A Place to Call Home
Steeped in history and located in an ideal small town for a liberal arts college, Wabash’s residential campus offers students the power of proximity with the advantages of access.
WHEN I FIRST VISITED WABASH in January 2013, I felt as though I had stepped into a snow globe.
There is a timelessness about the Wabash campus.
The framing of the College in red brick and limestone, steeped in history and tradition, is profoundly moving. The arrangement of academic buildings around the mall and the iconic Pioneer Chapel signals the College’s purpose and sense of community. Even the trees celebrate our values: The arboretum is a place for contemplation and a hedge against a world that too often forgets that we learn not from experience, but from reflecting upon it.
The Wabash culture stirred me most, though, as I spoke that evening in the Chapel—a structure built so that every student and professor on campus can gather face to face. Walking the center aisle as a candidate to be the College’s 16th president, I could clearly see every person’s expression. When a young man in the balcony at the back asked a question about his College, I could hear every word. We looked each other in the eye and shared a story about our futures.
Say what you will about all the testosterone at this place, but it’s a very intimate campus.
It’s a place where teachers give to students—as Josh Harris ’08 says of his mentor, the late Professor Tom Stokes—“an essence of a world outside their own, and the confidence to go out and seek to live free and genuine lives.” A place where, as Tom Cottingham ’82 recalls his interactions with Wabash professors, “they all just really, really cared.” That level of commitment is even more intense among students.
So when we had the opportunity to design the first residence halls we’ve built here in more than 50 years, wehad to get it right—to create spaces that reflect these timeless values and relationships. This determination drove our planning of the new Residential Life District, as well as the renovation of Martindale Hall and other projects to make Wabash an even more residential liberal arts college.
You will find more intentional common spaces that reinforce student-to-student engagement, the secret sauce of Wabash College. There are small kitchens for shared meals. In the Residential Life District the new gathering places include a fire pit—men and fire go way back!
You will see buildings of exceptional quality. Quality is what we look for in each other and what we expect of our campus.
We have reconfigured Lilly Library to make it a more interactive place for assistance in writing and work in video, audio, and other media. When you walk through those doors you will also find the 1832 Brew coffee shop and students and professors having meaningful conversations.
The new International House in Professor Hall Peebles’ former home provides space for students of different backgrounds and nationalities to enjoy and learn from one another.
We’re also pushing parking areas to the edges of campus. Dodging automobiles is not an essential part of a liberal arts education, and the mall was designed for interactions between people, not cars.
All of this is happening as we continue the work of returning Delta Tau Delta to our campus and during a period when we have more fraternity members than some of our houses can hold. So in the Residential Life District you will likely find a mix of independents and fraternity members. The new housing provides a more welcoming environment for all of our students.
I GREW UP IN A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE—a small apartment in San Francisco during the 1960s and 70s. Growing up I could hop on public transit and travel practically anywhere in a city of incredible cultural diversity, whole new worlds at my feet.
We provide our own access to the world at Wabash through immersion learning, international studies programs, and summer internships across the country. But we’re not overlooking the learning laboratory right down the street.
With its mix of the rural and urban, Crawfordsville is an ideal location for a liberal arts college. Wabash is at its best when we interact with our hometown. Thanks to the work and generosity of many, both on campus and off, those interactions are only increasing. We’re finding exciting new opportunities for students to build skills with local businesses and work with local non-profits, and for alumni to participate, as well.
The success of Mayor Todd Barton ’00 and his team in obtaining Stellar Community Designation for the city means even greater collaboration and connection between the College and Crawfordsville. The expanded Sugar Creek Trail through campus will give students access by foot or bike to either downtown or the countryside. The pocket park adjacent to the Farmer’s Market will make even livelier a space that is already the place to be on Saturdays.
The College’s Center for Innovation, Business, and Entrepreneurship (CIBE) will share the new Fusion 54 building with the Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, Visitor’s Center, Indiana West Advantage economic development group, a volunteer center, and a small-business incubator. That means new opportunities over time for hundreds of our students.
These are only a few examples of how our partnership with the city is putting the liberal arts into action. Mayor Barton and I meet regularly to discuss these efforts. His inspiring energy and vision are a model for our students and in the tradition of several Wabash men who became Crawfordsville mayors, including Dave Gerard ’31 and Will Hays Jr. ’37. They would smile to see the new ways the young men of Wabash and Crawfordsville leaders are working side by side.
Our campus shines in a Stellar Community, a reflection of the timelessness of Wabash—a place to call home and a portal to the world, whether that world is across the globe, or just around the corner.
Contact President Hess: hessg@wabash.edu
Follow President Hess on Twitter at @PrezHess