January at Wabash means many things – if you are a senior, it means you are studying for your senior comprehensive exams “comps”. If you have worked really hard and produced a scholarly product, then it might also mean that you are presenting at the “Celebration of Student Research, Scholarship and Creative Work” later in the month. The Celebration, as we now call it, is the one day of the academic year that Wabash cancels classes.
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The students dress up, present their works and then discuss them with dozens of members of the Wabash family. It is not uncommon to see students chatting with other students, then a member of the faculty, next a member of the board of trustees and then with a staff member. It is a delightful event, now in its tenth year. In the last few years, participants have received a t-shirt with the phrase “Wabash Always Cites” a play on the school motto, “Wabash Always Fights”. Right in the center of the shirt is a great image of a gentleman in a library. It fits perfectly with the Celebration which is held in Detchon Hall.
Many of you may know that Yandes Hall was the old library. It has a great set of windows that look into the Arboretum. Part of the reason that this image seems to suit our college so well is that it was drawn for Wabash at the turn of the last century. This drawing was used several times on the cover of the old Wabash Magazine, a student publication. When the library started to offer a t-shirt to all participants, I volunteered to create a design. This image seemed to be the perfect fit.
The young gentleman, as drawn, is hard at work in the library studying. Actually, with the exception of the wardrobe, as I look at the seniors here in the Library studying for comps, it seems that some things never change here at Old Wabash. The gentlemen are still hard at work in the library!
Best,
Beth Swift
Archivist
Wabash College
Crawfordsville, IN
