This weekend, hundreds of Little Giants came back to Wabash for the annual Big Bash reunion.
The celebration began Friday morning with the first chance for attendees to sign the official alumni register, campus tours, and the Wally Wabash golf outing.
After an informal welcome lunch and time to reconnect with old friends, eight speakers shared their wisdom and stories at the annual symposium in Hays Science Hall. This year’s theme was “Wally Makes His Case: A Symposium on Law and the Liberal Arts.”
The speakers included Matthew Gorey, Jon Pactor ’71, Scott Himsel ’85, Ron Rychlak ’80, Matt Tanney ’05, Allison Manwell, Evan Brown ’97, James Lisher ’01, and Wes Zirkle ’98.
At the Big Bash Kickoff Celebration on Friday night, alumni and guests reconnected, reminisced, and raised a toast to milestone reunions, special groups and people, and the lasting bonds formed during their time on campus over dinner and drinks.
At the same time, the Red Pack and track and field alumni gathered in the W. Club at Little Giant Stadium for a reunion celebrating the accomplishments of the storied cross country and track programs across generations.
Saturday began bright and early with a bike ride around Montgomery County and a fun run and walk through campus.
“Old Wabash” poured out of Pioneer Chapel later that morning as each class competed in the highlight event of the weekend: Alumni Chapel Sing. The Class of 1995 came out on top this year—a victory decided by a panel of judges from the Sphinx Club and the Wabash Women's Collective. All alumni in attendance were invited to sing on stage as a group. Immediately following, attendees enjoyed a casual lunch at Knowling Fieldhouse, followed by class photographs.
To round out the afternoon, Wabash President Scott Feller gave an update on the College at Salter Hall. Richard Gunderman ’83 presented a colloquium session exploring the life of the greatest hitter in the history of baseball. Another colloquium session followed, in which alumni and coaches presented “The Legacy, History, and Highlights of Wabash Track and Cross Country.”
The biology, chemistry, physics, math, computer science, and psychology departments hosted reunion receptions in Hays Science Hall, Goodrich Hall, and Baxter Hall to welcome back their majors and minors. Alumni also stopped in for a quick look inside today’s fraternity chapter houses.
Saturday evening, alumni flooded Knowling Fieldhouse for a reception before heading to individual class dinners around campus. The Class of 1975 received their 50-year anniversary medallions, presented by President Feller. The weekend was capped off with an informal buffet breakfast on Sunday morning—a last chance to bid farewell to old Wabash friends until next time.