TTHHEE PPAARREENNTTSS PPOOSSTT A Newsletter for Wabash College Parents March 2008 2007-2008 Academic Calendar Spring Semester April 25 Classes end Apr. 28-May 3 Final exams May 11 Commencement Future Dates Homecoming Commencement Family Day October 4, 2008 May 11, 2008 October 25, 2008 September 26, 2009 May 17, 2009 October 10, 2009 May 16, 2010 For those of you that like to plan ahead, here’s the link to the complete 4-Year Academic Calendar http://www.wabash.edu/academics/docs/4yrcalendar.pdf as well as the link to view the Parents Handbook in case you need more information about Wabash http://www.wabash.edu/alumni/parents. When planning a visit to Crawfordsville visit the Montgomery County Visitors and Convention Bureau website at http://www.crawfordsville.org/ Campus News and Events What’s Happening on Campus? Visit the College Calendar: http://www.wabash.edu/calendar/ and/or http://www.wabash.edu/calendar/announcements.cfm Student News Dear Parents, Family, and Special Friends of Wabash Students: Wabash students are hard at work completing projects and writing papers, and final exams loom just weeks away. The Wabash Women organization is once again offering you an opportunity to let your son or your favorite Wabash friend know that you are thinking of him. For $10.00 you can surprise a Little Giant with a Study Care Bag filled with goodies, along with your encouraging words of support as he prepares for final exams. The bags will be delivered to the living units on Friday afternoon, April 25, 2008, and will then be distributed by the RA or members of the fraternity. Each Study Care Bag contains snack items such as chips, crackers, cookies, candy, a packaged drink, and other goodies, as well as your message (on the form below or in a note of your own). The monies raised are used to…Wabash Women donated $2,700 to a fund administered by the Dean of Students for Wabash students' personal needs and emergencies, $300 to Lew Wallace Study for educational programs for the children of Crawfordsville, $500 to Well Baby Clinic, and $500 to Youth Service Bureau for family services. With the monies from the Study Care Bag Project we hope to continue to help as we have in the past. Please send: (1) your check/money order for $10.00 made payable to Wabash College; (2) the form below, filled out with your message; and mail your check and completed form BEFORE April 11, 2008 to: Study Care Bag Project Attn: Sherry Ross Wabash College P.O. Box 352 Crawfordsville, IN 47933-0352 Thank you, W A B A S H W O M E N S T U D E N T S T U D Y B A G P R O J E C T C O M M I T T E E 765-361-6310 phone ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PLEASE RETURN THIS BOTTOM SECTION with your check (Print student's full name) (Print Residence Hall and room number, OR Fraternity name, OR apt. address) MESSAGE FROM _________________________________________: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ From the Archives Jesse Harper and the forward pass by Beth Swift Football today is a much different game than it was at the turn of the 20th century. Among the innovations to the game was the development and refinement of the forward pass. Two new books highlight the huge part that Wabash football played in this innovation. They are Notre Dame and the Game that Changed Football: How Jesse Harper Made the Forward Pass a Weapon and Knute Rockne a Legend by Frank Maggio and Forward Pass: the Play That Saved Football by Phillip L. Brooks. Both authors attribute the rise of forward pass to Jesse Harper, Wabash College football coach from 1909 until 1913 when he left to coach at Notre Dame. Coach Harper brought the forward pass and Notre Dame football to national prominence in the Notre Dame vs. Army game of 1913. Harper perfected the pass at Wabash and took it with him to Notre Dame where his team, with Knute Rockne as captain, used the pass to defeat the much larger Army team. Reporters took note and the game received wide coverage as this New York Times article of November 1, 1913 shows, “WEST POINT, N.Y.-The Notre Dame eleven swept the Army off its feet on the Plains this afternoon and buried the soldiers under a 35-to-13 score. The Westerners flashed the most sensational football that has been seen in the East this year, baffling the Cadets with a style of open play and a perfectly developed forward pass which carried the victors down the field 30 yards at a clip. Football men marveled at this startling display of open football. Bill Roper, former head coach at Princeton, who was one of the officials of the game, said that he had always believed that such playing was possible under the new rules but that he had never seen the forward pass developed to such a state of perfection.” Coach Jesse Harper had played for Amos Alonzo Stagg at Chicago and coached at Alma College before coming to Wabash in 1909. On campus it was the era of the “Little Giants” and football ruled. During the 1910 season Harper’s team went undefeated and even shut out all of their opponents. The season was cancelled due to the tragic death of Wabash football player and Crawfordsville resident, Ralph Lee “Sap” Wilson from a head injury he had received in the St. Louis game. On his hospital bed Ralph asked his father, “Did Wabash win?” The remaining games were cancelled and the question was engraved on his tombstone in Crawfordsville’s Oak Hill Cemetery. The impact of such a tragedy on the team and on the coach can not be underestimated. Today’s students still hear this story and it is clear that Sap Wilson has left an indelible mark on the psyche of the College. It is clear that the death of Wilson also left its mark on Harper as well. In this passage from Some Little Giants former Athletic Director Max Servies writes, “Coach Harper urged the Wabash administration to be content to schedule natural rivals as opposed to the professionalism of competing with major universities on a guarantee basis and at their disposal. He was also the forerunner of encouraging a sound intramural program for all Wabash students, a philosophy which has continued to this day.” Jesse Harper changed the world of football and brought Notre Dame football to the national level with the defeat of the formidable Army team. He left Notre Dame in 1918 to raise cattle in western Kansas and his former team captain, Knute Rockne, was named football coach. Schroeder Career Center Every month continues to bring more good news to our office as underclassmen commit to internships and seniors to jobs. The following seniors have accepted these positions/graduate schools: Robert Brandt – Public Employees Retirement Fund – Indianapolis John Kasey – Milliman Healthcare Management – Seattle Greg Longo – PhD, Development & Biological Psychology – Virginia Polytechnic University Dave Johnston – PhD, Veterinary Medicine – Purdue University Brian Crum - L3 Communications - Reston, VA Ryan Nuppnau – Math Teacher/Baseball & Basketball Coach – North Montgomery HS Internships for underclassmen include: Patrick Murphy – Rain Forest Environmental Consulting – Quito, Equador Will Weber – History Research/Wabash College – Crawfordsville Jay Brouwer – Bovine Enamel Research/IU School of Dentistry – Indianapolis Michael Kaster – St. Vincent’s Hospital – Indianapolis Marcus Manges – Vector Marketing – Warsaw, IN Stephen Iles – Freight All Kinds – Denver, CO Jared Lange – Freight All Kinds – Denver, CO Ted Zimmer – WP Global Partners – Chicago Aaron Abell – Batesville Casket Company – Batesville, IN Mark Schults – Adorant Services Group – Chicago Kyle Greaves – John Hancock Financial Network – Nashville, TN Calvin Pohl – Smithsonian National Zoo – Washington, DC Michael Opieczonek – Eli Lilly & Company – Warsaw, Poland Steven Stambaugh – Wabash American Benefits – Indianapolis Krzysztof Wojciechowski – Centerfield Capital Partners – Indianapolis Blaine Cooper-Surma – Allegient Consulting – Indianapolis Nicholas Woehler – Liquor Mart – Boulder, CO Jay Horrey - Partners in Housing Development - Indianapolis, IN Trent Hagerty - Re-election Campaign - Governor Mitch Daniels - Indianapolis, IN Brent Kent - Office of Congressman Dan Burton (R) – IN - Washington, DC Sean Foster - Master of Musicology/Music History - Bowling Green State University Jesse Purvis - CYO Camp Rancho Framasa - Nashville, IN Jose Barriga - Liquor Mart - Boulder, CO Stephen Popovich - Adorant Services - Chicago, IL *All campus intern positions will be announced in the next issue. Spring Break ’08 was an exciting time for our office, as we escorted six students to Washington DC to participate in the Graham DC Externship Experience. Duncan Dam ’09, Jacob German ’11, Khondoker Haider ’10, Brad Jones ’10, Jason Simons ’08, and Robert Wade ’11, lived with three alumni for six days, and job-shadowed another alumnus through the week. We explored the city together on our last day, visiting both the Arlington National Cemetery and spending the afternoon at the Holocaust Museum, before wrapping up the week at Greg Castanias’s ’87 home for a final networking opportunity. This program is available to any student – regardless of class year. Please encourage your student to check in with our office if DC may be in their future. We continue to stay busy and have added to our spring calendar with exciting events planned. Below lists the next big events we have through our office after Spring Break. March 27: Federal Government Job Fair - Chicago April 4: Wine Tasting/Networking Event – a senior only event in wine education and how to work a cocktail hour. Mark Easley ’90, owner of Easley Winery in downtown Indianapolis, will present what wines go with different foods and how to make a solid impression when choosing wines at a business dinner.