HR0494 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0494 LRB097 12943 GRL 57444 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the students, faculty, staff, trustees, and friends of Knox College in Galesburg on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the founding of the college in February of 2012; and

WHEREAS, A group of 19th century social reformers, led by the Reverend George Washington Gale, traveled from upstate New York to western Illinois to found a college that would be accessible to students regardless of their financial means, gender, or race; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly, which included Representative Abraham Lincoln, chartered the Knox Manual Labor College on February 15, 1837; the name was officially shortened to Knox College in 1857; and

WHEREAS, The pervasive spirit of equality on campus motivated Abraham Lincoln to use the occasion of his fifth U.S. Senate debate with Stephen Douglas, held on the Knox campus in 1858, to denounce slavery on moral terms for the first time; the Knox College Board of Trustees gave Lincoln his first honorary degree two years later when he ran for president of the United States; and

WHEREAS, For its entire history, Knox College has been - and continues to be - a community of scholar-teachers and students working together, guided by the values of independent thought, personal integrity, and community responsibility; students are given the freedom to flourish and are encouraged to explore ideas and places, stretch their intellect and their talents, blend thought with action, and fuse imagination with initiative; and

WHEREAS, Today, Knox College is a national liberal arts college with students from 48 states and 46 countries; "Old Main" on the Knox campus is a National Historic Landmark and the only building still remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debates; and

WHEREAS, Knox College will observe the 175th anniversary of its founding during the 2011-2012 academic year; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the students, faculty, staff, trustees, and friends of Knox College on the occasion of the college's 175th anniversary; and be it further

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