Athletics Director, and former Dean of Students, Tom Bambrey ’68 delivered Thursday’s Chapel Talk with a little bit of history and advice.
Bambrey actually tackled the recent campus controversy changing the Cultures & Traditions class to something new and not-yet-defined.
He quoted the College’s first president Baldwin Elihu, along with President’s William Kane, George Mackintosh, Lewis Hopkins, and Warren Shearer. In each case he used excerpts from speeches of the Presidents discussing the curriculum and curriculum changes.
He noted the college has long had some sort of ‘Common Intellectual Experience” for all students. In the last century such a class often lasted about 30 years before being reinvented.
“And now here we are in 2010 and we’re re-imagining the class,” Bambrey said. “What’s the point? “Things change. Things change for the benefit of students whether they agree or not.”
Bambrey said the important thing was reading great text, discussing it with your classmates, in classes led and directed by engaged faculty. “Let’s hope this new idea runs as long as the previous versions,” he said.
The second part of his speech was his advice to Wabash students. He ran through a list of 10 suggestions ranging from working hard to “keeping your share of histrionics to a minimum.” He urged students to become avid readers of great books, recommended books, and books “that just delight you.”
He added a list of things he really likes about Wabash and encouraged students to do the same. The personal, humorous, and insightful list ended the Chapel Talk on a real high note.
