Chip Timmons - After every Honor Scholarship Weekend, I'm always left with a strange feeling.  Our staff and other members of the community spend what feels like an eternity carefully planning and preparing for this weekend.  The past two years, we have folded our Fine Arts Scholarship Celebration into the activities which added another layer of complexity. All of the details, calls, meetings, mailings, anxiety, pressure, etc. leading up until the weekend and then...bang!  It's over in a flash.

The last 5 days have been the busiest, most hectic days of the year for our staff, but it didn't really feel like it.  Perhaps we were too busy to realize all of what was happening around us. Sure, we're tired, but that's part of it. Frankly, if we didn't have the help of so many others on campus, it would be impossible to pull off these two events. We have so many people to thank.  Let's first start with our Fine Arts Scholarship Celebration.  

This year's Celebration brought the largest group of students to campus in my ten years at Wabash.  In order to bring such a large group to campus, members of the Art, English, Music, and Theater departments had to adjust their schedules to accommodate scholarship interviews and Thursday night's workshops.  They didn't adjust because they "had" to, but because they wanted to.  We're grateful for their help.

I also can't forget to mention our students.  Students like Brett Gann '07, Desmond Risper '07, Haris Amin '08, Steve Hernandez '08, Bernard Meyer '07, Kevin Pazour '07, Will Clarke '07, Dustin Beck '07 and the rest of our students who represented those departments at Thursday's workshops. Desmond and Haris led a jam session in the green room with some aspiring musicians. Brett Gann discussed directing and set design with students. If one didn't know Brett was student, he could have easily been mistaken for a professor.  He really knew the material and seemed completely at ease in the role of instructor.

Last, but not least I need to recognize George Belmore who supervises the technical operations of the Fine Arts Center.  He made certain everything was primed and ready by "showtime" on Thursday.   

Now to Honor Scholarship Weekend. Where do I begin?  When a school the size of Wabash brings over 300 students to campus, houses them overnight, feeds them, and are left with over 1200 exams to grade, every gets a piece of the action.  

Again, the faculty do an amazing job.  They proctor exams and grade them all weekend long. They take breaks to join us for meals with our guests or to host academic interest sessions on Saturday afternoon then head back to class on Monday.  Our coaches are as dedicated.

Wabash coaches spend hours on the phone encouraging their recruits to register.  Once those recruits arrive on campus, our teams host get-togethers throughout the weekend, even if they're in season.  

How about our volunteers? Wabash alumni came from as far away as Texas and Mississippi to be a part of Honor Scholarship Weekend. Several alumni joined us for Friday's banquet. Pete Allen '73, Greg Birk '77, Aus Brooks '60, Lee Cline '66, Steve Golliher '67, Craig Green '59, Herm Haffner '77, Tom Lutz '91, Greg Miller '83, Dale Milligan '49, Dale Petrie '75, and James Stytle '96 dined with prospective students and made themselves available to answer any questions our guests may have had. Many of these alumni are "regulars" at our events and we appreciate their support.

We had other volunteers step up on Friday as well.  During Friday morning's activities fair, we held a Parents' Reception and current Wabash parents acted as our hosts for this event. I would like to thank Barb and Dave Knott '68, Jan Koehler (mother of Clay '08), Rex and Robin McKinney (parents of Ross '09), Brad Mullendore '69 (father of Nate '07), Jeff and Kim Owens (parents of Josh '07), Linda and Dale Petrie '75 (parents of Daniel '07), Chris Smith (mother of Patrick '08), and Tracy Haddad (mother of Chandler Troy '08) for spending with the parents of prospective students on Friday morning.  Tracy Haddad and Jeff and Kim Owens participated in a parents panel discussion as well. They shared some of the anxieties they had as parents during the college search and explained how their sons have changed for the better during their time at Wabash.

Wabash students played the most important role this weekend...hosts.  It didn't matter if they were in a fraternity or an independent, our students opened up their houses and rooms to any and all prospective students. Colleagues of mine from other colleges and universities marvel at our students' willingness to host so many students at one time.  I don't want our students to get any ideas, but at some schools student hosts are paid for the inconvenience of hosting prospective.  Wabash men do it out of pride in their school.

I'm sure I overlooked a few people, but I don't think they'll mind.  Heck, the people I mentioned here don't need a pat on the back from me.  They know how important this weekend is to the College and they love being a part of it.  

So we'll all catch our breath, catch up on work/homework, and get ready for the final month of the recruiting year.  Thanks again to everyone who made this year's Honor Scholarship Weekend a success.