Wabash College - Wabash Yearbook (Crawfordsville, IN)

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H. who sets out to write down on paper the answer to the question, “What is Wabash College?” is doomed to failure—because a single answer will never be known. It is true that we know where Wabash College is, what its buildings are, and who its professors and students are, but this is merely the Wabash that one sees. Almost a hundred and twenty-five years of tradition go to make up the unseen Wabash, as real and true as the peal of a bell, but just as hard to describe. This is the Wabash known only to her sons and friends. From this rich heritage has sprung the famous Wabash Spirit, the greatest tradition of all. The day was cold and snowy on November 21, 1832 when nine men, five Presbyterian ministers and four laymen, founded Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. It is recorded that the founders “selected the spot on which to erect the first building and there in solemn prayer . . . dedicated the enterprise unto God and invoked his blessings upon it.” The first professor was Caleb Mills, and the first building was Forest Hall. Twelve students and one professor formed the first Wabash Class, and this same student to teacher ratio has been maintained down to the present day. No formal lines separate the faculty from their students; not only are professors counselors—they become friends. Wabash’s academic faculty today has 47 members, 30 of whom hold doctor’s degrees. Two are Rhodes Scholars, and 19 are Phi Beta Kappas. Today the campus consists of over 50 acres with eight major buildings. Three more, a student center and two freshman dormitories, are nearing completion. Future plans call for the construction of a new library. About 500 men and 60 faculty and administrative mem- bers carry on the day-to-day campus life. Wabash is no longer affiliated with any church, but it continues in the Christian principles on which the College was founded. Its financial support comes entirely from gifts from alumni and friends. Today, when most other small independent colleges are struggling against bankruptcy, Wabash has a total of almost $7,000,000 and an endowment of over $3,500,000. This represents an endowment per student of almost $7,500. A distinguished faculty turns out distinguished graduates, and almost 50% of Wabash graduates since World War II have gone on to post-graduate schools. More than 400 living graduates are members of Phi Beta Kappa. And this high quality of graduates should remain the rule, because 60% of this year’s Freshman Class ranked in the upper one-fourth of their high school graduating classes. And so there are two Wabash Colleges: one of impressive facts and statistics known to the world, and one of the heart known only only to those who love her. Together they make up the real Wabash, the one we shall never forget.