Wabash College - Class of 1991

Chalk this up in the “Cool” category.

Last year, seniors Nick Roudebush and Kevin Wasie created a replica of the famous campus landmark that some of us were instructed never to walk under. Dubbed Critical Arch, it stood on the southern path that crosses the Mall and challenged the Wabash perception of tradition.

For an encore, Nick teamed up with senior Mark Turpin to project submitted text messages upon the Chapel itself. Here’s the full story.

It’s nice to see Wabash students taking art outside the gallery space and out into the heart of campus. Nice job, guys!

The rumors are true.

Classmate Luke Messer announced his candidacy for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District on Friday, April 3 in Shelbyville. His campaign Web site is online and his Facebook Group had 187 members at last count. He’ll be taking on 14-term stick-in-the-mud Dan Burton–and others it looks like–in the 2010 primary.

You can read the story from the Indianapolis Star here. Give ‘em hell, buddy!

Another new tradition that has emerged since our departure from the Wabash campus is the Celebrating Scholarship Luncheon that now takes place every spring. It’s an opportunity for many Wabash students–most of them on some sort of scholarship–to meet some of their benefactors. (story)

Our own Luke Messer polished his rhetorical skills as the luncheon’s keynote speakers. Here’s a synopsis of his speech by Jim Amidon:

This year, the keynote speakers provided great examples of how scholarships transformed their lives.

Luke Messer ’91 talked about coming from a single-parent home in Greensburg, Indiana, and how he could not have dreamed of a Wabash education had it not been for a big scholarship package. “Essentially, I came to Wabash for about $1,000 per year,” he said.

Messer was able to study overseas at Oxford University after receiving a Brian Bosler Overseas Memorial Scholarship. He graduated from Wabash summa cum laude, attended Vanderbilt Law School, and has been a legislator, political leader, and attorney in Indiana ever since.

Messer talked about how Wabash provides “a value-added educational experience” because of the close, personal relationships students have with faculty, and how the faculty pushes students harder than they ever imagined.

“I think something Wabash does better than other schools is to educate thoughtful leaders,” Messer said.

Kip and I get regular updates from the College on giving to the Annual Fund. The March 16 report indicated that we were five guys shy compared to the same time last year. Wabash as a whole is down about 400 donors.

The need even now is more crucial than ever.

The Honor Roll online is updated regularly. By this afternoon’s count, 55 guys from our class have given so far this year. Make sure your name is on that list so that we can help provide the same opportunity to a current Wabash student that someone gave us way back when.