The Communiqué
A newsletter for and about Wabash College alumni volunteers
By Mike Warren ’93, Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Relations
November 2005
What Can I Do?
Tom Runge ’71
Director, Alumni and Parent Relations
It’s the timeless question: “What can I do to help the College?” Recently, I’ve been asked this question several
times. Here are three ways an alumnus, any alumnus, can help the College.
1.
Identify potential students for Wabash. Wabash faces strong and ever-increasing competition for
young men of promise. Do you know that the average college enrollment mix is 43% male and 57%
female? Fewer young men are choosing to go to college and more young women are attending than
ever before. What this means for Wabash is that the competition for talented young men, men who
have what it takes to be Wabash men, is now stronger than ever. You can be a difference maker in the
admissions process by simply alerting Wabash to a young man you think might be a good fit. You
don’t need to pre-screen them or ask for their GPA or SAT score. If the young man seems to have
what it takes, just let us know who he is. It’s simple – log onto: www.wabash.edu/alumni/student/refer
and provide as many details as you can. Our admissions team will take it from there. Does this
process work? You bet. Our alumni referral process is 5 to 10 times more productive than any other
search process. You should also know that over 40% of the last several freshman classes were referred
by an alumnus. All of this was done by less than 10% of our alumni body. Your referrals can help
take us to the next level in every way.
2.
Identify internship or job opportunities. Does your organization have opportunities for internships
or jobs? Is there a company in your area that might benefit from a Wabash student or alumnus? If so,
please make the connection between the organization and our Schroeder Center for Career
Development (crawfors@wabash.edu or 765-361-6355.) You have the opportunity to help train the
next Wabash-educated CEO or to help a fellow alumnus find a different career path simply by keeping
an eye out for these opportunities. How many of us can look back and think of an instance or two
where the Wabash network helped us out? It’s the same today…and the competition is tougher than
ever.
The October issue of the Communiqué included in depth details on the new alumni/student career
networking system, known as The Exchange.
I'd like your assistance in promoting our new online Alumni/Student Career Networking System. If you could
forward this information to your group or include in your monthly Class Letter it would be much appreciated. I'd
certainly like for you to sign up and participate as well! Please let me know if you have any questions and I thank
you for your time. - Scott Crawford, Director, Schroeder Center for Career Development
3.
Support the College financially. You knew I’d mention this one, didn’t you? But let me give you a
slightly different take on making a gift to Wabash (www.wabash.edu/alumni/egift.) Two concepts to
keep in mind.
a.
The Power of Many. Oh, I know you get tired of hearing this, but it’s true. It’s especially
true in this day and age when Wabash, like many other colleges and universities, struggles to
keep participation at the same level, let alone generate growth. It will probably surprise you,
but less than 40% of our alumni gave to the Annual Fund last year. For a school known for its
fanatical alumni, less than 40% seems unreal. The bottom line is simple – getting more
alumni on board every year with a gift, any gift, helps Wabash continually improve. A
$25.00 gift will help fund a scholarship, buy a new computer, or support an off-campus
learning opportunity. It’s the collective power of our gifts that’s the key to having a real
impact on Wabash.
b.
Leadership gifts. You may be at that point in your life where you see yourself as a Wabash
leader. As such, you may be asking yourself about leadership level gifts. While I am not a
fund-raising expert by any means, I can at least give you some insight. The 1832 Society
comprises our leadership level giving – gifts of $1,000 a year or more. It’s a small group, less
than 600. But the impact of this group is huge – almost 70% of the Annual Fund each year
comes from this group. At the $1,000 to $2,499 per year level, there are about 380 people.
From $2,500 to $4,999 the group is only 80 people – that’s pretty exclusive. If you consider
yourself a Wabash leader, and you have the financial resources to make a leadership gift,
please do.
There you have it – three ways to make tomorrow’s Wabash better than today’s - help find good young
men of promise, help find opportunities as those young men graduate, and help sustain and grow an
independent, ever-improving Wabash.
A single drop of rain from Hurricane Katrina or Wilma didn’t matter. But
collectively, all those raindrops proved to be an overwhelming force! It’s the
same for any of the above actions you take to support our Alma Mater.

Wabash Magazine – Online at http://www.wabash.edu/magazine/

College Archives (From the November Issue of The Parents Post)
The Scarlet Inn in the lower level of the Sparks Center is a place where
students, faculty and staff gather, have a cup of coffee, or a sandwich, and
discuss the large and small affairs of the College. While the Inn has been a part
of the Wabash tradition for nearly a century, it has had a number of different
forms and locations. The first Scarlet Inn started with a few enterprising
students who needed a way to pay their college expenses. They leased a room in Forest Hall from the
College and late in the evening they delivered sandwiches to the fraternity houses. As students do, these
men graduated and the Scarlet Inn was defunct.
In 1926 a local woman leased all of Forest Hall, rented the extra rooms to students and started a coffee shop
using the former name. When this Scarlet Inn closed in 1936, the College put together a coop to keep the
Inn going. This was so successful that the co-op also operated a dining hall for the independent men.
The first move came in 1942. Wabash opened its doors to the Navy V-12 training program and suddenly
space was at a premium. Forest Hall was needed for housing and the Inn was moved to the basement of
Peck Hall (where Hays Hall now stands). In 1946 Peck was torn down to build Waugh Hall and the Scarlet
Inn moved again. For nearly a decade the Scarlet Inn was in the basement of South Hall, where Baxter now
stands. In the 1950’s the Student Union (Sparks Center) was built on the site formerly occupied by Forest
Hall. In a delightful piece of fortune, or perhaps it was purposeful placement, the Scarlet Inn was returned
to its original location.

BIG BASH 2006! JUNE 2-4, 2006. Encourage your classmates to go online at
http://www.wabash.edu/alumni/reunion/intend to indicate whether or not they intend to be there.

Wabash News
Rhodes Scholar, Monon Bell/Playoff victories, and The
National Survey of Student Engagement top the news
stories on www.wabash.edu.

President Ford has announced the appointment of Dr.
Tim Lake as assistant professor of English and Director
of the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies. Tim will
assume these new responsibilities on July 1, 2006
following the retirement of Horace Turner H’76.

Winter Sports Schedules
http://www.wabash.edu/sports/swimming/schedule
http://www.wabash.edu/sports/basketball/schedule
http://www.wabash.edu/sports/wrestling/schedule

Stay up to date on all upcoming Alumni Activities on the events calendar at www.wabash.edu/calendar.
Check out the events calendar and coordinate your schedule so you can attend the next Wabash event in
your area or on campus.
Please contact me at warrenm@wabash.edu or 765-361-6053 with questions or comments.