Cheers to the Men of 2003

Jeff Espino ’03

At 2:25 p.m. this Sunday, about 220 young men will experience a whirlwind of emotions hard to describe. As they stand on the east side of Center Hall on the Wabash College campus, draped in black robes and preparing to march in Commencement, some will be anxious, others will be scared, and still others will have a sense of relief they’ve never before felt.

All 220 of them will feel and experience something different. All have a different, powerful story about how they came to Wabash, what they experienced while here, and where life will take them as they prepare to graduate.

I’ve been thinking about a lot of these guys this week as I see them on the Mall or they come by the office to say goodbye. I sure hope that years from now I will recall the profound impact these young men had on me personally, and on everyone associated with Wabash College.

I’ll long remember Jeff Espino, the comeback kid whose battle back from brain cancer has been a story well told. I can’t imagine what he’ll be thinking as he strides the stage to receive his diploma, but my hunch is that his heart will swell with pride like few others.

Caleb Ishman will be proud, too, and lots of us are proud of him. His voice, whether echoing through the football stadium as he sung the National Anthem or the spirited way he performed Gospel tunes, has been a gift to the College these last four years.

Jake Knott ’03 and Ryan Short ’03

Talk about gifts: Jake Knott, Jamie Bopp, Ryan Short, and Nate Boulais graduate as football All-Americans, who returned the Monon Bell to Wabash and took the Little Giants to an undefeated season as seniors.

What will happen to John Russell, whose gifts are his artistic creations? He expresses himself and works out spiritual and emotional issues with brush strokes of subdued colors streaked on canvas.

Adam Moser is off to graduate school in chemistry, but hopes his legacy lives on at Wabash. Adam is the young man who imagined making chemistry cool for high school kids, and created the Chemistry Olympics at Wabash where teams of students compete for the coveted Silver Beaker Award.

Maury "Wally Wabash" Raycroft ’03

Wally Wabash is going to graduate school in biology at Notre Dame. No kidding! Maury Raycroft, who when he donned the Wally mascot costume, could switch immediately from collegiate high jinks to gentle kindness directed at a four-year-old, all with grace and compassion.

Joe DesJean has probably dunked his last basketball in competition, but what an amazing talent he was during his four years on campus. All those points, all those rebounds, all those blocked shots will be remembered in the record book for sure, but the dunks will soon be the stuff of legend.

At graduation each year, those of us who enjoy Wabash theater wonder how we’ll replace the year’s best actors. This year, losing both Chris Laguna and Aaron Parks deals a double blow to that department.

Joe DesJean ’03

Who knows about Johnny Warren, the great orator and Moot Court champion? He’s spent more time abroad over the last four years than Colin Powell. Wouldn’t surprise me if some day Warren’s name was on a presidential ballot.

We’ll miss several talented student journalists and writers, guys like Adam Christensen, Kyle Nickel, and Ryan Smith. Christensen, who probably could have gone to any journalism graduate school in the country, opted to study law at Indiana. Smith, though, got into Columbia, and I imagine will end up with some cushy foreign correspondent’s post five years from now. And Nickel has immense talent as a creative writer. He’ll decide exactly what he wants to be by first returning to his farming roots back home.

For every one of the 17 young men listed here, there are 10 other Wabash men who left similar marks on the College, whose futures are as bright and exciting.

Cheers to the men of the Class of 2003—all of them—for their good and important work at Wabash! All of us at the College wish you Godspeed.