Barrios selected a 2008 Student Laureate

Elizabeth Barrios of Aurora, Illinois, a senior at Knox College in Galesburg, has been selected as a 2008 Student Laureate by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. The award is given annually to one distinguished senior at each four-year college and university in Illinois, as well as a student from one of the state's community colleges.

"Elizabeth Barrios is an outstanding student, who has also engaged in a range of extracurricular activities, including dance, theatre, volunteer work tutoring schoolchildren, and participation in the Mortar Board academic honor society," said Knox College President Roger Taylor.

Taylor and Barrios attended the award ceremony October 18 in the Old State Capitol in Springfield. The award was formally presented by Illinois Deputy Governor Louanner Peters and Lincoln Academy Chancellor John B. Simon.

Barrios is majoring in English literature and Spanish at Knox. She has studied in Argentina and is currently working on a senior honors project. At Knox, Barrios was selected for the Ronald McNair Scholar Program, a federal initiative that encourages students from under-represented groups who are planning to enter academic careers. She also received a Knox-Ford Fellowship, which supports students' advanced research and creative endeavors.

A native of Venezuela who emigrated to the United States at age 12, Barrios is a graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora. She plans to enter graduate school next fall.

The Lincoln Academy was established 44 years ago to recognize distinguished citizens of Illinois with the state's highest honor, the Order of Lincoln. Earlier this month, the Academy announced that two retired Knox College professors, Rodney Davis and Douglas Wilson, both acclaimed Lincoln scholars and co-directors of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College, would be awarded the Order of Lincoln in February 2009, the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 48 states and 42 nations. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Knox College student Elizabeth Barrios, second from left, recipient of a 2008 Student Laureate award from the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, with, from left, John B. Simon, Chancellor of the Lincoln Academy; Louanner Peters, Deputy Governor of Illinois; and Roger Taylor, President of Knox College, at the award ceremony October 18 in the Old State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois.