When I was elected President of our Alumni Association, I never anticipated that the high point of my two-year term would take place only two days after I took office. But it’s possible that has happened to me.
Just two days after that election last May, I performed the first official act of my presidency, which was to call three men to inform them that the NAWM had voted to make them Honorary Alumni.
My first call was to Peter Frederick, award-winning teacher of history, guiding light for generations of students, and a man who, as a professor at Wabash, was the visible and audible embodiment of “thinking critically” and “acting humanely.” I caught him on his cell phone in Brooklyn. “Peter, I have the privilege of telling you that the Association has voted to make you an Honorary Alumnus of the College.”
Silence.
“Peter? Peter? Are you still there?”
Then the familiar, bemused chuckle. “This is a day I never in my wildest dreams thought would happen. Are you serious? What an unexpected honor. I’m sincerely moved by this.”
My next call was to Brent Harris. Everyone knows Brent—he’s the award-winning Sports Information Director at Wabash, and he embodies “tireless,” whether it involves sports, theatre, sound, or lighting. I found him in his office just before a staff meeting, and when I gave him the news—which caught him totally off guard—he was silent for a while. Then he said, “I guess this means the baseball team’s appearance in the NCAA playoffs won’t be the highlight of my week after all!”
I’m told that when he showed up at that staff meeting, his eyes were still moist.
Finally, Tobey Herzog. Tobey is known for his scholarship of Vietnam War literature, including that of Tim O’Brien, whose Going After Cacciato is one of the most powerful 20th century works I encountered while at Wabash. Tobey is also known for his elbows among his fellow players in the NBA—the Noontime Basketball Association, and for his role as the interface between the academic Wabash and the athletic Wabash—one obvious explanation for why that relationship at Wabash is so strong but not adversarial. Tobey’s reaction: “Wow …just wow. I’ve always considered myself a Wabash Man, so this is the most meaningful thing that has ever happened to me here.”
As president of your Alumni Association, I had the privilege of presenting these honors to Peter, Brent, and Tobey—Peter’s at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Malcolm X Institute on September 17, and Brent’s and Tobey’s at the Homecoming Chapel awards program.
Guess it’s all downhill for me from here.
My classmate Jim Amidon recently asked me what my goals for my term as President are, and he quoted me in an article on the College’s Web site:
“I want our Board’s focus to be on establishing as many different touch points between the College and our alumni as we can. That means strengthening regional associations; supporting our Class Agent system; reaching alumni through social networking, podcasts, Webcasts; finding ways to use alumni to buttress students’
academic experiences and career opportunities; making sure our alumni get chances to know our new faculty; recruiting outstanding young men; and finding other
ways to return our time, talent, and treasure to the College we love so well.”
If you’ve got other ideas for how we can best attain these goals, please write me at gcastanias@jonesday.com. This is your alumni association; we who serve on the board are just the temporary caretakers.
—Gregory A. Castanias ’87; President, National Association of Wabash Men