Whether student or professor, one always hopes the fit is good when someone chooses Wabash.
Twenty-seven years ago when Rick Warner received an offer to join the faculty in the history department, little did anyone know of the positive impacts to come, as few have settled into campus so completely.
“From the beginning, it’s been known, and it’s true, that I’m obsessed with this college for really good ways,” Warner said. “Somehow, it has always made sense to me.”
That
obsession has turned out well for many Wabash students as Warner has been involved with them in so many ways. It’s that lasting and continuous impact that earned Warner the Wabash Club of Indianapolis Man-of-the-Year award at the Leadership Breakfast on Feb. 26.
“I’m humbled and I’m still shocked because we’re all people of the year, right?” Warner asked. “I feel so much a part of this community and I’m glad that after 27 years, it’s worked out this well.”
He’s been an honorary member of the Sphinx Club, a faculty advisor to sh’OUT, the Independent Men’s Association, Phi Delta Theta, Unidos Por Sangre, and now, La Alianza. Further, he served as an associate dean in the dean of students office and he’s supported the Montgomery County Free Clinic.
As a teacher, the former chef turned professor leaned into what he knew and used food as an entry point for study. Often cooking in a professional-grade kitchen in his own home, he’s used that as a laboratory for questions and further study on Latin American, African, and world history under the guise of food. That doesn’t include the muffins, soups, or ice creams that often made their way to campus meetings and lunchtime talks. With Warner, food is always an entry point to an extended conversation.
He brought Big History to campus, the integrated approach to the subject that links it to other disciplines, and expanded horizons across campus by leading many immersion trips to locations in Mexico like Chiapas and Mexico City, as well as Kenya, Panama, and Vietnam.
Following the breakfast presentation, Warner reflected on his nearly three decades in Crawfordsville.
“The stars aligned and I started working at Wabash,” he said. “I’ve just adored it ever since I got here. I became an anthropologist to the place and learned as much as I could. I’m glad that I’ve had multiple careers and multiple pathways. We’re all just dudes trying to figure it out together.”
