For nearly a full year, the pandemic has limited students’ ability to participate in many of the signature experiences available at Knox, from performing in theatrical and dance productions to study abroad. How do you begin to make up for all those lost opportunities? The College decided early on to offer a “Fifth Year for Free” guarantee to all students who enroll full-time for all three terms of the 2020–21 academic year. Qualifying students will receive a full-tuition scholarship for up to three additional terms to enable them to participate in activities that were unavailable during the pandemic.

While there’s no part of the Knox experience that hasn’t been impacted by the pandemic, Prairie Fire student-athletes have faced some of the most significant disruptions. At this point, the Prairie Fire have endured the cancellation of the spring 2020, fall 2020, and winter 2021 athletic seasons. Now, all eyes are on the Midwest Conference for the spring 2021 season, with the possibility of at least some intercollegiate competition for student-athletes in all MWC sports. (The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC), in which the men’s and women’s golf teams compete, says it is committed to pursuing spring competition.) With infection rates currently declining in Illinois and wider distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon, we are cautiously hopeful the Prairie Fire compete again before the end of the academic year.

For a second consecutive year, the pandemic has led to the cancellation of Knox’s popular College 4 Kids summer camp. The two-week enrichment program, normally held each June, offers a wide variety of courses designed for area elementary and middle-school students—from Latin to filmmaking—most of which are taught by Knox faculty, students, and staff. Dean of the College Michael Schneider noted, “The uncertainties created by the pandemic and the uncertain availability of teaching staff has rendered planning too difficult.” The good news, however, is that the College is committed to bringing the program back in 2022.