The Essence of Wabash: Crisis, The Liberal Arts, and the Cultivation of Understanding
Over the past century, higher-education in America has undergone many a significant change. Schools once established for the education of one gender, of their own accord or in pursuance of a court order, have since opened their doors to a coeducational student body. Others have redefined their educational methods, adapting to the needs and desires impressed upon them by the ever-evolving beast that is American culture. In stark contrast to these institutions, however, stands little old Wabash College – one of the lone liberal arts institutions for men still left in the United States. Yet, even dear old Wabash has seen fit to refine some of the aspects of its educational plan over the years.
This brings us to today, when we are faced with an economic crisis and subsequent financial difficulty that, save for the Great Depression, is without precedent in our history, and which has the distinct possibility of re-shaping the very foundations of this institution. Our endowment has diminished by nine-figures, and cuts have been made to our faculty, programs, and other facets of the College. In truth, these catastrophic happenings could change this institution as it has never changed before. However, no matter the difficulty, Wabash has always fought its way through, dedicating itself to the core element that has always made this College truly great: the betterment of the individual through the liberal arts. While this institution must respond to the challenges we currently face, in so doing we must remain true to this principle lest we fade into the sunset of mediocrity and lose the very essence of what makes Wabash College the renowned institution that it is.
As part of a recent class assignment, I was given a transcript of an address by one of Wabash’s great former-Presidents, Louis Hopkins – a speech that I found so relevant to today that I was rather taken aback. The address was given in the late 1920s/early 1930s, as part of a comparison of the curricula of five great universities across the nation. Among these institutions were such names as Columbia, Harvard, Swarthmore, the University of Chicago, and (last, but not least) Wabash College. While comparison to such schools as these seems, at first, to be a bit far-fetched, what President Hopkins went on to portray in his address illustrates quite plainly why such a comparison was merited, and why a Wabash education was one truly comparable to the elite universities in the country.
As he went on to discuss, in the late 1920s/early 1930s, though small, Wabash was not ineffective or poorly situated. At that time, the College had an “enrollment of 400 students,” a “faculty of 32 members,” and an endowment of “$2,200,000”. Translating these figures, this means that there was a student-teacher ratio of 12.5:1, and that the endowment, in today’s value (thanks to dollartimes.com), was upwards of $26,000,000. While numbers such as these might not have been impressive or uncommon, there was something else that made this tiny little school in the midst of the Hoosier Heartland so different from the other institutions across the nation, meriting its comparison with the Ivy Leagues and other highly-ranked schools. As President Hopkins put it best, what made this place special was Wabash’s focus on “…offer[ing] the opportunity for the highest possible development of the individual…” – most specifically, through the study of the liberal arts.
As President Hopkins stated, Wabash’s “curriculum…is designed with the purpose in mind of rendering the greatest possible service to each student.” The liberal arts, President Hopkins continued, was the best possible means of reaching this goal, since “[a] liberal arts education, is not so concerned with the discovery of knowledge as with the gaining of understanding,” and thus, the comprehensive betterment of the individual. As he reckoned, while “it may be that knowledge can be pumped out or pounded in by the clock, and measured in quarts or pounds…understanding comes as a process of growth in appreciation and experience, and is dependent both on the individual’s capacity and on his environment.”
Thus, the curriculum of Wabash during the 1920s and 30s sought to provide an environment that would not drill information into the heads of students, but would instead deepen their understanding of the world about them. Beginning with the Freshman Tutorial, students would be introduced to the liberal arts – to study a subject about which they might not otherwise learn, and to broaden their outlook upon life itself. Teaching each respective tutorial would be a faculty advisor, who would meet with and guide each student through his academic career. Following the Tutorial, there were then to be “certain definite requirements…that all must meet,” in order to provide a wide frame of knowledge for each student. Yet, these requirements were designed to allow for a certain amount of flexibility, since “…there [are] marked individual differences in the students who are admitted,” necessitating “…that the requirements [be] made as flexible as they are for individual cases.” Further, during the Sophomore and Junior years, each student would be required to meet individually with the Dean of Students and the President of the College, to discuss his desired area of concentration and his educational experience at Wabash.
In this manner, the Wabash College of the 1920s and 30s sought to provide a comprehensive education, focused on the development of each individual student, and the increasing of each one’s understanding through the liberal arts. While this curriculum sounds strikingly similar to that of today, we would be amiss to note one crucial fact: this was the College’s goal, and its method of reaching that goal, both before and during the Great Depression. During the greatest period of financial difficulty this country has ever seen, Wabash College remained committed to focusing on the development of each individual student, keeping the student-teacher ratio low, and emphasizing the connection between each student and both the faculty and the administration of the College. In spite of the financial difficulties the College faced, and in spite of the changes that were necessitated during this period, one could count on a Wabash education to prepare him to succeed.
Enter the modern era. Today, our curriculum remains much the same – and so does our focus on the betterment of the individual. Members of the faculty every year welcome a new class of freshmen to the College, with each taking a small group of freshman into their tutelage in their respective Freshman Tutorials, ranging from (to name a few) Dr. Hadley’s “Fly-fishing: the Liberal Art”, to Dr. Webb’s “Christianity and Popular Culture”, to Dr. Butler’s “Baseball, America, and the World” – none of which fit into their specific disciplines precisely, but which are instead geared toward exploring a topic of interest to both them and their students, using it as an opportunity to engage the topic through the lens of the liberal arts. Also, the Sophomore Interviews remain, connecting each student with the Dean of Students by providing for a one-on-one discussion of the student’s educational needs and desires. Further, the student-faculty ratio has narrowed impressively, to the benefit of the students, hovering around 10:1.
New features tailored to achieving this same goal have also been added since the days of President Hopkins, with the Sophomore favorite “Cultures and Traditions” course providing a chance for students to view ancient texts and cultures through the lens of different disciplines, in order to broaden each one’s understanding of various cultures. Study-abroad opportunities – whether on a short-term basis such as immersion-based courses, or on a long-term basis such as the Semester Abroad programs – have also been developed, that the student might have an opportunity to learn first-hand of cultures, traditions, and places that he might not otherwise have been able to know of, even further broadening his understanding of the world. Finally, at the end of one’s Wabash tenure, the Senior Comprehensive examinations – though a requirement for graduating in President Hopkins’ day – have been given an increased importance today, for it is in these that each student must not only explain his knowledge of his chosen major and minor, but also demonstrate the breadth of his understanding to the faculty through the interview portion of the examinations. Thus, Wabash remains focused on providing an education centered on the growth of the individual student and his understanding.
In spite of this noble commitment, however, with the recent financial crisis Wabash College has undergone and will necessarily be undergoing quite a few significant changes. With multiple professors and staff members either being let-go or forced into retirement, the curriculum will be changing. Certain courses might no longer be offered, the number of courses might decrease, and even the student-teacher ratio might increase past the 10:1 ratio of which the school is so proud. Similarly, study-abroad opportunities will change, as funding for immersion trips and semester-abroad programs will decrease in reflection of the school’s overall decreasing financial means. In truth, the way in which this College responds to this crisis will determine its make-up and character for years to come.
Yet, change need not be considered a bad thing, but an opportunity for improving on what we already do well. Regardless of the necessary re-shaping that this College will soon undergo, if we retain our focus on bettering the individual and increasing each student’s understanding, Wabash College will endure as it has endured times of testing far worse than this. I have the fullest confidence that our current administration and faculty have this idea at the forefront of their minds; yet, we would all be wise to step back and consider once more what truly is the essence of Wabash. In the words of President Hopkins, may the goal, purpose, and practice of this institution be forevermore that, “Wabash College will continue, therefore, to offer a liberal arts education designed to lead to an understanding of contemporary life, and…encourage each student enrolled in our courses to strive to the limit of his capacity to perfect himself according to the abilities that God has given him.”
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