The good folks at the Alumni Office inform me that Homecoming this fall will feature an affinity reunion for all of you involved in the health care professions. Save these dates stat:
Stay tuned for details.
A quick look at the Alumni Database tells me that six of you guys are listed in Dentistry and 13 of you are listed in Medicine/Health, though I know there are more…
Kim Jackson writes us:
I was named a Super Lawyer in 2009, and I repeated the honor of being named a Super Lawyer for 2010.
I was surprised and pleased to also learn that I was named to the Top 100 Lawyers in Georgia by Super Lawyer magazine. The Top 100 comes from “a listing of the lawyers who received the highest point totals in the Georgia nomination, research and blue ribbon review process.”
My wife Nola, a Dannie, was again named a Rising Star in Georgia by the same publication.
Our daughters Zoe (8) and Iva (3) have no major accomplishments to report since their births have already been reported. They simply continue to be cute and prepare themselves for some great college that admits women.
Kim is a partner at Hawkins & Parnell in Atlanta.
The Paper of Montgomery County reports a promotion for classmate David Pippen.
THE PAPER
2/24/2010 9:09:00 PM
INDIANAPOLIS - Gov. Mitch Daniels announced on Wednesday that David Pippen, senior policy director in the governor’s office, will become his general counsel replacing Mark Massa, who has resigned to run for the office of Marion County prosecutor.
Massa has served as general counsel since January 2006.
Pippen has been senior policy director concentrating on energy, natural resources and the environment for the past two years. Previously, he was an attorney in private practice for 13 years, the last four with the Indianapolis firm of Plews Shadley Racher & Braun. His practice has included concentrations in real estate, administrative law, transactions, and litigation.
Pippen earned his undergraduate degree at Wabash College and his law degree at the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis. He is the chair of Indiana’s delegation to the Great Lakes Commission, is the Staff Judge Advocate of the Indiana Guard Reserve, serves on the board of directors of the Indianapolis Association of Wabash Men and is a volunteer with the Westminster Legal Ministries.
The appointment is effective March 1.
Congratulations, Dave!
Jim Bridge writes:
Felicia and I are proud to announce the arrival of our new son, Jeremiah James. He was born on September 22, 2009 and weighed 7 lbs and 13 oz and was 20 inches long.
Quick, someone get that kid a Wabash sleeper!
A few months ago, the Bachelor did a story on the senior bench, which was reprinted in Wabash Stories. Me being me, I had to correct an inaccuracy, which led to this post.
In the interest of accuracy, I need to correct the excellent article by Peter Robbins. The good Dr. Hartnett is incorrect in his remembrance of when his Lambda Chi class painted the bench. The Phi Delt freshmen have been painting the Bench scarlet before each home football game at least as far back as the early ’80s.
In 1987, when my class painted the Bench, we encased it in Visqueen, sheets of plywood, and barbed wire. It was very much overkill, I admit, and I have better respect for the current classes who simply put the plastic over it. We did have confrontations with other pledge classes, and I remember at one point somebody heard a twig snap from the other side of the Arboretum. Immediately, almost my entire pledge class rushed toward the sound except for me, who was making sure that our flank wasn’t entirely exposed. Sensing the foolishness of the overreaction, I found myself yelling out, “Hey, this is not Vietnam. This is Crawfordsville!”
We were told that it used to be a contest between the Phi Delts (red) and the Fijis (white) to see which pledge class would have the bench painting in that particular school color before kickoff of the first home football game. I have not been able to confirm this tale, however. But it may explain why we always send the message up to the press box to be read at kickoff, “The Phi Delt pledge class would like to announce that the Senior Bench is red.”
I certainly mean no disrespect to others who have painted the Bench–it’s a great bonding experience for anyone who participates–but I always took great pride in the fact that we painted it scarlet and not our fraternity colors.
The night before I graduated, a bunch of us ended up painting the Senior Bench red at sunrise. To this day I’m not quite sure why we did it. Maybe it was to relive a terrific experience that helped united us as we started out on our own separate journeys in life.
Wabash Archivist Beth Swift also has a good piece on the Bench on her blog. And Tom Runge cataloged last year’s bench paintings. (here and here).
Did you paint the Bench? What stories do you remember?
My voice is still hoarse from this weekend.
First, an amazing Bell Game. For all of my fellow classmates who are starting to sound like those older alumni I talk to who say, “Oh, I hate going down to Greencastle for the Bell Game,” Saturday was a reason why I put up with the greatly reduced seating capacity, the Draconian security measures, drunken Dannie loudmouths questioning my masculinity, the potential of losing and having to watch them celebrate. It’s when you get a game like that, well, everything seems a little bit better.
Then, you get an amazing Colts game on Sunday Night Football against the Pats.
One huge similarity struck me. Both the Little Giants and the Patriots, ahead in the fourth quarter facing a tough quarterback, had a fourth and very short deep in their own territory.
Both decided to go for it.
That’s where the similarities end–and Lord strike me dead if I ever compare the Wabash Little Giants to the damned New England Patriots again.
Wabash senior QB Matt Hudson got a time out, hustled to the sideline, and made the case–against all D3 football logic–to go for it. Jim Amidon writes the amazing story here. They get the first down, control the clock and win the Bell. Brilliant and ballsy. Hudson is hailed as a hero.
New England coach Bill Belichick tells his QB Tom Brady to go for it. They’re short of the first down and give the ball to one of the best two-minute drill efficient, time-managing, field generals in the NFL. Colts drive, win the game. Belichick has the nightmare of answering every Monday morning quarterback in the country.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s silly to compare D3 football with the pros. But, for me, it’s still interesting to who sparked the decision and the attitude that accompanied them.
For the Bell game, the right attitude by a quarterback can make all the difference. 2001 Catch notwithstanding, I put Saturday’s gutsiness right up there with Chris Ings’ outstanding will to win the 1995 snow bowl.
As the cliche goes, it’s a game of inches.
What a great game! Check the full details here.
I shot this video on my little Sony digital cam. Too bad we didn’t see any of these when we were in school.
An overpowering sense of catharsis accompanied this victory. I don’t think Wabash needed a Bell win more.
Bell week has me reminiscing. I was up at the game last week–the 41-0 dredging of pathetic conference rival Hiram–and it struck me that today’s sideline cheering is pretty basic. We still sing “Old Wabash” after touchdowns. The Sphinx Club still does pushups. (Last week, they did a lot of them, 141 by my calculations.) The Sphinxsters will get the crowd to rise on a big third down, and the Little Giant Stadium announcer proclaims, “It’s Another Wabash College FIRST DOWN!” with gusto.
But where are the old cheers?
Could an actual wave of Gentlemanly behavior have befallen our current students? Perhaps it was an admonishment from administrators at some point which put the kibosh on “inappropriate cheering” in a climate of NCAA-led movements toward positive game environment. Maybe we can chalk it up to simple Sphinx Club laziness.
Truthfully, I’m not sure I’ll miss pledge classes clamoring to “Eat zucchini, eat, eat zucchini!” I put that right up there with the dreaded resurgence of the Homecoming Queen contest as embarrassments to our proud all-male tradition.
So, in response to my status update on Facebook–”The Big Cookie says: DePauw to Hell, Get the Damn Bell!”–Fred Greene ‘90, Ron Zimmerman ‘94, and I started reminiscing about the cheers that used to resonate from the Wabash side of the field. Here’s the list we came up with so far…
Yes, they’re not entirely PC, but they were sure fun to do.
Do you remember any others?
Hot off the virtual presses…
It’s the latest Class Agent Letter. Read it by clicking here.
If you haven’t sent us an update in awhile, you have three easy options:
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