Chase Country Club in Wheeling. Our class was represented by Norm Hillner, Bob Holshouser, Steve Laudel, Ray Albertina, Tom Bannos ’80, Jim Mocogni, Joe Morrison, and Bob Szyman. It’s a great time, and if any of the old Phi Delts or FIJIs want to attend next year, please mark your calendars. ❯ Facebook can be a wonderful thing for connecting to old classmates. I reached out and got three responses from Suzi Glotfelty, Karen Burge Fields, and Lane Hart. ❯ Suzi Glotfelty is a Laguna Beach, California, native but now lives and works in the NYC area. Living near an estuary in Central New Jersey, she casually dropped a few names of her neighbors: Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, and New Jersey governor Phil Murphy. Way after Knox, she earned a master’s degree in library and information science and works in higher education

Class Knox “Go Cardinals!”

1980 Class Correspondents: Roy Brandys 1818 Feather Nest Drive, Cedar Park, TX 78613-1414, brandys@barronadler.com Joe Moore 1431 West Fargo, Chicago, IL 60626-1810, 773-848-5796, joe@joemoore.org

1981 Class Correspondent: John Nicolau 930 Huckleberry Lane, Glenview, IL 60025-2302, 847-657-6311, j.nicolau@comcast.net

1982 Sharon Schillereff did such a great job of news collection at Homecoming, that I (Chris) don’t have too much to report. ❯ Congratulations to Kelly Norton Warner on her recent engagement to Mark Atkinson! ❯ Annette Andresen

O’Donnelly shared that daughter Gretchen, along with some of Gretchen’s friends, wrote and starred in ManDates: The Musical Revival! The musical was performed in Woodland Hills, California, in July, following a sell-out run last year. Break a leg, Grech! ❯ From Jeff Clark ’83: “Eighteen months ago, I left the education fundraising business to become director of development for Youth on Course, a national nonproﬁt that provides life-changing opportunities to youth through golf. Check us out at www.youthoncourse.org. I still get to help kids, but now with golf as the vehicle, and have had more fun than I deserve. Wife Dawn Davies Clark ’91 manages the inpatient diabetes program at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and is running half-marathons and other races. I also made a work trip to the Midwest and caught up with Tim and Chris Bohm Gavlin. Chris keeps Timmy in line as he works his retirement job as Willie Nelson’s stunt double (see the photo). Who knew he would have the best long hair among us? I also visited Indianapolis, where I spent an evening with David Anderson ’93, K Club president, online writer, and political activist. We are excited that David’s daughter Katie will attend Knox this fall. I also made my way home to Galesburg and tracked down Corinne and Roy Anderson at their home; they are still gracious hosts. I ran into Paul Steenis ’85—at a bar, of course—and got the complete rundown on the incoming class at Knox. The trip was made even better by my surprise visit to Harley Knosher. I caught up with him on the 11th green at Soangetaha, and we laughed and recalled lessons he had taught me over the years. We played in together, and they were the most fun seven holes of golf in recent memory. Go Knox.” Class Correspondents: Sharon L. Schillereff 7780 W 38th Ave., #404, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, 303-885-7185, Sschil7470@yahoo.com Chris Bohm Gavlin 4246 Howard Ave., Western Springs, IL 60558, 708-246-1419, cgavlin@gmail.com

two cats (KitKat and Cadha). We enjoy everything Minnesotan, including canoeing the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area), Lake Superior, and the Minneapolis skyways (me only)— but not as much the winters anymore. My husband was born in Minnesota, and his remaining family lives here, including his two sons, Dan and Andy. Our biggest travel plan this year was to take our Scamp (13' trailer made in Minnesota) across the U.S. in July/August to Yosemite, where we met up with son Dan and his new wife, Carole, to do some hiking. Our hope is to get up Mount Dana (53' shy of Yosemite’s highest peak), hike the Vernal/Nevada Falls trail, and go visit the newly reopened Mariposa Grove (with their massive Sequoia trees).” ❯ Deborah Dennis recently celebrated the ﬁrst birthday of her ﬁrst great-grandchild, Anselmaria Amunet Knisley, on May 6, 2018, with her two children, four grandchildren, and other family. Anselmaria is already a bookworm! ❯ Werner Holz took in a Cubs game with Ed Kemper ’85, Dan Hrozencik, and Mike Natarus ’85. “Cubs win, Cubs win! Afterward, we met Mike Boyd ’86 at his bar, A. J. Hudson’s in Wrigleyville and later hung out on Ed’s front porch. Great day with great friends.” ❯ Wish I had heard from more of you this time. I know, you’re saving it all for great conversations at our 35th Reunion, coming up in October! ❯ If you did not receive an email requesting information, please contact me so we can update our 1983 class list. Class Correspondent: Laura Thompson Sears 132 Heath Place, Westmont, IL 60559-2644, 312-899-1660, lsears@gouldratner.com

1984 Class Correspondent: Valerie Jencks P.O. Box 825, Downers Grove IL 60515, knoxcollege84@gmail.com

1983 Jesse Dabson reports that it’s “been a great year. Still reside in Rockford, Illinois, and see Jim Gesmer regularly. My eldest step-daughter got engaged, and the youngest one graduated with a master’s degree in architecture from The University of Texas. I continue to sell real estate in the area and act. I was third in overall sales for the company last year, and I was a guest star on Chicago PD. My wife and I are empty-nesters, except for the dog and three cats, all rescues. And I just had a wonderful weekend at the K Club golf outing with Scott Westerman ’84, Paul Harada, Craig Weber, and Jim Brown ’86. Happy to wake up each day and hope to see the whole class at our 35th this fall.” ❯ Tammy Mayer wrote in for the ﬁrst time ever! “I live in St. Paul, Minnesota, (just across the Mississippi River from Minneapolis) with husband Mike and

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fundraising in database and online research. She has been divorced for 20 years but has two children, both doing quite well on the West Coast. Suzi loves everything outdoors and is launching a website on her town’s historic homes. She wanted me to mention that she is grateful to Knox for the experience in France and still visits often. ❯ Bill and Karen Burge Fields have tried to grow old gracefully together, like a bottle of ﬁne wine (not like Two-Buck Chuck). They just celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary. Bill has worked at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis for 30 years running the laboratory. Karen earned a master’s degree in education and in theology and became an ordained United Methodist Church clergyperson. She joined Mercy Hospital 10 years ago to work with patient advocacy. She now serves as a chaplain for Mercy’s hospice program. She states that her passion has found her. Both Bill and Karen say the very best thing in their lives is their three beautiful daughters and six grandchildren. Nothing else matters as much. ❯ Lane Hart wrote that after 33 years in the IT world, he has retired to pursue “other interests.” From his description, it sounds like he is taking on alcoholism after a bike/barge trip and whiskey trip to Scotland (I’m jealous). He and his wife plan to visit Europe because daughters Margaret Hart ’12 and Kelly both work in the Netherlands. And so as not to leave anyone out, they will visit Washington, D.C., to see daughter Carolyn and the rest of the family. Lane moved to Denver about three years ago and loves the weather and the mountains, but they still travel to Chicago regularly. ❯ I’m waiting to hear back from Mitch Cohen (hint hint) … I’ll save him for the next issue. If you would like to contact me, look me up on Facebook and message me with a summary of your life. ❯ Start making your plans for our 40th Class Reunion in 2019! Class Correspondent: Brian Cox 21 Briarcliffe, Collinsville, IL 62234-2913, 618-406-7014 (cell), bjcox5257@att.net

Jeff Clark ’82 shares a moment with Coach Harley Knosher on the 11th green at the Soangetaha Country Club.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Casey Jones ’87 is now a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer having

1985

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Greetings, classmates: I heard from many of you recently. It is always special to receive correspondence from each of you. ❯ Matthew Westerberg, wrote, “I retired from the military after 28 years, having served in the Army, the U.S. Public Health service (Indian Health Service), Air Force, and Texas Air National Guard. I was active in responding to Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Gustav, and Harvey. I have also worked as a dentist in private practice in San Antonio for the last 18 years (I served my ﬁnal 18 years served as

reservist).” ❯ MaryAnn O’Brien wrote, “Update from China: I ‘graduated’ from being an elementary international school principal to a position as the academic affairs dean at Vanke Meisha Academy High School in Dameisha, Shenzhen Province, China. In my ﬁrst year, I led the school to full WASC [Western Association of Schools and Colleges] accreditation and developed STEAM programs for middle-school students. Most recent creation is the Ocean Explorer program for competitive sailing students. Needless to say, it has been a great experience for my daughters, ages 10 and 14!” ❯ Dee Dee Kinzie

Ella Petersen ’16, Eva Johnson Petersen ’85, and Sue Coates Plomin ’86 on a hike in Utah.

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Tedeschi wrote, “Tony Tedeschi ’83 and I recently moved to Detroit. I do pottery, and Tony runs the Detroit Medical Center. The kids are well. A.J., a lawyer, is married to Ellen, who is finishing a Ph.D. in psychology. Joey teaches high school science and coaches softball, and Tommy is a junior at Vanderbilt.” ❯ Paul ’84 and Charlotte Bell Crawford wrote: “The big news in our family is that son Alex graduated from Little Rock Central High School and has chosen to attend Knox College this fall. Paul and I are thrilled to be experiencing Knox from a whole new perspective as parents. Alex follows other family members who’ve attended Knox in years past, including an aunt and numerous cousins. I guess you can say Knox College is in our blood!” ❯ Lee James Wooley wrote, “James Gene Woolley ’18 graduated from Knox in June with double majors in computer science and history, only 33 years after his dad.” ❯ Margaret (Meg) Ryan has been in the news. Judge Ryan was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, a civilian court overseeing the military justice system, by President George W. Bush in 2006 for a 15-year term, and confirmed by the Senate through unanimous consent. Judge Ryan’s name was included in President Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court candidates following the death of Associate Justice Scalia and, more recently, upon the announced retirement of Associate Justice Kennedy. After graduating from Knox, Margaret served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1987 to 1999. Following service as a communications officer, including deployments to the Gulf and the Philippines, she attended law school under the Marine Corps Law Education Program at the University of Notre Dame Law School, graduating summa cum laude in 1995. Upon graduation, she served first as a Marine trial counsel and then as aide de camp to the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles C. Krulak. After leaving the Marine Corps in 1999, Margaret entered private practice in Washington, D.C., then served as a law clerk to both Judge J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Clarence Thomas. Prior to her current position she was a partner at both Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP and Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP. As Galesburg’s The Register-Mail recently reported, Professor Lane Sunderland speaks highly of his former student, “She would be up for the job, and I would also say based on my personal experience with her she is very bright and hard-working, and a dedicated public servant.” ❯ Finally, I heard from Thomas Rae, who shared terribly sad news: the devastating loss of his son. “After far too many years, Lisa Mensik and I married April 22, 2017. Tragically, we lost our son, Matt, at age 24 on May 19, 2018, due to an acute pulmonary embolism. Matt is greatly missed by us all, including mother Bridget Zaremba, brother Liam, his girlfriend, and many, many friends and family. Memorials may be made to VH1 Save The Music

Class Knox served two years in Uganda, East Africa. Foundation at vh1savethemusic.org.” Tom, we are so sorry to hear this heartbreaking news. Our sympathies go out to you and your entire family. Jane Davis and I appreciate that many of you are reaching out to share your news. Thank you. Class Correspondents: Margaret VerKoulen Lynn mvlynn@comcast.net Jane Davis jedavis_ill@hotmail.com

1986 Greetings, classmates! After a year of silence, in which apparently nothing significant happened to any of us, we are back with all the news of the Class of ’86 that you can use! So grab a cup of whatever you drink and settle in… ❯ Lisa Moorehead shared that one of the big highlights for her in 2018 was when she heard that Joanna Chodorowska ’87 ran across a 35-year-old drawing of Lisa that Joanna had created in Rick Ortner’s art class in 1983. The drawing was in perfect condition, and Joanna was kind enough to offer to ship it to her. Lisa and her family have been blown away by the similarity of the likeness and are so grateful Joanna took the time to reach out and share it. Lisa plans to display it prominently over one of the fireplace mantles in the home she shares with her servant-hearted and doting hubby Michael Robinson in Charlotte, North Carolina. Career-wise, Lisa has been at U.S. Bank in the global corporate trust area for almost 14 years and feels increasingly motivated to squeeze in a brand-new and different career challenge before retiring in a few years. One area she has explored is global trade, and she would be grateful to hear from any classmate(s) who have experience with commodities trading and are willing to share some thoughts about whether learning about trading is realistic at our “seasoned” age. Another of Lisa’s visions is to create high-quality, beautiful, spacious, and TRULY affordable housing for heroes and public servants (i.e., military veterans, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and public school teachers). Lisa would love to speak with anyone who wants to reach out to her if they have experience in housing development and/or are interested in talking about partnering to make something happen on this front. Finally, Lisa has a new bucket list goal to visit all seven continents before she retires the passport she doesn’t yet own (Antarctica will almost definitely be the last one she goes for). She said she’ll keep us posted each year, so we’ll be watching! ❯ Dr. Kendall Dunkelberg, professor of English and director of the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program at Mississippi University for Women, received the prestigious Kossen Faculty Excellence Award for 2017. His nomination cited Kendall’s dedication to innovative course creation and teaching, to his craft of creative writing, and to compassionate response to students, colleagues, and community. Congratulations, Kendall—we knew it all along! ❯ Mark

Gembara, our former class president, writes, “Hello, Knox friends! I just want to share a little bit about what’s going on in my life because that’s what people do after college. I still live in South Dakota and am trying to publish my books on Native American culture with Ascension Press and Ignatius Press. I’m not working myself to death over this or anything; it’s just a side job, really. The other thing is that I have written what I wanted to write, not what people might want to read, so that’s a big difference. Anyway, the main thing I want to share with you is this: I am very proud of daughter Kelly, who will study violin performance and music education at a prestigious school in Connecticut starting this fall. May God keep you all safe throughout the year.” And the same to you, Mark. ❯ Tom Jackson completed an M.A. in creative writing at Bradley University last spring. ❯ On a personal note, I (Susan Bantz) was both privileged and saddened to attend the ﬁnal days and death of my Phi Mu sister, Helen Gruetzmacher Schartz ’85, from metastatic breast cancer in late January. Also present were Janelle Rettig ’87 and Robin Butler ’85, as well as Helen’s husband Kevin. Helen was the mother of a son, Avery, and daughter, Emily Schartz ’21. Attending the funeral were all of us, plus Linda Kane ’85 and wife Liz Burnstine, and Gwen Vander Meulen Currid. Helen was a proud graduate of Knox, and we are all blessed to have known her. ❯ I look forward to hearing from you all over the coming months. The next deadline is in December—be thinking about what you’d like to share with your classmates, and then drop me a note! Class Correspondent: Susan Bantz 2012 Shady Lane, Muscatine, IA, 52761, 563-554-9213, bibliophile@knoxalumni.org

1987 Here is some news from our classmates: News from Kyna Byerly-Duke family: “Eldest son Eli just graduated from Vanderbilt and moved to Sacramento for a government job. Middle son Jacob is a chemistry major at Grinnell, and youngest Rachel graduated from high school and joins Jacob at Grinnell in the fall. We will be empty-nesters! How did this happen? I work as a laboratory genetic counselor for Mayo Clinic from a home ofﬁce, and husband Jeremy Duke ’90 continues his private counseling practice. We recently saw Barbara Kupperman O’Connor and family, who are well.” ❯ Casey Jones reports: “I’m now a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, having just ﬁnished two years in Uganda, East Africa, teaching nursing science with the Global Health Service Partnership at Muni University in Arua, West Nile. In September 2019, I will serve as a Coverdell Fellow at the Heller School in Global Health Policy and Management at Brandeis University in Boston. I will take the next year to make a little money nursing in California, living in Monterey living with Jeff ’82 and Dawn Davies Clark ’91. My quick trip through

Spain brought back many memories of our time there. How does 32 years pass in the blink of an eye?” ❯ Keith Nagel reports: “I lived in the Salt Lake City Area for 23 years after leaving Chicago and moved to Gilbert, Arizona, about a year and a half ago. I have two sons, ages 22 and 26; both also live in Arizona. Married to Lydia for 30 years in August! She went back to school and works as a certified vet tech. Seems like yesterday I met her at the FIJI party at Wesleyan. I’ve been in the insurance claims business for more than 30 years now, working in medical malpractice insurance for the past 15 or so years. I did spend some time going back to school myself and became a certified flight instructor in 2002. I left the Army Reserve back in 1995, shortly after promotion to captain. We love Arizona so far, living through our second 110-degree summer (we’re veterans now) and venturing into the desert in the cooler months via Jeep or motorcycle. Met up with Tom Burgess ’89 and wife Marly when we first moved here as well.” ❯ Amy Whistler Nykamp reports: “I enjoy life in Northern California (yes, despite the October fires that hit close to home) and have lived out here since graduating. Since January 2016, I have worked toward a master’s degree in library and information science from San Jose State University, which I should complete in May 2019. Besides that, my job of nearly 29 years at FICO (as in the FICO® score) continues, though I will leave once I have my degree and a library career. Youngest daughter Rachel graduated from high school this year. Eldest daughter Eleanor, who graduated from college last year, has worked for a few months for a local internet service provider as tech support. John and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary. The only dark spot recently has been my father’s passing on April 25. He was 95½ years old and loved very much by all of us. It was great to see so many fellow Knoxites from ’87 at Homecoming last year, and I look forward to the next time I can visit.” ❯ Joanna Chodorowska reports: “I wrote and published my first book, Messages of Love & Inspiration for Every Moment, this past November. I have merged the spiritual and emotional aspects of life into my holistic nutrition practice, Nutrition in Motion, and cannot believe I have had my own business for 14 years! I inspire athletes to perform at their best by nourishing the body and spirit, not just their sport. More can be found at nutrition-in-motion.net/my-books. I am sure there will be more, but need a few book signings and speaking engagements to get me into the big stage ... a TEDx talk! Still active in my sport of triathlon, but more now on the supportive side versus the competitor side. I still enjoy swimming, biking—not so much running—tennis, and yoga, so I stay active and learn how to age myself (and my clients) younger!” Class Correspondent: Lisabeth Simms Belman 12701 York Mill Lane, Clarksburg, MD 20871-4034, 301-972-3751, lisabeth1208@verizon.net

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Beth Middleton Voight ’93 observes, “My children are

1988 From Medha Deoras-Sutliff: “Husband Gary and I live in Granville, Ohio (near Columbus) and have four children: Jaya (24), Nik (22), Kieran (18), and Sejal (13). I moved into the breast cancer nonprofit world from public health state government about 10 years ago after my own breast cancer diagnosis. Currently, I’m on staff with the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) as their director, scientific affairs. NBCC focuses on public policy and legislative advocacy that include priorities around funding for breast cancer research, providing access to health care and clinical trials, and expanding the influence of breast cancer advocates in all aspects of the breast cancer decision-making process. The mission of the organization is simple: to end breast cancer. It’s really been an amazing, challenging, rewarding journey for me since Knox! If there are any alumni out there wanting to connect, reach out to me at mdsutliff@breastcancerdeadline2020.org.” ❯ In December 2017, Raymond C. Gilman graduated from a joint program from Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College and United Theological Seminary of Dayton, Ohio, with a master of divinity degree. He has since completed all necessary steps and was robed and formally received as an elder. In July 2018, Pastor Gilman began a new appointment as the pastor of the Clarence Center United Methodist Church outside of Buffalo, New York. ❯ April Lander and husband Bruce McLaren were appointed as justices of the peace by the Governor General of New Zealand and are the first married couple to be sworn in at the same time. Justices of the peace are authorized to witness and sign statutory declarations and affidavits, certify documents, perform citizenship ceremonies, and perform other ministerial and judicial tasks. ❯ I regularly see Nick and Laura Panszczyk Trnka ’89 in Batavia at track and field events. We share stories of our kids’ sports feats

and reminisce about Knox, Flunk Day, and college friends. If you haven’t reached out to me in a long time or ever, now’s the time. Send a brief note. ❯ Finally, if anyone has any interest in even thinking about being the class correspondent, please let me know. I have done it for some time, and new blood and new circles of engagement are always good. ❯ Love and blessings to you all. I miss you all very much and look forward to our Reunion this year! Thirty years! How is THAT possible?! Class Correspondent: Gayle Pikrone Richardson 1220 Crestview Drive, Batavia, IL 60510-1180, gayle.richardson35@gmail.com

1989 We got a note from Teresa Haptonstahl Jackson ’64 about son Steve Jackson: He was just named the Carl Sandburg College Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year. “He is not one to toot his own horn,” she admits. “That’s for parents to do, I guess! He has an interesting career these days. Music director at First Christian Church; adjunct teaching at Sandburg, Monmouth, and Lincoln Colleges; plus directing the string program at Costa Academy. Plus, of course, he plays a lot of gigs in the area as both a cellist and bassist. He earned a D.M.A. in jazz studies from University of Illinois in 2009. And, I can tell you, he keeps very busy!” ❯ Do something nice for your parents and share some news with us! Class Correspondent: Mia Jiganti 1850 W. Cortland, Chicago, IL 60622-1035, 773-278-0814, mjiganti@prodigy.net

1990 Class Correspondent: Darcy Turner 520 Colony Woods Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, bonetbien1@nc.rr.com

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1991

Indira Somani ’92 (front left) with (l-r) Soumitra Thorat ’19 and Knox faculty.

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Colonel Julian Bond writes: “After 27 years of service in the United States Army (three deployments, 12 moves), I will retire and transition into a senior position in the federal government. My new job is as chief supply chain officer, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Time flies when you are serving others before self!” ❯ Christine Purtell Deblock writes, “Our family made a very sudden decision to move from Salem, Oregon, to Camas, Washington. In less than two months, we house-hunted, made an offer, closed, and moved. We are now officially Washington residents. Of course, it had to happen the one year we will have a kid at each level of school—one high schooler, one middle schooler, and one in elementary—meaning we have to learn three new schools in a new district. The move will allow us to be closer to my mother-in-law, who needs more help as she ages. I will have to get used to pumping my own gas again; I’ve been spoiled for 16 years. In other

news, I recently attended Girija Gullapalli’s wedding in Illinois. It was such a lovely event, and I was honored to be there to celebrate with her and her wonderful new husband.” ❯ Marc Saphir writes, “Greetings from Monrovia, Liberia! I am the senior defense ofﬁcial/defense attaché (SDO/DATT) at the U.S. Embassy here, halfway through a two-year tour. After almost 25 years of working in and around Latin America, this is a nice professional change. After 27 years of service, this will be my last Army assignment, as I will retire upon returning to the U.S. next summer/fall. In 1991, my plan was to do a couple of years in the Army and than do something else. I still haven’t found the “other else.” But this completely unplanned career path has truly been the best adventure. Now I am ready to move on to the next great adventure. Upon returning to the U.S., I will be in Washington, D.C., for summer/fall 2018. After that, who knows?” ❯ Summer in Chicago is great, in between the torrential downpours and the blistering heat and humidity. We have enjoyed some nice family time with our 8-year-old daughter and newest child Ethan, who’s 7 months old as of July. My standing desk chair ergonomic product company (ergoimpact.com) has come along well. It’s a beast to develop and market products designed to encourage a change in habits from something we’ve all done for our whole life (sitting) to standing and moving at work. Riding the healthy trend, though. My goal this summer is to spend more time enjoying some outdoor concerts at our neighborhood fest, Ravinia. Class Correspondent: Jonathan Sheinkop 260 Cary Ave, Highland Park, IL 60035, jonathansheinkop@hotmail.com

1992 Beth Czechowski Cox writes: “Josh Cox ’94 and I moved to Iowa City in February for my new job—head of the cataloging-metadata department at the University of Iowa Libraries. I love my new job and co-workers, and we really enjoy Iowa City.” ❯ Indira S. Somani writes, “I was promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at Howard University’s Cathy Hughes School of Communication, Washington, D.C. My second documentary ﬁlm, Life on the Ganges (lifeontheganges.wordpress.com), is now in DVD distribution through New Day Films (newday.com). Prior to that it screened at ﬁlm festivals in the U.S., plus festivals in Berlin, Cannes, and Mumbai. However, last spring, I was most proud to hear from Dr. Nancy Eberhardt, who asked if I would serve as the external examiner for a Knox student’s honors project. Soumitra Thorat ’19 from Pune, India, produced a thesis called, “Learning to Use WhatsApp in India: An Ethnographic Study of Instant Messaging in Pune.” It was most rewarding to return to campus, meet Soumitra, his other committee members and give back to Knox. I also visited the A.B.L.E. House to honor

Class Knox all middle-school age, which means drama reigns in the house.”

1993 Hi, Classmates. Thanks for all the replies to my Homecoming attendance survey. I look forward to getting lots of in-person updates. If you haven’t already, ﬁnd our class page on Facebook—if you can’t attend Homecoming, you can still get in on the action as we post updates and pictures from the event. ❯ Malinda Heerwagen Riley: “I am in! Look forward to seeing you and others!” ❯ Jean Anderson O’Brien: “In for Homecoming!” ❯ Aimee Petersen Schnabel: “I’m in for Homecoming!” ❯ Jennifer Deacon Shriver: “Don Shriver and I will be there with two of our three kids. We know Dave Kang is coming, as well as Jeff Foss and family.” ❯ Darren Smith: “I plan to come in from California for the weekend. I don’t have ﬂights booked yet, but that’s still the plan. I hope we get a good turnout!” ❯ Beth Middleton Voigt: “I will be at Homecoming in October. I currently work as an interim associate pastor for an ELCA [Evangelical Lutheran Church in America] church in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. My children are all middle-school age, which means drama reigns in the house. Because I am lazy, I have challenged myself to enter some kind of physical race/challenge each month of 2018. Recently completed are an evening trail run with headlamps and a polar bear plunge in March. Brrr. Except it was 50 degrees. In Northern Wisconsin. I look forward to seeing EVERYONE in October.” ❯ Sreedhar Yedavalli: “I miss you. All of you. After a long weekend of cleaning and parenting, I will sit on my back patio with a Shiner Bock and my thoughts, and my thoughts harken back to my time at Knox. And I think of you. Some of you have become faces in a hazy crowd at a party. Others of you are fellow sisters and brothers tasked to roam the military-industrial design of the Science and Math Center, looking for inductive reasons for why things are. Still more of you are fellow musicians and artists, seeking the same understanding of the world through sound, sight, dance, or drama. And then, there are the relationships I have cultivated over the years through reengagement and serendipity after Knox. I cherish them all. Usually, the Class Note is a chance to say how well things are going, how my family is doing, and how successful I’ve become in my chosen profession. But, I can do that in person, with you. I will be at our 25th Reunion on the weekend of October 19-21, 2018. I would like to see all of you and talk to each one of you about

your wellness, your family, and your professional successes. Come hang out. Let us wax nostalgic together.” ❯ Craig Choma: “Not much new on my end. I still teach theatrical design at Knox, which means I am definitely ‘in for Homecoming!’ My daughters are 14 (Amber) and 11 (Autumn) and are both transitioning to new schools this fall (high school and junior high, respectively.) I am happily married for 18 years as of this summer (July 22). Life is swell!” ❯ Heidi Stevens Early: “I’m all in for Homecoming; I purchased the train tickets and made reservations.” ❯ Kyle Anderson: “Not much going on to report, but I will attend the Knox Reunion.” ❯ Katie Dalpes Thomas: “I’m IN—plane ticket purchased, hotel reservation made, and I’ve dug out my purple and gold apparel. I look forward to seeing everyone, and I cannot believe it’s our 25th(!). I live in Denver, which is now the desert (100 degrees today). I’m the director of college counseling at one of Denver’s two independent college-preparatory schools. I’ve been at the school for 15 years (teaching Spanish and French before moving into a college counseling role). My son just turned 16, which hardly seems possible. He will get to see his mother in action these next two years as he goes through the college process; it will be interesting indeed. I hope to see the Class of 1993 turn out in record numbers this October. Galesburg had better get ready for us!” ❯ Michele Knickrehm: “In for Homecoming!” ❯ Jenn Anderson: “Greetings all from the Arizona/Mexico border! I am a ‘probably not’ for Homecoming, although as always, I will be thinking of all the wonderful Knox people and memories, and I refuse to be a ‘definite no’ until the last minute :). Moving again—moved at least five times in the last seven years. This seemed easier in my 20s & 30s! One move included (finally) relocating from Minneapolis back to the desert scrub climate in Bisbee. At my last rental, I could literally open my front door and look into Mexico from my house (not some Sarah Palin s—-, b———-!). I would send a picture if I were more tech-savvy; this Luddite is getting there, but I just got my first smart phone last month. I think I can settle at this place ... a friend was here from Austin, Texas, helping me to start my garden, while others are busy painting the exterior a nonpastel lilac with turquoise trim and bright orange accents. I’ve been told there will be polka dots in my future, still a work in progress, but I am thrilled. It’s a big house by Bisbee standards, not a lot of room, but guests are welcome :). I continue to telecommute part-time with an arts center I co-founded a while back in St. Paul, Minnesota. We have had the pleasure of serving Twin Cities’ residents with disability waivers, in an inclusive adult day care environment that focuses on visual and performing arts experiences for people who are inspired by the arts but cannot access mentors in the traditional world … I know, hard to explain, but look up Anodyne Arts on Facebook. Best wishes to all of you and your families, may you continue to find joy! ’Til we meet again ...” ❯

Sameer Jain: “Brenn Baker Jain and I are ‘maybe’ for Homecoming. We look forward to seeing everyone.” ❯ Jeff Meeker: “‘Maybe’ in for Saturday evening only.” ❯ Monique Restituyo: “‘Maybe’ for Homecoming.” ❯ Sumit Chawla: “I am a ‘maybe’ at this point for Homecoming.” ❯ Alexander Werre: “Alas, I am a ‘no’ for Homecoming.” ❯ Paul Morita: “I’m not going to make it to the Reunion this year.” ❯ Randi Stouffer: “‘No’ for Homecoming. :(” ❯ Matt Mayes: “Heya! Hope all’s been well. I’m a no-go for Homecoming this year. For the past few years, I’ve worked as a senior developer for Highwire Press doing website mumbo-jumbo for scholarly publications. I’m still into music but have been practicing more guitar than drums lately. Wife Meg Rutledge ’01 and I are still in Chicago, and have enjoyed our ancient two-ﬂat (repairs, renovations, and other various surprises) for more than 10 years now! Cheers and hope this ﬁnds everyone well :)” Class Correspondent: Rebecca Gillan Ballard rballard@knoxalumni.org

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and celebrate its 50th anniversary on campus, where I ﬁnally reconnected with friend and mentor Professor Robin Metz.” Class Correspondents: Celine Gura Matthiessen 6417 Marlar, The Colony, TX 75056-7119, 469-384-1805, celmatthiessen@hotmail.com Tammy Thorsen Ragnini 912 S. Summit, Barrington, IL 60010-5057, 847-382-4022, rragnini1@yahoo.com

Marc Safman ’94 and Marlana Sikes Bense ’93 got together in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in August 2017 to see the sites and attend the Santa Fe Opera. Marlana’s daughter, Katie Bense, took this photo of the two of them.

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Kip Conwell ’98 wonders if anyone remembers the bats Kirstin Eidenbach ’98 Lawyer Dedicates Career to Prison System Reform Kirstin Eidenbach ’98 was working at the international law firm Perkins Coie when she was asked to take on a pro bono case investigating medical and mental health care in Arizona’s prisons. Though she already had a full docket of pro bono cases, primarily dealing with LGBTQA issues, she took on the case. It was a decision that would alter the course of her career. One of her first interviews was with a 30-year-old man serving a short sentence for DUI. The man had an untreated cut that become infected, and when Eidenbach met him, septic shock had progressed to the point that he could no longer speak. He died three days after she met him. "What should have been a short sentence for a healthy young man turned into a death sentence because he didn’t have access to the most basic healthcare.” That case and many like it led Eidenbach to found the Arizona Transformative Law and Social (ATLaS) Justice Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing systemic change to Arizona’s prison systems. What have you accomplished thus far in your career that you are most proud of? I wouldn’t say there is a single accomplishment in my career that I am most proud of, other than my good fortune to have been able to construct a career around helping some of the most marginalized people in our country.

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What is the biggest change that you would like to see in our current prison system? We’ve seen in many European countries that the most effective correctional institutions are those that retain a sense of humanity, that foster mentorship and friendship between guards and prisoners, and that closely reflect the society to which prisoners will return after serving their sentence. American corrections does the opposite of these things, and that is why we have such grossly high rates of recidivism. Prison reform is a multi-layered, very complex issue, but if we approach it using these two touchstones, we will be well on our way toward remedying our system’s most egregious failures. How did your experience at Knox prepare you for the work you’re doing today? Knox remains at the heart of all my professional endeavors. At Knox, I learned to question the boxes I built for myself, to push myself far out of my comfort zone, and to have confidence that even if the path wasn’t clear, my intuition and intelligence would guide me in the right direction. I left Knox knowing it was okay—great, even— to not fit into a professional mold. My career now is far from ordinary, and much of it requires me to map my own way, to create new paths, and to trust that I won't get lost. My time at Knox is certainly part of what makes this possible.

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1994 Class of 1994! Where are you?? Social media engulfs us on a daily basis, and now it has apparently swallowed the tradition of Knox Magazine updates. Ralph, Bob, and I will carry you all this time. Next time, you can inundate me with yarns of graduations, trips, weddings, and alumni meetups with relaxed nostalgia. ❯ From Ralph Pennel: “Last spring, I accepted a full-time lecturer position at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where I teach creative writing (poetry) and expository writing. I also moved from Somerville to Cambridge. So, lots of life changes. I live right off the Charles River now, which seems to make everything just a little brighter for some reason. I continue to work on my next poetry manuscript, which I hope to have completed by summer’s end.” ❯ Bob Connour writes, “I graduated from Knox with a biology degree and then went on to earn a master’s degree from Western Illinois in 1998. I have been a faculty member at Owens Community College in Northwest Ohio since fall 2000. In that time, I have developed several courses and published several lab manuals, as well as serving on the board of directors for local environmental and conservation groups. I recently headed up the Bee Campus USA initiative at Owens and thought it might be something Knox would be interested in pursuing, too. Learn more at beecityusa.com.” ❯ From me: Instead of an international trek like our family vacation to Japan last summer, we elected for stateside fun in Maine this year. Some of you might remember my family went up to Bar Harbor for my dad’s job every summer when I was a kid. As an adult, I’ve taken long breaks from visiting. My kids ran like a pack of wild dogs in the nearby forest with cousins, the salty wisps of ocean breeze cool and humid. Hope you all had a great summer. Class Correspondent: Lisa Preston-Hsu 217-649-7889, story.of.a.kitchen@gmail.com

1995

Remember to stay connected through our Facebook Group — Knox College Class of ’95. ❯ Julie Burdette Leonard works for her local community college in rural Arizona. She specializes in managing federal grants. She has recently wrapped up a four-year, $10 million grant and will begin managing a new grant program soon. Her three girls are all in high school—ninth, 10th, and 12th grades. It is a challenge to juggle their busy schedules. She and husband Dan are also youth pastors at their church. They celebrated their 19th anniversary in June. ❯ Rob Clark moved from Iowa back to Bay City, Michigan, with wife Claire and their four children. He works as the director of communications and community relations for Michigan Sugar Company, a grower-owned cooperative with nearly 1,000 farm families annually planting and harvesting sugar beets. He had given his heart and

Class Knox from the attic of GDH, by WVKC? soul to his journalism career for many years, but it was time to do something different. He feels fortunate to have found a wonderful company to work in a place the he loves. Their boys—Owen (14), August (11), Asher (9), and Ellis (6)—have grown up quickly and keep them running constantly. He looks forward to being back at Knox in October for Homecoming and in February for the 25th Annual Natalie Veneziano ’98 Winter Whiteout Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. They have some exciting things in the works for that! ❯ Mimi Doyle Russell is enrolled in the Master of Arts in teaching program at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee. She has only 18 credit hours remaining until she will be certified to teach middle school English language arts. She has mostly enjoyed her classes but will be happy once finished. Her daughter graduated from eighth grade this past year, and her son completed fifth grade. Husband Charlie continues to work hard at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She plans to run the St. Jude HalfMarathon in December. ❯ Regine Rousseau has a new book, Searching for Cloves and Lilies: The Wine Edition, available on Amazon. The book includes portraits of her friends and family and reflects upon her experiences with love and loss. “I have been working on this second edition of Searching for Cloves and Lilies for the past year. Please purchase a copy (or 20!) and review on Amazon.” ❯ John McCurdy has completed a 13th year teaching history at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. He was promoted to full professor, and his second book will be out next year. Life in Michigan is good. He and his partner—a history professor at another university— celebrated seven years together in July. He occasionally sees Matthew Richardson ’94 in Ypsilanti. ❯ Finally, Daniel Polley ’97 and I are headed to Scotland in celebration of our 25 years of friendship. Class Correspondent: Rev. Nicole Havelka revnhavelka@gmail.com Facebook, Twitter: @revnhavelka

1996 Class Correspondent: Kathryn Dix Biallas 1418 East Colter Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014, 602-944-7466, kathybiallas@gmail.com

1997 Amy Falasz-Peterson shares that, among the 55-person staff at the Deerfield Library, four are Knox alumni—from the Classes of 1985, 1997, 1998, and 2000. They recently used their Knox connections to interview J.R. Jones ’85, film editor of Chicago Reader, on the library’s podcast. You can listen here: deerfieldlibrary.org/2018/03/j-rjones/ ❯ Jeremy Baldridge passed away unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism during a sunny morning walk in his neighborhood on May 4, 2018. After graduating from Knox with a degree in creative writing, he earned three master’s

degrees in business from Keller. He worked for for the Ray Graham Association, Lucent Technologies, and McCain Foods. From the age of 7, Jeremy had a passion for role-playing games and enjoyed building worlds and creating adventures for characters. He will be missed. Class Correspondent: Josh Mika 6619 Mountain Ridge Pass, Plainfield, IL 60586-2844, jrmika@gmail.com

but as we were relaxing on the slope, we saw bats ﬂying overhead. We tossed a frisbee and the bats swooped across the frisbee’s ﬂight path. It seemed like magic how they played with us. It was simple fun, and maybe not all that nice for the bats (we weren’t tossing anything they’d really want), but it was an experience I’ll not soon forget. Class Correspondent: Kip Conwell kipconwell@gmail.com

1998

1999

It’s a special opportunity to check in at 20 years post graduation. We’ve been through a lot to get here. So let’s take a moment to appreciate each other, all that we’ve accomplished, and our alma mater that has given us so many fond memories. ❯ Tim J. Lord: “I received a couple of playwriting fellowships in 2017—a Jerome Fellowship from the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, which I completed this June, and the Apothetae-Lark Fellowship for a playwright with a disability. That’s a two-year fellowship that will last through fall 2019 and includes a production grant to encourage a theatre to produce one of my plays. Wife Nicole was recently named the new associate artistic director at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland, so we’re pulling up stakes again to make the D.C. area home. I would have come back for our 20th, but we’ll be at the Festival of Independent Theatre in Bulgaria at that time. Hope everyone is well!” ❯ Debra De Crane: “I am still in IT at Knox, working on year 28. I volunteer on campus for ‘Midnight Breakfast’ and ‘Pause for Paws’ regularly. Off-campus, we volunteer for Galesburg events, including Run Galesburg Run and the Hot Air Balloon Festival, and have embraced the balloon rides. Life is good for us.” ❯ Autumn Anderson: “I’ve worked in the pharmaceutical industry in the Chicago area for more than 15 years (mostly in the quality area) and currently live in Evanston with partner Pablo. We love to travel and have spent time in Spain the last few summers in addition to time in other European countries and all around North America visiting friends and relatives. I’ve been a vegetarian for more than ﬁve years now and love exploring different cultures through food and art when we travel.” ❯ Sam LeDeaux: “I still live in the west ’burbs of Chicago, and am still a middle school administrator in the southwest ’burbs. I coach high school football in the summer/fall seasons and also coach 7 v 7 football during the off-seasons. My 7 v 7 team, Midwest Boom, is widely recognized as the premier organization in the country, and this summer we were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. We are the ﬁrst and only high school organization in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was a great event, and one I’ll always remember and be proud of!” ❯ Remember the bats from the attic of GDH (by WVKC)? I wonder if they were football fans. I won’t recount the circumstances that brought me into the Knosher Bowl one warm fall evening,

After more than 15 years in Southwest Wisconsin, Kevin Kihslinger and I (and the kiddos) have started a new adventure as we move to New Hampshire. Very exciting! ❯ Will Lion ’00 married Krisztina Nagy of Hungary on Aero Island, Denmark on April 7. Will and Kriszta were joined by close friends and family for the joyous event. ❯ Sarah Gortenburg works as a supervisor for youth and family at the Fairfax County community services board. ❯ Jessie Jurgens Salsbury reports: “My play Adoption of Grief won Olathe Civic Theatre’s New Works Playwriting Competition, and my play Route 84 House Fire was featured in Midwest Dramatists Center 2017 Conference, Speak Out!, and Barn Players 2017 6x10 Festival. I still write with the 365 Women a Year project and work in HR during the day. Loved seeing Robin and Liz Carlin Metz when they came to Kansas City on the Creative Writing 50th anniversary tour. ❯ Jenny Seidelman is pleased to share that she recently changed jobs and is now director of corporate partnerships at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where she oversees all corporate, foundation, and government fundraising. She’s excited to return to her first love, the theatre, after several years at opera and music organizations in the Chicago area. ❯ Amanda Weimer Ziehm reports: “My husband and I moved with our two kids (8 and 6 years old) from Dallas to Arlington, Virginia—just outside of Washington, D.C.—last summer. We have enjoyed exploring our nation’s capital.” ❯ Alissa Wells Czyz is an assistant director in the defense capabilities and management team at the Government Accountability Office, where she is busy evaluating the F-35 fighter jet and other military programs. Jason Czyz is the chief financial officer at the Institute of International Education (IIE), which is the primary implementer of the Fulbright program on behalf of the Department of State as well as a variety of other international exchange and rescue programs. They have a 5year-old son, Alexander, and 3-year-old daughter, Ella. ❯ Thys Meyer recently returned from a long trip home to South Africa to visit family. Class Correspondent: Valerie Saks Kihslinger S3042 W. Salem Ridge Rd., La Farge, WI 54639, 608-268-6903, vsaks@hotmail.com

2000 Class Correspondent: Jennifer Parker parker_jen78@yahoo.com

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After a recent trip to Belgium, Kathryn Sweet ’08 says, “Sorry,

2001 Class Correspondent: Allison Honaker allisonhonaker@hotmail.com

2002 Jennifer Kuschel Johnson and husband Travis welcomed their first child, Henry Arthur Johnson, on May 25. They’re excited for this new adventure as a family of three! ❯ Amy Jo Lawin successfully retired from restaurants and enjoys life in her cabin, working a nine-to-five. She says life is grand! ❯ Martha Brislen Byrne writes, “I’m still in Santa Rosa, California, and luckily did not lose my home in last October’s terrible fires. In June and July 2018, I got to see many of our classmates as I drove coast to coast with my family. For the first time in a long time, I’m in the same place as I was the last time I wrote an update, and I have no plans to move anywhere else. We’re in the heart of wine country, and it’s amazing. Come visit!” ❯ Courtney Wiles and husband John relocated from Illinois to Nevada. Courtney teaches fifth grade in Las Vegas. Class Correspondent: Jennifer Wreyford 1700 Bassett Street, #407, Denver, CO 80202, 813-482-4112, jwreyford@gmail.com

2003

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Terry Hagio joined thousands of other participants for AIDS/LifeCycle in June—a seven-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles that has become the world’s largest annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser. This was her ﬁrst time riding in the event. “I wanted to do my part

Ryan Cash ’09 “chases rings in San Francisco.”

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to see an end to AIDS. With the money I’ve raised, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation can continue to provide critical services for people living with HIV or AIDS and prevent new infections through programs, services, and education.” Class Correspondent: Allison O’Mahen Malcom 8134 Gridley Avenue, Wauwatosa, WI 53213-3049, allison.o.malcom@gmail.com

2004 Class Correspondent: Susan C. Vitous Johnson 1312 Iles Avenue, Belvidere, IL 61008-1407, susanvitousjohnson@yahoo.com

2005 Jon Betts tells us, “Things continue to be busy for the Betts family, and life is good! So many highlights, but certainly nothing compares to catching up with the incomparable Saurabh Shende ’03 while in Boston. ‘Faster & faster!’” ❯ Ashley Steinsdoerfer Gottlieb and husband Jeff moved to Reno, Nevada, from Chicago, Illinois, this past spring. Ashley writes, “This move is a big change for us, as we’re both Chicagoland natives and have spent our entire lives in the Midwest. We’ve always loved the mountains, and when the perfect opportunity fell in our laps, we knew we couldn’t miss this adventure. We also started off the year with a breathtaking two-week road trip across New Zealand, so 2018 is shaping up to be a very memorable year!” ❯ Matt Koch started a new position as a solution architect with Slalom Consulting. He will travel more and help some cool companies build even more awesome software. ❯ Briana Trainor Menconi and husband Ken welcomed a baby girl, Makayla Marie, in January. Big brother Michael adores her, and they now enjoy life as a family of four. ❯ Kira Horel Omelchenko writes, “Husband Stas and I celebrated our ﬁfth anniversary last December. Life is busy yet exciting! I just received tenure and promotion to associate professor of music at Florida Southern College and received the Miller Distinguished Faculty of the Year Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching, service, scholarship, and advising! This summer has been adventurous for us. I was in Europe for three weeks, where I guest-conducted in Bulgaria and Portugal and served as guest faculty at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), where I worked with their orchestra and graduate students. Hugs to all and Go Knox!” ❯ Jeanine Rainey published an article on ScaryMommy.com titled “How Bruno Mars Gave My Son a Voice,” chronicling her family’s struggle with son Nate’s apraxia diagnosis. Starting this fall, Jeanine will be the academic interventionist for Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, which she tells us “is really cool because in the fall the school will partner with Marzano Research Institute to become the only Marzano academy high school in the world!

Anybody in education knows the name Dr. Marzano, so it’s a great time to be at Proviso as we rewrite history and break records!” ❯ In the past year, Jason Rogers accepted a new position as director of development at a nonproﬁt focused on human services in Hickory, North Carolina. Wife Rikki completed her master’s degree at Appalachian State University and accepted a position as a school social worker in Alexander County, North Carolina. To top off a year of changes, they became a licensed foster family, hoping to love and support some families that are going through tough times. As of right now, their family of ﬁve has temporarily become a family of six. ❯ On May 12, Rachel Unger Curry married Ryan Curry on Arsenal Island in Rock Island, Illinois, surrounded by many of their loved ones. Class Correspondents: Marissa Parkin moeparkin@gmail.com Ashley Steinsdoerfer Gottlieb 815-245-3648, agsteinsdoerfer@aol.com

2006 Rachel Baddorf has published her ﬁrst novel, A Glimmer on the Blade, available in trade paperback, hardcover, and digital formats. The fantasy story centers on the story of Anoni, who has spent years training as a warrior after being exiled by the prince she loved. “Disguised as a man and armed with magic relics, Anoni inﬁltrates the prince’s personal bodyguards” to help him bring back an offering from the Goddess and assume his rightful throne. Purchase it online at Amazon.com. Class Correspondent: Megan Rehberg megan.rehberg@gmail.com

2007

Greetings, Class of 2007! It’s been 11 years— where does the time go!? ❯ Farah Ahed and Hasan Rahimtoola welcomed little Ayla Rahimtoola, born on April 25. ❯ Lindsay Fondow shares, “My husband and I welcomed a baby girl, Malia Robin Kiser, to our family on March 17, 2018! We somehow feel outnumbered with two children under 3 (big sis Natalie is 2.5) but have tried to savor this ﬂeeting time.” ❯ Joshua Franklin graduated from Michigan State University College of Law this spring (magna cum laude). He took a job in June as a law clerk for Judge Buchanan at the district court in Lansing, Michigan. ❯ Emily Hart still teaches middle school math and instructional coaching in Denver, Colorado. Whenever she gets a chance, she travels to the mountains outside her home in Boulder or road-trips to national parks. So far she’s visited 38 U.S. parks and ﬁve in Canada, all on her own. Emily also started to do some travel writing documenting her experiences. ❯ Kelsey Jensen writes, “Hello, fellow Knoxies! I still work in international development, primarily within communications and grants management/donor reporting. After spending the last few years working for several different NGOs in

Class Knox Galesburg Chocolate Festival, you’ve got nothing on Bruges.”

2008 A. Hamed Aziz joined Heartland Alliance International, a Chicago-based human rights organization, in November 2017, and traveled to Armenia, Lebanon, Iraq, and Germany in 2018. ❯

Adriana Greising Crawford says, “I’m still in Madison—big news for us was Carl’s arrival last September! He’s a pretty great baby.” ❯ Jessica Strache Brandis says, “Husband Chris and I welcomed our first baby, Faye Christina Linda Brandis, into the world on June 24! She is the sweetest little baby, and we are so in love!!” ❯ Matt Allis recently moved out to Portland, Oregon, with wife Audra Adolph Bair ’09 after accepting an on-site position with his current employer, Cartus, at Nike World Headquarters. They also expect their first child in November! ❯ Wil Anderson says, “Some things never change: I would still rather have Taco Bell than eat at most Michelin-starred restaurants. I am 32 years old with zero cavities, exercise five days a week, look good ... except for a grey beard and being halfway bald. At this rate, I can dress up as Santa for my brother’s kids in a few years. Brother Alex (former honorary Knox student six or seven weekends a year) has two kids, and I am known to my niece as ‘Winkle.’ ‘Uncle Wil’ is a tongue twister. I am working on overhauling the family business model that hasn’t changed in probably 60 years. It’s tough but rewarding—keeping up with digital trends is where it’s at. My grandma (also a Knox alum) still asks me why I didn’t marry a ‘nice Knox girl.’ Westworld is pretty neat.” ❯ Sarah Hasse and husband James Blaszak (longtime friend of her roomie, Alison Tomchik) celebrated five years of marriage. They recently spent a bit of time in Galesburg, and the Landmark is still just as good as she remembers! This fall, she celebrates three years working for her graduate school alma mater, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her students keep her young and remind her of our time at Knox constantly! ❯ Neha Bhatnagar loves being married and doing domestic and wifey chores! She is now in Brisbane, Australia, and will divide time between there and India. Her international work engagements continue (though at a slower pace), and she recently toured Fiji and Liverpool for her art. But her more fun engagements are snorkelling, hiking, biking, and exploring the beautiful locales of Eastern Australia! ❯ Benjamin Fitzpatrick and wife Chelsea De Jonge ’10 bought a house! He expects to finish his master’s degree this year. He also got tenure this year, which is cool. The couple has planned a trip to Ireland. They still get to see Knox friends at plenty of Ultimate outings and weddings. Aside from actual signs of aging, this 10th year has been great! ❯ Kathryn Sweet says, “I just celebrated one year at Duo Security! In April, I got to spend a week exploring Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany; I walked more than 75 miles and ate an unreasonable amount of chocolate! Sorry, Galesburg Chocolate Festival, you’ve got nothing on Bruges.” ❯ Laura Heggs lives in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and works for a digital higher education company and as a yoga teacher. ❯ Marius Tan and wife Stephanie moved to Bloemendaal (a beach town 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam) last year, where they enjoy the good life with 10-month-

old son Tijmen. Marius still works at Heineken in marketing. ❯ Magdalena Tortoriello says, “I finished my MFA in costume technology at Indiana University in 2017. I was one of the first two graduates out of the program, which was introduced in 2014. I started a new job as draper at Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana, last summer.” ❯ Erica Stringfellow Tully recently spent a very awesome weekend hanging out with Miriam Gillan, Becca Ganster, Brian Patrick King, and Donald Rogers ’09. They watched a lot of World Cup soccer and played a deceptively difficult Harry Potter trivia game. Class Correspondents: Miriam M. Gillan miriam.gillan@gmail.com Erica Stringfellow Tully e.stringfellow4@gmail.com

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Kabul, Afghanistan, I took some time off to reacclimate to normal life for the past year or so while doing communications and social media outreach for an NGO in Chiang Mai, Thailand. However, I have just started a new position with an NGO in Amman, Jordan, working on their Syria response, and I’m very excited to finally experience life in the Middle East.” ❯ Eric Langston is now an attorney with Kirkland & Ellis practicing in restructuring and corporate bankruptcy. About a year ago, he sold his place in Rogers Park and moved downtown with partner Chris Newton. Sadly, they recently put down their Australian Shepard, Quiz. He was 14 years old and passed peacefully. Eric recently joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Overture Council and also signed up with iMentor to partner with a Chicago Public School junior to mentor through their first year of college. ❯ Jason Maclin serves as principal of Vista PEAK Preparatory in Aurora, Colorado. His previous role was assistant principal of East High School in Denver, Colorado. ❯ Michael Sales and wife Rachel welcomed their son Oliver Knox Sales on November 8, 2017. Oliver arrived on his due date, which his father was ecstatic about because the Campus Activities Board (CAB) at Thomas College, where he works, had scheduled a “Due” You Remember Bingo program with nostalgic prizes to celebrate the day. CAB was able to share the news and some pictures with students in attendance, which was met with cheering and clapping. Oliver surprises us and entertains us every day and looks like a miniature replica of Michael! Michael’s current hobbies include reading books with his son, avoiding poopy diapers at all costs, and playing pinball every chance he gets. On July 1, 2018, he realized a sad Knox fate—new daddy brain had taken his Knox star away … forever. Public shaming must ensue. (Editor’s note: As noted in the Spring 2018 issue of the magazine, the Office of Advancement extends second chances to recently lapsed Stars. Email Jennifer Gallas at jgallas@ knox.edu for more information.) ❯ Andrew Warwick writes, “It’s been a busy year. I ended a great run at Clemson and accepted a new adventure. I am now the defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State, a NFCS program. More importantly my wife, Anita, and I welcomed our first born, our son Kiran James—‘KJ.’ We are excited and tired.” Class Correspondents: Laura J. Wentink Marcasciano 5650 Abbey Drive, Apartment 3P, Lisle, IL 60532-2558, ljmarcasciano@gmail.com Michael C. Sales 8 Maillet Street, Winslow, ME 04901, KnoxClassof2007@gmail.com

Ashley Shane ’09 poses with Erin Gruwell, founder of the Freedom Writers Foundation, at an event in Galesburg. As president of the Western Illinois Reading Council, Ashley partnered with Knox College, United Way of Knox County, Galesburg Community Foundation, and other organizations to bring Gruwell to the community for a series of speaking engagements.

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Zac Skinner ’09 earned a master’s degree in Montessori education Ladipo Lawani ’08 Entrepreneur Named One of Africa’s Most Promising Young Change-Makers Knox led Ladipo Lawani ’08 on a journey of self-discovery, where he quickly realized that what he wanted most was to help bring economic development to his home country, Nigeria. He also realized that entrepreneurship was one of the most potent drivers of economic development. By his sophomore year, Lawani had started an NGO in Nigeria to train youth to become entrepreneurs. Fast-forward a few years, and Lawani is working on his MBA in entrepreneurship and marketing at Columbia Business School. While there, he founds L&L Foods, a food processing and packaging company focused on the West African market. The company’s primary line of products is a premium brand of nuts called Mr. Ekpa. His startup won the Columbia Business School Shark Tank competition in 2016 (New Venture Competition). The following year, L&L Foods won the Nigerian Economic Summit startup competition. Earlier this year, Lawani was included in the Forbes Africa article “30 under 30,” which the magazine says highlights “Africa’s most promising young change-makers.”

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How is the work you’re doing helping the country of Nigeria? Many of the peanuts sold in Nigeria today have a high level of aflatoxin, which is carcinogenic. As a business, our goal is to offer an aflatoxin-safe peanut brand that is sourced locally and sold under a well-differentiated brand. The more we explored the groundnut market, the more we realized the value chain in Nigeria is broken. Hence to bring our solution to market, we work with a network of smallholder farmers to help them get the right quality of product to market. Specifically, we are working with local financial institutions and non-governmental organizations to get farmers access to affordable credit, high-quality inputs (seeds and fertilizers), and the right level of training. In doing this we are tripling the farmer’s yield and also guaranteeing to buy their product. All this leads to higher income for farmers, many of whom currently live in poverty. We plan to scale up this network of farmers to 5,000 by 2020. Unemployment is one of the biggest issues in Nigeria. Through our factories and farm operations, we provide muchneeded jobs to the Nigerian economy. How did Knox prepare you to be an entrepreneur? Knox was an absolute turning point for me. I discovered my passion for entrepreneurship at Knox. This was because Knox did a great job at teaching me how to think critically. I became a lot more intellectually curious and was equipped with the ability to identify patterns and understand contexts and solve problems, which I believe have helped me as an entrepreneur. I also met great professors like Steve Cohn and Carl Nordgren ’73, who invested time in nurturing my curiosity. Overall, I think a liberal arts education is a great foundation for entrepreneurs, and Knox did a great job at that.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

2009 ❯

Matt says “X.” Mike Callahan still lives life a quarter-mile at a time. ❯ Iona Cooper: “I have lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for more than two years now and am nearly finished with my M.A. in counseling. I currently intern (i.e., work for free) at the Santa Fe Recovery Center, a residential addiction treatment facility serving lowincome clients from Northern New Mexico. One day I hope to be gainfully employable. In the meantime, I work for money as a registered behavior technician with children who have autism spectrum disorder, go to a lot of DIY music shows, and am avidly improving my roller skating skills at our local alien-themed roller rink.” ❯ Zac Skinner: “I earned my master’s degree in Montessori education. Also have gotten really good at baking sourdough bread.” ❯ Sara Patterson Adamek: “Erik and I welcomed baby James to the world in May, nine days AFTER his due date. We have never seen such a cute double chin. I also resigned my position as a high school science teacher so I can focus on perfecting all the house-spouse skills that were neglected while grading, developing 10 different curricula (not exaggerating), and responding to irate parent emails these past four years.” ❯ Brian Chi Zhang and wife Camellia expect their firstborn on August 17! Brian recently joined Oscar Health as a software engineer. If you are looking for software engineering positions in Los Angeles or New York City, let him know! ❯ Elizabeth Wolfson (lizbeth005@gmail.com): “In May 2018, I completed my Ph.D. in art history and archaeology at Mizzou. Along the way, however, I lost interest in academia. I’m going to be a preschool teacher and museum educator for a few years. We’ll see where life takes me!” ❯ Liz Soehngen: “Simon Lepkin still works at that same Silicon Valley startup, which has grown to a midsize company. Not bad, given we expected it to last maybe a year in 2013! I volunteer with a social justice group and am enrolled in a boot camp for user experience design in San Francisco.” They now have two cats, one of which plays fetch. ❯ Jill Bergantz Carley sends this missive from her summer residency at Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington. She confronts gun violence in her DAMN SPOT series, artwork on view in Santa Monica. She confronts disease and disaster in her poetry, shortlisted for The Walt Whitman Prize. She’s got caffeine and an amazing partner on her side and no plans to quit her day job. ❯ Kate Heitkamp Jarvis ’12 graduated medical school and started her residency in family medicine and psychiatry in Iowa City, which means Sam Jarvis finally moved out of Galesburg. Sam hopes to see EVERYONE at our 10-year anniversary. ❯ Daniel Long Hoffman: “I got to catch up with some Knox buddies at Laura Weiss Landsberger’s wedding and just recently adopted a puppy. I’m about to begin a Ph.D. in tropical soil science at Michigan State, so my next goal is to build a sauna to survive the Michigan

Class Knox and has gotten “really good at baking sourdough bread.”

winters. For now, I stay warm here in Malawi.” ❯ Ryan Cash “chases rings in San Francisco.” ❯ Claire Valentine-Fossum lives in rural Vermont with her partner and giant cat. She attends Vermont Law School to earn both a J.D. and a master’s degree in energy regulation and law. Claire currently works for the Institute for Energy and the Environment researching cybersecurity attacks to the electrical distribution system. Rumor has it she is also a great cook. ❯ Ashley Shinn Shane completed her eighth year in education as a kindergarten teacher in Galesburg, Illinois. A few highlights from her career: She received the Illinois Reading Council Family Literacy Award in October 2017, the Excellence in Education Award from the ROE #33 and CUSD #205 in May 2018, and partners with Knox College, United Way of Knox County, Galesburg Community Foundation, and others to bring Freedom Writers Foundation founder Erin Gruwell to Galesburg for multiple events and speaking engagements. Class Correspondent: Sam Jarvis 1059 Lincoln St., Galesburg IL 61401, 309-368-7885 samuelpaulleejarvis@gmail.com

2010 Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez published a Spanish-language novel, La Pava, in December 2016. It follows three children who indirectly experience the trauma of the Pinochet dictatorship through the Chilean collective consciousness. It is available via Amazon. ❯ Michael ’09 and Ashley Atkinson-Leon ’10 bought a home in Buffalo Grove last summer. Ashley recently became the marketing manager at James Martin Associates, and Michael is a social worker at Lake Bluff Elementary School. In 2016, they spent two weeks traveling throughout the U.K. and Ireland. Last year, they visited Ashley Blazina ’09 in Seattle. This year, they celebrated their anniversary with 10 days in Greece. They also recently became energy-independent after installing solar panels on their roof. Class Correspondent: Lauren Assaf knoxcollege2010notes@gmail.com

Rachel Abarbanell ’02 and Michael Botti —June 30, 2018

2011 Hello everyone! Time for another update. Have you checked our Facebook page? Hope everyone we didn’t hear from this go-round is happy and healthy. ❯ Brett Daley submitted this update fresh off a primary election victory for Howard County District 3 Supervisor. He reported that it was “hard-fought and uncontested.” We’ll see what happens in November. ❯ Marnie Shure and Kevin Morris moved to Los Angeles. Any and all Knox alums are encouraged to visit! ❯ Jaclyn Stillmaker officially finished her 95-hour child yoga certification, which she uses to bring yoga joy to the schools in District 21. ❯ Samantha Claypool Temple found herself in Tanzania once again after serving as a Peace Corps volunteer there with husband Luke Temple ’08 three years ago. The return follows the launch of her own charitable organization, the East Africa Fund, and she has been busy building local partnerships to ensure the organization’s success. (Check out www.eastafricafund.org to learn more!) Back home in Colorado, however, her lawn could use some extra support. ❯ Chris Bugajski married Anjuli this past May in Indiana, with Kevin Morris serving as his best man. Kevin Meyers was a groomsman, and Ari Timko, Casey Patrick, and Marnie Shure all attended. ❯ Molly Stein was married this past April in Chicago. She, her husband, and their cats live happily in Lincoln Square, Chicago. ❯ Brigette Demke finished her bachelor of science in nursing while moonlighting as a charge nurse and an orientation instructor at the same hospital. Her fiancé, Cole Atcheson ’13, is busy tutoring, applying for professor positions, and helping her plan a wedding! ❯ Sam Martone, when not discussing the importance of the original 151 with your loyal class correspondent, lives life a quarter mile at a time. ❯ Surprise! Ruby (Shih Yi) Goh transferred to Tokyo, Japan, for a 12-month rotation. Gambatte! ❯ Ari Timko graduated with a doctorate in clinical psychology and started a post-doc fellowship in child abuse and medical trauma at La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago. ❯ Katie Kellett started a doctoral pro-

Rachel Unger ’05 and Ryan Curry ’05—May 12, 2018

gram in childhood studies at Rutgers University– Camden. ❯ Sasha Murphy and Sean Frohling ’10 moved to Denver, Colorado! ❯ Emma Beyer graduated from the University of Missouri’s Graduate School of Journalism and moved crosscountry with her two rescue dogs. ❯ Kristin Niehoff Weisenberger and her husband celebrated a decade together as she geared up to switch from second to fourth grade while taking care of two ornery (but beautiful) children. ❯ Carlyse Owens and her best friend (and Ellie the cat) moved to New York. ❯ Sara DeMaria spent part of the year on Cape Cod working for the National Park Service. Who knows where she is now? ❯ Movin’ and Shakin’ is just what we do! Class Correspondent: Tim Schmeling trschmeling@gmail.com

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Will Lion ’00 and Krisztina Nagy—April 7, 2018

Kat Kline ’14 joins one of her ferret companions for a selﬁe.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Mrinalini Chakraborty ’12 co-founded and served as the

Chris Bugajski ’11 and Anjuli Beuchler—May 26, 2018 LEFT TO RIGHT: Kevin Meyers ’11, Ari Timko ’11, Casey Patrick ’11, Chris Bugajski ’11, Marnie Shure ’11, Kevin Morris ’11.

Molly Stein ’11 and John Tomazin—April 21, 2018 FRONT ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): Virginia Graves ’10, Cody Dailey ’12, Molly Stein Tomazin ’11, Tina Shuey ’13, Stephanie Peter ’13, Carly Kauffman ’10. SECOND ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): Audrey Savage ’11, Gretta Reed ’13, Amanda Mitchell ’11, Kristal Romero ’13, Emily Putnam Holthaus ’10, Katya Manak Fuentes ’07, Kate Haslem ’13, Kristi Weller Lebryk ’12, Hannah Basil ’13.

BACK ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): Dana Pierce ’14, Regina Rosenbrock ’13, Jack Marchese ’12, Aimee Neilan ’13, Paul Lebryk ’14.

Also in attendance were Carolyn Hill ’10, Dee Goebel ’09, and Keely Campbell ’11.

2012

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Shortly after graduating from medical school, Naomi Akagi ﬁnally married Emman Mascarinas ’10, and the two of them moved to San Francisco for her pathology residency this summer. They were thrilled to see longtime Knox friends at the wedding and are also excited to be closer to other alumni in the Bay Area. Cheers! ❯ From Senegal, West Africa, Celestina Agyekum writes: “I look forward to heading back to Chicago for a new chapter in my career after working abroad. I plan to pay Knox a visit when I return. My heart still skips a beat when I think about my alma mater. You can reach me at: cdagyekum@ gmail.com.” ❯ Nellie Ognacevic is once again in Chicago after a quick six-month “sabbatical” in Wisconsin to hang with her grandparent(s). She just ﬁnished up her graduate degree in lifestyle medicine from Creighton University and works as a studio manager for Orangetheory Fitness in

Olivia Louko ’14, Tim O’Neal ’14, and Yael Cody ’14.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Highland Park. She is still working on a book/memoir in her spare time (it’s in serious need of editing! 600+ pages) and has become addicted to plain Greek yogurt + PB. ❯ Martin Yeager will marry the incredible Crystal Barnes on October 20 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The couple will delay their honeymoon until after Martin ﬁnishes his dual master’s program in public administration and city planning at University of North Carolina in the spring. It was wonderful to have a mini-Knox reunion at the wedding with Jeremy Shaw, Krista Anne Nordgren, and Mollie Strawn. ❯ Stephanie Sorensen Olson married Kyle Olson in December 2017 after a six-week engagement, with much help from Knox family and friends. Her all-Knox bridal party (Emma Poland, Ashley Witzke Lanfair ’10, Clara Volker ’12, Rachel Clark Cole ’12, Natalia Cipolla ’12, and Emma Beyer ’11) enthusiastically hopped on board to help with the festivities; Kate Sorensen Blunk ’77 made a traditional Danish kransekage for one of three wedding cakes; Lars Sorensen ’82 danced with his daughter to the “Circle of Life” from The Lion King; and the night ended with Tri Deltas, including cousin Kimberly Sorensen Megli ’08, dancing to “American Pie.” Post-wedding whirlwind, Stephanie has started the MBA program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and has tried to convince her husband to drink the Kool-Aid and join the Knox cult. They live in Chicago with their two schnoodles. ❯ Monica Prince currently lives in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, where she writes, teaches, and serves as the 2017-2019 Creative Writing Fellow in Poetry at Susquehanna University. She just celebrated her 10-year high school reunion in Denver, Colorado, and she will host poetry workshops at Your Leadership Recipe Live 2019 in France in March 2019. You can ﬁnd her at Homecoming this fall, celebrating A.B.L.E.’s 50th anniversary. ❯ Lauren Smith still lives in

Rockford and works as a nanny. She also teaches outdoor classes for kids through a program called Tinkergarten and is helping to start a nature preschool at the Unitarian Universalist Church there. She looks forward to visiting Galesburg more often, as little sister Sophie started her ﬁrst year at Knox in the fall! ❯ Mrinalini Chakraborty lives in downtown Chicago with the love of her life and husband of four years, Deepanjan. Since Knox, Mrinalini started a Ph.D. program in molecular anthropology, from which she has taken a sabbatical to pursue her passion for political activism in the wake of the 2016 elections. Over the past two years, Mrinalini has co-founded and served as the national ﬁeld director for the Women’s March. She helped organize the historic Women’s Marches—the largest single day protest in U.S. history—and has since worked to grow and sustain the movement that has given a voice to millions of women and femmes across the globe. Mrinalini was named one of Glamour’s Women of the Year in 2017 and deeply regrets not wearing a saaree to the gala. She loves living in her favorite city on the planet and occasionally writes about food, traveling, and her adventures on her throughly neglected blog. ❯ Greg Noth had an amazing time at Homecoming and is glad so many people made it back to campus. This fall, he started graduate school at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he’ll get an M.A. in Arab studies. Tommy Veague is still his neighbor. ❯ Bess Cooley moved to another Knox: Knoxville, Tennessee, where she is a lecturer in English at the University of Tennessee. ❯ Hayley Schueneman and husband Guilford recently bought a bungalow in Key West, where they have enjoyed some muchneeded downtime before Baby Number Four. She spends most of her time wrapped in a blanket on the porch staring at the ocean, and clutching a mug of tea. ❯ Ivy Reid made a big move from Chicago to Nashville with partner Matt Weede

Class Knox ALANTE PHOTOGRAPHY

national field director for the Women’s March.

Noelia Fraga ’14 and Manuel Ceja ’14—May 26, 2018

Stephanie Sorensen ’12 and Kyle Olson—December 16, 2017 FRONT ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): Colleen Flint ’15, Kelly Grant ’12, Tim Schmeling ’11, Natalia Cipolla ’12, Rachel Clark Cole ’12, Emma Poland ’12, Ben Wetherbee ’12, Patti Decker Sorensen ’76. BACK ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): Kimberly Sorensen Megli ’08, Kevin Megli ’07, Vince Rug ’12, Kate Wrenn Rug ’13, Ashley Witzke Lanfair ’10, Lars Sorensen ’82, Stephanie Sorensen Olson ’12, Kyle Olson, Clara Volker ’12, Krista Meeker Sorensen ’91, Kjeld Sorensen ’75, Kate Sorensen Blunk ’77. Also in attendance were Jan Sorensen ’74, Paul Madsen ’68, and Diane Koeppel Madsen ’67.

and pup Xena. She still loves her work as a freelance lighting technician, designer, and programmer but has moved into music and corporate work. She hopes the CC is still hopping back at Knox! ❯ The year 2018 has been great for Cody Dailey. Aside from turning 30 (though he feels he doesn’t look a day over 29!), Cody also graduated with a master’s degree in education (school counseling) from DePaul University and has accepted a college/career counseling position at Maine West High School. He is sure he will work with a Knox-bound student or two! ❯ Rachel Clark Cole lives in Iowa City with husband Michael (a 2012 Grinnell alum), a pediatric neurology resident. Rachel graduated with a Ph.D. in neuroscience in May, and, as of August 2018, will be a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Iowa studying the cognitive effects of medical treatments in Parkinson’s patients, as well as the neural correlates of learning and memory. Because her Ph.D. research focused on the beneﬁcial effects of exercise on the brain, she swing-dances and teaches Zumba classes regularly. Research also emphasizes the importance of social connections to mental and cognitive health, so she continues to meet up with her Knox friends whenever possible. ❯ As for me, I started working at Zillow as a UX researcher and got married to David Boehm, where I celebrated with many Knox friends including Karen Frost Patel ’10, Dugan O’Connor ’11, Emily Whelchel, Mark Wolak, Christina Warner, Mandy Bigham, Radhika Kuruppu O’Connor, Lizzy Warner ’13, and Brian Paul ’13. Class Correspondent: Aparna Kumar Boehm aparna.kumarboehm@gmail.com

2013 William Budding reports that he has been accepted to the College and University Professionals Association HR Wildﬁre program for the 2018-19 year as a representative from Harvard

University. He was one of 12 selected from among 150 applicants and will spend the year participating in monthly calls with thought leaders and HR executives, attending conferences, and completing a major project on a topic in higher education human resources. Class Correspondent: Danny Schafer danielcschaefer19@gmail.com

2014 Jess Ranard recently moved to Chicago, is writing a book, got a “Cindy Wickliffe” stomach tattoo, and still drinks Four Loko. ❯ Noelia Fraga and Manny Ceja tied the knot on May 26, 2018, after dating since fall term of their first year. ❯ Philip Bennett reminds everyone, “Impeach Donald Trump. Abolish ICE.” ❯ Chris Frane moved to Wisconsin in June to start an internship at PreventionGenetics as a bioinformatician. ❯ Kayla Jones says, “The struggle is still real.” ❯ Jenifer Becker accepted admittance to the University of California, Riverside’s doctoral program in history. ❯ Carmen Caraballo moved from Chicago to Kansas City, Missouri, with Dwight Johnson ’13 and works with the University of Kansas. ❯ Kiley Harrison moved to Koh Phangan, Thailand, in September to do a marine conservation and SCUBA internship. After the internship, she travels to Germany to study outdoor education for six months. ❯ Miranda Loeber finished up a year freelancing as a costume technician in the Phoenix area and worked on a couple of summer theatre gigs for Bard College and Goodspeed Musicals. ❯ Emma Weitzel finished her first year of graduate school at the Erikson Institute, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in early childhood education and her teaching license. ❯ Allison White finished her first year as a middle school counselor in the Mt. Pleasant community school district and plans to stay around for the next year! ❯ Amber Hogan continues to work toward her M.S.N. in nursing

education. She transferred from oncology to the surgical ICU. She also moved in with her boyfriend this summer. ❯ Kat Kline graduated in May from Loyola University Chicago with a Master of Social Work degree and a specialization in gerontology. She now works at Trilogy Behavioral Health as an employment recovery specialist for people with severe chronic mental illnesses, so her ferrets and partners can have a good life. ❯ Jessica Ohmert and Connor Schmidt met the first day of Knox orientation. They got engaged after nearly eight years of dating and plan to be married next year! ❯ Sona Diallo lives in Besançon, France, teaching Medical English at UFR Sciences Médicales et Pharmaceutiques Besançon (a medical school). ❯ Tom Courtright lived in Bangui, managing the Central African Republic branch of an Eritrean solar company and refining his tastes in palm wine. He moved back to Kampala, Uganda, in August. ❯ Nicole Holtzman has written music and worked with publishing/editing at the Ann Arbor District Library. She has started a master’s program in literature and creative writing at the University of Southern Mississippi. ❯ Laura Pochodylo got married to Casey Reed in October 2017 with a whole host of Knox pals who made the trip to Nashville to celebrate with them. She left her full-time gig to dive into freelancing, making websites and doing digital marketing. She has been on-air as a DJ on Nashville’s WXNA for two years, which is mainly just an excuse to buy even more vinyl records for her collection. ❯ Marie Anderson lives her best dirtbag life! She landed her dream job as a field instructor with Outward Bound California, leading two-tothree-week backpacking and climbing trips for students throughout the Sierra. Marie lives on the road and hasn’t signed a lease since college! ❯ Samantha Paul earned a J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in May. She took the bar in July and plans to practice in Indiana. ❯

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Madeline Troy ’15 was named West Zone Firefighter of the Year

Aparna Kumar ’12 and David Boehm—June 30, 2018

Laura Pochodylo ’14 and Casey Reed—October 15, 2017

LEFT TO RIGHT: Emily Whelchel ’12, Christina Warner ’12, Brian Paul ’13, Aparna Kumar ’12, Mandy Bigham ’12, Karen Frost Patel ’10, Radhika Kuruppu O’Connor ’12, Dugan O’Connor ’11, Lizzy Warner ‘’13.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Lexie Frensley ’11, Gabrielle Ralambo-Rajerison ’14, Martina Bergstrom ’15, Geoff Bergstrom ’15, Rebekah Lauer ’14, Chantal Heckman ’14, Hanh Bui ’16, Kristal Romero ’13, Cody Dailey ’12, Emma Beyer ’11, Kayleigh O’Brien ’16, Kayla Kennedy ’14, Devin Hanley ’15.

Amanda Axley married the incredible Pier Debes ’10 in July 2017 at Lake Storey in Galesburg. There were plenty of Knox folks involved in the entire weekend! A week after they got married, they moved into their new house in Iowa City, where Amanda is pursuing a master’s degree in library and information sciences. She works at the Iowa City Public Library and the Iowa Women’s Archives; life is pretty awesome! ❯ Olivia Louko graduated from the University of Washington in June 2018, with an M.S.W. degree and lives with Tim O’Neal and Yael Cody in Seattle. ❯ Natalia Binkowski became a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Illinois in February 2018, and started working in a private practice. She is also excitedly planning for her wedding this October! ❯ Rebekah Lauer lived in Chicago for four years but will leave in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in social work at Washington University in St. Louis. She looks forward to her upcoming adventures and new home! ❯ Hannah Black ﬁnished a master’s degree in biology education at the end of last year, and has been accepted into the CESA-9 teacher certiﬁcation program. She is applying for high school biology teaching positions and, in the meantime, works at the Dane County Humane Society taking care of all the animals there. ❯ After graduating from Knox, Alex Burik worked in a regenerative medicine lab in Frankfurt, Germany, studying the endocannabinoid system in induced pluripotent stem cells. When that gig came to an end, he enrolled in and completed a Master of Science degree in neuroscience at University College London, doing research on information processing in the mouse visual cortex. Right now, he lives in Berlin, writing articles for labiotech.eu, the leading digital media source for news on the European biotech industry, and enjoying Berlin’s art museums and nightlife. He still writes music as well; check out soundcloud.com/user-69275056 for some new tunes! He has also gotten in some downhill skiing in France. ❯ Connor Schmidt hasn’t joined a multi-level marketing scheme! Yet. More than that, the coolest thing is that he will marry Jessica Ohmert next year. :) He still does

some random business work for a startup in Seattle and is learning how to be a Dungeon Master, because life goals. ❯ Haley Schutt works as a nurse in Minnesota and returns to school in the fall to continue her education. She got married in July to her favorite human in the world! It’s a been a busy year. ❯ Ruth Amerman currently lives in the Dominican Republic with her main man, Luke Albrecht. They will probably move back to the great Midwest in December and are in the process of being radicalized by left book. ❯ Marika Takemura Montgomery got married to Andrew Montgomery on December 30, 2017. She is attending graduate school at the University of Iowa. She ﬁnished her second year and is now an ofﬁcial Ph.D. candidate in chemistry education research with an emphasis in inorganic chemistry. Class Correspondents: Esther Farler-Westphal and Natalia Binkowski Knoxnotes2014@gmail.com

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

2015 Madeline Troy was too modest to share this, but someone intervened on her behalf: Madeline was named West Zone Firefighter of the Year in 2017 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for her commitment and teamwork in fighting wildfires in the state of Idaho. Class Correspondent: Erik Gustafson gustafson.erik.j@gmail.com

2016 We are excited to announce our very ﬁrst edition of Class Notes for the Class of 2016! Take a minute to look at all the wonderful things your classmates are up to! ❯ Gavin Crowell currently lives in Seattle, Washington, and works as a research assistant at the University of Washington, where he studies how to improve mental health outcomes in substance-use populations. He plans to start applying to Ph.D. programs in clinicalcommunity psychology this fall and hopes to

study how to provide mental health resources to disenfranchised communities. ❯ Teresa Hoard-Jackson is in her third year of the doctoral program in gender studies at Indiana University–Bloomington. She is about to begin reading and taking her comprehensive exams. In February, Teresa married one of her childhood friends, Rahgene Hoard (a 2017 graduate of Illinois State University). They currently reside in Bloomington, Indiana. ❯ Kate Mishkin is an environmental reporter at the Charleston GazetteMail in West Virginia and hikes often. ❯ Kayleigh O’Brien works at ESIS, a third-party administrator, in downtown Chicago! ❯ Nicci Hinton wants to say “Hi, Shannon!” ❯ Since Knox, Krystal Pitts Fritz has gotten married! She serves in the Army Reserves and has a beautiful 6-month-old daughter named Adrian. She also teaches at a daycare now and loves it! ❯ After completing a master’s in marketing analytics at the University of Rochester in New York, Laura Lueninghoener moved to Chicago to work for a real estate company as a digital marketing analyst. ❯ Carolina Goncalves lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has worked as a research assistant at Boston University’s Division of Behavioral Science Research for about two years. She plans to apply to graduate programs in psychology at the end of this year. ❯ Brya Johnson is currently pursuing a master’s in social work at the Brown School of Social Work in St. Louis. She has become active in the reproductive freedom movement in the Midwest in the past year. Currently, she works as a counselor at a local abortion clinic while completing an internship at NARAL ProChoice Missouri, where she has learned about grassroots organizing. ❯ After graduation, Kati Stemple served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. She currently lives in Chicago and works as an enrollment management specialist for IES Abroad. ❯ Victoria Baldwin was employed in the creative writing department at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan this summer, while also working on her writing, traveling, and working odd jobs during the rest of the year. ❯ Shannon Henry says, “Hi, Nicci!” ❯

Class Knox in 2017 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Teresa Jackson ’16 and Rahgene Hoard—February 16, 2018

Deyontavis Williams-Hightower is excited to share that he recently launched his professional website at www.dhvincistudios.com and is pursuing an M.F.A. in screenwriting at DePaul University in Chicago. ❯ Sam Coffey lives in Washington, D.C., and works in the Senate for Illinois Senator Richard Durbin. ❯ Sam Watkins lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and works for Gannett as a designer. She designs the news sections of newspapers in Tennessee and Louisiana. ❯ Cassie McLaughlin is one year into a graduate program at Northern Illinois University (NIU) and halfway done with an M.S.Ed. in adult and higher education. She also works as a graduate research assistant in NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center. ❯ Harper Garvey lives in New York City and works as the talent acquisition lead at SelfMade, a small company that helps people and small businesses make their Instagram accounts better. In his free time, Harper plays frisbee, makes friends, and chills. ❯ Angela McNeal lives in Chicago but spent the summer as director of programs at Camp Red Leaf, a camp for people with disabilities. In the fall, Angela started a master’s program in recreation administration at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. ❯ Annie Ford is in Oak Park teaching at the elementary school she attended as a child. She spent two years teaching second grade and moves up to teaching fourth grade this upcoming school year. ❯ Ellen Lipo is in her third year of teaching and has recently started to pursue stand-up comedy! ❯ Eden McKissickHawley works and lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she works as a fundraiser for the campaign of Rich Cordray, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor. It has been a long and tiring election cycle and is far from over, but she feels lucky to be doing work that she loves and hopes to make a difference. ❯ Zane David Carlson lives in the Cincinnati-area and began his third year as a leadership consultant for Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, now collaborating with schools in the upper Midwest this fall (including Knox). ❯ Rebecca Hixon is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English language and literature at the University of

Amanda Axley ’14 and Pier Debes ’10—July 30, 2017 Among the attendees were (front row) Cat Creamer Stone ’14, Hannah Compton ’14, Hannah Cloh ’16, and Emily Passarelli ’15 and (back row) Jackson Axley ’15, Gabriella Crivilare ’16, and Jenna Cohen ’14.

Michigan. Her studies focus on modern productions of early modern plays and the place of Shakespeare in modern culture. ❯ Emma Frey lives in Chicago and works as a senior editorial associate at SmithBucklin, an association management company. ❯ Cassidy Jones recently moved from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington, where she lives with her dog and partner. She is the deputy director for a national nonprofit, Our Climate, which empowers and mobilizes young people to advocate for science-based and equitable climate policy. She can be reached at cassidy.b.jones12@gmail.com. ❯ Sophie Drummond-Moore just completed an M.F.A. at the American Film Institute and was a semi-finalist and finalist in two screenwriting competitions. She now interns for a company that specializes in book-to-screen adaptations. ❯ Grace Neubauer lives in Ulm, Germany, and is enrolled in an integrated master’s program in energy science and technology. It mixes chemistry, materials science, and electrical/power engineering for applications in fuel cells, batteries, and photovoltaics. ❯ Sarah Kobernat passed the preliminary exam for a Ph.D. in biomolecular sciences at Boise State University in May, then drove all the way from Boise to Little Rock to do a summer internship with the F.D.A., looking at changes in fat composition in obese mice at the National Center for Toxicological Research. ❯ Amelia Wisehart lives in Hokkaido, Japan, and works as an assistant language teacher. She just signed a contract to continue for a second year. ❯ This fall, Keegan Dohm returned to her home and native land to get an MBA at Simon Fraser University. ❯ Amalia Hertel lives in in Rapid City, South Dakota, with her fiancé and Alex Reddington ’17. She works as a software developer for the local county government. Amalie and Alex got a puppy last year, so now Teegan has a “little” brother. She spends most of her free time either camping, chilling in their apartment, or writing. Class Correspondent: Kati Stemple kstemple2012@gmail.com

2017 Jakub Dulak worked as a script supervisor on his first feature film, Heavens to Betsy 2. “The film stars Jim O’Heir, aka Jerry from Parks and Recreation, and scored me my first professional IMDB credit,” he says. Jakub has already been hired on as script supervisor for several other short films in Chicago as well. ❯ Elizabeth Clay is an administrative healthcare recruiter at Aerotek in St. Louis, Missouri, and works a few cubicles away from Shannon Caveny. Elizabeth also lives next door to Hannah Steele ’16 and enjoys bothering her as much as possible. Since graduating, Elizabeth has served as an alumni advisor for her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and continues to write as often as possible. ❯ Theresa Murphy has been an usher for Broadway in Chicago theatre since August 2017. She is also a freelance theatre electrician, carpenter, and photographer around the Chicagoland area. “I’ve moved from my home of 23 years in Morgan Park to Hyde Park, right by my favorite museum, The Museum of Science and Industry, and have been taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago,” she said. Theresa is also working toward a certificate in interior design. ❯ Madison Pierro will continue to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the Kleine Center for Community Service at Knox. “As volunteers in service to America, VISTA’s mission is to alleviate poverty on both a local and national level. After completing my second year of service, I hope to pursue a Ph.D. in social psychology,” Madi reports. ❯ Mitch Prentice reports that “in February, fiancée Hannah McCullough and I moved to Camdenton, Missouri. I am now a fulltime staff reporter and photographer for the Lake Sun covering the Lake of the Ozarks. We also just bought our first home!” ❯ Caitlyn Morgan works as a state-registered behavioral technician for kids living with autism. “I’ve also moved out of my parents’ home and adopted my first puppy!” she says. ❯ Stefan Torralba continues to work on a Ph.D. in English at the University of California, Riverside. “My research interests include twentieth and twenty-first century Amer-

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

ican literature, new media, critical race studies, queer studies, science and technology studies, poetics, and film.” ❯ Tony Rogde-Hinderliter writes in, “Not much to report, except that I work from home as an SEO writer. It’s not anything too huge, but it’s in my field, so I guess my major wasn’t useless after all.” ❯ Tevin Liao just finished a post-baccalaureate fellowship with the Division of Student Development at Knox. By the time of the magazine’s publication, he will be immersed in the master’s program in higher education and student affairs administration at Buffalo State University in New York. He reports that all is well, and, in his words, he is “very excited to explore the East Coast, even though the West Coast will always be the best coast.” ❯ JC Stokes has accepted a full-time position teaching English at Morton West in Berwyn. She lives in Forest Park and constantly scours Chicagoland for movie and trivia buddies. Hit her up if you are in the area. ❯ Crystal Singletary is an intern with Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, a nonprofit that provides immunizations to children in lower-income countries. She is on track to graduate with an M.A. in psychology from American University in May 2019. ❯ Elisabeth Zarnoti finished her first term of service as a College Possible coach for her 39 seniors this past summer and started a new Americorps VISTA position, where she will research potential donors for College Possible and learn about nonprofit fundraising and grant writing. She is very excited to expand her skills in a new capacity. She hopes to practice better work/life balance with this new position and spend lots of time with boyfriend Sean Ramsey ’18. Class Correspondent: Elisabeth Zarnoti elisabeth.zarnoti@gmail.com

2018 Editor’s note: Hey, Class of 2018, we are looking for a Class Correspondent. Could it be you? Email Pam Chozen at pachozen@knox.edu to learn more about the position. Class Correspondent: TBA

Marriages and Unions Sharron Vincent Porter ’71 and Jim Hatﬁeld on 4/28/18. Girija Gullapalli ’91 and Andrew Bendelow on 6/24/18. Will Lion ’00 and Krisztina Nagy on 4/7/18. Rachel Abarbanell ’02 and Michael Botti on 6/30/18. Rachel Unger ’05 and Ryan Curry ’05 on 5/12/18. Molly Stein ’11 and John Tomazin on 4/21/18. Chris Bugajski ’11 and Anjuli Beuchler on 5/26/18. Stephanie Sorensen ’12 and Kyle Olson on 12/16/17.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Naomi Akagi ’12 and Emman Mascarinas ’10 on 5/27/18. Aparna Kumar ’12 and David Boehm on 6/30/18. Zoe Kudla ’13 and Jacob Polay ’15 on 8/10/18. Amanda Axley ’14 and Pier Debes ’10 on 7/30/17. Laura Pochodylo ’14 and Casey Reed on 10/15/17. Marika Takemura ’14 and Andrew Montgomery on 12/30/17. Noelia Fraga ’14 and Manuel Ceja ’14 on 5/26/18. Haley Schutt ’14 and Aaron Kobes on 7/27/18. Teresa Jackson ’16 and Rahgene Hoard on 2/16/18. Krystal Pitts ’16 and Joseph Fritz on 5/4/18.

Deaths Lillian Nelson Nelson ’38 on 5/21/18. Helen Stoerzbach Peck ’43 on 2/16/18. Richard Kite ’44 on 3/18/18. Patricia Smith Perelli ’45 on 6/6/18. S. Scott Smith ’45 on 11/19/17. Virginia Baker Swett ’46 on 3/22/18. Katherine Pelt Armstrong ’47 on 2/14/18. Gloria Richardson Bohan ’47 on 2/25/18. Marilyn Holloway Horton ’48 on 5/27/18. Willard Stanforth ’48 on 4/1/18. Joan Knudson Perlin ’49 on 6/6/17. Walter Swanson ’49 on 6/4/18. Robert Anderson ’50 on 4/30/18. Clark Collins Jr. ’50 on 5/27/18. Margaret Swanson Daly ’50 on 7/19/18. Doris Gilson Gundersen ’50 on 2/21/18. Nina Murphy Miller ’50 on 11/23/17. Kenneth Radnitzer ’50 on 1/1/18. Evelyn Evans Stebbins ’50 on 5/16/18. Elsie Bastert Walton ’50 on 12/26/17. Elizabeth Battles Wright ’50 on 1/20/18. Robert Freese ’51 on 12/12/17. Joann Johnston McKoane ’51 on 4/25/18. Margaret Pratt Scharfenberg ’51 on 6/30/18. Laurel Patzlaff Everett ’52 on 6/2/18. Gordon Gredell ’52 on 2/22/18. John Harkness ’52 on 6/15/18. Dale Ogden ’52 on 1/8/18. Nelson Hanks ’53 on 2/15/18. Nevin Lescher ’53 on 4/12/18. James Anderson ’54 on 6/1/18. John Betts ’54 on 4/2/18. Shirley Hardin Cann ’54 on 7/4/18. James Eckland ’54 on 5/4/18. Ronald Hill ’54 on 9/30/17. John Gilbert Jr. ’55 on 4/15/18. Charlotte Harrison Huggins ’55 on 12/13/17. Col. John Kistler ’55 on 6/15/18. James Krughoff ’55 on 2/20/18. Kathryn Meriwether Tyler ’55 on 1/9/18. Keith Achepohl ’56 on 2/24/18. Patricia Weeks Betts ’56 on 2/16/15. Richard Cornelius ’57 on 2/9/18. Carole Reinke Rasmussen ’57 in December 2017.

Edwin Bates ’58 on 6/26/18. Thomas Faudree III ’58 on 8/7/17. Ross Moore ’58 on 12/16/17. William Myers ’58 on 3/23/18. James Rex ’58 on 6/20/18. Judith Storck Carlson ’59 on 5/5/18. Richard Clopper ’59 on 1/17/18. Joseph Pankus ’60 on 4/10/18. Patricia McKeown Smithing ’60 on 4/14/18. Judith Elifson Hoffman ’61 on 11/30/17. J. Thomas King ’63 on 4/5/18. C. Robert Woolsey ’63 on 4/21/18. Michael Abroe ’64 on 2/9/15. G. Todd Norvell ’64 on 6/20/18. Raymond Gadke ’65 on 2/26/18. Elaine Varda Sommerfield ’65 on 2/6/18. Carol King Cummings ’66 on 1/21/18. Geoffrey Mosser ’68 on 5/13/18. Philip Ralston ’69 on 12/9/17. Cherly Sue Rosen Weston ’69 on 3/23/18. Pamela Adler Nielson ’71 on 4/8/18. Jack Peterson ’72 on 12/12/17. J. Michael Owens ’74 on 6/4/18. Paul Cimino ’76 on 2/4/18. John Eppel ’78 on 7/27/17. Lynn Hier Verschage ’78 on 4/4/18. Michael Alsfeld ’79 on 12/8/16. Helen Gruetzmacher Schartz ’85 on 1/26/18. Carolyn Carrick ’87 on 3/3/18. Robert Dean ’89 on 12/10/17. Brian Higgins ’92 on 12/6/17. Mark Kielsmeier ’93 on 3/10/18. Jeremy Baldridge ’97 on 5/4/18.

Deaths of Friends John Swett, husband of Virginia Baker Swett ’46, on 9/10/14. Alfred Voss, husband of Jane Ritchuck Voss ’57, on 12/24/14. Barry Golembiewski, father of Bridget Golembiewski ’15, on 4/6/16. John Bals, husband of Willa Jane Keister Bals ’57, on 10/8/16. Roberta Hinrichs, mother of Katherine Hinrichs ’19, on 2/12/17. Brian Leaf, husband of Mary Kaull ’81, on 2/22/17. Lane Hart IV, father of Lane Hart ’79 and grandfather of Margaret Hart ’12, on 3/10/17. L. Tucker Matzek, father of Paula Matzek ’73, on 7/20/17. Steven Lockington, husband of Jeanette Lisenby Lockington ’75, on 9/9/17. Jack Richardson, husband of Beverly Mason Richardson ’50, on 10/18/17. Irene Cross Dalton, mother of Vida Cross ’88 and mother-in-law of Victor Davis, information technology services, on 10/25/17. Doreen Papp, mother of Derek Papp ’01 and Heather Papp Kilic ’04, on 10/25/17. David Duer, husband of Joann Litke Duer ’70, on 11/8/17.

Class Knox Anne Willer, mother of Margaret Willer ’84, on 11/11/17. Don Nelson, father of Riley Nelson ’20, on 11/26/17. Richard Nirenberg, friend of the College, on 12/6/17. Julia Leonard, friend of the College, on 12/9/17. Joseph Grana, father of Elizabeth Grana ’06, on 12/9/17. Willa Gibbemeyer, friend of the College, on 12/19/17. Steffanie Lindsay, mother of Robert Lindsay Jr. ’73, on 1/7/18. Michael Mannino, husband of Molly Mannino, retired advancement, on 1/16/18. Margaret Jo Brown, friend of the College, on 1/24/18. Xin Chen, mother of Jillian Du ’21, on 1/31/18. Helen Pendergast, wife of Robert Pendergast ’51 and mother of Pat Pendergast, facilities, on 2/28/18. Ronald Barry, father of Robert (Bob) Barry, facilities, on 3/4/18. Dona Hoopes, wife of Robert Hoopes ’53, on 3/4/18. Mary Anderson, mother of Ed Anderson, dining services, on 3/7/18. Jovito Feliciano, father of Gloria Feliciano Feltman ’10, on 3/10/18. Lucille Reed, friend of the College, on 3/14/18. Estela Portillo, mother of Aldo Portillo ’21, on 3/15/18. Roy Berg, father of Eric Berg ’78, on 3/16/18. Anne May Hall, mother of Cyn Fitch ’00, associate professor of English, on 3/18/18. James Irle, father of Daniella Irle, director of athletics, on 3/20/18. Mona Tourlentes, mother of Theodore Tourlentes ’80 and Stephen Tourlentes ’82, on 3/30/18. Norman Lynn Phillips, father of Curtis Phillips, facilities, on 3/31/18. Trisha Hurst, formerly admission and library, wife of Jason Connell ’06, library, on 4/18/18. Al D. Henderson, formerly of environmental services, on 4/20/18. Dorothy Berg, mother of Eric Berg ’78, on 4/28/18. Dev Schroll, mother of Meghan Genovese, advancement, on 5/26/18. Mary Jo Trant, mother-in-law of Vicki Trant, business ofﬁce, on 5/27/18. Donald “Farmer” Browne, father-in-law of Donna Browne, registrar’s ofﬁce, on 7/11/18. Doris Jean Park, mother of Scott Park, advancement, on 7/16/18.

KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2018

Parting Shot

A New View on Lincoln and Douglas October 7, 2018, marked the 160th anniversary of the fifth LincolnDouglas Debate held on the East Side of Old Main. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen countless views of the bas-relief sculptures commemorating the event, but never quite from this angle. It's amazing what a new perspective--both literal and figurative--can bring to our views of this significant moment in history. Photo by Peter Bailley â&#x20AC;&#x2122;74

Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Knox College

MAGAZINE Knox College Galesburg, Illinois 61401-4999

This is Our House! The next time you’re on campus be sure to stop by the T. Fleming Fieldhouse and other Athletics facilities. School colors, purple and gold, and images of the new Prairie Fire logo and mascot Blaze have been added throughout the facilities and grounds. As Athletics staff now say, everyone will know “This is Our House!”