My first class as a college student was a lecture in Cultures and Civilizations with Professor John F. Charles. Suddenly, the world was bigger than I knew—even though I went from a high school of 5,000 to a college of 800. Wabash grew on me as it has grown on so many thousands of men, and every one of those men is different.

By the time I finished my freshman year, I was excited about learning in a way I’d never been before.

By the time I finished my sophomore year, I abandoned this idea of law school, and knew I wanted to be a professor. No professor at Wabash ever said to me, "You know kid, you ought to be a professor." I simply watched them, listened to them, and observed them, and recognized they lived lives of joy and consequence, and that’s the kind of life I wanted to live.

—Professor Bill Cook ’66, speaking at Sunday's Honorary Degree Luncheon