New Student Move-in and Homecoming typically take place within a few weeks of each other in the fall. However, they serve as book-ends for the Wabash community. The new generation of story-makers are on-boarded, and soon after, the story-tellers return.
New Student Move-in involves the time-honored tradition of leaving home, moving to a new community, a new living unit, and often, a new roommate. The new crop of young men and their families have their lives turned upside down as their sons come to Wabash to grow and establish new roots. The weekend is full of promise, uncertainty, and opportunity.
A few weeks later Wabash welcomes back generations of Wabash men, their families, significant others, children, and grandchildren. We make the pilgrimage back to the College to see the classmates, professors, staff, and administrators that impacted our lives.
To me, home is a place defined by growing up. It’s where we learn how to take care of ourselves, our relationships, and our possessions. It is the place that we welcome by those closest to us. It is about who you share these experiences with—the people closest to you—family and dear friends.
After I moved from Bedford, Indiana to Crawfordsville in the summer of 1999, I would find myself going back home to Bedford and share with my family how much I loved being a student at Wabash. I shared the joys of making new friends (some of whom went on to stand with me in my wedding) and shared details of the challenging coursework I was taking. My sense of home had expanded.
Now, two decades later, it has come full circle for me. As the President of the National Association of Wabash Men, I gave welcoming remarks to 265 new students, including my nephew, Kannon Chase ’26. At that moment Wabash College became home for another member of my family. Kannon will get the chance to grow and experience what I did. He will know what it’s like to walk across campus through a new fallen snow, or to get into a deep intellectual debate on a topic that isn’t on the syllabus but simply a topic he loves and has the curiosity to explore.
At Homecoming, I was surrounded by multiple generations of my own family who, because of me, consider Wabash home. We celebrated in a typical Wabash way—tailgating, laughing, taking photos from some of our favorite locations on campus like Little Giant Stadium and Pioneer Chapel. My older brother was there, as the father of a Wabash student. I was there as a proud uncle and alum. My dad was there as the father and grandfather of Wabash men. My sons and wife were there too. Wabash has become home to our family because the members of our family have lived, learned, and grown up here each in different ways.
Budding dreams and distant memories come together each fall. Home is built and celebrated through ringing-in ceremonies and stories retold during tailgates and walks around campus with generations of Wabash by our sides.