Where Do You Belong?

at wabash we talk a lot about belonging. There are many ways you can belong at Wabash. You can belong to a team, fraternity, course, club or organization, or to a group of rooms in the dorm. You can belong as a member of the alumni, a family, a class year, or as a fan. You can belong as a member of the faculty, staff, or simply a group that has a common affinity.

Once you are part of Wabash, you are always Wabash.

Always.

There are a few things that are always Wabash and even a few that aren’t. After all, Wabash is always the sum of its people—the students, the alumni, the faculty, the staff, the families—on our best days and on our worst days.

wabash has always been a place that offers a top-notch liberal arts education— one that challenges the minds of its students to critically examine the world around them and the way they interact with and within it. It is a place that dares students to imagine a better life for themselves, their families, communities, and society. It is a place that encourages lifelong learning.

According to our Gentleman’s Rule, students are expected to conduct themselves as gentlemen and responsible citizens at all times, both on and off campus.

Who are our students? And to whom does Wabash’s one rule of conduct apply?

Like any good editor who is wrapping up weeks of work on an issue would do, I turned to the best source of information—Google— specifically dictionary.com.

Student: a person formally engaged in learning, any person who studies, investigates, or examines thoughtfully

OK. So, even though I am a member of the Wabash staff, I am also a student. My co-workers, alumni friends, the faculty and children we have who are part of the Wabash family are all considered students as long as we are engaged in learning and studying the world thoughtfully.

Interesting.

Now, how about gentleman?

Gentleman: civilized, educated, sensitive, well-mannered

Gentle: kind; not severe, rough, or violent; to mollify; calm; having or showing pleasant, good-natured personal qualities; affable; to soften in feeling or temper, as a person there is one more word in the Gentleman’s Rule that sticks out to me: expects.

I may be female, but when I look at it that way, I similarly strive to those same ideals: educated, civilized, one who is able to soften or bend. Let’s face it, the Gentleman’s Rule is a pretty good rule of thumb by which to live regardless of what your DNA says.

As I said Wabash is always the sum of its people? On our best days and on our worst days.

The reality is that Wabash always tries to be welcoming. Wabash always tries to understand, to grow and improve, to help people feel connected. Wabash always tries to be loving and supportive, tries to listen.

But Wabash, as a body of people, doesn’t always succeed.

Wabash does always fight though. We fight for each other. We fight to get better. Individually and collectively.

What does always Wabash mean to you?

I hope your answer is positive, but I know that’s not been the case for everyone all the time—even me.

This issue is full of stories of our students young and old. There’s joy, struggle, learning, bending, and lots of growth. Not all of them have always felt like they belong. Some of them still wonder if they do.

The through line—they were given a chance. Someone believed in them and their potential. Someone lifted them up, gave them support and encouragement.

I believe in Wabash as a place and as a people.

I continue to do everything I can to support our mission. I give my time to listen and share the stories of love, pain, joys, and hopes of Wabash. I give of my treasure to help build greater opportunities. And I always try to share a smile, a thank you, a “how are you today?” and have a genuine interest in what I can learn from others.

Because all of those things make me a better student and a better citizen.

Because I want you to know that at Wabash you always belong.

Now, what will you do to help others belong?

As usual, I read the Winter 2022 Wabash Magazine from cover to cover. I devour each issue as I love reading the rich diversity of topics that bring back a lot of memories and reinforces the fact that Wabash is a special place.

This issue hit a few nerve-memories.

One was Kim Johnson’s “Silence in the Croí” story (page 10) of how the morning period of solitude had “nothing quiet about the silence” due to human inputs in the space around her.

The story by Greg Hoch ’94 (page 76) brought back memories, especially once I saw the name of my Wabash mentor Bob Petty. Bob, like David Krohne, gave students a lot more than facts. Bob had a way with words that put nature into a context that elicited deep feelings of beauty and awe. I have taken Bob’s messages with me since graduation in 1966. Fortunately, I stumbled into a profession at the Smithsonian that has given me many opportunities to be in landscapes around the world, as well as many, many quiet hours spent in forest and wetland field sites at our facility on the Chesapeake Bay.

The message Bob gave clarifies the issue of what quiet really is. We evolved as a species in environments with little absolute quiet, but the type of quiet that comes with nature. Nature’s quiet is the type that is in our genes and the type that we need. Unfortunately, in this modern world, my guess is few of us, including Wabash graduates, experience nature’s quiet, and those of us who knew Bob and David are the lucky ones.

One of my most recent amazing quiet times occurred when I was in the middle of a large bog complex on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska looking for native orchids. As the gentle wind played music in my ears, along with the soft sounds my feet made as I walked across the wetland surface, I heard the distant calls of sandhill cranes. I stopped and stood silently for almost 30 minutes watching and listening to wave after wave of soaring cranes talking to each other on their journey to their wintering grounds in the Lower 48.

The inside front cover of the winter issue of Wabash Magazine brought back memories of quietly walking through the Burren in Ireland—also looking for orchids—and the soothing sounds and smells of nature in a spectacular environment. Times like those reaffirm our genetic link to nature and provide the best kind of quiet time possible. Try it.

Dennis Whigham ’66

Kim Johnson | Editor johnsonk@wabash.edu

In the Winter 2022 issue, we welcomed Justin Kopp ’21 back home to Wabash as the interim head golf coach (page 28). After the issue went to print, “interim” was removed from his title. Kopp is now the head coach for the Little Giant golf team. Congratulations, Coach Kopp!

The caption of the photo on page 76 in the Winter 2022 issue accompanying Greg Hoch’s essay, “The Tallgrass’ Last Few Shadows,” is incorrect. The flower is a shooting star, not a royal catchfly. Thanks to David Krohne, photographer and emeritus biology professor, for pointing out our error!