I have often marveled at the courage of the 19th-century American frontiersmen who traveled west to explore the untamed land following the Louisiana Purchase. Perhaps the most well known, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with their expeditionary force dubbed the “Corps of Discovery,” departed from the Mississippi River and traveled nearly 4,000 miles across rugged terrain, raging rivers, and undulating mountain ranges in a quest to find the long-sought Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. Between 1804 and 1805, they traveled mile after grueling mile each day over unbridled land fraught with peril, often encountering exotic and dangerous wildlife, volatile weather conditions, and Native American tribes. They lived every day not knowing what challenges and dangers lay ahead of them. Each new and exciting mile traversed became the next day’s mile of experience.
The edge is an interface, a border where one thing ends and a new one begins. The edge is an opportunity and a call for action. We summon the courage to move forward by harnessing knowledge attained and leveraging our life’s experiences. For nearly 200 years, Wabash has equipped young men with both knowledge and experience necessary to continually take that next bold step in life. Classroom learning, opportunities for leadership, immersion courses and study abroad, and internships, often with the help of invested alumni, continue to produce worldly men of sound mind and eager heart. All that’s left is the courage to look danger in the eye and trust in yourself such that, no matter the outcome, you grow stronger. We must continually move forward and, as we do so, we realize that we are capable of even more. While it is comforting to build walls to feel safe, that also keeps out a tremendous amount of good in life. In the case of Lewis and Clark, turning back or standing still meant they would not have been some of the first white men to experience the beauty and wonder of the land: the majesty of the snowcapped Rocky Mountains, naturally occurring waterfalls, most notably the Great Falls of the Missouri River in north-central Montana; and the lush, green valleys bursting with brilliant colors of springtime flowers in western Washington. They embraced the uncertainty, and despite potential danger, carried on in their ambitious quest to reach the edge of the country.
We welcome the recently graduated Class of 2023 to one of the strongest alumni networks in the nation. Wabash men want to help Wabash men, and it is through mutual love of our alma mater that we preserve what makes our College and community something truly special. As I begin my term as president of the National Association of Wabash Men, I stand in awe of our incredible interconnectedness as alumni. No one does it alone in life. The NAWM is here to help in your journey. And it is only through our combined strength that we will continue to move ourselves and our College forward to the next edge, and beyond.
I hope to see you on campus soon.
In Wabash,
Jim Hawksworth ’95
President | National Association of Wabash Men