Knox in the News

From The Register-Mail:
Concealed carry legislation is moving through the Illinois House of Representatives, and with the tragedies of Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University fresh in his mind, Knox College President Roger Taylor is keeping a close eye on it.

“I’m hoping the General Assembly will provide an exemption for college campuses,” said Taylor on Friday.

Last week, Taylor said he sent an email to the Knox faculty and staff to let them know about the bill — HB 148: Family and Personal Protection Act — and urged them to contact Rep. Don Moffitt, a recently added co-sponsor of the bill, in support of a complete exemption for college campuses.

“I think it’s important for everyone to be involved in the legislative process,” said Taylor. “Walking around college campuses, which by their very nature are open places, it’s just a very scary idea to think concealed carry would be allowed.”

John Schlaf, the college’s director of campus safety, did not respond to requests for comment, but Justin Steele, a member of the Student Senate and chairman of the Safety & Security Committee, which acts as a liaison between the Campus Safety office and students, said he supports Taylor’s involvement.

“Roger Taylor’s obviously a smart man,” said Steele, sophomore chemistry major from White Hall. “I think he understands the students better than anyone on campus, and he made the right decision in suggesting the faculty should contact our representatives to have colleges be exempt.”

Steele said concealed carry would hinder campus safety, and that he would consider having Schlaf present to the Student Senate what implications the bill would have if it became law, with or without the exemption.

“Campus Safety is here to protect us, so us trying to protect ourselves would just make matters worse,” said Steele.

Student Senate President Sam Claypool offered similar sentiment. She said she’s not opposed to the bill entirely, but she’s concerned that public universities might not have the option of prohibiting concealed weapons…

From The Register-Mail:
Knox College held a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony Friday of the long-awaited, newly renovated student lounge in the basement of Seymour Union.

While the lounge’s many amenities, such as a performance area and wide range of table-top games, came as a surprise to the students, none was more shocked than Knox President Roger Taylor, as Student Senate President Sam Claypool announced the name of the Taylor Student Lounge.

Taylor choked up upon hearing the lounge was named for him, as the crowd cheered and encouraged a speech.

“For the first time in 10 years,” he said with tears in his eyes, “I’m speechless.”

Claypool said Taylor was the “automatic” choice when the Student Senate first began discussing naming rights to the lounge, which was just approved by the Knox Board of Trustees on Tuesday.

“In the first year that the committee was created four years ago, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ telling all my friends about it, but after some bumps got in the way, we all lost sight of it and didn’t think it would ever come to fruition,” Claypool said. “President Taylor never took his eyes off of it, and it’s because of him that we’re here today.”

From Inside Higher Ed

Teresa L. Amott, provost and dean of the faculty at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, has been named president of Knox College.

From WGIL.com:
Knox College announced their choice for the new president Monday after searching for nine months.

Teresa L. Amott will bring a change to the college, and new direction to where they hope to be in the future.

Knox student Bill Schaefer explains how he feels about the new president and the college’s direction.

“The college has kind of been going through a transition period with trying to keep a consistent image and what are we going to be in the future as we’re coming up on the 175th Anniversary of Knox as an institution, so I think she is going to have a key part in that, what we are now, and where we are going in the future.”

Schaefer says that even though he is a senior and won’t see the changes Amott will bring to the college, the new president seems to be a “natural fit.”

From The Register-Mail:

In what Knox College President Roger Taylor called a day of “excitement, joy and confidence for the future,” the college announced Monday the selection of the first woman to be its president.

Teresa Amott was elected unanimously by the Knox College Board of Trustees at its meeting Saturday to succeed Taylor after his June 30 retirement. An audience of well over 100 Knox students, faculty and staff spilled from Seymour Hall’s Skylight Room into the Lincoln Room to welcome her Monday.

“I’m a little emotional, but I understand Roger is, too, and I’m very pleased, because if your first president who choked up was a woman, that might be a problem,” joked Amott, to which the audience responded with laughter and applause. “I’m glad I don’t have to be a trailblazer on that particular point.”

Amott currently serves as provost and dean of the faculty at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, a position she has held since 2005. She has also served as vice provost of Gettysburg College and held academic appointments at Bucknell University, Harvard University, University of Massachusetts and Wellesley College.

 From The Wall Street Journal:
For the first time in its 174-year history, Knox College in Galesburg has a female president.

Teresa L. Amott was named Monday to succeed Roger L. Taylor, who announced last April his intention to retire after 10 years in the post.

Amott currently serves as provost and dean of faculty at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, a position she has held since 2005.

Board chairman Jan Koran says the trustees were unanimously impressed with Amott’s commitment to the liberal arts. She added Amott’s enthusiasm for Knox’s continued growth was clear.

Before joining Hobart and William Smith, she was vice provost of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. She also has held academic appointments at Bucknell and Harvard universities, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Wellesley College.