I can imply a lot of thoughts and feelings about Wabash. I can be critical of President Hess' administration; I can comment on the attitude of the student body as being too competitive for its good sake. I can be - and have been - weary of what one respectable Wabash professor called, "the difficult waters that are pulling liberal arts colleges toward a business model".
I can be cynical about the direction in which the College has been heading in the four years that I have been here.
But you will not hear me say that Wabash, as an idea, is not effectual. You will never hear me say that the all-male liberal arts college has not influenced me as a scholar, and as a person in general who learned the importance of firmly shaking another's hand.
Wabash is unique because it is all-male. It supports a rare demographic in not just the liberal arts, but in academics in general. Being an all-male, as well as an all-female, institution has been labeled by social trends as outdated, unnecessary, and politically incorrect.
The College, whether it was apparent or not, recently faced a question of identity. It was brought up when the time came last February for the Student Senate to vote on expressing support for opening Wabash to trans-gender students. As complex as this issue is on its own, it was realized that while the biological lines were obviously murky, so too was Indiana state law.
It was also realized that with an affirmation of such support, the College's autonomy as a single-sex institution came to a precipice and was called into question. Ultimately, the Senate, with the consent of the majority of students, elected to uphold the essential element that has become sacred to many of us.
In my perspective as a Little Giant, I don't just empathize with the challenge of maintaining a single-sex college. I stand by the confidence and sense of self that such an education can provide. Our Gentleman's Rule embodies the expectation of the well-rounded and enlightened Wabash Man. The College's Mission Statement typifies the virtue of such an individual, outlining the end goals of that education.
The all-male college promotes an environment for the student to develop a deeper appreciation for those who are like-minded, and to objectively practice what they are taught.
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I hold a close connection with St. Mary-of-the-Woods College. My mother, who was a student there in the 90's, grew under the shadow of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, challenged to make a difference with her education. Her and her peers were molded in a not-all-that-dissimilar environment that we find here at Wabash.
She was instilled with the same values that are imparted in us as Wabash Men - thinking in a critical lens, acting in a way that is responsible to every situation, leading in an effective fashion that produces results, and living in such a way as to better her community.
When SMWC, without the consent of current students, faculty, and alumni, became a co-educational undergraduate institution in May of 2015, I found that an essential part of its tradition was unscrupulously devalued. Through what the current administration labels as the "Strategic Plan", the transition was betted to partially address the College's alarmingly stagnant growth. A larger issue of transparency and honesty has arisen. Following the "trend" has, ironically, complicated its relevance and its credibility.
St. Mary-of-the-Woods was once a great bastion of learning, as great as Wabash College has always been. It was built up by Saint Mother Théodore Guérin and the Sisters of Providence as a haven of opportunity and progress. Until now, it was maintained on a sense of history, solidarity, and a purpose to educate women, and to prepare them for challenges faced in a free society.
I feel compelled to make a call among Wabash Men to stand against the co-educational decision. It is one that has been long overdue, even while the circumstances have been known to some since the beginning.
I encourage Wabash Men to reflect on the Gentleman's Rule and its practical application. Further, I challenge my peers and colleagues to not just fathom what the undoing of tradition and purpose could mean for Wabash. I want to challenge thought on what such dismantling has actually meant for St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
Stand with the women who were shaped by the environment that promoted unity and scholarship. Stand with the women who value what The Woods meant to them as a liberal arts college. Stand with the women who understand, like we do, what such a place can instill not just in your education, but in your own inherent awareness.
Because as I see it, we do not - and never should - operate in a vacuum.
