It is all about heart at Wabash. You will be challenged beyond anything you could ever expect if you jump in feet first as a freshman, but the rewards are great and you will be respected for living the traditions of generations before you. Long in our hearts we will bear the sweetest memories of thee, Old Wabash.

When you come to Wabash you join a tradition that has existed since Wabash opened its doors in 1832. That tradition lasts after you graduate, so strongly that the students have nicknamed the alumni network as the 'Wabash Mafia'.

I would like to acknowledge the excellent alumni of Wabash College. I would be shocked to find an alumni network more extensive than our own. Wabash creates a bond that students and alumni alike feel. It connects everyone and this bond makes you forever loyal to her hollowed name.

The best professors manage to create lasting relationships with their students because of the way that they spend time with students, both inside and outside of the calssroom. Professors like David Blix, Bill Placher, Jeremy Hartnett, Brian Tucker, and staff members like Jim Amidon, Brent Harris, Steve Charles, Scott Crawford, Betsy Knott, Kyle Dunaway, and John Weitz (to name only a few) make the effort to know their students and as a result continue to make what makes Wabash great: community.

Wabash Always Fights!

Wabash College is an excellent school for men, and it certainly isn't for everybody. But, I cannot not articulate how this college has changed my life; it truly is amazing, and I think our nation needs to wake up and see the importance of all-male education at the college. The tendency is to always brand all-male schools as chauvanists and sexists institutions because they don't admit women, but if we are using the same superficial standards to judge all-male schools we can make the same assumptions about all-female schools--they're sexists also based off the same principles. But I digress, all-male education is fading in the United States, and Wabash is an excellent example of an institution that sticks to its traditions and history to educate men. Men need institutions like Wabash in today's world so they can be challenged and then succeed in the world. Just look at the numbers, there are 70 all-female institutions to 4 all-male insitutions in the nation; when I think of these numbers, I think of my education and success so far at Wabash, and I wonder why there aren't anymore all-male schools. Wabash has given me so much in two short years, and I think every young man should have the benefit of what I have recieved from this great insitution. I love Wabash, and I think it should be used as a model for more all-male insitutions to be established in the United States.

There isn't a single place that I would have rather gone to school.

If I'm awake at 2 am on a Tuesday, then I'm studying, like most of the rest of the campus at 2 am on Monday-Thursday. Everybody goes to football games. Everybody. Other events are hit and miss with student attendance. Before the College mandated auto-closing doors in new buildings, everyone at our fraternity kept their doors open most of the time. Fraternities are the lifeblood of the social scene. Greeks and non-Greeks can party together, but the best parties are always thrown by fraternities. Additionally, most of the College leadership is Greek, so fraternity members seem to lead the charge for non-party social events.

The social life at Wabash is not as bad as everyone may think. For me, there are always guys to hang out with at the fraternity. Most fraternities have at least one major party every year that is a lot of fun. Also, fraternites will have several small closed parties. In addition, Wabash will bring one or two acts in for a concert each year. It is true that there are times when you won't see a girl for a while, but you can't expect girls to be walking around campus during the week when they have class at their own campuses. On any given weekend, you can find girls somewhere on Wabash campus. The one problem with the social scene is the city where Wabash is located. It is not exactly a hip young college town. Although it isn't the greatest city, there are small local restaurants that have great food. Also, Purdue, IU, and other college campuses are within driving distance.

The best thing about Wabash is the closeness and comaraderie developed between the students. When I tell people I go to Wabash, one of the immediate responses is always, "Isn't that that all-male college?". The next question that comes from their lips is generally, "Why?". The town of Crawfordsville, where Wabash College is located is not the greatest of college towns. It is generally known for its drug-related reputation and its lack of things to do. At Wabash College there is a wealth of school pride and just about every student shows it. I think the most frequent student complaint is that the school is too hard and there are no girls around.

Small class sizes. Professors know you by name and can often be found interacting with students outside of the classroom. Students study, on average, much more than many students do at other schools. Classes are difficult and challenging.

As some of our literature states, we are a Liberal Arts College for men, and when I view this in retrospect of the 'Big Picture' I think that we are a very unique school among colleges because the 'all-male' aspect of higher education is slowly disappearing. We are who we are because we have always been all-male and we will continue to be all-male.

There isn't a single place that I would have rather gone to school.

Without a doubt think that we have the best cirriculum of any small school in Indiana. We study hard. Truthfully we do. Our classes put us to a good test and make sure we are getting the education that we are paying for.

The best thing about Wabash is the sense of community created by the campus. Students, faculty, staff, and alums all share a common thread that enhances a feeling of belonging for people who want to be a part, despite a wide array of differences among Wabash's constituents. Men intermingle regardless of fraternal allegiance, or lack thereof, race, belief, or hometown. That being said, I would change the growing student preference for groups that seem to encourage forming and sticking to one group as opposed to belonging to multiple social organizations. I absolutely love the size of the College. Not only did I know the majority of my classmates over the course of four years, when I tell people that I went to Wabash, they automatically appreciate the singularity of my college experience compared to someone who went to BigAss University. Additionally, the small size allows for several strong friendships to grow between individuals who normally wouldn't hang out. With only 850 students, you tend to see the same people everyday and bond with them, as oppposed to having your pick of thousands of students to select those who most likely agree with your personal beliefs. One experience I will always remember points to two things unusual about Wabash: the fraternity system and the huge pride Wallies have in their school. Freshmen are allowed to pledge their first semester, which means they are able to participate in Homecoming with their pledge brothers. One of my fondest memories will always be working on our float for a solid week and then cheering on the sidelines during the Homecoming game. Building a three story statue of the school's mascot isn't something that I'm likely to forget.

Wabash Always Fights!

Every single professor I had in class knew my full name, what fraternity I was in, and whether or not I owed them some outstanding project. I was invited to their houses, met their families, ate dinner with them, and often chatted about anything and everything outside of class. Class participation is a way of life in all of the humanities classes. Not only are you graded on it, most students are drawn into conversations by the professors. Additionally, Wabash students are competitive enough that few statements or opinions will go unchallenged. Academics at Wabash are tough. No two ways about it. Professors are always pushing and assigning more reading. That being said, most professors are willing to bend over backward to help you when you're struggling, but they aren't going to hold your hand. An average week of class included at least 15 hours of study to prepare for class, not counting class time or paper writing. The education at Wabash is typically geared toward learning for the sake of learning, but most of the skills that are learned by that type of instruction are translatable to both the job market and graduate school.

Study hard, party harder. We have a sense of tradition that if you go somewhere else, you aren't going to get.

Private, Liberal Arts school in a small town in the Midwest. It sounds bad, but I wouldn't put this place anywhere else, and I sure as hell wouldn't change the atmosphere around here.

If you want to be challenged spritually, academically, physically, emotionally, and personally, then Wabash is the place for you. The professors have high expectations for their students and they hold everone who steps into their classrooms to extremely high standards. As a current teacher for Teach For America, I know the value of establishing and maintaining high standards for students and Wabash does just that. Students are held personally accountable for all of their actions and inactions (I have had professors call me on my cellphone to discuss a wide number of things). Because Wabash is such a small community of just under a thousand (students, faculty, and staff), there is a large sense of community, of belonging to a greater Wabash family. Some students become jaded as the years go by because they seem to lose sight of what makes Wabash a fun place: the students and their interactions. There is some kind of disconnect between the faculty and the students. This largely comes from the high turn over rate we have had in the past several years. The younger faculty tends not to intermix with the students, which is unfortunate. Most commonly this results in miscommunication and therefore misunderstandings. These disconnects are also the result of some older faculty who, becasue of a single bad experience with a student many years ago, have become cynical of their current students and their motivations.