Giant Finish

The Giant Steps Campaign was the largest and most audacious comprehensive fundraising campaign in Wabash College’s 191-year history. The bold philanthropic spirit of Paul Woolls ’75 and Betty O’Shaughnessy Woolls and their $40 million unrestricted commitment launched the public phase of the campaign in 2018 and inspired members of the Wabash nation to take their own giant steps.

s we were thinking about the needs, we knew we wanted to continue to deliver the educational product we’ve been delivering for the first 200 years,” says Jay Allen, chair of the Wabash College Board of Trustees. “We thought there were some key areas—most important scholarships. More and more students can’t afford the cost to go to school. So we needed to invest in scholarships. We needed to invest in some of the physical plant. We needed to invest in the faculty and the academic programs. And then we needed to provide the other aspects of an education, like immersion opportunities and learning abroad. And the answer to how do we do that, was to grow our endowment so we could fund these opportunities into the future.”

From the campaign’s quiet phase, which began in 2017, the Giant Steps Campaign raised more than $250 million, surpassing the original goal of $225 million. Gifts created an immediate effect on campus and will have a long-lasting impact on generations of Wabash men and the faculty, coaches, and staff who are the driving force behind all that our students achieve in and out of the classroom.

More than anything, Giant Steps created unrivaled momentum. Momentum for the men of Wabash. Momentum to carry the College forward into its third century and beyond.

Equates to:

$313,298 per student

(First in the North Coast Athletic Conference; seventh among national liberal arts colleges with campaigns in the same time frame)

$17,903 per alumnus

(Second in the North Coast Athletic Conference; 19th among national liberal arts colleges with campaigns in the same time frame)

123 New Endowed Funds Established

81 new scholarship funds

36 new academic department, internship, special program, and immersion experience funds

6 new endowed professorships and faculty chairs

20 by graduates 1990 and younger 16 deferred

#

# who received named scholarships during Giant Steps (Almost half of Wabash students now receive some type of named scholarship.)

New Initiatives or Centers Funded Through Gifts to Giant Stepss

Giant Steps gifts further developed the co-curricular Wabash X initiatives; endowed Wabash’s immersion learning program, which now provides every student with the potential for at least one immersive experience with a travel component at no additional cost; and generated additional internship opportunities and professional development experiences that exponentially “plus up” a student’s liberal arts education.

Wabash X Initiatives

Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse Initiative (WDPD) Global Health Initiative (GHI) Center for Innovation, Business, and Entrepreneurship (CIBE) Digital Arts and Human Values

Other Centers and Initiatives

Stephenson Institute for Classical Liberalism Walsh Fund for Political Economy

Wabash Women’s Collective Wabash Liberal Arts Immersion Program (WLAIP)

President’s Distinguished Speaker Series (PDSS)

Greater Chicagoland Initiative

# of Summer Student Internships

Funded by Wabash

# of Students Participating in a Course With an Immersive Travel Component

2016–17: 100+

2017–18: 118

2018–19: 100+

2019–20*: 55

2021–22 **: 96

2022–23***: 76

* The pandemic caused the cancelation of immersion course travel to China, Germany, Italy, Tennessee, and Peru. In a normal spring semester, approximately 120 students engage in immersive travel.

** Wabash supported an additional 55 student experiences (112 international and 39 domestic) through semester-long off-campus study or summer international internship/research experiences.

*** Wabash supported an additional 37 student opportunities through semester-long off-campus study or summer international internship/research experiences.

Students Who Have Participated in WLAIP Summer Intensive 154 (total from six years)

# of Giant Steps Events

31 Regional Giant Steps Events (2018–20)

106 Virtual Offerings (2020–present)

20 Academic Majors and Departments Impacted During Giant Steps, including the establishment of two new academic majors—philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) and computer science—that are now among the most popular majors. In addition, gifts were made in support of pre-law and pre-health programs, Lilly Library, Ramsay Archives, and the MXIBS.

The campaign also funded the construction of six living units in the Ott Residential Life District, renovated Martindale Hall, constructed the Shelbourne Wrestling Center, developed a new gateway entrance to the Wabash campus, and built the new Little Giant Stadium and Frank Navarro Field.