Refer a Student Today!

Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends,

Throughout its entire history, Wabash College has relied on its alumni and friends to fuel our recruiting efforts. Almost 20 years ago, the Admissions Office set a goal of receiving 1,000 alumni referrals of prospective students. For many years since, that has been our standard.

However, the number of students who are referred to Wabash by alumni is in decline. This is especially problematic for our College. Wabash, more than almost any other college in the country, needs its alumni to be ambassadors and to serve as living proof of the value of a Wabash liberal arts education. It is our alumni who can best explain how Wabash changed their lives — far better than any publication we send to prospective students.

Read the headlines in any newspaper and you will find articles praising STEM education, lamenting rising costs of private higher education, and questioning the value of the liberal arts in today’s economy. The cards are stacked against us. The Wabash community must unite to “spread the fame of her honored name.” We must work harder than ever to introduce Wabash to young people who do not know us, and to carefully articulate our College’s tremendous value. There are five easy ways you can help Wabash Admissions:

1. Go to http://www.wabash.edu/alumni/student/refer to refer a student.
2. Identify work colleagues, church friends, and neighbors who have sons in high school and send us their names and any contact information you have. We now begin recruiting young men as early as their freshman years.
3. Scout high school sporting events. Tear a page from a program, circle the names, snap a picture of it, and send it to admissions@wabash.edu.
4. Attend high school theater productions. In almost every case, the actors will greet audience members after the show. Shake hands, sell Wabash, and send us their names. Mention that Wabash has the fifteenth–ranked theater program in the country.
5. Volunteer to attend a college fair or visit a high school with a member of the Wabash Admissions team. Having an alumnus or current parent with us always works in our favor; parents have a local contact, which can be tremendously valuable.

Our College boasts the nation’s most accessible faculty; top ranked athletics programs; facilities that are second to none; highly ranked Career Services and internship opportunities, and alumni who are genuinely passionate about their alma mater. Now is the time to act. Please take a moment to connect with our Admissions Office and help us recruit future generations of Wabash men.

I sincerely hope I can count on you to step up as a Wabash Proud alumnus!

Mike Thorp ’86
Dean of Enrollment Management