Chip Timmons - The idea of writing an entry highlighting the work of Lee Cline has been swimming around in my head since Honor Scholarship Weekend.  On the Saturday of Honors, I thought I was the first to arrive in the office, but I was wrong.  I walked into our work room to find Lee filling a box with publications, flyers, etc. for his recruiting arsenal. The amount of time and effort he dedicates to recruiting young men to Wabash is staggering.  
I first met Lee in the fall of 1998 at an event in Memphis, TN. Wabash hosted a pre-game luncheon prior to our football team's season opener versus Rhodes College.  During lunch, Lee shared his plans for recruiting students from Mississippi and Alabama.  He talked about referrals, college fairs, establishing relationships with high school counselors, recruiting other alumni to the effort.   I remember thinking this would be possible...in Indiana, but not very likely to take off in the deep south where Wabash has little to no name recognition and a small alumni base.  Now, I know better.

I drew the assignment of attending this event because other staff members were back on campus hosting an alumni symposium dedicated to alumni volunteers where they were discussing referrals, college fair coverage, and everything else Lee and I were covering. Looking back, I wonder if Lee Cline was channeling Steve Klein or vice versa.  

In the 9 years since our meeting, Lee has carried out the plans he shared with me and then some.  In any given year, Lee visits dozens of high schools, attends college fairs, refers around 50 students, and hosts a reception in his home state.  During this span, we've had as many as 6 students from Mississippi in a freshman class.  

This fall, Lee made arrangements for Coach Johnson to conduct a clinic in Hattiesburg, MS on the eve of the Bell game.  Remember his being on campus for Honor Scholarship Weekend? That's because he drove two students to campus.  One student hails from Lee's hometown of Laurel, MS and the other students lives in Athens, AL.  As he told me, "it was on the way". Sure, just like Cincinnati is on my way to Pittsburgh.

Now that some of Lee's guys have graduated, they've returned home to begin careers, but they haven't forgotten how they were introduced to Wabash. One way to get more alumni involved is to help "create" more alumni. Wabash men like David Hull '04, Tamarco White '06, Nikeland Cooper '06 and others met Lee as high school seniors and now help our efforts in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.

Lee, thanks for proving me wrong.  Now, when I visit with high schools in states such as Florida, Kansas, or Oklahoma and mention that we have come to expect 2-6 students from Mississippi in each entering class, the typical response is "Really? How do you do that?  My reply begins with, "Well, we have this alum..."