Knox shines up for Colbert

College expects speaker to be entertaining, draw large crowd

Friday, June 2, 2006

By JANE CARLSON

The Register-Mail

It's Colbert Eve at Knox College - and lots of things are stirring.

About 4,000 chairs will be set up on the south lawn of Old Main today for the college's commencement ceremony Saturday, at which approximately 250 students will receive bachelor's degrees - and become the first people anywhere to be able to say that Stephen Colbert spoke at their graduation.

Colbert, the deadpan satirist and star of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" who rose to fame as a senior news correspondent on comedian Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show," will receive an honorary degree - his first - from Knox at the ceremony.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Ambassador Shirley E. Barnes also will receive honorary degrees from the college Saturday.

The week before commencement is always a busy time at Knox, according to Director of Public Relations Karrie Heartlein, but Colbert's star power and advance media attention has the college planning for a larger turnout than usual.

The college expects more alumni and more local and regional residents will attend commencement this year. Knox has issued media credentials to about 10 organizations, Heartlein said, most of them local and regional.

Commencement will begin at 10 a.m. on the south lawn of Old Main. The ceremony is free and open to the public, but in case of rain, it will be moved to T. Fleming Fieldhouse, where graduates, families and invited guests with tickets will get priority seating. Others will be admitted as space permits.

Saturday's forecast calls for clear skies, so college officials are counting on there being plenty of space outdoors. But those without tickets are advised to bring lawn chairs, Heartlein said. The majority of the seats will be taken by the graduates, their families and faculty and staff. About 250 students are graduating from Knox this year, and each student was given 10 tickets. Faculty and staff members were allotted two tickets each.

Heartlein encouraged attendees to arrive as early as 9 a.m. She said parking is limited, but attendees can park in Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 273 S. Prairie St.

"We're very excited that Colbert is coming, and we're ready," Heartlein said.

Colbert is expected to speak for about 20 minutes before the degrees are awarded, but the college does not know any details about his speech. The college will not post video of the speech online, per an agreement with Colbert, but will post a transcript of his speech. "We have faith that the speaker will say something that's interesting - and very entertaining for our graduates," Heartlein said.

But she also noted that the purpose of the ceremony is to honor the graduates.

"This is a graduation. We expect people to be respectful and to honor our graduates by staying through the ceremony," she said.

Larry Breitborde, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the college, said he has been getting more calls than usual from alumni and friends interested in attending Knox's commencement. He said this year's commencement is creating a different kind of buzz than last year's, when Sen. Barack Obama was the speaker, but not necessarily bigger - and not just for Colbert, either.

"We just have an all-star cast this year," Breitborde said. "It's an appropriate finale for what was been a really good year for the college."

Working in Old Main this morning, custodian Barbara Stevenson said the campus gets a "serious shining-up" every year for commencement, but this year is particularly exciting for her.

"I am absolutely a fan of Stephen Colbert," she said.