"Go back to your hometown, Brand."
I was told to do this by a Sphinx Club member.
It was during a tangent discussion on the idea of "collective fiction", through which a like-minded group can create a tailored narrative about a place or an idea. A question came up as to whether we were like our rival to the south. At issue was what was labeled as a constructed myth; whether Wabash was truly unique.
At the slightest nod of wondering if Wabash has incorporated some negative characteristics of a DePauw, this "spiritual" leader on campus, endowed with what he may believe are certain unalienable licenses to pride, had the gall to imply me as disloyal to the College. This was without hearing any explanation as to why I felt this way.
"Go back to your hometown, Brand." What an insecure thing to say to a peer who loves Wabash just as much as he does, if not more. In the latter, it is a reason why I always challenge the idea of the College as a business, that the Gentleman's Rule cannot be the basis of our endeavors.
Some prove themselves outspoken and concerned with the welfare of their communities. Others will prove themselves blinded by devotion to an idyllic view.
It's a hard thing to swallow hearing that a student and friend committed suicide on campus, with no apparent reason as to why. Wabash knows this because this scenario played out a week ago with the passing of Austin Weirich '18. He was a student leader who, by all outward appearances, seemed to have everything in his life in place.
So did Aronno Hague '14. Until he was found to have drowned himself.
The shock of these deaths still came not just because they were unexpected. No one, as far as some could believe in the moment, had any idea about what troubled them.
Then again, Wabash is an all-male college. Feelings usually do not come out easily, especially in a public sense. It seems outright that it is not in our manly nature to cry. And it can be hard to accept that these situations can impact our tight community in may subtle ways. That is scary for a lot of people here.
Perhaps that is where we need to start with thinking and discussing critically about serious issues of depression, stress, and personal relationships on this campus. Suicide is a product, not the issue in and of itself. But most important of all, it does no good to say quiet and not talk about these things.
Wabash always fights, but we cannot persevere if we keep letting our knees buckle from underneath us.
Is it disloyal to call out any lack of productive action and discussion with regards, not just to Austin's case, but to any situation that would typically end with "go to the counselors"? Is it disloyal to say that we can rise above this when we talk honestly about the implications of such a death? Is it disloyal to challenge the comfort of our positivist notions on what we do here?
What about our Brotherhood? Are we now turning to this construct because Austin's death has only further complicated the College's image?
This is about so much more than damage control. It is about taking action to open up this community.
Our executives in the current administration need to realize that is it not enough to say in a mass e-mail, "Counseling services are in the Chapel. We are all Wabash. WAF.". We know intrinsically what this means. Little has been done to elevate from mere talking points.
To those who will say that I am being critical to get attention or to stir up more controversy: the historian and activist Howard Zinn once said, "dissent is the highest form of patriotism". Nothing effectual can be done if no one faces the reality.
It is imperative to remember Austin, Aronno, and Luke Borinstein '19 as our brothers in Wabash. Equally so, it is essential for students to talk openly with faculty and staff about these issues of mental health. Leveling with someone that they can trust can make all the difference.
We would be desensitizing their passing, as well as misleading our Wabash community at large, by not doing so. "We would be focusing on the business, and not on the people", President Hess might say. Let that not be so.
Look out after one another. Each of us needs to understand that it is never bad enough to take your own life. No one is better off without you.
Make "Wabash Always Fights" mean something more.
