Knox in the News

From The Register-Mail:

After a decade of serving as president of Knox College, Roger Taylor will be leaving Galesburg at the end of the month.

Today, movers will pack up a few belongings from the president’s house, Taylor and his wife Anne will have lunch, and the two will leave, not to return for at least two years, according to Taylor.

In a few days, Taylor’s successor and future Knox College President Teresa Amott and her partner will move in.

Taylor and Amott each agreed to a Q and A session to discuss the transition…

Roger Taylor
What would you consider as your legacy at Knox?
Taylor: I fixed the Old Main bell. I mean legacy’s kind of a fancy word for a farm boy from Fulton County, but I’d say I’m the guy who fixed the bell, which hadn’t rung in 20 years. I say that half facetiously, but half seriously, because to me, it was a metaphor for the beginning of strengthening institutional self-confidence. If the bell doesn’t work, how can you have school spirit? So by golly, we fixed the bell and rang it on Feb. 14, 2002…

Teresa Amott
How are you spending your last days at Hobart and William Smith Colleges?
Amott: It has been a busy time, in which I have focused on wrapping up and briefing the person who will be filling in on an interim basis while HWS searches for my successor. I had hoped to take a brief vacation, but it looks as though that won’t happen! I am also working my way through the hundreds of congratulatory messages I’ve received from members of the Knox and Galesburg community…

From The Register-Mail:

Knox College for Kids Co-Directors Jason Helfer, associate professor and chair of the education studies department, and Stephen Schroth, assistant professor of education studies, in their fifth year of heading up the 36-year-old program, said their goal is two-fold.

As Knox and Galesburg were founded together, they said College for Kids is one way to strengthen the bond and give back to the community.

“It’s a constant source of amazement and pride for me, because so often, the first time people around here visit the campus … is when they bring their children to College for Kids,” said Schroth.

About 240 students are participating in College for Kids this year, most coming from within Knox County, including about 30 in the two-year-old “junior program” for kindergartners through second-graders.

The regular program offers nearly 60 hour-long classes this year in fine arts, humanities and social science, languages, and science and mathematics, from which students choose three.

“We like giving children the opportunity to take educational risks,” said Helfer. “We suggest they take something they’re interested in, but we also encourage them to try something new, something they’re not used to.”

Helfer and Schroth said the second part of the program is providing opportunities for their teacher candidates.

Each year, 15 Knox students receive grants from the REACH (Recruiting and Enlightening through Access to and Communication with High-need schools) Fellows program to work as assistants at College for Kids…

From NewsOk:

Todd Monken might be Oklahoma State’s new offensive coordinator, but his influence on the program’s rise to Big 12 and national prominence dates back to the early 2000s, when he, as the Cowboys’ wide receivers coach, tutored Rashaun Woods, John Lewis, T.D. Bryant and others to major contributions.

A Wheaton, Ill., native and a product of tiny Knox College, Monken’s career path has involved stops at small schools, major universities and the NFL. Now he’s circled back to OSU, with his wife Terri and their son Travis, where an explosive Cowboys offense waits for him to seize the controls…

From The Knox Webpage:

Gene Procknow ‘76 has been named to Consulting Magazine’s list of Top 25 Consultants for 2011. He was cited for Excellence in the Public Sector.

A member of the Knox College Board of Trustees, Procknow is managing director of the Federal Government Services practice at Deloitte & Touche, USA, LLP, in Washington, D.C.

He has worked for Deloitte for more than 30 years, serving clients in multiple industries, including federal, state and local; communications; health care, and publishing. His professional focus is to help clients integrate technology with their business strategies and objectives.

His current responsibilities include leading Deloitte’s fast-growing Federal Government Services practice — including audit and enterprise risk services, consulting, tax and financial advisory services.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Knox College and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan

From the Peoria Journal Star:

Tim Kasser is a professor who heads the psychology department at Knox College. He’s published several books: “The High Price of Materialism,” “Psychology and Consumer Culture” (with Allen Kanner) and “Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity” (with Tom Crompton)”

Q: How does business fit into your psychology classes?
A: I don’t teach business at Knox but I do teach a class called “Alternatives to Consumerism” that presents workable alternatives to our current economic system…. But we’re always told that capitalism is the American way…. Maximization of profit in the service of self-interest is the way America’s economy is organized. The data suggest that this way is not optimal if we aim to create a sustainable planet, the equitable distribution of wealth, or the general well-being of the populace.

Q: What do you suggest?
A: Just as there are different varieties of Christianity, there are varieties of capitalism. The capitalist model used in Scandinavia, for example, is quite different from our own. It seems to work, given that their people live longer than we do, that they are more ecologically sustainable, and that UNICEF finds their children to be happier and healthier than ours…

From NorthbrookPatch:

Leslie Kang has always known she wanted to be a teacher.

“Even when I was younger, I liked to teach people, so I was always pretending to have my own classroom,” says the Northbrook resident and recent Knox College graduate.

Next fall, Kang will get a real classroom of her own—in Korea, where she will teach English to elementary school students on a Fulbright Fellowship. Administered by the U.S. Department of State, the prestigious grants give top American college students the opportunity to teach or study abroad for a year after graduation.

When Kang leaves for her 13-month stint in South Korea July 1, it will be her first time in the country since childhood, when she traveled there with her parents…