OPENING CONVOCATION
THE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-EIGHTH YEAR
KNOX COLLEGE
SOUTH LAWN OF OLD MAIN
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2025
11:00 A.M.
THE KNOX HYMN HAIL TO
ALMA MATER
PROCESSIONAL
Alleluia Music by Elaine Hagenberg, Text by St. Augustine
Dr. Bram Wayman, Conductor
Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities
GREETING Manavi Subba ’26
INTRODUCTION OF NEW FACULTY MEMBERS Melissa J. Glenn Provost and Dean of the Faculty
PRESIDENT’S WELCOME C. Andrew McGadney President
CONVOCATION ADDRESS Mark Shroyer Professor of Physics and Chair of Physics and Astronomy
PRESENTATION OF COLLEGE PRIZES AND HONORS
Philip Green Wright/Lombard College Prizes ...................................................Melissa J. Glenn
Recognition of Inductees to Phi Beta Kappa ..................................................Mary Crawford ’89 Associate Dean of the College
Elbridge Pierce Prize Mary Crawford ’89
Faculty Scholarship Prize Mary Crawford ’89
Janet C. Hunter Prizes .................................................................................C. Andrew McGadney
CLOSING .................................................................................................................Melissa J. Glenn
ALMA MATER
The Knox Hymn ...............................................................................................Carpenter-Weddell
Knox College Choir
Sung by the choir and the audience
The audience stands and remains standing for the recessional.
RECESSIONAL
PRIZES AND HONORS
THE PHILIP GREEN WRIGHT/LOMBARD COLLEGES PRIZES
The Philip Green Wright/Lombard College Prizes are the highest honor conveyed by the Knox faculty upon its members. The sole criterion is distinguished teaching. They are awarded each year to one senior and one junior member of the faculty. The prizes were established by Theodore, Quincy, and Sewall Wright, the sons of Philip Green Wright, a renowned professor at Lombard College during the early 1900s. Lombard College was founded in Galesburg in 1850, and its alumni were formally “adopted” by Knox College when Lombard closed in 1930.
PHI BETA KAPPA
Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, recognizes excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and promotes the principles of freedom of inquiry and liberty of thought and expression. Founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary, only ten percent of the nation’s colleges and universities have been awarded chapters. The Delta Chapter of Illinois was founded at Knox College in 1916, the first chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in a liberal arts college in the state. In addition to seniors who are elected at their graduation, a small number of juniors are elected to recognize their high academic achievement.
THE ELBRIDGE PIERCE PRIZE
The Elbridge Pierce Prize for scholastic improvement is awarded each year to the senior who has made the greatest increase in academic performance during the sophomore and junior years. It was established by Mr. Pierce, an attorney in Lakeside, Michigan, who was also a benefactor and Trustee of the College from 1956 to 1960.
THE FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE
The Faculty Scholarship Prize is awarded each fall to a senior who has exhibited exceptional academic ability while participating significantly in extracurricular activities. It is the highest honor the Knox faculty accords a student. The prize was established in 1922 by faculty contributions to an endowment campaign.
THE JANET C. HUNTER PRIZES
The Janet C. Hunter fund was established in 2000 by contributions from friends and colleagues of Janet C. Hunter, longtime Director of Financial Aid, Dean of Enrollment, and Vice President for Enrollment and Institutional Planning at Knox College. The Hunter Prizes are to be awarded annually to a member of the Knox College salaried staff and to a member of the hourly staff to recognize outstanding accomplishments and service to the College.