On Friday, June 5, the Knox College Board of Trustees authorized the College's administration to hire an architect to develop plans for the pool. The project is part of the College's $125-million Knox Now! fund drive.
"This challenge pledged by Laurel and Edith Andrew will have a tremendous impact on Knox," said Knox College president Rick Nahm. "It will allow us to add a new state-of-the-art swimming and diving facility to Knox's already strong complex of athletic resources, and it will serve as a excellent challenge to other alumni to get involved in supporting the College financially."
"I am thrilled by Laurel's and her mother's generous challenge," said Harley Knosher, director of athletics. "It shows a real love of Knox and a concern that our athletic program be the best it can be. Frank M. Lay Natatorium was built in 1951 and has served generations of Knox students very well. Today, though, it is not large enough for the competitive, fitness and recreational swimming needs for a community the size Knox is now."
As a Knox student, Laurel Andrew was a member of the varsity swim team, winning letters all four years and Most Valuable Swimmer honors her senior year. After graduating from Knox she earned a master's degree in business administration at the University of Chicago School of Business and has held financial analyst positions with Ryder System. Both Laurel Andrew and Edith Andrew are active in philanthropy.
Under the terms of the pledge, the Andrews will contribute $1,000,000 when Knox College receives $750,000 in additional pledges for the swimming pool project. Laurel Andrew has volunteered to take a leading role in soliciting funds for the project.
Laurel Andrew has also issued an additional challenge specifically to alumni who were involved in competitive swimming and diving at Knox. Their gifts to the project will be matched up to a total of $100,000, if they also make new or increased gifts to the Knox College Annual Fund during the life of the campaign. More than half of all former Knox swimmers and divers must contribute to meet the terms of this additional challenge.
During her senior year at Knox, Ms. Andrew led the first "Senior Challenge," an annual fund drive, where gifts to the Knox College Annual Fund by graduating seniors are matched by an alumni donor. Andrew has continued to contribute to the Annual Fund every year since graduation. Founded in 1837, Knox is an independent, four-year, liberal arts college, located in Galesburg, Illinois, with 1,200 students from 42 states and 33 nations. Knox's "Old Main," a National Historic Landmark, is the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
-end-