Assistant Professor of History Rick Warner traveled to Panama with the Wabash football team this summer to teach the student-athletes something of the history of the country. But when it came to service learning, the history professor says, he found himself a student of Coach Chris Creighton and the Little Giants.
In a presentation at the Ides of August Friday, Warner narrated photographs from the trip, which included a tour of Panama City and the Panama Canal, a meeting with schoolkids and a memorable soccer game with them, and a gathering with one of the indigenous peoples of the region, the Embera.
"We talked with them about their culture, about our different belief systems, and many of our guys joined them in a dance," Warner said.
But the most eye-opening experience of the trip came when the football players, coaches, and Warner himself worked alongside a Panamanian on a farm in the country’s mountain region.
"The people who conduct these sorts of tours hadn’t done this sort of thing before, and Coach Creighton had to really push them to find a project," Warner said. "But the result was an extraordinary day.
"I know students were impressed with these people, who farm on these steep inclines with no electricity and with water they bring in via PVC pipe from the nearby national park," Warner said. "As we worked alongside these people, I thought about how this sort of service learning could be integrated into academics and on immersion trips."
Warner was impressed by the difference Wabash students could make, adding that the men had raised most of the money for the trip themselves.
"They essentially paid to work, and with 40 well-muscled guys, we were able to accomplish several weeks worth of work in a day," Warner said as he showed a slide of the football team singing "Old Wabash" to their hosts at the conclusion of the workday.
"In many ways, these athletes had more of a cross-cultural learning experience as they worked alongside and played sports with the people of Panama than some of my students have had in immersion courses I have led," Warner concluded, noting that coaches and professors could learn more from each other about the teaching of young men.
"It makes me think this divide between athletics and academics is a gap we should be closing."