“South Hall following the remodel of the late 1870’s during which the building was taken from four stories to two stories. At this time the campus faced Grant Street. Although the marker is hidden from view now, its placement was at the front door of South Hall at that time.

Due to the significant structural change in South Hall, the building was compromised. At the end of the 1950’s South was beyond repair and was razed to build Baxter Hall.”

Let’s jump straight to the chase scene…

We need 459 additional donors this year to hit 40% by the close of business on June 30, 2008.

If you’re not “in” right now, click here and join 4,000 plus who have stood up and been counted.

If you’re already in, go to your Class on the Honor Roll and make sure your friends/pledge brothers/fellow independent men are on the list. If not, pick up the phone and get them on board.

Thanks!

Several years ago, there was a young, local man attending Wabash. He wasn’t the greatest student in the world, according to his report. His family was placed in a position where they simply could not afford to continue sending him to Wabash.

Faced with dropping out unless someone came to his rescue, he made an appointment with the Dean…Dean Moore.

The young man summoned up the courage to ask for a scholarship. Dean Moore gave the young man quite a stare, chuckled, and said something like: “Scholarship? Have you seen your grades?” The young man replied he knew his grades weren’t the best but he explained that, without some financial help, he’d have to drop out of Wabash.

Dean Moore asked: “How much do you need to stay here?” The young man told him. Dean Moore said: “Well, if you can keep a ‘C’ average, we’ll make sure you can stay at Wabash.” End of conversation.

The generosity of Wabash alumni made staying at Wabash possible for that young Crawfordsville man those many years ago. Next year, I’ll bet another young man, from near or far, will need the same help. In fact, I’ll bet there will be several.

It’s our turn to make sure the College has the capability to do this for other young men. Your annual gift, large or small, helps. If you haven’t yet made a gift, please do so. Click here to make a gift on-line.

BTW: that is a true story…I was there.

From the press release…

“Hopworks Urban Brewery is excited to introduce local Portland artist Nathan Clark.
Nathan Clark earned his BA from Wabash College in 2003, which he attended on a Fine Art Fellowship. He spent two years with the Gallery 510 Art Co-op in Decatur, IL, and in the fall of 2006 he relocated to Portland, OR, where he now resides.

Nathan’s art will be on display in Hopworks restaurant and bar. Please join us tomorrow to meet Nathan and view his gallery. Acoustic musician, Leonard Mynx, will be playing guitar during the art show.”

I found this marker of South Hall on a recent campus photo “trip”.  I had never, as a student or a staff member for almost 10 years, seen it before. Well hidden, very well hidden.  Have any idea where?

The photo below is of the hallway between the classrooms in Baxter and the faculty offices – the view is from the East.  Right below the windows sits the stone. 

That’s Lee Grogg ’68 (l) taking a few minutes out from his 40th reunion to speak to our friends in Public Affairs Howard Hewitt and Kim Johnson. Howard and Kim, teamed with Jim Amidon, Steve Charles, Brent Harris and Karen Handley cover each Big Bash in near real time.

Web stories and photo albums appear almost before events are over. Nobody does it better than this talented team.

If you aren’t following our young men who have been in Ecuador, then you are missing out on following one of the absolute best learning opportunities I have ever seen. Don’t leave the Wabash web site without first reading, completely, their story. †It’s incredible.

This photo was shamelessly lifted from the blog.

That’s Rev. James Altenbaumer ’68, Pastor at The United Church of Christ in Cedar Falls, IA. Jim was our presider for the Chapel Service held on Sunday morning of the Big Bash.

I know it’s a special treat for anyone to have the opportunity to talk in the Chapel. It must be very special indeed to celebrate a service there. I can’t imagine how good it must feel. Think of all the greats who have been there and done that…

Jim left a Congregation here drenched over Big Bash weekend to return to Iowa and find many, many Congregations facing the same thing.

So I rounded the corner, key in hand, to open the front door to Hays Center yesterday. †At first thought, I wondered how a leaf stuck in that position. †As I closed in, I could see it wasn’t a leaf at all – it was a “bug”.

What the heck?

Take a picture and ship the photo to the Bio department, I thought. They’ll know. It was only minutes before I got an explanation from Professor Eric Wetzel. Eric told me:

“This beautiful critter is a luna moth, which is in a group of moths called the giant silkworm moths. Larvae are greenish and pretty big, usually feeding on walnut or hickory. In case you’re curious, this looks to be a male, which you can tell by the really big, feathery antennae (which they use to catch molecules of pheromone put out by females to attract the males). Very cool.”

I think it’s very cool that Eric took the time to not only give me a name but explain it as well.

Only at Wabash…

Brad Johnson ’71, shown above at the ground breaking for the new TEKE house at the 2007 Big Bash, will receive an Alumni Award of Merit at Homecoming this fall. Brad won the award for outstanding service to the College – it’s named for Frank Misch, Class of 1925. As with all things Wabash, there’s a connection there. Here’s Brad describing the bond:

“You see, when my father was a young man in the early 1950’s and just starting out his career in the business world, he worked for a few years under Frank Misch at Chrysler Corp. in Detroit. Dad had a lot of admiration for and always spoke highly of “Mr. Misch”. Dad knew that Frank had attended school in and graduated from some small college in Indiana.

I never met Frank Misch but it is evident he made a significant impression on my father which led him to gently steer me toward Wabash. Without that early influence on Dad, its not likely I would have otherwise attended Wabash.”

As Class Agent Fred Miller ’76 told me recently”: “We can’t begin to imagine all the ways alumni help and support the College”. Fred, you’re right. Frank Misch, by living the Gentleman’s Rule and setting a great example, recruited Brad’s father and then Brad.

You gotta love it!