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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate the students,
4faculty, staff, trustees, and friends of Knox College in
5Galesburg on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the
6founding of the college in February of 2012; and
 
7    WHEREAS, A group of 19th century social reformers, led by
8the Reverend George Washington Gale, traveled from upstate New
9York to western Illinois to found a college that would be
10accessible to students regardless of their financial means,
11gender, or race; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly, which included
13Representative Abraham Lincoln, chartered the Knox Manual
14Labor College on February 15, 1837; the name was officially
15shortened to Knox College in 1857; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The pervasive spirit of equality on campus
17motivated Abraham Lincoln to use the occasion of his fifth U.S.
18Senate debate with Stephen Douglas, held on the Knox campus in
191858, to denounce slavery on moral terms for the first time;
20the Knox College Board of Trustees gave Lincoln his first
21honorary degree two years later when he ran for president of
22the United States; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, For its entire history, Knox College has been -
2and continues to be - a community of scholar-teachers and
3students working together, guided by the values of independent
4thought, personal integrity, and community responsibility;
5students are given the freedom to flourish and are encouraged
6to explore ideas and places, stretch their intellect and their
7talents, blend thought with action, and fuse imagination with
8initiative; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Today, Knox College is a national liberal arts
10college with students from 48 states and 46 countries; "Old
11Main" on the Knox campus is a National Historic Landmark and
12the only building still remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas
13Debates; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Knox College will observe the 175th anniversary of
15its founding during the 2011-2012 academic year; therefore, be
16it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
19we congratulate the students, faculty, staff, trustees, and
20friends of Knox College on the occasion of the college's 175th
21anniversary; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2presented to Knox College as a symbol of our respect and
3esteem.