Excerpt:
On getting word of this year’s speaker, Mr. Colbert had threatened to burn his honorary doctoral diploma from Knox — in mock anger at the college’s decision to honor Mr. Clinton. The Galesburg Register-Mail reports that the college’s president, Roger L. Taylor, responded by sending Mr. Colbert a steel diploma, which the comedian tried unsuccessfully to burn Monday night on The Colbert Report.
“You win this round, Knox College,” said Mr. Colbert, adding that “those geniuses at Knox College are pretty smart.”
Read the full story in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
…To no avail. The steel diploma failed to burn despite Stephen Colbert’s enthusiastic attempt. Jane Carlson of the Register-Mail, recaps the June 11, 2007 episode of The Colbert Report.
Excerpt:
Comedian and political satirist Stephen Colbert tried to burn his honorary degree from Knox College on Monday night’s episode of his Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report” in mock anger over the college’s decision to grant former U.S. President Bill Clinton a similar honor this year.
Calling Clinton a “coat-tail rider” and accusing Knox College of ignoring his earlier threats to burn the piece of paper on air, Colbert tried to torch his honorary degree, to no avail.
That’s because Knox College President Roger Taylor was serious earlier this year when he said he would send Colbert a fireproof diploma, after Colbert issued an ultimatum to the college stemming from Knox’s decision to invite Clinton to speak and receive an honorary degree.
While Colbert received an honorary doctorate of arts and Clinton received an honorary doctorate of laws, Colbert said he believed Clinton was “stealing his thunder,” so Taylor sent Colbert an honorary degree made of steel that wouldn’t catch fire.
“You win this round, Knox College,” Colbert said, noting that “those geniuses at Knox College are pretty smart.”
Read the full story.
The story also appears in a Colbert Report fan site, No Fact Zone.
American Public Radio interviews Lindsay Herd ‘98, who acts as a guardian to elderly who can no longer care for themselves, yet have no one else to help care for them.
Listen to the full story on Marketplace.
Excerpt:
[Marketplace’s Alisa Roth:] Her client is an elderly African American woman who can no longer take care of herself, and whose family couldn’t agree on who should take responsibility for her.
Herd does the sorts of things an adult child might do for an aging parent. Or an ailing family member.
Lindsay Herd: I would check on what the current medications are, make sure that there are medications. Check the refrigerator, make sure there’s plenty of food and things are OK. Does the apartment look clean? Does the client look clean? Do they look well taken care of?
Alisa Roth: She also found this client an apartment and a home health care worker. She makes sure there’s a spending allowance and that a doctor visits every couple of weeks.
Herd works for the Guardianship Project. It’s a not-for-profit that’s been appointed guardian of this client and about a hundred others. The court appoints a guardian when a person is left unable to care for him or herself because of age, illness or disability.
Read the full story on Marketplace.
Local restaurateur, Brenda Egenlauf, reflects on the Knox Commencement weekend in Letters to the Editor of the Register-Mail.
Letter:
What a weekend! We started our 9th year in business on 6-1-07 and what a great present we got. We had the best graduation week ever. The entire week was saying hello to parents and students finishing finals and leaving for the summer, and goodbye to families and graduates leaving for higher education and some to new jobs.
From Hong Kong to Hawaii and everywhere in between we are the better for having Knox in Galesburg. The financial impact alone for us is tremendous. We just wanted to acknowledge Knox College staff, administration and students for making this graduation weekend the best we have ever had. We are looking forward to seeing more parents, and students next year, as this year was probably one of the smaller classes from here on out. - Brenda Egenlauf, Chez Willy’s, Galesburg.
Excerpt:
Although the additional economic impact of former President Clinton’s visit to Galesburg Saturday may not have been as great as expected - Knox College commencement is always a big draw - Innkeeper’s Fresh Roasted Coffee, 80 N. Seminary St., may have been the big winner.
Johan Ewalt, one of the owners, called Saturday “outstanding.”
“We had a 55 percent increase in sales over last year (commencement) and we served over 1,000 people,” Ewalt said.
With Friday’s business a little soft, Ewalt said some doubt set in, but Innkeeper’s hit the jackpot Saturday.
“We had a line to the door from 7:30 to 10 a.m.,” he said, “then, from about noon to 4 (p.m.). It was just incredible. It was probably busier in terms of drinks and food than (Knox) homecoming.”
Read the full story in the Register-Mail.
Excerpt:
The invitation to receive an honorary degree from Knox College came “out of the blue,” said Janet McKinley, who was presented with the honor during the college’s commencement ceremony Saturday.
“I was so surprised and truly honored,” she said.
She was joined in receiving the honor by former President Bill Clinton and Douglas Wilson, professor emeritus at the school and a leading scholar on Abraham Lincoln.
McKinley is board chairman of Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization, and spent 20 years in the investment business. She was global portfolio manager and a director of Capital Research and Management Company and was chairman of The Income Fund of America, one of the 10 largest equity funds in the country.
Despite the surprise invitation to receive the honor, McKinley said after the ceremony it is an appropriate place for her to be honored.
“Oxfam talks about the fact that poverty at its heart is a lack of rights,” she said, and Knox College has a history of supporting and recognizing human rights.
Read the full story in the Register-Mail.
