Enrique Vargas \u201919 was in the Lilly Library last April celebrating his upcoming graduation from the College with his fellow participants in the first cohort of the Wabash Liberal Arts Immersion Program (WLAIP). He noticed other students in the library were watching.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were times when we would have an event on campus, and I would notice there were students who were looking at us thinking, Oh, how do I get into that?\u201d Vargas recalls. \u201cIt\u2019s like we\u2019ve had this secret experience. It would make me wonder, How can this be available to everyone else? But at the same time, I\u2019m so happy I\u2019m a part of the WLAIP.\u201d<\/p>\n
English Professor Crystal Benedicks, one of Vargas\u2019s instructors and mentors for four years in the WLAIP, is happy to hear that. As one of the designers of WLAIP\u2019s curriculum, she knew the inherent challenges the students and their teachers faced. Any program that carries the goal of supporting at-risk students or providing some sort of leg up may, despite the best intentions, spotlight the perceived deficits of its participants, both for them and in the minds of the student body at large. Yet for Vargas and many of his WLAIP brothers, the program granted privilege. Rather than outsiders, these students moved to the center of campus activity, many of them as leaders, often eliciting the wanting glances of peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were concerned when they came in that they would feel like they didn\u2019t belong,\u201d says Benedicks. \u201cBut by the end of their time at Wabash, they felt like they belonged the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four years ago,<\/strong> no one really knew what to expect.<\/p>\n In July 2015, the College invited 30 students to take part in the inaugural WLAIP, beginning with a distinctive, four-week, residential foray aimed at improving the retention and graduation rates for students from underrepresented backgrounds\u2014first-generation college students, students of color, and Pell Grant-eligible students. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the program provided academic support all four years and included an internship the summer between each student\u2019s freshman and sophomore year.<\/p>\n \u201cWLAIP is a program that acknowledges that students come here at different paces with different experiences in navigating the college process,\u201d Psychology Professor and WLAIP Director Bobby Horton said that first year. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to meet these students where they are so that we can do our best by them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was looking at it as an academic summer camp,\u201d Byshup Rhodes \u201919 recalls.<\/p>\n This was something more. It was an entry into academia, but also into a circle of support and friendship\u2014a way to plug students into the support network and a bonding experience to tap into one of the College\u2019s fundamental truths\u2014the greatest gift Wabash gives its students is each other.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I was going to be the only minority in the group,\u201d Chris Diaz \u201919 recalls. \u201cI go there and it was almost all minorities. I immediately had a lot of friends. It was easy to get close to the students who were there.\u201d<\/p>\n Proximity led to a discovery: Despite their varied backgrounds, they all seemed to possess a similar mindset.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was reassuring,\u201d says Sergio-Steven Cobos \u201919. \u201cYou had a lot of like-minded people and it was easy to make friends. Whatever fears I had quickly subsided.\u201d<\/p>\n The centerpiece of the curriculum was a for-credit English composition course to introduce students to the academic rigors of college. Putting together the initial syllabus brought about a shift in perspective for English Professors Jill Lamberton and Benedicks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought about who the students were,\u201d says Lamberton, \u201cThen we said, \u2018Who do we know who has written about what it\u2019s like to be them?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n During their first class meeting, students received a 20-page reading packet that centered on Gerald Graff\u2019s \u201cHidden Intellectualism,\u201d an essay that explores school smarts vs. street smarts and how the potential of the latter is often overlooked. The instructions were simple: Have it read for tomorrow.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw words I didn\u2019t even know existed.\u201d Jaleel Grandberry \u201919 laughs. \u201cThis is real. I knew we were in a different ballgame. The professors helped us. The feedback was great. It got us up to speed and got us ready for Wabash, but they definitely hit us hard out of the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n Vargas remembers that class as a breakthrough moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I was a pretty good student and a pretty good writer, but I always had doubts,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d never had a teacher say, \u2018You are a good writer, you can do this\u2019 until I got to the WLAIP. They\u2019d say, \u2018We believe in you. We think you can become a really good writer.\u2019 It was the first time that I felt like, Here is someone who really does believe in me and wants to see me succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n It was all about students\u2019<\/strong> experiences. No matter what their preconceptions of college, no matter their academic capital, the WLAIP would be about them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted everything to reflect their lived experience,\u201d says Benedicks, \u201cto forge a sense of belonging. We wanted a lot of things to reflect on, and reflect critically on, and reflect intelligently on the kinds of experiences we thought they would be having.\u201d<\/p>\n It may have been the students\u2019 entry into academy, but they weren\u2019t going alone. In addition to the 29 other guys, Benedicks and Lamberton were with them in class for hours every day. They became mentors and remained in their corner for four years.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were huge in the development of my confidence and ability,\u201d Rhodes says. \u201cThat rapport\u2014you could see their super intellect, but there was a person who would talk to you and be straight up about writing or thinking better. You realized, Wow, I could hold my own with a professor.\u201d<\/p>\n WLAIP became a bonding experience not only for the students, but for peer mentors and the professors as well. Class and writing sessions every day. Readings and constant feedback. An eight-page paper completed in one day. Even vulnerability was tested in class with an audio essay final assignment modeled after the NPR series \u201cThis I Believe\u201d that was shared with the entire Wabash community.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are all in,\u201d Benedicks says. \u201cThere is no sense of, \u2018Will they do the work?\u2019 It\u2019s complete engagement. Part of that is because they are new and want to get it right. Another part is everyone around them is also all in and completely engaged. It\u2019s profoundly and unexpectedly intimate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still close to Dr. Lamberton,\u201d Grandberry says. \u201cShe inspired things in me. She looked past the papers and really looked at us as individuals, helped us find our passions and find ourselves along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n Working side-by-side every day also bred competition.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to prove myself, just like everyone else,\u201d says Kyle McAtee \u201919. \u201cIt was one of the most competitive times I\u2019ve had here academically. Everyone was trying to out-do each other. We got a lot of work, but it really set the table for our first semester of college.\u201d<\/p>\n Many members of that first group claimed not to feel like freshmen when the fall semester rolled around. Cobos already knew where he would study comfortably in the library. When school started and there were more classes, it became simple: just plug and play into his routine.<\/p>\n Grandberry can\u2019t explain the feeling. He felt like he was a step ahead, especially with writing and class discussions. Rhodes says the WLAIP eliminated that deer-in-the-headlights feeling. College is tough, but manageable.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were here for a reason,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Diaz says the program helped him interact with people different from himself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt taught me not to be scared,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s how the world is. I\u2019m going to end up in environments that I\u2019m not used to. I got the first taste of that through the WLAIP.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey got the confidence to do something really hard,\u201d says Lamberton.<\/p>\n David Segovia \u201919 recalls a team-building activity, where the guys had to build a rope web, then figure out a way to get to the other side without touching it. At some point they realized they had to trust each other enough to lift, push, and support each other through.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is such a metaphor for what you have to do in your freshman year here, which is to be vulnerable, trusting, and willing to ask for help.\u201d<\/p>\n The WLAIP graduated its<\/strong> first group of students in May. Twenty-four of the 30 original participants crossed the stage to receive their diplomas. Of the first four groups, 86 of 113 students are still on pace to earn Wabash degrees, which is a significantly higher percentage than the graduation rates for the underrepresented student populations that make up the WLAIP.<\/p>\n Perhaps a better measure of success is how these guys have become so essentially ingrained into the Wabash fabric. WLAIP participants earned leadership positions in the Sphinx Club, MXI, \u2018shOUT, Wabash theater, and more. Two were football team captains in 2018, while another earned Phi Beta Kappa accolades. Seven were recognized at Awards Chapel.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve become more outwardly focused\u2014I care a lot more about people than I did four years ago,\u201d says Grandberry, who was one of two Commencement speakers last May. As if taking a cue from his WLAIP mentors, in his speech he urged his classmates to \u201cbe yourself, unapologetically.\u201d<\/p>\n The program wanted to put students at the center of the Wabash experience, but WLAIP has had a ripple effect, rewarding the students\u2019 families and the College as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThis program is so fun to be a part of, and, in some ways, it is emotionally exhausting,\u201d says Horton. \u201cYou\u2019re always thinking, How is this guy doing? What about him? It has helped me become a little more compassionate toward all students.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor me the most exciting thing about the program is the way it has provided a test-bed for innovative teaching and mentoring,\u201d says Dean of the College Scott Feller. \u201cThe lessons learned from WLAIP can inform all our work as teachers and mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back on<\/strong> that pre-commencement reception for WLAIP grads in Lilly Library last April, Vargas feels a sense of accomplishment, camaraderie, and something more.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing all together in the same room again, we kind of realized that we made it. Four years and here we are. It went by really fast. Whenever I would see these guys, it was like, I\u2019ve got your back. Everything\u2019s going to be alright\u2014we came in together and we\u2019re going to leave together.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of us came from lower economic backgrounds, so it was also a win for our families. It\u2019s a win for everybody. It\u2019s a win for your confidence, and it\u2019s a win for your community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “It\u2019s a win for everybody. 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