Wabash College - Class of 1991

If you browsed through the comments of the Star article, you'll find "Pete - AOL" prominent in the discussion. It is, indeed, our classmate Pete Miesel, who writes:

Yeah, that's me in the comments section, can't resist the urge to argue in the blogosphere.

As of now, I'm still in Indianapolis, working as a Sales Coordinator for Tyco International. I'm in the process of relocating to Boulder with my long-time girlfriend, so I'm currently doing the job interview thing, which is easily the most irritating thing a person can ever do. After eight long years at Emmis Broadcasting, I think I can safely say that I'm out of the radio game for good as well.

Both Pete Miesel and Mike Langford alerted us to a front page article in this Sunday's Indianapolis Star, which follows.

November 19, 2006

Steeped in tradition or stuck in the past?

Wabash College's all-male heritage is a point of both pride and introspection

By Staci Hupp
staci.hupp@indystar.com

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind.—Wabash College students must live by one command: Be a gentleman.

Freshmen at the private men's school are identified by their red and green beanie caps, which they tip to professors. Students invite guest speakers with traditional viewpoints, such as a Harvard University professor who believes men aren't cut out for housework.

Old-fashioned traditions distinguish Wabash, one of only two men's four-year colleges in the nation. Traditions also have divided the campus.

Many students and alumni believe the brotherhood forged on campus makes Wabash the launching pad it is for young, blue-collar Midwestern men, many of whom go on to become powerful politicians, attorneys and businessmen. They say no women means no distractions.

Many faculty members worry the cloistered campus fosters a chauvinist culture that stunts Wabash.

This fall, a group of professors petitioned the school's new president for a review of the campus climate, which they described as intolerant.

"We pretty much have a 19th-century organizational chart, but we're in the 21st century," said John Aden, a history professor who graduated from Wabash in 1992. "People are expecting equity. In that sense, the challenge for us is to be a relevant 21st-century institution and remain single-sex."

A letter, which Aden said was signed by nearly all 90 of the school's faculty members -- a quarter of whom are women -- says the conflict spurred at least two of them and four students to leave Wabash in the spring.

President Patrick White has said the concerns will be addressed in a routine, long-term strategic planning process, which starts this year.

No one has asked White to open the campus to women, and trustees have made it clear Wabash would turn co-educational only if the well of promising young men dries up.

That hasn't happened. At 850, the school's enrollment is as robust as its large endowment, which supports generous financial aid packages for most students.

Learning together

Wabash students admit the absence of women takes getting used to, particularly since outings in Crawfordsville are limited to pizza and beer runs.

"My parents didn't let me take my car one semester, so I wouldn't be tempted to leave," said Campbell Robbins, a senior from Indianapolis. "It can get boring."

Girlfriends from Indiana University and other schools drive over on weekends to stay in dorms or fraternity houses.

"Don't get me wrong," said Brandon Ehrie, a senior from Crawfordsville. "A lot of hooking up goes on."

But during the week, men learn with, and from, one another.

Some classes are tailored to fit a masculine learning style.

In a recent lesson about the nervous system, a biology professor compared the repolarization of a cell to a football blitz, in which Wabash's Little Giants rush the line of scrimmage.

Students say class discussions are more worthwhile because they aren't putting on airs to impress women.

"If there were women here," said Ehrie, 21, "personally, I wouldn't be able to focus."

The campus also fosters a sense of brotherly competition and friendships that leave an indelible mark, students say.

"When girlfriends are around, you see a lot of guys who don't really build those bonds," said Jay Horrey, 19, a sophomore from New Albany. "Here, you don't have that opportunity. If you want somebody to talk to, it's going to be one of your guy friends."

The trade-off, critics say, is that the men don't learn to respect differences.

Party themes have included "CEOs and Office Hos." T-shirts for last weekend's Monon Bell football game depicted a Wabash football player with a trophy in hand and a DePauw University cheerleader over his shoulder.

Karolyn Kinane, a former visiting instructor, says students asked her out on dates and whistled at her as she proctored an exam. She wrote of "rampant" sexism in a letter to the campus newspaper last fall.

"Sometimes it really did feel like a boys' club," said Kinane, who left Wabash this year and now teaches at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. "And other times I felt really supported and comfortable and encouraged."

Professors have criticized the resurrection this fall of "pots," the beanie caps, absent for 30 years. Freshmen begrudgingly wear them, but upperclassmen say the caps are another bridge between the Wabash men of today and yesterday.

Despite its penchant for the past, Wabash has evolved over its 174-year history.

Feminist theory and gender studies were added to the class roster at least a decade ago. Administrators want to add more diversity to the student body, now made up largely of white men from Indiana.

The push to modernize has caused friction between Wabash's liberal-leaning faculty and its traditionally conservative students, who say professors are quick to judge them for the knucklehead behavior typical of young men everywhere.

"The students can be a little sophomoric sometimes, but that's just because they're learning," said Mac McNaught, a trustee who graduated from Wabash in 1976. "I don't think it goes to the heart of the character of the students or to the spirit of the place."

One-sex solution?

Middle and high school administrators nationwide have split girls and boys into separate classes and schools in an effort to bridge a gender gap. Concern for boys, whose test scores and graduation rates have slipped below girls', prompted a change in federal regulations last month that's expected to pave the way for more single-sex schools.

At Wabash, that has meant an interest in the development of college men and studying the power of single-sex education to groom leaders.

Without women, though, others doubt young leaders can learn to be effective.

"I think it would be hard to develop a man . . . with the emotional intelligence or the social skills necessary," said Gar Kellom, vice president at St. John's University. The Minnesota campus developed an effective leadership center only after women joined the formerly all-male school.

Kinane, the former Wabash instructor, believes in Wabash's masculine heritage. But "there's this tiptoeing around Wabash, trying to figure out an identity," she said. " 'Are we stepping into the 21st century? Are we holding onto our traditions?' "

White, the new president, says Wabash can have it both ways.

"I think it's a question of, 'What does it mean to be a men's college?' " he said. "We have to be thoughtful about this."

ABOUT WABASH

• What: A private, four-year liberal arts college for men, one of two in the nation. Hampden-Sydney Collegenear Richmond, Va., is the other.

• Where: Crawfordsville, about 45 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

• Founded: 1832.

• Enrollment: 850 students, three-quarters of them from Indiana. About 14 percent were minorities in 2004-05.

• Annual tuition and fees: $25,000.

• How do they afford that? About 90 percent of students receive financial aid. The school has a $330 million endowment.

CO-ED DISCUSSION

At a time when many traditional men's schools were opening up to women, Wabashstudents took an opinion poll in 1974. The turnout was 52 percent-48 percent in favor of staying a men's college, said Mac McNaught, a trustee who graduated in 1976.

School trustees haven't taken proposals for a co-ed campus seriously since 1992, when they voted down a proposal they said would diminish Wabash's heritage.

The trustees made a statement of sorts this spring, when they hired President Patrick White from St. Mary's College in South Bend, a women's college.

"By the time students graduate from Wabash," White said, "the fact that Wabash is a college for men is one of the most important identifiers at this institution."

SOME NOTED WABASHGRADS

• Todd Rokita, secretary of state. Class of '92.

• Steve Campbell, deputy mayor, Indianapolis. Class of '92.

• Pete Metzelaars, former tight end of the Buffalo Bills and now the Indianapolis Colts' offensive quality control coach. Class of '82.

• N. Clay Robbins (shown in 1999 file photo), president of the Lilly Endowment. Class of '79.

• John Bachmann, past chairman of the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and senior partner with Edward Jones. Class of '60.

• Joseph D. Barnette Jr., former chairman of the board, CEO and president of Bank One. Now heads Sexton Companies. Class of '61.

Source: Wabash College

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved

My take on it is that the atmosphere is ripe for the co-ed drums to bang once again: new administration, boys behaving badly—which isn't atypical—and most importantly, loads of new faculty who think they can have a hand in changing the College where they teach. We all knew those new professors who "didn't get Wabash"—and didn't last too long—like the disgruntled prof quoted extensively here.

Unlike our era, I don't get any indication that Dr. White's administation is keen on studying coeducation. Dean Phillips has been heard as declaring the issue dead. Too many things are going right for the College right now: enrollment is up, alumni engagement is robust, applications are up, annual giving is vibrant, the endowment continues to be strong.

The article represents the best reporting of the Indianapolis Star <sarcasm>, the newspaper that Kyle Copas '89 once dubbed "the last bastion of yellow journalism." I have no idea what prompted its editors to assign such a piece, but I am very inclined to dismiss it.

But enough of what I think; you guys have been taught to think critically. Read it for yourself and sound off by clicking on Comments below.

With this year's crowd topping out at 11,600, the “Official Class of ’91 Tailgate” for the 113^th annual Monon Bell Classic scattered to all parts of the parking lot.

At gametime, the line to get into the stadium snaked the length of the stands. “I’ll watch first-half highlights on the DVD,” I heard someone quip. It gave me time to catch up with Dave Riggs (who works sales for Raleigh bicycles in Ann Arbor, MI), Joab Schultheis (who is a business analyst for Atlas Van Lines in Evansville, IN), and Steve Turk (who works for Chase Bank out of Evanston, IL) (pictured above). (Yes, you guys made the blog!)

I also had a great opportunity to catch up with Matt Hanson (who’s Morgan County Circuit Court Judge). He's been turning his Phi Psi pledge brothers on to our blog. I also talked to Scott Handlon, who is doing very well as president of The Partnership for Medical Education.

With about three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Wabash fans started making their way for warmer post-game festivities. They should know better. Never, ever leave the Bell game early! (Some of the Dannie stands were pretty bare by the fourth quarter.) This year’s contest turned into a grind-it-out nail-biter with a safety by Wabash clinching the win. (story)

After the game, I ran into the elusive Tom Kilbane and his girlfriend, Lisa, at the Phi Delt house (pictured below). Tom’s been following Wabash football since his Hall of Fame brother, Jim, tore up the field in the early ’80s. It was great to catch up as Tom’s still living in Hinsdale and is now working for Liberty Insurance Underwriters. Seeing the Dannies board the buses to go back to Greendingle, Tom had occasion to spout, “I see black, and I turn red.” Well said, brother.

Hey! If you have pictures from the game or a remote telecast party, send them to me. I’ll be happy to post them.

A college sports Web site called The Palestra features a story on our valiant young men defending our Bell from the evil Danny hoarde. Check it out:

http://www.thepalestra.com/

Because Wabash isn't (yet) listed as an official site, you have to maneuver a little to find the story:

1. Mouse over the logo, and move the line to about 9:00. (At least that's where it was when I found it.)
2. The title of the bit is called, "So you think your rivalry is serious?"
3. Just click on it and the video starts playing.

The segment was reported by Mary Rachel Dick, who is the sister of DPU QB Spud Dick (yes, that's his name).

If you're like me, the Monon Bell game fills me with a nervous sense of excitement. I'm looking forward to the game, and I hope to see you and your families at the game.

DePauw to Hell, We'll Keep the Bell!

Scott Seay was on campus Monday delivering the Eric Dean Lecture. By my count, he's the fourth classmate to speak at Wabash this year! Here's the rundown of his talk:

Seay' 91 Learned to Integrate Church, Scholarly Pursuits

There are times when students understand a professor’s underlying message or overall theme in the classroom and there are other times it might take awhile.

Scott Seay ’91 isn’t shy to admit it took him awhile to understand a key point Wabash religion professors were trying to make in their classrooms.

"I was convinced when I left here that my role was to be a scholar of religion and go out and teach and write books and give lectures and all that sort of thing," said the professor of American Religious History at the Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis. "That’s important work and work I enjoy it, but only later did I understand what the folks at Wabash had been telling me all along. It was especially someone like Bill Placher who is an imminent scholar and a church man. I had somehow missed the message while I was here.

"I think he was trying to tell me a life of faith is an important part of intellectual life and that the two are not separate from one another – intellectual development and faith development. The two go hand in hand; teaching and preaching go hand in hand. When the church is at its best, it’s in many ways a teaching institution."

Seay was on campus to deliver the Eric Dean Lecture Nov. 6. He also holds a masters from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a masters and doctorate in church history from Vanderbilt.

"When I left here I was thinking of pursuing the academic side of things," he said. "It was my goal to finish a dissertation in the New Testament and early Christian literature. But Chicago wasn’t a good fit for me. I couldn’t articulate it at that point but the church really wasn’t an important piece of what I understood my vocation to be.

"I had been raised in church so church was important to me, but I didn’t understand how church intersected with my vocation. It was my three years in seminary that sort of helped me sort that out and to understand that whatever scholarly contribution I might make has to be in service to the church or otherwise in many ways there is not a whole lot of point to it."

The intersection of the academic and church thinking occurred largely while Seay filled in as an interim pastor in Ashland, Ohio. "It was really interesting to do that and fun in many ways to be teaching about religion in the classroom, in a liberal arts setting, and also go out into the church and do ministry and see the ways in which those two things cross fertilized one another. Often it was the case that some insights that came to me in class somehow made their way into Sunday sermons and vice versa."

Seay’s research and teaching includes American religious history and modern European church history. He has studied the relationship between Christian faith and social problems in historical perspective. He spoke on campus about Puritan execution sermons.

He sort of stumbled across the topic when working on a paper at Vanderbilt on Puritanism and found a copy of one execution sermon. He now has uncovered more than 100.

"I dug further and saw these execution sermons weren’t only about American Puritanism but about larger questions that could be connected to some of the issues we’re struggling with today."

Seay explained the Puritans and early national New England clergy were struggling with the same issues Americans struggle with now when thinking about capital punishment.

"The vast majority of Americans are not used to thinking theologically about these issues. We lack that moral conversation on these issues."

And, he added, when such discussions do take place it’s usually very loud and missing a civil and thoughtful tone.

On Sept 27th, after 9 years, my position was "eliminated" at BAS due to their desire to try and reverse their economic situation. In fact, 55 positions at BAS were eliminated that day (~12% of total workforce). I have been somewhat busy since then trying to scare up another job and living on the severance pay from BAS.

On November 13th I start a new job at Covance, Inc in Madison, Wisconsin. I will be up there until Michelle can get the house in Brookston, IN sold. (It should be listed next week.) Michelle and the kids will be in Brookston. I'll be around Brookston some, mostly on the weekends, when I'm not checking out houses in Madison. Hopefully the house will sell quickly and we can all get moved up to Madison soon. If you know someone that wants a nice house in the Lafayette area, let us know!

Best of luck on the move to Madison and the new job, Brian.

The Wabash Swimming & Diving team goes up against the Dannies tonight in a dual meet that has all the makings of a showdown reminscent of our era. It gave me the opportunity to e-mail some swimming and diving alumni to send along some word of encouragement to the young and talented team. It also gave me the chance to catch up with my ol' distance buddy, Brian Deleget. He writes:

My wife, Anna, and I have been living in the OC for 4 years and love it. I'm managing a sales team for an investment company and she is a branch manager for a bank. I'm still training and racing a few triathlons and marathons each year. I picked up surfing, motorcycling, and skateboarding out here. The weather is always perfect. Life is good!

I'd say so! While Brian rarely gets back to the Hoosier State, he'll be hosting a Monon Bell telecast party at the Newport Beach Brew Company next Saturday. As I reported earlier, you have several opportunities to catch the big game.

I just found out about the class of '91 blog from Matt Hanson and Brett Caldwell. Looks great.

I have not checked in for a very long time. So, here is some updated information about me.

My wife, Whitney, and I still live in New Albany, Indiana. We now have two daughters, Reagan (4) and Riley (1). A little over a year ago, I made the decision to leave my law practice as a partner in one of the largest law firms in the region to become President of a non-profit organization called Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana, Inc. ("ROCK"). Yes, you can only imagine the questions from family members and friends when we decided to make this dramatic career change.

ROCK is a pro-family organization. We work very hard to promote a wholesome environment for families throughout Kentuckiana, which includes Southern Indiana and the greater Louisville, Kentucky region. ROCK does this through education and cooperation with citizens, churches, governmental bodies and community and business leaders. Some of our key concerns include pornography/obscenity, internet pornography/sexual predators, marriage and defending religious liberties. You can learn more about ROCK at our website (www.reclaimourculture.org).

This has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We are growing in size and numbers and I absolutely love what I do and still get to use my legal abilities every single day. Beyond that, I feel like I am getting to do something to make a difference and leave this a better place for my daughters to raise their families someday.

This past year has been incredible. Our efforts have gained national attention. In June, I was invited to the White House as part of a small group of pro-family leaders from across the country to witness the President sign the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. In addition to the President, there was an opportunity to meet and visit with Kevin J. Martin, Chairman of the FCC. (That's me with Chairman Martin.) Over the past year, I have learned a lot about interviews with columnists, reporters and members of the media! I would love to hear from fellow alums and pledge brothers. Thanks again for this great site!

Thanks so much for the update, and be sure to tell more classmates about our blog!