Wabash College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Philosophy
Minors: Political Science and English Literature double minor
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Gay Male

Summary

I’m in Glee Club and I’m involved in shOUT, which is an LGBT advocacy group. I’m also in College Democrats.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Gay

High School Experience: Public school in southwestern Indiana with a graduating class of about 200 students. There was a culture of going to college
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Philosophy
Minors: Political Science and English Literature double minor

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in Glee Club and I’m involved in shOUT, which is an LGBT advocacy group. I’m also in College Democrats.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Glee Club definitely has. It’s one of the more popular club choices on campus and gets plugged a lot on tours of campus. We’ve gone on two immersion trips as of now, one to Taiwan and another to Chicago, and we’re planning another this year to New York City. It’s been absolutely remarkable and is a great way to get to know people here and get involved on campus. Glee Club is also a very present organization on campus, we sing at games and have several concerts throughout the year, so that’s been a big part of my student life for sure.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
Most of the work comes from papers and readings. I’ve had one Philosophy class where there were weekly problem sets, but the bulk of the work is writing-based. The essays make up most of the final grade.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
They are especially good at following up with students on an individual basis. If you’re falling behind, they’re very accessible with their office hours. Also, everybody who I’ve talked to, whether they are a major or a graduate, say that the Philosophy department has been involved with helping them succeed academically. It’s one of our big strengths.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
Collaborative is definitely the right word. You get to know almost everyone in your major cohort very quickly and there are quite a few opportunities to work together on projects.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible and are renowned for that. Around campus, doors are always open and I’ve yet to encounter a professor who has not been extremely accessible, flexible, and understanding in terms of your schedule. If they have office hours from 1:00-2:00 and you have class during that time, they’ll work with you.
Do you think people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Yes. That being said, that opens up the classroom up to some conflict. But Wabash is very much a melting pot of ideas. It’s easy to think that being a small school in a conservative state in the Midwest that there would be a dominating viewpoint, but I’ve encountered a big diversity of ideologies here. One phrase that I’ve heard repeated often by one of our Political Science professors is, “We talk around the issues,” meaning we talk all the way around them and not just discuss them in a one-sided way. There’s certainly a sense of openness to discussion here that I’m pretty proud of.
How has going to an all-male school impacted your academic experience?
After the first two or three weeks, you don’t really notice it. I wouldn’t say there’s anything that jumps out at me academically except for that there is an openness about discussing the role of masculinity and of men in academia. For example, we’ve spent some time talking about research out there on men’s mental health and have had some very candid discussions about that with classmates that may not have happened at a school that doesn’t gear itself towards studying masculinity. We have great conversations about masculinity here.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I took a Philosophy class and heard a guest lecturer who was a Philosophy professor from another school and was really fascinated with the way philosophy tied into several other topics, so I think that’s what grabbed me about it.
How is managing both your sports and your coursework?
A lot of schools in our conference are in Ohio so we’re constantly on the road, which makes studying hard when you get back at maybe 2:00 or 3:00 AM on a school night or spend your entire weekend from Friday to Sunday on the road. Wabash’s a Division III school but the sports still demand a lot, so that can make balancing life more difficult and stressful.

Reasons to Attend

1) The friendships and relationships that you make are lifelong and do not stop once you graduate. This is a school that will stay engaged with you for as long as you want to stay engaged with it.
2) The alumni network and our career center are fantastic. [100% of students in the Class of 2018 were settled in their first destinations within six months of graduation.]
3) If you’re serious about learning in-depth in your field and talking to professors one-on-one all the time, this is the place for you because every class is taught by a professor in a small class setting. [The average class size is 13 students.]
4) You’ll get great opportunities as a freshman because it’s such a small school.
5) We have Immersion Trips.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) Crawfordsville is far away from other larger communities.
2) The social life on the weekends is kind of lackluster.
3) Although we send students on Immersion Trips and similar opportunities, you might not get into them until you’re a junior because it takes a while to qualify for them.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: College Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Martindale Hall in a single
How was transitioning from your hometown in southwestern Indiana to Crawfordsville, IN?
My hometown is actually quite similar to Crawfordsville, but it about a 4-hour drive from it. I like the proximity Crawfordsville has to Indianapolis, West Lafayette, and Bloomington, so there are a lot more places to go than there were back home. The transition to college was not quite as hard as it would have been if I had gone to a bigger school.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
Generally, it’s been very safe here. I can’t think of a specific incident where I felt unsafe. It’s a small town with a small campus feel and everyone’s comfortable walking around at night.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
During the week, on the evenings we have a lot of guests on campus. We’ve had musical acts come through, we’ve had speakers, and some other really fantastic performances and productions. During the weekend, I personally try to get off campus as much as possible. I go to Indianapolis or explore other areas around Crawfordsville. But, when it is football season, almost all of the campus shows up to home games. That’s a very popular activity and we do a great tailgate, so that’s a very prominent social activity.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options?
As an independent, you can go to Greek life parties if you’re invited. I’ve been to a few of those parties, but it’s not typical for me. I have a couple of friends that go to Butler and Purdue, so I’ll either meet them or they’ll meet me and we’ll carpool over to Indianapolis.
It seems like it’s pretty common for Wabash students to leave for the weekends, is that true?
Well, it’s certainly a little bit slow on the weekends if you don’t have a ride because a lot of people go to Indianapolis for the weekends. I’ve stayed on the weekends sometimes and it’s slow. That’s something we realize we need to work on, so I’m hoping that changes and we see more activities happening on the weekends if you’re not on a sports team.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
If I could change anything, I would schedule some of the stuff we do during the week on the weekend or on Friday nights. That way, those of us who aren’t going anywhere that weekend or aren’t going to a party, have something to do or gives us a central place to gather. We don’t have a student union building per se, so there’s no real central meeting sport on the weekends where you can go and hang out. For example, my Glee Club performances mostly happen during the week.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
Either I was in class with them or met them at lunch or dinner and was sitting with new people.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Wabash?
We’re a pretty tight-knit family. That may be a little bit clichéd here, but it’s true. It’s very hard to be on campus for longer than two weeks and not have at least five people know you by name. We’re a very small community, but we’re very outgoing so when you’re walking across campus it’s not uncommon for people to shout out at you. I’ve met some really fantastic people just by being forced to go out of my shell, which comes from the small nature of it.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think it’s common for people to mix. We have a pretty substantial international population and they are really well-integrated into campus life and really well-liked. As far as LGBT students – the few but the proud [laughs] – we don’t have our own separate social circle or anything like that because there aren’t many of us. Those of us that I know are involved in campus life like everybody else. We have students of color beyond our international students, and they’re also really well-integrated into campus life. We have the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies, which is a student organization/faculty group, and they put on several cultural events and host speakers and stuff, as well. For a tiny campus, we’re pretty diverse. [About 74% of students are White and about 5.5% are international.]
How would you describe the LGBT community? How strong is it?
There is definitely some hesitance to talk about such things at an all-male school. But, since I’ve been out, I’ve received overwhelmingly positive support. I wouldn’t say that we have our own social scene or anything like that. We’re working on including more events, so that’s something that is in the works. I think that’s mainly because there are so few of us.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
They mix fairly well. If you’re talking to people, meeting folks on campus, and introducing yourself in class, you’ll mix pretty well with people in Greek life. There’s a lot of interfraternity partying, so when a fraternity’s throwing a party everybody’s invited to everything.
How do you like the size of Wabash in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [Wabash has about 880 students.]
One really positive thing about it is I don’t have to fight with graduate students for professor facetime and for funding, so there’s a lot more attention spent on an individual basis because we’re an undergraduate institution only. I like that a lot for fellowships and scholarships and things like that. I’ve gotten to talk to people as soon as the first semester of freshman year about things like that. Having a smaller student body allows us to have those discussions earlier.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
The alumni network is an essential part of the Wabash experience. Our alumni network is great. I’ve done some career services outreach and have met several Wabash alumni who are super passionate. Across the board, Wabash alumni answer your emails which is really nice. They’re really engaged and on campus all the time. We have Coffee and Careers every week where you have the chance to go to the coffee shop and meet and network with some alumni who have come back.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I have not yet.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? How easy is the office to work with?
The financial aid office is very responsive. I’ve never had to wait a long time when I’ve gone to meet with them. They’re pretty easy to work with.