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Unforgettable
Teams, Unforgettable Reunion
"That
special year was an experience that could never
be equaled in its meaning to Polly and I. So joyful!
“And
I think everyone in the room realizes that THIS
moment is so special, as we gather together 25 years
later at our Wabash. For Polly and I to be here
is one of the treasured experiences of our lives.
We will not forget it, just as we will not forget
you—what you did then, what you said tonight,
what you represent, and how much it has meant to
us for you to come up to us and renew our friendship.”
— Former Wabash
President Thad Seymour
It had been 25 years since some
of these guys had seen each other, but if a couple
decades in a colder world had diminished any of
their camaraderie, you couldn’t see it. Not
on the field when they were honored at halftime
during this year’s Monon Bell Game. Not when
they formed an impromptu cheering gauntlet for the
current Little Giant team when the second half started.
And certainly not when they gathered that evening
with three of their greatest fans—Wabash President
Thad Seymour and his wife, Polly, and Fran Hollett—to
recall their experience together and renew old friendships.
If anything, this reunion of two
of the finest football teams in the College’s
history—the NCAA playoff team of 1977 and the
1982 National Division III title runner-up—simply
deepened their awareness that those championship
years, and the teammates, coaches, and fans they
shared it with, were even more formative and worthy
of celebration than they’d previously realized.
For those of us in the room who
weren’t at Wabash during these guys “golden
years” that was a window on what makes athletics
at Wabash an integral part of the College’s
liberal arts education.
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