Winter 2023 Magazine

THE KNOX STUDENT

The Knox Student Winter 2023

Cover by Addison Steinbach

The Old Stomping Grounds

Speaking with Three Knox Alumni Faculty, Staff

Nationwide Declining Enrollment: How is Knox Handling the Decrease in Students?

New Public Library to Connect Knox Students, Galesburg Community

Theater Participation Dwindling

Mellon Grant Encourages

Engagement with Humanities

Title IX at Knox

Too Much Coffee in Galesburg, Not Enough on Campus

Marie Cusumano: “Mother, Goddess, Crone”

Comics

Spring Break Horoscope

Staff Playlist

The Old Stomping Grounds

Speaking with Three Knox Alumni Faculty, Staff

Ro Ivaniszek [they/them] Section Editor

There are 57 alumni currently working with Knox College in some capacity. Two are admin-senior staff, four are emeritus faculty, seventeen are faculty, and thirty-three are staff. I sat down with three of them to discuss each of their unique journeys.

Allison Smith-Hahn is currently a lecturer in the theatre department and the supervisor of the costume shop. She graduated from Knox in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish. After graduating, she stayed on at Knox College through the post-baccalaureate program from 2010 to 2011.

As a post-baccalaureate, Smith-Hahn worked as an assistant for Margo Shiveley, who was the costume shop supervisor at the time. She took classes while looking for ways to improve the costume shop. This year gave her the opportunity to grow her portfolio and think about how she would work in the professional world.

“I went through all of the historical garments that we had up until that point. I researched how to build a catalog and create sort of an inventory. In some ways, it was a preview to my work in libraries,” Smith-Hahn said, sitting in the office that used to belong to Shiveley, her predecessor.

Smith-Hahn knew she wanted to go to “Chicagoland” and design in the city. After completing her post-baccalaureate, she moved to Chicago. During the day, she worked at a public library. At night, she drove into the city and worked for various theatres, doing costume design.

In 2018, Smith-Hahn began pursuing a Master of Library Information and Sciences. While studying catalogs and metadata, she was reminded of the work she had done when organizing the garments in the costume shop. Shortly after, an opportunity arose.

Type Drawer.

Photo by Ro Ivaniszek

“I was talking with Margo [Shiveley] and she shared that she was retiring. The thought of transitioning away from libraries and spending more time on design was pretty appealing,” Smith-Hahn said.

In 2019, Shiveley retired, and Smith-Hahn took over as the new theatre department lecturer and costume shop supervisor. Although having spent nearly a decade away from Knox, she still finds the culture very familiar.

“I think I feel it most working with students, that there is a zaniness, there’s a creativity, there’s a quirkiness that is still very much present here. And that was one of the most wonderful things to discover upon returning,” Smith-Hahn said.

Lily Lauver is currently the shop manager of Knox College’s letterpress studio. She graduated from Knox in 2021 with two bachelor’s degrees in Creative Writing and English Literature. From 2021 to 2022, she worked as a post-baccalaureate in the letterpress studio, alongside fellow 2021 graduate Sam Lisec.

Together, they were teaching assistants for a class at the studio in Spring 2022, taught by Associate Professor of English Nick Regiacorte. After completing her post-baccalaureate, Lauver came on as shop manager, as a paid position.

She spends her time as shop manager inventorying the shop, hosting workshops, and filling commissions. This year, she hopes to bring on other apprentices so that the letterpress studio won’t fall into a stalemate after she leaves.

The letterpress studio was established in 2016. Harry “Hal” Keiner, who graduated in 1967, packed his pick-up truck with the letterpress and collections of type, and drove it to Knox for the 50th anniversary of the Creative Writing department. He is the sole donor of the studio.

“I wish I could just somehow transport everybody to show them the space, because it’s weird, and hard to find, and little. When I was a freshman, Monica Berlin used to have her writing studio in this building. And I was really enamored with her letterpress print collection on the wall. So she brought me here one day,” Lauver said.

In her sophomore year, Lauver did an independent

study with Regiacorte to learn how to print. Over the course of the independent study, she fell in love with the craft.

“You need to have a lot of patience and it’s a very tedious craft. You have to have the right temperament for a letterpress to really stay with it, and I think I just kind of did,” Lauver said.

Lauver currently lives in Galesburg, with Lisec as her roommate, and she finds herself a lot more connected to the Galesburg community than when she was a student. However, her experience with the faculty and on campus has changed very little.

“Working with Mark Holmes and Nick Regiacorte and Monica Berlin, I don’t feel as though I’ve been treated differently necessarily. I remember when I was young [at Knox], it’s disarming how seriously they take you, or how much they treat me like an adult,” Lauver said.

After this year, Lauver will be heading on to a graduate program in poetry. However, she isn’t going to leave letterpress printing behind forever.

“I’m hoping to save up to get a little tabletop press of my own so that I can keep printing wherever I’m at,” Lauver said.

Photo by Ro Ivaniszek

Lauver holding a six point font piece at letterpress studio.

Photo by Ro Ivaniszek

Smith-Hahn (present)

Photo by Ro Ivaniszek

Kiraly

Photo by Ro Ivaniszek

Smith-Hahn hand-pleating for Three Sisters (2009)

Photo by Ro Ivaniszek

Assistant Professor of the Practice Sherwood

Kiraly is Knox College’s Distinguished Writer-inResidence. He was a student at Knox from 1967 to 1971, and was a declared theatre major. He had a long journey from student to professor.

“I did all my theatre work, lots of stuff in Studio [Theatre], acting, wrote plays, in a sketch comedy group. I was very conscientious about that. However, I wasn’t as conscientious with things that had nothing to do with writing or theater. So at the end of June of 1971, after four years, I was three credits short of graduating,” Kiraly said, sitting in his office shared with Regiacorte.

After failing to graduate, Kiraly moved to Chicago and worked at a newspaper syndicate as a typist and, later, an editor. The syndicate moved to California, and he moved with it. After sixteen years, he left the syndicate to dedicate more time to writing.

He wrote four novels (California Rush (1990), Diminished Capacity (1995), Big Babies (1996), and Who’s Hot, Who’s Not (1998)), and a movie (Diminished Capacity (2008), dir. by Terry Kinney).

Occasionally, Kiraly ended up back at Knox. He was awarded an alumni award for his novels, and at one point was a chair member for a student’s honor’s project. In the mid-2000s, he sat in on a writing workshop taught by the late Professor of English, Robin Metz. Metz’s first year at Knox was Kiraly’s last, so they had initially known each other as professor and student.

Kiraly recounted the conversation that started him on the path to complete his degree:

“[Metz] was driving me back to the airport for me to go back to California. And he said, ‘You seem to enjoy yourself in that workshop’. And I said, ‘I did. I really like the students.’ He said, ‘Would you like to teach?’ I said, ‘I’d love to, but I can’t.’ And I was so disgusted with myself when I got home that I called the registrar here at Knox and I said, ‘I’ve been three credits short of the degree for years, what do I have to do to graduate.’ They said, ‘Well, you got to take a science course,’” Kiraly said.

Kiraly took his science class, as well as two additional courses for the credit hours, while still living in California. He got his Knox College degree in 2007.

In 2010, Metz invited him to teach a handful of writing workshops over two terms. He was invited back in 2011 on a one-year contract basis, and has been here ever since. The creative writing department has grown and changed a lot since he was last a student at Knox. However, he finds that the culture and the spaces are largely the same.

“I was in the Gizmo and I was seeing students who made me think that nothing had changed. Some of them resembled people I’d known when I was here as a student, which is a weird double exposure effect. And then Robin [Metz] was sitting at a table talking to a student, just as he’d been doing, 30 or 40 years before,” Kiraly said.

He currently teaches two writing workshops, a Playwriting and Screenwriting workshop and Fiction Into Film, as well as beginning courses for fiction and playwriting.

“I’m glad to be here. I was an editor for a while, I was a writer for a while — still am. And then I got to be a teacher and that’s a good, symmetrical life for me. A good third act,” Kiraly said.

Nationwide Declining Enrollment How is Knox Handling the Decrease in Students?

Eleanor Lindenmayer [she/her] Co Editor-In-Chief

Knox College had 1430 students in the fall of 2012. Five years later, in 2017, fall enrollment was 1356. Another five years later, in fall of 22, fall enrollment was 1053. This is a drop of almost 400 students over the past ten years, most of it occurring in the past five.

But this phenomenon isn’t unique to Knox. According to The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center first-year enrollment started dropping in 2018, getting progressively lower, until it hit its lowest in 2020 – likely pandemic related. Even now, the numbers have not recovered to prepandemic levels, let alone those of pre-2018.

The pandemic is clearly a factor here, but there’s something else going on – more likely, multiple somethings: retention troubles, re-evaluation of post high school priorities, and the fast approaching demographic cliff are all playing a role in declining enrollment at Knox and around the nation.

First-year enrollment from 2016 to 2019 held steady around 340 to 350 students a year. Vice President for Student Development and Interim Dean of Admission Dr. MarQuita Barker says that’s about the goal.

“We would love to be back up to about 1400 students by 2026. In order to do that we need to have our incoming class be about 350 a year,” Dr. Barker said. This year’s enrollment was a little below that at 339, and Dr. Barker said it was, “actually less” than what the school had been hoping for. She, like the media, found cause in the pandemic, shifting priorities, and the demographic cliff. But 339 is still higher than the 3 years before.

The pandemic seems the obvious answer to this enrollment problem. Knox’s first year class shrank from the average of 345 in fall of 2019, to 318 in fall of 2020, then to 274 in fall of 2021. The current sophomore class is Knox’s smallest class in the last decade.

Photo by Addison Steinbach

This tracks with national trends. According to that same National Student Clearinghouse Research Center study, class sizes across the nation dropped even more in 2021 than they did in 2020. Overall, class sizes dropped 9.4% during the pandemic.

The causes for this drop are clear. Students didn’t want to attend or invest in online classes, so they took gap years. International student applications were also down, due to international travel being banned. Families had less money to spare for expensive institutions.

The pandemic also caused many people to shift their priorities. More people are starting to question if going to college is the best way into adulthood. Enrollment in two-year college and skilled trade programs like mechanics, culinary, and precision and production is increasing.

“I think we are, in a different way, trying to justify why you should come to a college like Knox. Now, not everybody is requiring or encouraging their child to go to college, there are other types of posthigh school paths that families are discussing,” Dr. Barker said.

A shrinking first-year class is not the only problem. Some experts say that the issue may be more about retention. In many parts of the country, first-time first year enrollment increased recently, but there has been an uptick in college departures. The most selective “elite” schools are awash in applicants, implying that people aren’t questioning the worth of college until they get there. This is particularly being felt by smaller regional and community colleges.

Knox Enrollment over the past 10 years:

*The registrar expects between 240 and 280 students to graduate in the spring

Knox Retention Data for the past 8 Graduating Classes:

Apart from the class of 2019, the percentage of students lost over the 4 years hovered a little under 20%, making retention rates a little over 80%. The pandemic certainly exacerbated this problem, as can be seen by the higher percent loss numbers for the classes of ‘22 and ‘23.

“I certainly know that our retention isn’t where we would like it to be,” Dr. Barker said. “We’d love to be 10 points higher in retention.”

The first-year-to-sophomore transition is pivotal for retention, and because of the pandemic many students decided not to return to college, or were unprepared due to pandemic related learning-loss. Yet, that is not all that’s happening.

Dr. Barker wonders if the decline in mental health across the college age generation might be part of the problem.

“We see a lot of anxiety and depression, and so a student might decide to take some time off before committing to staying here,” Dr. Barker said. This, she said, is part of why improving counseling services was such a priority for her when she arrived on campus. There was a complete overhaul, and Counseling Services is now fully staffed.

Dr. Barker wants to make sure that, “if a student wants to stay here, they have the support to be able to do that.”

Even though the daily impacts of the pandemic have decreased, and the college is taking steps to increase retention, the enrollment problem is only going to get worse.

The nation is approaching a demographic cliff. In 2008, during the recession, people started having less children at a significant rate because of financial uncertainty. That means that as we come up on 2026, 18 years later, there will be fewer college age students. CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling told Politico that the nation is already feeling the first edge of this demographic cliff.

The demographic cliff is expected to last for at least a decade, and only the most elite institutions won’t face a decline. But for the rest, at least one in four will face a decline of 10% to their overall enrollment according to a Higher Ed Pulse Report. Institutions are aware of this and are already preparing. The impact of this is already a financial nightmare for colleges, especially small ones like Knox.

Photo by Addison Steinbach

“You might see larger classes at some institutions. We’re trying to overcompensate for the students we won’t have in 2025,” Dr. Barker said. “If our incoming class is 20 students fewer, that is a significant hit to us. That’s money we’re not getting for a lot of things, for facility updates, for scholarships.”

Fewer students doesn’t only mean less money for Knox as an institution, it also means fewer funds for student activities.

“Much of the money that’s dispersed between student orgs comes from the student activity fee, and the student activity fee alone,” Dean of Campus Life Jacob Mclean said.

As Dr. Barker said, Knox needs to increase enrollment before the demographic cliff worsens the problem even more.

The Administration is focused on making Knox more affordable for qualified students. They will be introducing two new financial aid programs: The Prairie Promise, where for eligible Illinois residents Knox matches 100% of the students financial aid based on their FAFSA, and The Prairie Fire Flagship Match Program, where Knox will match the tuition of the flagship institution for students from 39 states. Knox is also focusing on recruiting from different parts of the country, according to Dr. Barker.

“We want to make sure we’re reaching different types of students that we might not have thought of, while making sure those students can be successful,” Dr. Barker said.

Dr. Barker is hopeful that these efforts will succeed, and increase Knox enrollment back to 1400 by 2026. She did have some concerns about how the recent ransomware attack may impact enrollment for the coming fall, as it hit right as Knox was sending out financial aid packages and slowed the process down. But she believes Knox has solid plans in place to manage the next few years.

This means fewer events, fewer campus trips, and less money to go around to student organizations. There are also less students to go around for student organizations. According to Dean McLean, the campus has as many clubs as ever – with more popping up all the time – but there are less students to fill the positions, leading to many students over committing and being overworked.

“We are dedicated and have a good team of people who are looking at ways that we can think about enrollment and retention differently and creatively,” Dr. Barker said.

Only time will tell how much these efforts will help Knox and other colleges around the country weather the next decade.

“If our incoming class is 20 students fewer, that is a significant hit to us. That’s money we’re not getting for a lot of things, for facility updates, for scholarships,”

New Public Library to Connect Knox Students, Galesburg Community

Yuchen Wang

Staff Writer

A new, 68,000 square foot library will come to Galesburg in early 2024, which will offer the same benefits as the current community library to Knox students and locals of Galesburg.

Mayor Peter Schwartzman, along with the board of the Galesburg Public Library Foundation, broke ground for the construction of the new library for Galesburg on Apr. 7, 2022. The new library will replace the current library in town, which was initially a temporary replacement for a Carnegie library that burned down in the 1950s. The new library will be located on the corner of Main and West street, approximately a seven minute walk from SMC—a distance of 0.3 miles. The new library will be 85% bigger than the current library. It will have new facilities such as a community room with audio-visual capabilities, teen space and study space, and a computer lab.

“This is something that should have happened a long time ago, and I am glad it’s finally happening,” sophomore Nea Schwamm said.

Knox students will be able to use the resources by signing up for a library card. The building will have meeting spaces that students can use. The maker space will also be a new opportunity for students. Some students are already excited about the new facilities offered.

“I can imagine if clubs can’t find a space on campus, they can reserve a room in the library using the conference rooms,” junior Audrey Radford said.

The new library will also include a room dedicated to preserving the history of the Galesburg community. For some Knox students, this will provide a way for them to be better connected to the local community.

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The cost of construction is $21 million dollars. Seventy-fve percent of the cost was fnanced by a grant from the Public Library Construction Act. The remaining cost was raised locally through donations. $4.1 million dollars was collected, $350,000 more than the original goal of $3.75 million dollars. The construction will be completed by early 2024.

Locals are excited about this library because it means a new hope.

“For the community as a whole, it will be a big step forward. A lot of people don’t have ready internet access at home. So the library becomes the main source of access, which will be increased by more computers,” President of the Galesburg Public Library Foundation Stuart Allison said.

The new library will bring benefts for Knox students as well.

“It’s better to have local history preserved in a library than a separate museum. Since it’s at the center of town, it will make local history more accessible to everyone,” sophomore Jon Yeakey said.

The new library is not just a fulfllment of a promise made a long time ago, but a new beginning for the community of Galesburg. For Knox students, it’s a new way to enjoy living in Galesburg and a way to connect with the local community. To Allison, a brand new library has way more meaning than just a building.

“When I was little, I loved reading and got my library card when I was six years old. I was asked to serve on the board and elected president of the Foundation two years ago. It’s a way to give back to the community, and it’s important for Knox faculty to be involved with the community of Galesburg. This is one of the ways I do it,” Allison said.

Concept Photo of the new library.

Photo Courtesy Galesburg Public Library

Aerial photo of the Library construction in process.

Photo by Yuchen Wang

“This is something that should have happened a long time ago, and I am glad it’s nally happening,”

Theater Participation Dwindling

Selah Dow [any pronouns] Copy Editor

The Knox College Theatre department has been around for a long time. The program lists productions going back to 1950. The arts have seemingly always been important on campus, and are highly valued and supported. But according to many students and faculty, participation is dropping, and there are far fewer members in the extracurricular activities, and majors in the field.

According to Chair of Arts Administration and Smith V. Brand Distinguished Professor of Theatre

Elizabeth Carlin-Metz, before the COVID-19 pandemic the theatre department generally had 25-30 majors per year. Now, there are around half as many. Covid-19 has greatly affected the whole world, and though both admissions and general participation are down on campus, the theatre department may have been hit extra hard.

The small size of both the college and the program make the lower levels of participation seem more prevalent. It is also more difficult to continue a program like theatre remotely, so the lack of in person activities in previous years had an especially dramatic impact on this department.

“It’s a Covid problem,” sophomore Kamana’okekai Lattig said.

Incoming students may also not have had the opportunity to participate in theatre in the later years of high school.

“There’s a chance that people lose interest,” sophomore Hadley Mollman said.

It’s possible that incoming students haven’t had the opportunity to participate in theatre recently, and aren’t as aware of opportunities on campus.

Because of the lack of in person activities in the last few years, specific aspects of theatre have been especially difficult.

“Not enough technicians were trained,” Lattig said.

This is especially hard on the department when few upperclassmen who were present before the pandemic are still on campus and able to provide such training. Students need to be instructed in person on campus about the use of lighting and sound equipment. Without enough competent technicians, it becomes only more difficult to keep shows running smoothly.

It has been difficult for current students to learn from upperclassmen and expert students in the program. Most current upperclassmen have had little in-person experience with the program, and those who did are under more pressure to share their knowledge with other students.

Photo by Addison Steinbach

However, Heidank also said: “there is both a downside and upside to the lower participation. There are a lot of opportunities for newer students to step up.” Often, even those with less prominent positions hold responsibility throughout the department. Several productions have resorted to double casting actors in order to fill roles.

This increased responsibility and opportunity for those who are active in the department does also have a downside. Many students in leadership positions take on several roles, and commit to a lot in order to keep productions running smoothly.

“They stretch themselves thin because there is no one else to do the things that must be done or hold the positions that must be held,” Heidank said.

The department is seemingly as committed as ever to keep production going. Even with less involvement overall, the department continues to put on many shows every term. Though it is more difficult to put on larger productions, the students and faculty are continually working to find creative ways to make up for the issue.

The department offers a variety of shows which are fairly popular among those involved.

“The plays tend to be eclectic enough that there usually is something for everyone in a given season,” Carlin-Metz said.

However, there have also been some complaints about the field. Some students wish there were opportunities for musical theatre. And though students have control over New Plays, faculty are in charge of decisions regarding seasonal shows.

“They stretch themselves thin because there is no one else to do the things that must be done or hold the positions that must be held,”

Photo by Addison Steinbach

There has also been discussion, even reaching Student Senate, about the possibility of paid positions for those working in theatre. Some think that, based on the time stage managers and directors put into their productions, and with the consideration that there are paid positions for stage hands, stage managers and directors should be receiving compensation for their efforts. Others think that paid participation within club and department extracurriculars can get difficult. “Where do we draw the line?” Senate President and senior Eeman Mahar said. Looking forward, the department is always looking to increase involvement. Students seem to agree the most effective way to do this is targeting prospective students during the enrollment process, and educating first-year students on the activities of the department.

“They’re doing a good job of encouraging people to stay in the department,” Lattig said. “We need a little bit of work on recruiting for tech.”

Within the department, many seem to believe an increased participation would be good for the school overall, and everyone involved in the program.

“Experiencing the Way of Knowing that is the basis of a performing art is a profound opportunity to integrate all of the domains of knowing. The performing arts also integrate the whole self, which often stimulates personal growth in significant ways. And the performing arts are fun,” CarlinMetz said.

Photo by Addison SteinBach

Mellon Grant Encourages Engagement with Humanities

Red Engel [he/they] Graphic Designer

Knox recently received a 1.5 million dollar Mellon grant focused on making the humanities more socially relevant. New humanities courses will center on abolitionism in their field, and other courses are adding additional material on abolitionism into their preexisting work.

Discussions with some of the long-standing humanities professors at Knox show a concern for the drop in humanities major graduates. Professor of Art History and Director of the Art Museum Program and Art Museum Studies Gregory Gilbert, the sole professor for the Art History major, expressed great concern over the drop in students. Gilbert explained that current students, enrolled & prospective, are very job-conscious. Students are worried about what major is going to make them the most money in the future, choosing business, economics, and STEM related majors to achieve that goal.

“I think it is definitely influenced by the massive growth of the tech and science industries in the US and globally. Institutions of higher learning are following this trend in expanding their STEM programs, knowing that it is a popular career track for the current generation of incoming students. This also includes the growth of business programs at many colleges and universities, including Knox. Much of this is due to the instability of the economy in recent years. [..] Given the high cost of private school education, families want to see a return on this investment,” said Gilbert.

When asked if the dropping rates in Humanities majors is a thing to be concerned about, Gilbert said there were two concerns. The first being that newer students would be graduating without a full general knowledge on the various topics Humanities majors cover.

Any major not shown had less than 0% composition for all 20 years. Data from National Center for Education Statistics.

“The other concern is more practical, namely that if humanities programs continue to retract and shrink, they will be cut from academic programs and will no longer exist as a viable educational force and tradition, which could very well threaten the future existence of liberal arts colleges. Higher education could very well become a glorified vocational training in more applied professional career tracks.” Gilbert said.

Gilbert stresses that many institutions are fighting this drop in Humanities majors and reassessing how to make these majors fit the contemporary world.

“It is important to stress that many institutions of higher learning, both liberal arts colleges and universities are going on the defensive. What I mean by that is that they are pulling back to reassess and rethink the role of a humanities education in relation to contemporary society and culture. How can humanities programs be more socially relevant, engaged and innovative,

how can humanities students in their future career contribute to social trends and help to address social and cultural problems.” Gilbert said Recently, nationwide, there has been a decline in students graduating with a humanities major. Statistics taken from the Department of Education shows that while humanities is falling behind, STEM and STEM-related fields are nearly doubling, with majors having an increase of 50% or higher, up to 73% in some cases.

Knox is not special in this sense. Rather, the school shows a much more polarized trend, as it is a small school and the shift is stronger felt. Archaeology, though a minor, has very limited courses, and Asian Studies students have remarked the difficulty in completing their minors when essential courses are missing from the roster.

Knox has seen many of these cuts on a much bigger scale due to the college’s small size.

With Art History, the loss of even two graduating students drops the average from three to four per year to only two graduating seniors. In the English department, there used to be 14 faculty which has dropped to seven over the years and their number of majors has also declined.

Despite all of this however, there are plenty of signs at Knox that humanities are not going to disappear entirely. Knox has recently received two major grants to revision and strengthen Humanities teaching at Knox. One was a National Endowment of the Humanities grant focusing on developing innovative immersion courses, in which topics are directly related to students having active contextual, social and cultural experiences as part of their studies and to apply this learning to projects with professional outcomes.

Gilbert taught a course on Feminist Museology summer 2022, which examined the need to transform curatorial practice in museums in relation issues of gender and sexual identity. This work is culminating in a feminist exhibit curated this year by the Art Museum Curating class on women artists in the Knox art collection.

The previously mentioned Mellon Foundation grant, “Abolitionism for All Times,” critically examines the Abolitionist history and legacy of the founding of Knox College, but will also focus on developing new courses and academic programming that address issues of contemporary abolitionism. The goal is to increase engagement with humanities as a whole.

Any major not shown had less than 0% composition for all 20 years. Data from National Center for Education Statistics.

Title IX at Knox

Jenna Schweikert [she/they] Section Editor

In the summer of 2020, an Instagram account appeared under the name @anontestimonies. The account was managed by an anonymous owner, who created it with the intention of sharing the stories of survivors of sexual assault at Knox College. The account, while keeping survivors’’ identities private, revealed the names and affiliations of the accused perpetrators, implicating fraternities, sports teams, resident assistants, and a variety of clubs across campus.

The majority of these posts, however, were directed towards members of Knox College’s chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

This was not the first time that Knox College experienced issues with sexual assault on campus.

In 2014, the U.S Dept. of Education Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation into Knox College in response to an allegation of sexual discrimination regarding a complaint of sexual misconduct in the fall of 2013.

In an email to the campus, former President of the College Teresa Amott wrote that the College had formed a Task Force on Sexual Assault Prevention and Response to meet weekly under then Title IX Coordinator and Associate Dean of the College Lori Schroeder. At the time, Knox was one of 55 colleges being investigated for Title IX violations.

In early May, an NBC article clarified that just because Knox — or any other institution — appeared on the list of colleges under federal investigation, that does not necessarily mean they violated the law. The investigations followed a prioritization of sexual assault investigation on

campuses by the Obama Administration.

The terms Title IX, misconduct, sexual assault, and rape each evoke a powerful image for many students, especially those who are survivors.

To understand the meaning of Knox College’s history with Title IX, it is essential to understand Title IX and its processes. A comprehensive page listing Title IX policies and procedures, as well as the contact information for Title IX coordinator Kim Schrader, is available to the public online at Knox College’s website.

There are multiple types of processes for resolving intimate violence under Title IX. Intimate violence is defined as stalking, dating and domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Each of these scenarios are processed differently.

In some cases, if a student or mandated reporter reports an incident, the student can simply file the report and be done with the process. The Title IX coordinator will follow up with that student in order to meet and discuss the incident, and if the student does not respond, the process may end there.

The First of a Series of Investigative Articles about Title IX at Knox

There are multiple types of processes for resolving intimate violence under Title IX. Intimate violence is defined as stalking, dating and domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

However, in some cases, even if a student chooses not to finish the reporting process, it may be necessary for the school to continue the investigation. If the survivor is a minor, if a weapon was involved, or if the incident appears to be part of repeated violations on part of the perpetrator, the federal government requires that the College investigate the incident. If this is the case, the College will inform the survivor that the investigation must proceed, but the survivor is not obligated to participate.

Whether or not an investigation occurs, and whether or not the alleged perpetrator is found responsible or not, most students can obtain a No Contact Order. A No Contact Order from Knox prohibits all communication between two parties, but cannot limit much more than that, as it is not ordered by a court of law.

For some cases, a Voluntary Resolution may be pursued, which does not involve a full-on investigation. In certain cases of sexual harassment, a student can choose this route, but the federal government does not allow this option for survivors of sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking.

A Voluntary Resolution is a mutual agreement intended to cease the problematic behavior and create a safer environment for the survivor and larger campus community. Voluntary Resolution options will look different depending on the specific case, but they’re not available in most instances of Title IX complaint, and are only pursued at the request of the survivor.

If a student chooses to undergo a full Title IX investigation, the length of time required can be strenuous — a typical investigation will last longer than two months.

First, the survivor will meet in person with a Title IX coordinator to provide them basic information about the events (date of occurrence, name of perpetrator, etc.). During this meeting, the Title IX coordinator will offer Interim Remedies and Measures, meaning aid and support. These remedies can be anything from changing residencies to a connection to a rape crisis center or one of many other options.

The College will then bring in an investigator who is trained in trauma-informed investigative procedures. The survivor will meet with the investigator to provide all information about the misconduct as well as any evidence if available. After meeting with the survivor, the investigator meets with the alleged perpetrator and conducts a similar interview.

The investigator then holds brief interviews with any witnesses, including those who may have directly observed the incident as well as anyone who may have observed either or both parties directly before or after the incident. After collecting this information, the investigatocompiles a preliminary report detailing all the initial evidence. The investigator then sends the preliminary report to both parties so the survivor and alleged perpetrator can provide corrections or clarifications.

With the final additions and corrections, the investigator submits the final report to the Title IX coordinator, along with their finding on the veracity of the allegations. The Title IX coordinator submits the report to an administrator, who will then decide what sanction to give the perpetrator if the investigator found the allegations to be veritable. After the finding and sanction are handed down, both the survivor and the perpetrator have the

If a student chooses to undergo a full Title IX investigation, the length of time required can be strenuous — a typical investigation will last longer than two months.

Column: Too Much Coffee in Galesburg, Not Enough on Campus

Selah Dow [any pronouns]

Copy Editor

Within 3 miles of Knox College’s campus there are 10 businesses specifically for the buying and selling of coffee products. Yet there is nothing of the sort on campus.

Many students rely on their daily caffeine intake to stay alert and awake during classes, especially when they have morning classes, or after a late night due to either workload or personal life.

With the number of these stores that are thriving within such a short distance from each other, there must be many students and locals who frequent these establishments. It seems that many students prefer coffee shops such as the Beanhive and Innkeepers, which are within walking distance from campus. Many of our students don’t have cars on campus, so they rely on the ability to walk to businesses they frequent.

Due to these travel restrictions, during the colder months, people often prefer to stay closer to their residences, favoring the warmth indoors to the harsh weather outside.

There have been several conversations within dining services about such a campus coffee possibility, including talk last year about converting the bookstore into a cafe. Nothing has come to fruition yet. However, with their continued action trying to implement such a possibility, clearly our dining services agree that it would be beneficial to have coffee on campus.

There has been a lot of excitement about the coffee station in Post Lobby that has been in the works nearly all of this year. According to Dining Services Chair, sophomore Arun Rajbhandari, it will likely not be opened this term as there have been issues with some machines and parts that are necessary for the construction.

Although this has been a highly anticipated project there has been little communication with the student body about its progress. Even further, most students aren’t even sure what the station would consist of. What is realistic to expect from such a small station, and what sort of options will be available?

Students may not be able to afford frequenting outside establishments on top of the boarding fees on campus. Though there are some coffee options available in the Hard Knox Cafe and Gizmo, people often prefer more variety in their beverage choices. With both specialty flavorings and more variety in types of drink, it’s hard to measure against a plain coffee. Based on the money students are paying for their food and drink, shouldn’t more coffee options be included?

Hopefully our dining services will continue to work on resolving this absence. And even more, hopefully the issues that are delaying the construction process and opening of the coffee station doesn’t cause the project to be delayed further, abandoned or forgotten.

Photo Courtesy Beanhive Facebook

Marie Cusumano: “Mother, Goddess, Crone,”

After the birth of her son, Cusumano established a letterpress printing company named Goddess Graphics. In her prints, she began to explore the ways that ancient mythologies can empower women. The title is partially taken from one of the pieces in the exhibit, entitled ‘Maiden, Mother, Crone’. I believe that they changed Maiden to Goddess to represent the amount of time she spent specifically exploring and representing divinity in her work, as to give a more full description of what the exhibit entails. I think that this title was very appropriate for the show, there were explorations of childbirth, of cycles, trauma, and divinity.

Photos by Ellen Miller Garrett

These images are from the ‘Mother, Goddess, Crone: The Art of Maria Cusumano’ exhibit at the Figge Art Museum located in Davenport, IA. This exhibit featured 11 letterpress prints by Maria Cusumano, an artist who at one time was an art instructor and lecturer at the Figge.

Ellen Miller Garrett [they/them] Co Editor-In-Chief

Jerry Overload

Crownapping

aries go camping n reflect

cancer survey the field 4 potential gossip

taurus have a staycation

leo try on all ur clothes n do a fashion show

gemini go to miami 2 party

libra lay in the dirt at night

scorpio let out all the screams n tears uve been holding in this term

virgo add ur beanie collection

capricorn get on ur sigma male grindset

saggitarius get in tune w/ ur emotional self

aquarius make as many ur mom jokes as possible

pisces buy urself a v v expensive cocktail

The Knox Student Winter 2023