Once again, Wabash begins a school year anew, with all the hope and possibility suggested by new occasions. For the freshman class, the options should seem limitless. They are starting with a blank slate. No GPA. No major. No reputation. We should all take advantage of this juncture of renewal. One way to do that is to rededicate ourselves to strengthening our relationship with the larger Crawfordsville community.
Some Wabash students grew up in towns smaller than Crawfordsville. There are about 2500 people living in York, Alabama today, my hometown. It didn’t have much of anything when I was growing up there, and it may have even less now. But one of the benefits of living in a small town like York, or Crawfordsville, is the ease with which one person can connect with another.
This is the fourth year the Bachelor has printed a Back-to-Campus issue, and the third time that issue has gone out to the community. We cherish the small role we play in connecting the people and issues confronting Wabash College to the people and issues confronting the larger Crawfordsville community. In some instances, the people and issues are the same.
So often, it seems as if the two are completely disjointed ligaments, when in reality they are attached to the same body. We should nurture our relationships with one another. Because the area is so small, there are really no excuses for not going into the town – not just to consume, but to interact with the arts community or other organizations.
We will all be able to meet hundreds of community members at the Taste of Montgomery County Saturday at the Lew Wallace Study. Wabash and local organizations team up Tuesday for a Community Fair to introduce students to their new neighborhood. However, these opportunities continue throughout the year.
If you are interested in community theatre, the Vanity allows students, and others, to participate in productions, or you could just you could just attend its shows plays. The Wabash Employment Self Help (ESH) system has been expanded to included jobs at the Carnegie Museum, Lane Place, and the newly added Good To Go Xpresso in Lilly Library. There are opportunities to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, the Youth Services Bureau, the Animal Shelter, or the Downtown Main Street organization.
Many Wabash students are already involved in one way or another. Members of the new freshman class were dispatched throughout the community earlier this week to volunteer. Campus organizations like Alpha Phi Omega, College Mentors for Kids, Best Buddies, the Malcolm X Institute, the Sphinx Club, and all of our fraternities invest a lot of time, effort, and planning to strengthen our relationship with the larger Crawfordsville community through tutoring and service projects.
Local residents, through their businesses and people, try to do the same by making us feel welcome in this place away from home. Host families treat our international students like their own. Businesses give us discounts just for being Wabash men. Families attend our lectures, sporting events, recitals, and shows, even if their children don’t attend Wabash. And though we may forget, there are students, alumni faculty, and staff members who call Crawfordsville home outside the school year.
We are all part of the same community, so we should all work on strengthening our bonds with one other. For those seeking to come onto campus, you will find the sports and fine arts schedules inside. Also, feel free to visit our website at www.wabash.edu.
For those on campus looking to get involved off campus in some way, look for the flurry of emails from the student groups I mentioned above or go visit some of the off campus groups like the Visitor’s Bureau.
The community is our oyster. Wabash is the community’s pearl. Have a great year.