Marlett '91 Found His Teaching Roots at Wabash
by Royce V. Gregerson '09
A strong connection to Wabash is anything but unusual for the school’s alumni, but few people feel that strong connection like Dr. Jeff Marlett ’91. As Associate Professor of Religious Studies at The College of St. Rose at Albany, New York, Marlett feels his daily work is immediately tied to Wabash.  "There were people here who showed me how to live and work and pray. I think about this place more frequently than other alumni do because my work is tied to higher learning directly," Marlett said. He credits the Wabash faculty for not only providing an excellent example of what it means to be a college professor, but what it means to be a good man.
As a Philosophy major and Religion and Classics minor, several professors had a dramatic impact on Marlett’s life as a student. He credits Professors David Blix, Bill Placher, and Steve Webb in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and Professors John Fisher and David Kubiak in the Department of Classics for teaching him what it meant to be a scholar and a gentleman. "They had really high expectations, and they helped me and other students reach them, but they were also so humble," Marlett said. "I have met so many people in academia who suffer from inflated egos and they showed me you don’t have to be like that." Marlett’s way of thanking his Wabash teachers and mentors is to be the best professor he can. "I wanted to be a college professor, and they taught me how to do that. By doing a good job I can show them how much I appreciate what they gave me." Marlett returns his thanks by embodying the Wabash spirit outside of the classroom. He recounts times when male students who have important interviews come to him when they cannot figure out how to tie a necktie. "I’m the only faculty member they feel comfortable coming and asking about that," he said. "There is this parental role about it, and I take that seriously."  Treating his students with respect is also a lesson Marlett took away from his Wabash education. "You have to take them for what they are, regardless of whether they’re from the rust belt of upstate New York or the Bronx, overlooking Yankee Stadium," he said.
Teaching at St. Rose is certainly a job Marlett is happy to have, but not one he expected when he graduated in 1991. Following graduation, he earned his Master’s degree from Vanderbilt, followed by his Ph.D. in Historical Theology from St. Louis University in 1997. His next task was to find a job, and that was no easy task. After sending out over 70 applications for teaching jobs, Lyon College at Batesville, Ark., finally invited Marlett to interview and then offered him a job. The success was anything but a coincidence. "The first thing I always did was to try to find a Wabash graduate on the faculty of all the schools I applied to," Marlett said. "Bob Gregerson ’85 was and still is a Biology Professor at Lyon. I called him up and he agreed to put in a word for me." As it turns out, Gregerson was about to go out for a beer with the chairman of the hiring committee and recommended Marlett. Marlett only remained at Lyon for one year before moving to St. Rose, but his time spent there was very important to him. "My students thought it was so cool that Bob and I went to the same school," he said. "It was awesome seeing the influence Wabash was having in a little town in Arkansas." Teaching and mentoring are not the only important parts of being a college professor. Marlett has already become a recognized scholar in the field of the history of Catholicism in the Midwest. He published his first book in 2002, Saving the Heartland: Catholic Missionaries in Rural America, 1920-1960, which Wabash Professor Greg Redding has used in his Freshman Tutorial. The research for the book led Marlett to an interest in the relationships between Catholics and Fascism. On February 22, 2006, he gave the Wabash College Eric Dean Lecture in Religion on "Catholics and Fascism." In the following weeks, he also spoke at Notre Dame and Georgetown. He is currently working with other scholars on a project called "Catholics at the Movies," which will result in a book and a symposium at Notre Dame. Marlett’s work at St. Rose has brought a new understanding of Wabash to another area of the country. "People at my institution regard Wabash quite highly, firstly, because I can’t shut up about it, and secondly, they say that, ‘whatever it was that formed you like you are, it must be a good place,’" he said. "They might not know about Indiana, but they know what is going on at Wabash." Gregerson '09 is a staff writer for Wabash's student newspaper, The Bachelor. In Photos: Top right: Marlett speaks to a Wabash class during his 2006 visit. Lower left: Marlett enjoys a moment with Raymond Williams.
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