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Friday, October 11, 2002
Contact: Peter Bailley
news@knox.edu
309-341-7715
GALESBURG--After being officially installed as Knox College's 18th president, Roger L. Taylor began his address not with a quote or a "good afternoon" greeting, but with a call to the assembled alumni, faculty, students and guests to join him in a rousing rendition of the College's fight song, "Hail, Knox All Glorious."
Taylor, a 1963 graduate of Knox, led the crowd in singing "Fight for the purple and the gold," then pledged to devote "every ounce of energy" to the strength and future of the college during his time as president.
• Photo: Roger Taylor addresses installation ceremony. Download for publication.
• Full text of installation address
Taylor, who was appointed president in February of 2002, laid out three goals for his presidency: academic excellence, institutional self-confidence, and financial strength.
"Knox has a great story to tell"
In the autumn sun on the south side of Old Main, Taylor specifically addressed the hundreds of Knox alumni returning for the College's 82nd Homecoming, encouraging them to brag about Knox at every chance.
Alumni should tell others about Knox's abolitionist founders, its "world-class faculty," its diverse student body, and its inclusion in books like "Colleges that Change Lives," Taylor said. "We have a great story to tell."
More than 70 colleges and universities from across the country sent delegates to the installation. Taylor said that Knox would maintain its commitment to the liberal arts curriculum as the best preparation for careers and for citizenship. [Photo: Installation ceremony view from Old Main.]
Taylor on the liberal arts (:56)
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Taylor has been a Trustee of Knox College since 1988 and served as board chair from 1999 to Sept. 2001, when he assumed the post of interim president. Taylor was a partner with the law firm Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago and remains Of Counsel.
According to Steven D. McCormick, a partner in Kirkland & Ellis, people looking to understand Taylor in the role of president should look to another Illinois courtroom lawyer who rose to a position of president — Abraham Lincoln. Knox can expect a dedicated and passionate advocate, McCormick said.
"Knox is the cause nearest and dearest to Roger's heart," McCormick said of his long-time colleague at the prominent Chicago-based law firm. "From the moment he gets up in the morning to the moment he's brushing his teeth at night, he'll be marshalling facts in support of Knox College. With the greatest respect to other presidents [of Knox], I don't believe you've ever had as effective a public champion as Roger Taylor."
Heather Hoffman, Associate Professor of Psychology praised Taylor for his "open-door" office, and being accessible to everyone on campus. Taylor eats regularly in the campus cafeteria, and he and his wife Anne have both worked with janitorial and cafeteria staff.
Diane Rosenberg, interim chair of the Board of Trustees, noted that Taylor had taken a special interest in the repair of the tower and bell on Old Main. She related a story from Taylor's student days, when his fraternity was reprimanded by Wilbur Pillsbury, then the dean of students, for shooting off fireworks. The fraternity members should ring a bell instead, wrote Pillsbury, now a retired professor of economics.
"Getting the Old Main bell to ring again symbolized for Roger Taylor letting the accomplishments of Knox College ring out to the world," Rosenberg said. [Photo: Roger Taylor, Heather Hoffmann and Diane Rosenberg]
Rosenberg remarks (2:04)
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Taylor said one of his goals is increasing alumni support for the College's endowment, $46-million, as of June 2002.
"Skeptics might say that's ambitious," he said. "And it is. But not too ambitious for a college that has pursued excellence for 165 years. It's modest compared to the dreams of our early founders." Knox was chartered in 1837 by pioneers from upstate New York who were also international leaders of the anti-slavery movement.
Taylor also said that Knox remains committed to student leadership in academic integrity — through a student-governed Honor System.
Taylor on the Knox Honor System (1:03)
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Also participating in the investiture were Helen Scharber, president of the Student Senate, representing the student body; and Jo Ann Gibbons, a Supervisor with Knox College Dining Services, representing staff employees of the College.
The installation, which coincided with Knox's Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 11-12, drew delegate representatives from colleges and universities throughout the United States. Following the formal ceremony, there was an all-campus picnic and festival.
Biographical Sketch of Roger Taylor
Roger Taylor received his bachelor's degree in English at Knox College in 1963. He then served three-and-one-half years in the United States Navy, including a year in Viet Nam. He earned a law degree, with honors, at Northwestern University in 1971. An experienced trial lawyer, he was a partner with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago. He retired in 1999 and remains Of Counsel.
Taylor joined the Knox College Board of Trustees in 1988 and served as Board Chair from 1999 until September 2001, when he was selected Interim President of the College. He was appointed President of the College in February 2002.
Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 48 states and 40 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
Related Pages
Biography and file photos of Roger Taylor
Homecoming 2002
History of Knox College
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