Wabash College - Class of 1991

When I was a rising senior, I spent a lonely summer on campus finishing the Wabash yearbook. To say campus was dead was an understatement. So, it's gratifying to see how the Wabash campus seems to bustle with various sports camps and workshops (like OLAB) during summers of late.

Wrestling Coach Brian Anderson had sought to maintain the strong reputation of Wabash wrestling at his summer camp, bringing in two Olympians each year to help give gold-medal instruction to campers. This year, Greco-Roman competitior Rulon Gardner and Freestyler Brandon Slay participated in this summer's Little Giant Wrestling Team Camp. (story1)(story2)

Classmate Chris Ervin, Crawfordsville High School Head Wrestling Coach and 2002 Wabash Hall of Fame Inductee, brought nine of his wrestlers to the camp.

Having high schoolers on campus during the summer does wonders for showing off our beautiful campus to those who may soon decide where to attend college. Having world-class instruction doesn't hurt either.

Photo: Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner "the Big Erv" discuss technique during this week's wrestling camp.

OK, as of this morning, here are the latest tallies:

And, no I'm not giving an update just because the Phi Delts are winning. FIJIs need just two more donors to surpass us! For an updated list of who's given so far this year, check the Honor Roll online. It's updated regularly.

Obviously, the real reason to give is for the sake of current Wabash students. We pay it forward for their benefit. I'm constantly gratified to see great examples of Wabash students doing great things. Like this week, where a group of students went down to Martinsville to help residents clean up after the devastating floods that have plagued southern Indiana. Nobody asked them to do this; they chose to and organized the effort.

Photo from the Reporter-Times (Martinsville)

Indiana Solicitor General Tom Fisher can report the best Father's Day of all. The arrival of his new son, Daniel Paul Fisher (Wabash Class of 2030).

He was born at 1:10 p.m., Father's Day, Sunday June 15, 2008. He weighed in at 8 lbs., 11 oz. and is 20 1/4 " long. Tom reports, "Mother and baby doing fine. Dad remains a lost cause. A fine Fathers' Day indeed."

As the College's fiscal year comes to a close, we've made various appeals to you to stress the importance of giving to Wabash: first and foremost for our students, for Class of '91 pride, or just showing up the damn Dannies. Well, we have one more trick up our sleeve:

Intramurals

It's hard to forget how heated the living unit rivalries became during IMs, especially during football, basketball, or softball games. I still pity those of you who had to officiate some of those games. And yes, it seemed that Phi Psi always geared their rush toward prospectives who could round out their IM prowess. "Oh, you've won national competitions in badminton and tiddley winks? Hey, you have to meet our rush chairman!" (Skippy and Shep, you know I'm kidding, right?)

So we're appealing to your long festering sense of living unit rivalry. Given the numbers from yesterday, June 11, here's how you rank by percentages of each house.
 

So, OK, its probably not fair on the Tekes and Theta Delts who probably aren't happy being lumped together. Nor is it very fair on the independents, but we don't have easy data on which of you want to be affliliated with which dorm. And we don't have any award or prize concocted, unless any of you has any good ideas...

But there it is, FIJIs and Phi Delts tied for first. The Betas need just three more guys to give to pull ahead of the field, Kappa Sigs need four, Phi Psis and Sigma Chis need six, Lambda Chis need five, and Delts need seven.

Just who's given so far, you ask? Check the continually updated Honor Roll here. You can give...

• By phone: 877-743-4545
• On the Web: www.wabash.edu/alumni/egift
• By mail: Wabash Annual Fund/PO Box 352/Crawfordsville, IN 47933 (checks payable to Wabash College)

It's been less than ten years since Wabash joined the North Coast Athletic Conference, and by many accounts, it's been a good match. Unlike the old ICAC or the HCAC, the quality of schools and range of athletic programs match up much better. Yes, it's a sacrifice having some of our athletic teams travel as far as 450 miles to compete at Allegheny College.

To compare, DePauw has three schools in the "Southern" Collegiate Athletic Conference where it has to travel more than 1,000 miles one-way! In these times of rising fuel prices, I'm not sure a little "regional or national" exposure offsets the bite to the travel budget. But who am I to second-guess the Dannies.

In this last decade, we have discovered some solid conference rivals. Wittenberg comes to mind immediately. They just seem to match up so well against us in just about every sport, especially in football and basketball.

But what grinds my gears is a seemingly simple thing. Each year, the NCAC awards an All-Sports Trophy. Back in the day, our previous conferences awarding a similar trophy, but with one big difference: the HCAC has separate All-Sports Trophies for men's and women's sports.

I think you see what I'm getting at.

The NCAC proclaims that for its single All-Sports Trophy, "Men's and women's performances are combined, exemplifying the North Coast's commitment to equity and balance among programs." Equity and balance. Hmmmm, I've heard that one before...

This year, Wabash, an all-male institution, was 8th out of ten schools with one hand tied behind its back. It begs the question, "How much better would Wabash have finished comparing just men's sports?" Here's the grid:

OK, not as well as I would have hoped. But we did jump up two places.

And fair is fair, doggone it.

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:

• Submit a class note online.
• Send an e-mail to the Alumni Office.
• Send Kip or Hugh an e-mail.

Don't forget to include any pictures of kids, vacations, anything. This blog is strongest when we post your updates, so let us know what you're up to!

File this post under “You Must Read This.”

At the Class Agents Forum in the early fall of ’05, I met Details magazine editor-at-large Jeff Gordinier. A Princeton grad, he was on campus researching a story on Wabash College. (Yeah, that's a Webcam still of him wearing a Wabash t-shirt.) When his article came out in the November issue, I thought he gave a very fair and well-researched outsider’s examination of Wabash, its atmosphere, and its impact.

Jump ahead a couple of years, and Gordinier is giving another well-researched examination, but this time it’s from the inside: a musing about our lowly and disregarded generation dubbed by Douglas Coupland as “Generation X.”

Gordinier's book is half-ironically titled X Saves the World with the curious subtitle How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking, and it’s gloriously chock full of pop-culture references from our era.

Thanks to YouTube, I can add video of Gordinier reading an excerpt of his book. Enjoy.

Admit it, news is slow on this blog this time of year, so—if you’ll indulge me—I’d like to devote the next few posts on this book and the topics it addresses.

Be sure to add X Saves the World to your summer reading list. Amazon Barnes & Noble Borders (No, I don't get a commission from this rec. Damned distrustful Xers!)

Just because most of us aren't in Crawfordsville anymore doesn't mean that we can't connect to the Wabash. Across the country, there are more than 40 regional alumni associations where Wabash alums and families can participate.

Here in Indy, the Indianapolis Association of Wabash Men just set up a Web page (http://www.wabash.edu/alumni/ra/indy). It lists up-to-date information on the many events the IAWM puts on each year, lists officers, news, and past honorees.

As a huge Cubs fan, I'm definitely envious of the Wabash Club of Chicago. Last Friday, from the Friendly Confines they got to see my Cubbies come back from an 9-1 deficit. Thrilling late-game homers brought the Cubs back to win 10-9. I only wish Harry Carey were still alive so that I could watch him try to slur his way through rookie outfielder Kosuke Fukudome's name. (That's KOH-skay foo-koo-DOUGH-may. Anything else gets you in Dutch with the FCC.) Oh, did I mention the Cubs currently have the best record in baseball? (Yeah, it makes me really nervous, too.)

From golf outings, to recruiting future Wabash students, to this fall's Wabash Day, the regionals allow far-flung alumni to connect with their alma mater from afar. Find the one in your area here.