The Wabash ROI: Profound and Immeasurable

EF-5 in Greensburg In 2007 after an EF-5 tornado destroyed Greensburg, KS, my team of 30 responders was staying in tents. In the middle of the night we got word that there was another tornado headed our way, so we had to evacuate the tent city and take shelter in the basement of the severely damaged high school. 

I was the first one out of my rack and made sure I knew where all of my 30 people were within moments. Then I made sure everyone was safe and sound in the shelter before I even had a chance to stop and think about my own safety. 

That’s when I realized the work I was doing was not about me. I had a responsibility to these people I cared about, and their loved ones, to ensure that they were safe even in a very dangerous situation. 

I also had a responsibility to the residents of Greensburg to help them recover from this disaster. 

It had become second nature to me—not in a Superman or bravado sort of way. I just knew I was the guy in charge; I knew what needed to be done. 

I had been with my team for some time and they respected my ability to keep a level head, so in an emergency there were no questions—just action. 

No one got hurt. We were able to respond to the new damage right away. I marked that experience down as a win.

It was only much later that I realized that Wabash was where I developed the tools to be able to handle the stress and make the right decisions in situations like that.—AJ Lyman ’05  

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“Will You Save Civilization?”

After my work with the Armenian people as a member of the Peace Corps, I decided to get involved in development in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Despite a six-year struggle to secure its independence from Azerbaijan during the eclipse of the Soviet Union, it has yet to be recognized internationally. 

The Karabakhi Armenians have withstood great challenges and survived against incredible odds. Yet, because of its disputed political status, this small, mountainous country has been largely excluded from receiving support from international development organizations. 

Having lived and worked in neighboring Armenia, I knew there was a need for development in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. I also understood getting involved there would mean inserting myself into one of Eurasia’s most divisive international conflicts.

While I was making my decision, I remembered Wabash President Andrew Ford’s challenge to my class during our Ringing In in 2001: “How will you save civilization?” 

Here was a civilization under threat and it seemed that not enough was being done to protect it. And here was an opportunity to put “living humanely” and “acting responsibly” into action. Wabash teaches us—when we are convinced of the merit of a worthy cause—to have the courage to fight for it, even if that means taking the road less traveled. I chose not to be neutral and silent. I took a stand, and I stand by it.

My Wabash education was a source of inspiration to take the first step on that journey.—Mark Dietzen ’05  

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Comfortable Making the Transitions

I came to Wabash from Indianapolis, where I had grown up with a blanket of love around me. Even though our economic circumstances were difficult, I didn’t know want. We didn’t judge people by their race, religion, or economic status.

I was the only African American in Lambda Chi— I was exposed to so many different cultures and settings at Wabash. 

As a literature major reading so many books, I learned how it felt to be in other cultures, other times. I gained empathy and understanding.

When I graduated I wanted to attend law school, so I joined the Marines’ Judge Advocate General program. While I was in Officer Candidate School, I went to an air show and saw, for the first time, a Harrier Jump Jet taking off. When an airplane rises straight up, then accelerates to 500 miles per hour, that gets your attention! I was intrigued.

So I entered flight school.

I was never intimidated. I knew I could assimilate. I knew I could learn.

Looking back on it all, my thought-provoking philosophy classes at Wabash helped me to understand the importance of discovering my passion and living life to the fullest. So when I saw that first fighter at the air show, something just clicked, and I felt comfortable making the transition from law to aviation. 

When you’re 18 you don’t come to college thinking about living a life of significance. You’re going to become a doctor or a lawyer. You want to be successful —a significant life isn’t what you’re thinking about. But Wabash prepared me to live a successful and a significant life.—Houston Mills ’85 

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“Own Your Mistakes”

Once in a company I co-founded, a team member of mine made a terrible mistake. He distributed sensitive information from one of our clients to an inappropriate audience. 

The client was our most strategic global account (representing a healthy percentage of our total revenue) and our stakeholder had actually approved the communication that carried the sensitive information. 

Rather than making excuses and trying to share or pass blame—rather than scheduling a conference call or webinar—I took my colleague who had erred to a face-to-face meeting with the client the next morning at 6 a.m. (the soonest they could see us). 

I brought two things with me to the meeting: (1) a handwritten apology (which I read to my client); (2) a detailed analysis of how we could prevent such a regrettable situation from occurring again—for any of our clients. 

I also offered to let our client out of their contract but gave them my commitment that we would never let them down again. The letter did not contain a single preposition and got straight to the heart of the matter—something Professor Tobey Herzog would have demanded. 

Our willingness to accept full responsibility and “own” our mistake kept the client. 

Tell the truth. Own your mistakes and improve. Be a Wabash man.—David Bowen ’99 

P.S. The colleague who made the error is still with us.

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Return on the individual

One assumption of a study looking at the “ROI” of one’s college education is that the “I” can only stand for “investment.” 

What if we were to measure Wabash College’s “return” with other “I” words? Namely, the return on the individual, his intellect, and his internal growth?

At Wabash, I gathered in a classroom with six other students for a course on William Blake. There weren’t 300 or even 30 other students—there were seven of us, total. We weren’t all sitting facing the same way in an auditorium with the professor lecturing back to us. Rather, we met at the professor’s home, in his living room, some of us on the couch, some of us in armchairs, and we were facing each other in a circle. And it’s a full professor we were gathered with—not a TA, not a grad student, but the PhD full-time, teaching-students-is-my-profession professor. 

And he wasn’t teaching a class—he was teaching seven individuals, and I was one of them. How do you measure that professor’s ROI—his  return on the individual—each time each of his students, for the rest of their lives, takes a thought more seriously or turns
a phrase more eloquently?

At Wabash, when I first proposed to write my senior paper on Camus’ The Plague, one of my professors told me I should read it in its original French. When I told him “I don’t know any French,” his response was “Well, teach it to yourself, it shouldn’t take you that long.” That professor’s belief in my intellectual ability was nowhere near reality. But the very fact he believed that about me made me believe that about me, at least a little bit, and his statement became a turning point in my life. How do you measure that professor’s ROI—his return on intellect—when he motivated me to keep challenging myself intellectually every day?

At Wabash, two other professors—Eric Dean H’61 and William Placher ’70—turned this sophomore (and quite sophomoric) agnostic/borderline atheist into a senior interested in ordained ministry. I have been an Episcopal priest now for 20-plus years. How do you measure Dean’s and Placher’s return on the internal growth they’ve helped cause, not just my own, but in my parishioners? How do you measure the ripple effect of hope and encouragement on thousands of families and communities? 

How do we gauge the ROI of Wabash—the return on this individual, and his intellect, and his internal growth?

Only with another “I” word: Immeasurable.—John Ohmer ’84 

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Confidence to Create

My Wabash experience created a high level of confidence and comfort as I worked with physicians and group administrators in physician office computer sales. I truly enjoyed my work and the camaraderie with my clients, mostly due to the time and effort spent with Wabash professors and students who taught me the joy of working with highly intelligent and capable professionals. 

When I retired and spent three years as a yacht broker, the industry was very new to me and the details to be learned were a bit overwhelming. My Wabash education provided problem-solving skills necessary for me to succeed and enjoy my new career.

When I was departing on my first long-term, small sailboat cruise, living aboard full-time and planning to sail over 1,300 nautical miles singlehandedly, I contemplated writing about my experiences. My Wabash education gave me the confidence to create and build a Web site to share my sailing adventures with friends and family.

A constant in all three of these careers—I could talk with clients or colleagues, find their interests or beliefs very different from my own, yet carry on a meaningful conversation on many topics well outside my areas of experience and expertise. 

But the best part of the Wabash education is the bond of community amongst the classmates, faculty, and staff. More surprising is the immediate bond that occurs when meeting a fellow alum, even when he is from a class separated from my own by many years.—Allen Murphy ’76 (“Captain Murph”) 

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“A free and ordered space”

When I was a student at Duke University Law School, I answered a question incorrectly in Professor George Christie’s class. He spun and fired his chalk at me, it exploded, and he said, “Shane, when are you going to learn that my job is not to teach you the letter of the law? My job is to help you understand the interstices between the letters of the law. That’s where life is lived.’” 

The liberal arts are all about the interstices, all about the grey areas.

They are all about getting along when getting along is harder rather than easier; all about thinking vertically in terms of improvement, as opposed to horizontally as in your rights versus my rights; all about common cause and a general understanding of the commonweal as opposed to “me.”

This builds a tendency to be thoughtful about the other, which is the premise of good ethical engagements.

To borrow from Bart Giamatti’s book of the same name, liberal arts education creates “a free and ordered space.” Students have the power of freedom, so they understand the consequences of it, they understand the obligations of it, they understand that if it is responsibly exercised in the context of others you can deal with issues much more easily than if you’re on your own. You can build things, build ethical results and increase ethical capacity in yourself and others.”—David Shane ’70

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Pay attention

In my first job overseas, a year out of Wabash, I brashly made a comment to the business manager at the Greek school where I worked in Thessaloniki.  

“You Americans are all alike,” he replied. “You come in here, don’t understand us, make all these observations and suggestions. And then you leave.  And we are here.”  

His rebuke made me reflect on what my Wabash education had been—delving into areas with little knowledge initially, but paying attention to the context and allowing true understanding to emerge. 

With my comment to the Greek business manager, I had totally missed the context.  

From that point on in Greece and many other places, while I continued to observe, I was much more discreet, respecting the local knowledge residing in those who were there for the duration. And as time passed, by being there with them, day by day, I was able to read
the context to know when and how to participate in their lives and work.—Tom Martella ’71

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Understanding Metaphors

Teaching students how to integrate knowledge is one way the liberal arts creates problem solvers.

Last fall I heard a speaker offer a great example of how integrating disciplines invents knowledge. He was a world-renowned researcher in Alzheimer’s and working at an Ivy League institution. He had been an English literature major as an undergraduate.

After the talk, a student said: “You know, you’ve really got some remarkable ideas. Where does the insight come from?”

The English major-turned-scientist said, “I understand metaphors better than anyone else in my field, and because I understand metaphors, I can solve problems. That’s what makes me a more successful researcher.”

That’s one of the ways that liberal arts graduates think in a way that’s fundamentally different from others, and it is based on integrating knowledge from one area to the other.—Mauri Ditzler ’75, from “A Bright Future for the Liberal Arts,” 2015 Big Bash colloquium session. 

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“A Home Here”

Duncan Dam ’09 recalls the moment David Clapp became part of his “American family.” 

So do most of the nearly 200 international students who came to study at Wabash during Clapp’s tenure as Director of Off-Campus Studies & International Students.

Senior Charles Wu spoke of it in May during a reception honoring Clapp, who retired this year after 13 years at Wabash.

“I still remember four years ago when I arrived at the Indy airport, and Mr. Clapp was there waiting to greet me,” Wu told faculty, students, and staff gathered in Detchon International Hall. “It was at that precise moment I realized I actually have a home here, even though
I just landed in a country where people were speaking a language I barely understood.”

“There have been many changes in the international programs office since David arrived at Wabash in 2002,” said Dean of the College Scott Feller.

“A constant has been the caring attitude David brings to every student who interacts with his office.”

That’s a lot of caring. Feller said 177 international students representing 26 different countries had attended Wabash since 2002. 

“An even greater number of Wabash students participated in study abroad under David’s leadership,” Feller said. “639 in more than 50 different countries.

“It is hard to imagine a program on this campus that has had a more life-changing impact on such a large number of students.”

Roberto Uruchima ’17 from Chicago was one of Clapp’s office assistants this year.

“I’m not an international student, but Mr. Clapp has been a great friend and mentor to me,” Uruchima said. “Any time I had a problem and I would come in to work, he’d ask me how I was doing, he’d tell me a joke, he’d help get me through the day.”

The role Clapp has played in the work of Wabash and the lives of so many students was summed up in an email from Duncan Dam, a native of Hanoi, Vietnam. Feller read part of that email to reception guests:

“During my four years at Wabash, Mr. Clapp was my mentor, my boss, my friend, and, especially, an important member of my American family. I learned a great deal of my professional knowledge at Wabash, but I learned most of my people skills from him. He played an important role in my being who I am today, and he has done that for many at Wabash.”

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“Thanks to All of You”

While David Clapp greatly improved the attention and care given to international students at Wabash, he was building on a long tradition of hospitality provided by faculty, staff, fellow students, and community friends. 

Arun Muralidhar ’88 was among the recipients of that hospitality. The economist, entrepreneur, teacher, and philanthropist recently wrote an open letter to his “Wabash Friends, 30 Years On.” 

An edited excerpt:

Dear Wabash Friends,

I am currently in India and was talking to some high school kids who are applying to study in the United States. I tried to explain to them why they should consider going to a small liberal arts college as opposed to a bigger school. I suddenly realized that it is nearly 30 years to the day that I embarked on the same journey, but with a lot less information (including the fact that Wabash was all male) or any access to the Internet to know that the bed sheets I bought in India would look like a rag on my Wabash dorm room bed!

I am so lucky to be where I am 30 years on, as there is so much that could have gone wrong. I was just lucky (and blessed) to have had friends and mentors like you who made the extra effort to make sure I, along with many of my international peers, turned out right—whether it was in providing us a meal that brought back memories of home, counseling us when we wanted to fight with the administration, encouraging us to be a bit less lazy, taking us on a trip with your family, or trusting us to babysit your kids. 

There are many people I have to thank, so I hope they read their own names into this letter for the kindness they showed me. But here are a few:

Professor Raymond Williams—I was fortunate to take a 30-year Master Class with you on how to be a good human being—curious, passionate yet compassionate, cool and level-headed, caring and honest to a fault. 

I have used the example of our friendship as evidence of why a small liberal arts education does not end when you graduate or is not limited to your major.

Community Friends Kitty and Herm Haffner, Lyle and Judy Schmidt— You took us into your homes and made us part of your families. You hoisted us up when we were down and shared your joys and sorrows with us, and today we feel compelled to share our good fortune with kids in a similar spot. So the legacy continues.

Brad Boyd and Lori Sparger—Thank you for giving me my first job at Kane House and giving me the confidence to believe that I could be a professional even when I was just 19. 

Long story short—I just lucked out!

So I pray to God for these kids, as they board their flights in a few days, that they have the good fortune to land at some school where the faculty and staff care passionately about their success and education, and where folks in the community extend their homes, families and joys to them. 

Ultimately, as I look back, I realize it is not the job I hold or the money I make that defines me 30 years on, it is the wealth of these experiences that have hopefully shaped me into a better human being—and that is thanks to all of you. 

Go Wabash!—Arun Muralidhar ’88

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My ROI from Wabash goes back to the College’s mission statement: “Wabash College educates men to think critically, act responsibly,
lead effectively, and live humanely.” I know it’s a cliché to say that, but I have had to do all of those things in emergency management.—AJ Lyman ’05, Emergency Management Specialist, Denver, CO