The Bachelor, 4/7/2023

APRIL De Nosotros Para Nosotros photo spread

7, 2023

Student voice of Wabash wins 2023 Division III Newspaper of the Year

BENJAMIN BULLOCK ’23|

SPORTS EDITOR • The Bachelor won the prize for best Division III newspaper at the Indiana Collegiate Press Association (ICPA) awards on Saturday, April

1. The student voice of Wabash picked up a total of 28 awards, including best themed issue, best staff editorial and all four firstplace prizes for photography.

There was fierce competition in DIII, with five small colleges from across the state submitting entries.

Last year’s winners, The Record of Goshen College, finished in second place ahead of The Echo from Taylor University. The Andersonian (Anderson University) and The Oak Leaves (Manchester University) also took home a handful of awards.

“It’s an absolute honor, and I’m so proud of our team and the work we’ve accomplished,” said Senior Editor-in-Chief Cooper Smith ’23. “Unlike many of our competitors, we don’t have a journalism program here at Wabash—so all of our writers and editors are learning as we go. I think it’s a strength of our paper, and I think it’s a quirk that has made us so successful in true liberal arts style.”

The Bachelor newsroom picked up seven awards for its editorial work. The Monon Bell special issue “Beat DePauw!” from November 2022 won best themed issue, while the final issue of the fall 2022 semester placed second for best single issue.

“Student journalism often doesn’t seem sexy, but I think it’s an opportunity to take big-picture stories— national and international headliners—and find connections to college campuses,” said Smith. “We’ve

Rugby wins conference, ready for nationals

SAM BENEDICT ’25 | JUNIOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF • Wabash

Student Senate election season is heating up. At this team most years, the candidates would take the state for a debate. But with Cole Bergman ’24 and Luis Rivera ’25 running unopposed, a debate could not take place. Still, the Bergman-Rivera ticket took the opportunity to answer questions during a town hall.

tried to do that this year, from Trump to Ukraine. And I think that’s a vital role for student journalists to play in local, close-knit community discussions about global affairs.”

One such international-focused story with a Wabash angle was Smith’s “Phil Goss ’90: ‘Fixer and knower of things.’” The featured interview with Goss, an alumnus who is currently delivering humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees, placed second in the feature page design category. Benjamin Bullock ’23 also took second place for his opinion column titled “Rishi Sunak epitomizes Britain’s flawed democracy,” a commentary on the U.K.’s recent political woes from the eyes of a Wabash international student.

On the design front, The Bachelor staff won top honors for front page design and sports page design, as well as placing third in overall design.

“The Bachelor being recognized by the ICPA as one of the best college publications in the state is a greatly deserved salute,” said Allie Northcutt, one of The Bachelor’s advisors. “The editorial board had a steep learning curve with a young staff as they started the year with a complete redesign of the paper. I’m incredibly proud of these student journalists who never stopped working hard to continuously improve and raise the bar for themselves.”

But among the many awards, it was The Bachelor’s photographers who really stole the show. Photo editors Jake Paige ’23 and Elijah Greene ’25 picked up a combined seven awards, including best news photography (Greene,

Continued page A2

• Former President

DENT

Donald Trump has been indicted and arrested. The first ex-president charged with a crime, Trump has been indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Though he himself predicted the indictment weeks earlier, Trump nonetheless feigned shock when the charges were made official.

“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL,” said Trump in a message shared on his social media platform Truth Social. “WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America.

MAGA!”

Special procedures were used in Trump’s arrest. Most notably, no mugshot was taken and he was not handcuffed.

SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 7

On April 4, 2023 in Salter Hall, students filled the steeples and the candidates explained their vision for the 2023-24 school year.

“I think a lot of the questions that were asked made us think about our campaign overall and our message of bringing the Senate back to the students,” said intended secretary Jake Weber ’25. “Making sure that we are involving all of campus and that the Senate is serving the needs of the students.”

Financial transparency has been the centerpiece of the campaign following questions and confusion over how the Student Senate budget is allocated to clubs, committees, and organizations. National Act, food money for club meetings and recent funding denials have sparked controversy within the Senate. Students have also become frustrated amidst the lack of transparency surrounding why these decisions have been made.

The town hall offered an opportunity for the Bergman-Rivera campaign to ease these frustrations.

“We talked about how we have spoken to Vic Lindsey about creating an accessible budget for all students, not just the senators, and having more transparency with clubs whenever AFC makes a decision,” said Weber. “So really making sure that clubs are aware of what AFC decides so that

New York State law requires authorities to take fingerprints of anyone charged with a felony, but are given discretion on whether to take a mugshot. The authorities likely decided against a mugshot for security reasons, as well as considering the abundance of preexisting photos of the former president available.

As the 2024 presidential election nears, questions are being raised about what effect Trump’s indictment will have on his electability. And as discussions about the former president sweep the country, so too have those discussions permeated into campus life.

“I was somewhat surprised to hear of Trump’s indictment, but at the same time it’s yet another thing in a long line of controversy from the former

vote for us.”

A sudden change in location also proved to be detrimental for the event, which was originally planned to take place in Pioneer Chapel.

“We were supposed to be in the chapel and we had advertised that as being in the chapel for a while,” said John Schnerre ’26. “So I think the turnout would have been better if we had had it in the chapel because no one wants to walk down to Salter during the lunch hour, but I was happy that we were able to be flexible with such a short time span.”

PHOTO BY ELIJAH GREENE ’25

Pioneer Chapel was supposed to be the sight of the Presidential town hall before the event location was changed.

if they have any issues, we can ensure that there’s a representative who shows up to Senate and that it can be resolved at that time instead of having to be tabled and pushed back later.”

Attendance at the event was minimal as a result of the lack of competition for the election.

“I really can’t blame guys for not showing up,” said Presidential candidate Cole Bergman. “I also think we’ve done a really good job of reaching out to people if they have questions

and stuff. We have also visited most of the houses at this point.”

The lack of competition has had an interesting effect on this year’s campaign as most students appear to be disengaged in the election. Last year, a second ticket ran mostly as a joke, but that led to students taking more interest as they waited to see what would be said next. This year’s only competition comes from the “abstain campaign.”

“I’m not super concerned,” said Bergman.

“Just talking with guys, I feel like we’ve gotten a lot of vocal support. My only concern would be the complacency thing, like, ‘Oh, they’re the only guys running so I don’t need to worry about voting because they’re just gonna win.’ I don’t think our campaign has ever approached it like that and we have to make sure that we make it heard that if you support us, we would really appreciate it even though it might not make the biggest difference in the world, it would mean a lot to us. So please

AP

COURTESY OF THE

“We talked about how we have spoken to Vic Lindsey about creating an accessible budget for all students, not just the senators, and having more transparency with clubs whenever AFC makes a decision.”

-Jake Weber ’25

COURTESY OF THE

AP

Before leaving for Court on Tuesday, April 4, Trump lifted a fist to his supporters crowded outside Trump Tower in New York.

POLITICS CORRESPON -

Trump arraigned by New York court

president,” said Blake Discher ’26, a democrat on campus. “In that way, it’s not unexpected.”

But while some students see the indictment as the latest in a saga of Trump scandals, others view it as an act of the former president’s political perseverance as he weathers attacks from the media.

“Trump has always been a polarizing figure, that is his personality,” said Gavinn Alstott ’25, president of the College Republicans. “But the media is just as polarizing, which doesn’t mix well. As most people know, Trump has been at the center of many media scandals that involved Russia, January 6, Mar O’ Lago and even his Twitter account. In my opinion, this current indictment is just another notch on his resume, and what a resume that is.”

Trump, who is currently running to regain the presidency in 2024, has long painted the many accusations of law-breaking against him as merely political con-jobs. Recently, Trump shared a message on Truth Social encouraging the defunding of the FBI and DOJ, a stark contrast to the usual Republican talking points of ensuring funding of Law Enforcement agencies.

“REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO

THEIR SENSES,” said Trump in his message. “THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TOTALLY WEAPONIZED LAW ENFORCEMENT IN OUR COUNTRY AND ARE VISCOUSLY USING THE ABUSE OF POWER TO INTERFERE WITH OUR ALREADY UNDER SIEGE ELECTIONS.”

In reality, increasing funding for the DOJ, of which the FBI is part, seems to be a bipartisan habit as both former President Trump and current President Joe Biden have called for the department’s funding to be increased during their terms.

Some see Trump’s indictment as a rallying cry for Republicans to come together and unify for their support of Trump, while others fear the legal entanglement will disenfranchise independents from swinging for Trump.

“Ultimately, due to the polar-

The Bachelor wins at ICPA awards

ization of the media, I think everyone is firmly in their camps and this won’t change many people’s minds,” said Discher. Other students seemed to agree.

“The indictment of President Trump will only backfire on the left, as it will only serve to rally Trump supporters more than ever,” said Jerry McBee ’26.

“Trump’s supporters will see this as a political attack and will thoroughly demonstrate their unwavering support for him.

“This isn’t the first time President Trump has been falsely accused with no evidence, and the left’s attempt to destroy his image is vividly pathetic,” added McBee.

Congressional democrats did

not share the same partisan optimism as Wabash students. As Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said on Twitter, Trump’s indictment is symptomatic of deeper undercurrents in the American political psyche.

“This is not a moment to celebrate,” said Moskowitz. “This is a terrible moment for the country. But no one is above the law. Those ‘Lock her up’ chants that people were chanting like hyenas in a stadium around the country were never funny—perhaps they now understand why.”

While America’s politicians continue to grapple with the indictment, the question on the minds of many Wabash students has been the extent to which Trump’s arraignment is merely a political act.

“I find it upsetting that some people just try to sweep this pressing topic under the rug by saying it’s all for political purposes,” said Discher. “No matter what, we have to trust the law of our country.”

“The question isn’t whether he is guilty of all of these things or not; the question is why Trump keeps going, and ultimately how the American people respond to this perseverance,” said Alstott.

“I am not saying Trump is a martyr, but it’s ironic that Trump is someone who is supposedly ‘corrupt,’ yet the media and the Democratic Party can’t take their eyes off of him. Trump is still a threat against the left despite this indictment. At the end of the day, it’s just politics.”

COURTESY OF COLE BERGMAN ’24

Editorial staff and writers of The Bachelor celebrate their victory at the Indiana Collegiate Press Association awards on April 1, 2023.

Continued from page 1

“Sigma Chi wins Chapel Sing”) and best photo essay (Paige, “Chess grandmaster leaves Wabash 31-0”).

On top of his four photography awards, Greene also placed second for best sports column with his piece “Classic smashmouth basketball.” His five awards made Greene this year’s most decorated member of The Bachelor staff.

“It’s incredible to have both of the mediums that I work in recognized at the state level,” said Greene. “I never set out to be a writer for The Bachelor, but as time has gone on, I’ve really found my passion for writing sports stories—

COURTESY OF TRUTH SOCIAL

Donald Trump weighs in on congressional issues through his Truth Social social media platform.

Single Issue

2nd: December 2, 2022

Themed Issue

1st: Beat DePauw! (Monon Bell special)

Pull Out/Wrap Section

2nd: Congressional Midterms

3rd: Basketball Returns

In-Depth Story

1st: Benjamin Bullock ’23 and Cooper Smith ’23, “Athletics off the field”

Continuous Coverage of a Single Story

2nd: Sam Benedict ’25 & Sarvik Chaudhary ’25, “Fraternity rush”

Staff Editorial

1st: “This election cycle”

Opinion Column

2nd: Benjamin Bullock ’23, “Rishi Sunak epitomizes Britain’s flawed democracy”

Sports Column

2nd: Elijah Greene ’25, “Classic smashmouth basketball”

3rd: Ryan Papandria ’25, NCAC football power rankings

Front Page Design 1st: Beat DePauw!

Feature Page Design

2nd: Cooper Smith ’23, “Phil Goss ’90: Fixer and knower of things”

especially features—for the paper.”

In the editorial cartoon category, cartoonist Arman Luthra ’26, a freshman international student from India, won the first and second place awards. Luthra’s winning entry was titled “Don’t fall for Qatar’s sportswashing,” a scathing critique of the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts’ poor human rights record.

“It is an honor to have been recognized with the top two awards,” said Luthra. “This experience has inspired me to pursue journalism further during my time at Wabash. I am humbled by this recognition and eager to continue developing my skills.”

Sports Page Design

1st: Benjamin Bullock ’23, “Coach Morel”

Overall Design

3rd: December 2, 2022

Special Section/Front Cover

2nd: Benjamin Bullock ’23, “Homecoming heartbreak”

News Photography

1st: Elijah Greene ’25, “Sig Chi wins chapel sing”

Feature Photography

1st: Jake Paige ’23 & Elijah Greene ’25, “Homecoming 2022”

3rd: Elijah Greene ’25, “Chapel Sing”

Sports Photography

1st: Jake Paige ’23, “Shaky performance gets job done”

3rd: Jake Paige ’23, “Always means always”

Photo Essay/Picture Story

1st: Jake Paige ’23, “Chess grandmaster leaves Wabash 31-0”

2nd: Elijah Greene ’25, “The art of guarding the bell”

Info Graphic

1st: Cooper Smith ’23, “Midterm election predictions map”

3rd: Benjamin Bullock ’23, “Stats match comparison”

Illustration

2nd: Wally head review system

3rd: Arman Luthra ’26 & Jakob Goodwin ’23, “Scouting the Dannies”

Editorial Cartoon

1st: Arman Luthra ’26, “Don’t fall for Qatar’s sportswashing”

2nd: Arman Luthra ’26, “Uno reverse colonialism”

In last year’s ICPA competition, The Bachelor won 11 awards and finished in third place. This year is the first time since 2017 that The Bachelor has taken the top prize.

“It feels great to be back on top,” said Smith. “And I know that next year’s staff can turn this year’s success into a streak.”

“This is not a moment to celebrate. This is a terrible moment for this country.”

-Rep. Jared Moskowitz

COURTESY OF AP

Protests in favor of either side occur in the streets of Manhatten in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s indictment.

The art of Career Services

Lucas Budler ’24

After reading The Bachelor a few weeks back and after having recently received funding for my dream summer internship, I’ve had a feeling all week that I couldn’t shake. A feeling that I ought to share the positive experiences I’ve had with Career Services, and to bring to light some of the ways that Career Services truly makes Wabash what it is.

While this piece in some ways might represent a response to an article a few weeks back, by no means am I trying to attack the character, opinions or experiences of the author of the previous opinion. I am merely wanting to highlight how Career Services has tools and abundant support available for all Wabash students, and that their team is available and enthusiastic about building relationships and supporting all of us.

Both of my brothers attended Wabash before me and acted as full-time recruiters to sell me on the somewhat unattractive prospect of coming to an all-male school in the middle of a country and state that I didn’t know much about. They consistently talked about Career Services, the power of the relationships you can form with their team and the support they offer students to plan and develop a professional career while still in school.

Since my freshman year, I’ve already had three internships and three separate professional experiences. The reality, however, is that it was never advertised to me that Wabash would just hand me an available internship each summer, but rather that if I were to seek out experiences and opportunities that Career Services would find the means to support me.

Of my three internships, just one of them has been through a Wabash connection and program. The other two were completely established and crafted by me, with the support of Cassie Hagan. Interestingly enough, if I were to bump into Cassie on campus

today and ask her what my major was, she would likely tell me that she has absolutely no idea. And frankly, she probably doesn’t care – because all my experiences have been self-identified, as I believed each would uniquely help shape my career, build new skills and help me figure out what I personally want to do as a history major.

Last summer, for example, I reached out to a company I wanted to work for and established a relationship to plan an internship with them. They had no priorly established formal internship positions.

After this process, I met with Cassie to discuss how to bring it to life, and most importantly, how I could fund it.

Cassie helped me frame and develop the internship around the Dill Fund award, which I applied for and was granted. The Dill Fund has absolutely no requirements or criteria for specific fields, positions or majors – it is a fund open to all students. The Dill Fund awards “selected student internships, independent study or educational opportunities not available at Wabash.”

This is just one of many options students can apply for through Career Services should they not find the right internship through the Wabash network. Internships typically come in the form of business positions, since these industries typically have the necessary funds and programs for interns to have impactful experiences. Should you have interest in a nonbusiness career, there is nothing stopping you from using your Wabash network, finding or crafting your own internship and then seeking support from Career Services to find funding or practical advice.

I’d like to take this opportunity to challenge my fellow students not to see Career Services as a Christmas tree with gifts waiting for you underneath it, but rather, as a resource that we must engage with to build networks and relationships that will offer a personalized experience and an entryway into the professional world.

I still have no idea how I will use my liberal arts, 9-class history major in the professional world. But if it weren’t for Career Services, I would likely be skillless, idea-less and have a resume that boasted about the landscaping I did in high school. Career Services is part of the Wabash DNA, yet in typical Wabash fashion, it requires true engagement and a proactive mindset.

Fraternities”

now, we need to go back a little more than two centuries ago. In the year of 1815, in the little university town of Jena, a few guys gathered to push their idea of a unified Germany— a country that had just gotten rid of Napoleon’s yoke.

“If I were you, I would never ever join a fraternity. You might find a cheap place to stay, but you would sell your soul.”

I overheard these words spoken by a student counselor. Luckily enough, that was not at Wabash, it was not even in the US. Those words were spoken in Freiburg, Germany. How come even student counselors tell students to not live in a fraternity, although they offer rather cheap living conditions, often in fancy houses just around the corner from campus?

I will try to answer this question in a semi-academic, semi-journalistic article in order to let you all draw some conclusions, since I am not the right person to do so, yet I guess you will find some similarities and hopefully a lot of differences.

In German, we have two terms for a “fraternity” (sororities exist, but only in very small numbers): Burschenschaft and Studentenverbindung (if these words steal your breath, ask a trustworthy German student for help).

The easy summary is that every Burschenschaft is a Studentenverbindung, but not every Studentenverbindung is a Burschenschaft. They have a few more specific traditions and a different ranking system. They all have a pledgeship system (pledges are called Füchse (foxes)) and also alumni, (“Old Men” (Alte Männer)) which are an important part of the system when it comes to financing. Their names work the same way as in the US, only instead of Greek letters, they use Latin(ized) names, like Berliner Burschenschaft Arminia.

For certain events, they wear traditional uniforms, or at least small symbols which constitute their membership, and once a year, all fraternities gather and celebrate the overarching brotherhood. One of their most well-known features is fencing. Traditionally participants do not wear helmets and the scars dealt by the opponent are seen as marks of their strength. Sounds cool, right?

In order to understand how German fraternities have ended up where they are

So, they founded a student-only body which would become known as the first German fraternity. As their colors they picked black, red and gold – inspired by a Prussian regiment that had fought against Napoleon. As you all know, these colors are still in use as the national flag of the Federal Republic of Germany, originally utilized by a fraternity!

More and more of those organizations were established throughout what we now call “Germany”, back then a conglomerate of 30ish nations, connected under a rather loose union. Fraternities played an important rule in many attempts to unite those into one nation, but they failed.

In the end, it would be the job of some politicians (the most famous one being Otto von Bismarck) to forge a united German Empire in 1871. After a 56-year long strife for unity, fraternities had lost one of their main founding ideas – and it was not even them who made it happen!

Truth be told, not only national values were a main driving force, but also liberalism became more and more important. The questions as to whether fraternities in Germany should advocate for a rather liberal or national agenda had been going on for quite a while by then, yet national (and nationalist) tendencies were more and more fostered by the political climate of the fin de siècle, World War I and many fraternities were first to follow Adolf Hitler in the 1920s. Maybe the most (in)famous “frat guy” was Heinrich Himmler, one of the main architects behind the horrors of the Holocaust.

Consequently, all fraternities were banned after World War II, and even after their reestablishment in the early 1950s, their numbers remained very low. Nowadays, less than 10,000 out of 1.7 million students are in a fraternity. Nevertheless, national values seem to have never really left them. Until today, fraternities have a rather problematic stance towards women (they are rather seen as the “decorum” of a man at events) and in some of the more right-leaning groups, notions of “race” (a term that is NOT used in German public discourse in the way I am encountering it in the US) are still very predominantly used.

This has created a lot of public backlash and the split of the umbrella organization of all fraternities.

As we can see, most of the fraternities in Germany were once very important in the unification of Germany, but then stopped developing. They did not change or try to adapt to modern times. Now, they are mostly known for scandals where antisemitic songs are sung or publishing position papers about reclaiming further Eastern parts of Germany (now Poland).

Of course, there is also more diversity: Some Studentenverbindungen now define themselves as Studierendenvereinigungen, which is a very similar name. The only difference is that these are open to all genders and often they define themselves through a shared interest (like music or sports) and less through outdated political opinions or the amount of alcohol a single member is able to chug.

So, here we are now with a lot of facts about German history and culture. But how does this apply to Wabash? I guess everyone could find out different things when looking at these details, but to me, the overarching question is: To what extent do traditions manifest who we are and when do they hinder us from evolving?

German fraternities were so focused on traditions that their mindsets were not able to evolve and, although some of them are trying to overcome these stereotypes, their reputation has not really improved in recent years. Another important factor for that is the importance of former members: When alumni turn their back on you and the flow of money stops when you want to try and change traditions, you will run into (financially) dire times. I believe that it is too late for German fraternities to regain their once so innovative reputation and the only thing I hope is that Wabash will not find itself at the same place.

‘Scrum-thing Special’

Cartoon by Arman Luthra ’26

“On

BACHELOR

301 W. Wabash Ave., Crawfordsville, IN, 47933

We want to hear from YOU: Bergman-Rivera op-ed

Cole Bergman ’24

HI-FIVES

FIVE THINGS WORTHY OF A HI-FIVE THIS WEEK

Twitter: @WabCoBachelor_

Instagram: wabashcollegebachelor

SENIOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Cooper E. Smith • cesmith23@wabash.edu

JUNIOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Sam Benedict • ssbenedi25@wabash.edu

MANAGING EDITOR

Jakob Goodwin • jmgoodwi23@wabash.edu

OPINION EDITOR

Andrew Dever • atdever25@wabash.edu

FEATURES EDITOR

Logan Weilbaker • laweilba25@wabash.edu

SPORTS EDITOR

Benjamin Bullock • bbulloc23@wabash.edu

PHOTO EDITORS

Jake Paige • jwpaige23@wabash.edu

Elijah Greene • eagreene25@wabash.edu

The purpose of The Bachelor is to serve the school audience, including but not limited to administrators, faculty and staff, parents, alumni, community members and most importantly, the students. Because this is a school paper, the content and character within will cater to the student body’s interests, ideas, and issues. Further, this publication will serve as a medium and forum for student opinions and ideas.

Although an individual newspaper, the Board of Publications publishes The Bachelor The Bachelor and BOP receive funding from the Wabash College Student Senate, which derives its funds from the Wabash College student body. Letters (e-mails) to the editor are welcomed and encouraged. They will only be published if they include name, phone, or e-mail, and are not longer than 500 words.

The Bachelor reserves the right to edit letters for content, typographical errors, and length. All letters received become property of this publication for the purposes of reprinting and/ or redistribution. Profanity may appear in the publication, but only in cases of direct quote or if profanity is necessary to the content of the story. Please do not confuse profanity with obscenity. No article or picture of an obscene nature will appear in this publication.

The Bachelor is printed every Thursday at the Purdue Exponent in West Lafayette. It is delivered freely to all students, faculty, and staff at Wabash College. All advertising published in the Bachelor is subject to an established rate card. The Bachelor reserves the right to deny requests for publication of advertisements. Student organizations of Wabash College may purchase advertisements at half the listed rate. The Bachelor is a member of the Hoosier State and Indiana Collegiate Press Associations (HSPA and ICPA).

Gents, it has been an exciting couple of weeks getting to talk with guys across campus and to spread our message on how to improve Wabash for the future. Wabash truly brings together a unique group of people, and we’ve been having a lot of fun getting to talk about Senate policies and our ideas for when we are in office.

From the beginning of this campaign, one of our headlining points has been about transparency: transparency of not only the Senate, but also of the executive cabinet. When bringing this cabinet together, we wanted to ensure that we would not only be well-equipped to hear the voice of the Wabash student body, but that we would be approachable enough that the student body would want to tell us about their ideas to improve the Senate and the College.

That is what our mission is about: bringing Student Senate back to the students. We want to create an environment where all students feel that they are welcome and that their opinions hold value. As representatives of the Student Body, this isn’t only some dream, this is our job. To represent the students, well, we must be able to hear what the students think.

This principle has guided many of the commitments we have made throughout our campaign. From having open AFC minutes, to increasing accountability for senators to speak with their constituencies, to prioritizing the building of a website where students will be able to access all Senate documents. We want to make it as easy as possible for any student to know what is happening within the Senate.

We know that not everyone will be interested in what is happening at Senate; everyone at Wabash is busy, and you can only care about so many different things at a time. However, for those who do care, we want to make sure that we have put in place

Reply to this opinion at cdbergma24@wabash.edu GAMES

Word waterfall

HE’S JUST KEN

Hi-Five to the new “Barbie” movie for releasing the new cast posters, and Lo-Five to the Internet for immediately running the joke into the ground. We just want to see a version with Wally.

PURDUE WHO?

Lo-Five to the script writers for the letdown ending to March Madness. Way to cap off an incredible tournament with yet another UConn win. No one liked that.

THIS IS THE WAY

every possible tool and convenience so that there is absolutely no hassle for a curious student to find any information they would like to know about the Senate, even if they can’t talk to their senators.

This vision isn’t possible without the support of the students. While an active and engaged community on campus can start with us, it has to continue with the support of the student body. We want to create a culture where students care about what is happening on campus and where students want to support their brothers in everything that they do and accomplish. With your support, we hope we can make this dream a reality.

We know that a campus doesn’t change overnight. Sure, the BergmanRivera ticket has plans to increase transparency, adjust the budget and create a Senate culture that can benefit future Wabash men. However, we can all accomplish so much more through buying in to create a campus that students will benefit from for years to come.

To meet these goals, if you have ideas to improve Senate, Wabash or anything in between, talk to us about it. We want to hear from you. The liberal arts education fosters a community of exploring ideas through different avenues, and there is nowhere better than Wabash (and, arguably, no place better than Senate) to allow for this arena of ideas to flourish.

Place the letters given below each diagram into the squares to form eight fourletter words reading from top to bottom. The top letter is the first letter of all eight words, each letter in the second row is the second letter of four words and so on.

Example:

Hi-Five to “The Mandalorian” for cameo-ing Lizzo and Jack Black in this week’s episode. Everyone liked that.

HOT MOMS SLIDE DELT

Lo-Five to the sports media outlets for creating fake beef between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. If you think what they did was bad, stay far, far away from Chadwick.

WE GIVE UP

Lo-Five to these low-tier Hi-Fives. If you want funny, just go read The Bastard.

Games by Logan Weilbaker ’25

*Crossword

in The Bastard

Professor Stephen Morillo H'91 bids colleagues, students adieu at retirement celebration

Review: An incredibly nerdy review of

"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"

guys, let this movie be your notice. His Forge Fitzwilliam the con-man turned— well, con-man/ruler of the realm—is so bad, it's good. He was also the perfect villain for a beginner’s D&D party. He’s arrogant, dumb and most importantly, just the face of the operation.

COURTESY

EDITOR

• From 2000 to 2012, Wizards of the Coast released three Dungeons & Dragons movies that were, frankly, horrifically bad. So, WotC has to give me a break for expecting “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” to be just as bad, as capturing the spontaneity and absurdity that D&D can exhibit is rather hard to put on the silver screen.

They’ll also need to forgive my shock at just how good the movie was. Between the legitimately good and entertaining action of the movie, it captured some of the details of D&D mechanics that are difficult to show on screen. Here’s some of the things they did really well:

They got the stereotypical D&D story right

Aside from all the adventurers meeting in a tavern where a shadowy figure offers them a fortune to go on a quest, “Honor Among Thieves” nails the way most beginner D&D campaigns start. Having Edgin (Chris Pine) and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) begin in prison after a heist gone wrong is classic D&D and it fits perfectly in the D&D canon that the bard and the barbarian are best friends who get in trouble.

And like most hero’s journey stories, the team fails on multiple occasions and has to find interesting ways out of sticky situations with tentacles and mazes. Still, despite the plot armor that is evident in movies like this, it was always interesting to see just how the characters would get out of those situations.

And no D&D story would be complete

without the adventuring party being stymied by stupid things like a magic mirror falling on its face, a sorcerer being unable to attune to his magic items or accidentally setting off a trap and being forced to find a new way through.

They got the D&D details right D&D mechanics are hard to visualize, but “Honor Among Thieves” did a really good job, particularly in how they handled very specific class-based details, like focusing on the familial and inherited importance for the sorcerer class. In an intuitive way, they show off the way that Simon (Justice Smith) deals with his family history and its importance in his magic.

Cartoons (like Amazon Prime’s “The Legend of Vox Machina”) are able to show these mechanics well, but “Honor Among Thieves” did an incredible job showcasing one of the more interesting spells in D&D: Bigby’s Hand. In the battle at the end of the movie, Simon and the Red Wizard (great inclusion of a classic D&D villain) Sofina, both cast Bigby’s Hand and their spells fight it out. Not only was it a novel way to use the spell, they portrayed it quite well. It was also nice to see, without saying it, the incorporation of the barbarian class’s proficiency with improvised weapons, as Holga, in the final half of the movie, uses everything from weapons lying around in an armory to a potato in the fight against evil.

The villains were evil and so, so good

If you didn’t already know that Hugh Grant was good at playing smarmy bad

Sofina (Daisy Head) is a Red Wizard and a bad, bad woman. Head’s performance is convincing and exemplary of the soulless wizard that is bad for the sake of being bad that defines many of the basic villains in Dungeons and Dragons. If they return to this franchise, I hope they go with a more complex villain, but Sofina fit perfectly in the basic campaign feel of this movie.

“Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” was great. It hit all the plot points you want in an adventure movie and encapsulated all the things to love about a beginner D&D campaign. If you know D&D, go see this movie to see a great depiction of D&D. But even if you don’t, you should go see this movie just because it’s good.

FINAL VERDICT: 4.5/5 WALLYS

PHOTO BY ELIJAH GREENE '25

Friends comprised of faculty, staff, students and alumni of all ages met to celebrate the impressive 34-year career and upcoming retirement of Professor of History Stephen Morillo on Wednesday, April 5 in Rogge Lounge.

PHOTO BY ELIJAH GREENE '25

Warren Rosenberg H'98, a former Wabash colleague of Prof. Morillo, gave the valedictory address as part of the celebration.

PHOTO BY ELIJAH GREENE '25

Chef, Associate Professor of History and Prof. Morillo's good friend Rick Warner H'13 provided a spread for the event.

PHOTO BY ELIJAH GREENE '25

As a going-away present, Associate Director of Annual Giving Hugh Vandivier '91 presented Prof. Morillo with a test bank from Phi Delta Theta including notes and assignments from Prof. Morillo's very first class taught at Wabash College.

JAKOB GOODWIN ’23 | MANAGING

Senior spotlight: Drew Johannes '23

At the intersection of gardening, free beer and the U.S. Army

TIERNAN DORAN '26 | POLITICS CORRESPONDENT

• Wabash was never even in my horizons until they emailed me and told me I could apply for free,” said Drew Johannes ’25. “And then they said, ‘you’re accepted and we’re going to give you a lot of money,’ and I was like, ‘I’m definitely going to consider it.’”

For the proud Logansport berry, the deal wasn’t set until he came and visited the campus for the first time. Wabash’s small and walkable campus was exactly what he was looking for.

“I fell in love with the campus; small campuses are always good. I love that I can walk anywhere within 10 minutes,” said Johannes. “I just felt at home, complete.”

“I think students should be able to crack a beer open in class with a professor, I think the expectations of professionalism hinder deep conversation, I think each living unit should have its own gardens with peppers.”

Kappa Sigma, a fraternity he would come to lead as its president, proved to play a huge part in Johannes's time at Wabash, giving him a place that felt like home, friends to lean on, and people who would call him out when he needed it.

“When I was down the worst, when I needed advice, or just someone to

vent to, they were always there,” said Johannes. “They told you what you wanted to hear, but also what you needed to hear, no matter how bad that would sound.”

Amid those late night discussions, Johannes’s Wabash plan often changed. Originally wanting to go the pre-med route, he decided instead to pursue theater and digital films studies.

“I came here fresh out of medic training in the army. I thought to myself, ‘all right medicine’s easy.’” said Johannes, referring to his freshman self. “Why don’t I just do the pre-med track here and try to do it within 7 semesters?”

“No,” said Johannes emphatically, with the look of a man wise from past

mistakes. “I realized how academically challenging Wabash was.”

And how did Johannes end up in theater?

“I just rolled with it,” he said. “And I’ve enjoyed my time.”

As for the rest of us, Johannes recommends we explore as well, pushing our boundaries and doing things that are unexpected.

“I think everybody has just so many talents and [so much] potential. You should just do something. It’ll make you happier.”

Johannes is the first to take his own advice, keeping busy with his fraternity, leading the Scarlet Masque, acting in theater department shows and serving in the Reserve Officers Training Corps

(ROTC). Balancing his involvement in ROTC with rigorous Wabash courses meant Johannes, someone who isn’t naturally organized with his time, had to figure it out quickly.

“You just have to realize the Pros and Cons of what you’re doing and what you should be doing,” said Johannes. “What do you like doing? Balance what needs to be done and what makes you happy. And incorporate breaks,” added Johannes. “Sometimes I’ll stare off in space for five minutes, but then it’s back to the grind.”

In the end, the grind is worth it as Johannes is set to graduate in the fall. After he leaves, Johannes very enthusiastically voiced his hope the art department “blows up.” He quickly went on to clarify that he meant this positively.

“I hope it becomes a popular hub of creativity. I want more people to use the Fine Arts Center,” said Johannes. “It can be videos, it can be art , it can be music, just anything.”

At the conclusion of the interview, I asked Johannes if there was anything else he wanted to add. After a long thoughtful pause, he provided a list: “I think students should be able to crack a beer open in class with a professor, I think the expectations of professionalism hinder deep conversation, I think each living unit should have its own gardens with peppers.”

Johannes took a breath and paused, adding finally: “Oh, and I think there should be more free beer.”

De Nosotros Para Nosotros connects campus community to Crawfordsville

- Drew Johannes '23

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE '23

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE '23

Professor of English Agata Szczeszak-Brewer (left) is a member of the local nonprofit "Immigrant Allies," an organization that works to provide transportation for underserved community members.

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE '23

La Alianza hosted members of the campus and local communities for an afternoon of celebration and connection on Saturday, April 1 at Pike Place.

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE '23

Guests were treated to fresh-off-the-grill tacos to keep them warm on the cool afternoon.

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE '23

Dancers from the Univerisity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign performed "baile folklorico," or folkloric dance, a traditional mexican cultural dance.

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE '23

Austin Stockton '24 (left) and Maximus Rosa '26 enjoy Jarritos, a popular type of Mexican soft drink.

SPORTS

RUGBY PROGRESSES TO NATIONALS

Little Giants win conference, prepare for historic first trip to national tournament

BENJAMIN BULLOCK ’23 |

SPORTS EDITOR • When the Wabash rugby team lost 3112 to John Carroll University in the semifinal of last year’s conference tournament, they were devastated. After an otherwise unbeaten season, the Blue Streaks put an end to the Wabash’s hopes of a first trip to nationals.

So when the Little Giants once again came up against John Carroll, this time in the final of the 2023 tournament, the Wabash men saw their opportunity—a chance for revenge.

The team traveled to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, April 1, to compete in the Allegheny Rugby Union tournament, the final regular season event of the spring. On the line? An automatic berth to the National Collegiate Rugby tournament, a competition no Little Giants team has ever made.

Wabash received a bye in the first round and went straight into a quarterfinal game against Frostburg State University from Maryland. The game was a whitewash, and the Little Giants secured a 45-0 victory. The semifinal wasn’t much harder. Against Slippery Rock University, Wabash emerged 26-17 victors to progress further than they had this time last year.

“After losing to IUPUI in the championship game of our home tournament, it left an unsatisfying feeling in our stomachs,” said team captain Brayden Goodnight ’23.

“So as we were practicing last week, we had a little fire underneath us. It’s really just that Wabash Always Fights mentality.”

Things weren’t going to be so easy in the championship game. With a guaranteed place in the national tournament at stake, Wabash came up against a familiar foe— John Carroll.

“We have had this game in our heads since last spring,” said Goodnight. “We’ve replayed that loss over and over. And throughout the season, we’ve used that final score as motivation. Our goal was always to beat John Carroll, and that’s what we set out to do.”

But things didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts. Only a minute into the game, one of the John Carroll backs plowed through Isaac Salinas ’23 and ran free for a 50-meter try. John Carroll’s con-

version was no good, making the score 0-5 early on. But the Little Giants pushed hard, and earned their just reward immediately from the kickoff. Goodnight kicked high and regained pos-

Fated to play doubles: Ethan Koeneman ’26 and Cole Shifferly ’26

ELIJAH GREENE ’25

| SPORTS COLUMNIST • Before Wabash, Ethan Koeneman ’26 and Cole Shifferly ’26 had been playing tennis in the Fort Wayne circuit since they were 10 years old. But neither of them foresaw the possibility of playing doubles together for Wabash’s Head Tennis Coach Daniel Bickett. And yet here they are, a pair that has of late looked like a force to be reckoned with. In fact, the duo has won their last three doubles matches, and done so in emphatic fashion.

“I’m from Decatur,” said Shifferly. “The only reason we know each other is because we happened to play on the same tennis circuit.”

This circuit in question is the Fort Wayne circuit, a self-contained pocket of tennis competition found within the city limits. Since Shifferly lived 40 minutes outside of the city, he used to commute to play where the talent was.

It was here that Koeneman and Shifferly first met and played doubles together. But since they didn’t go to the same school, their relationship remained strictly professional in high school.

For Koeneman, a graduate of Carroll High School-Fort Wayne, the idea of playing with Shifferly occurred to him early on.

“Growing up, I wanted Cole to go to Carroll because we would have been a good team,” said Koeneman. “But

he was always further south and homeschooled. We would have been amazing, but he didn’t [go to Carroll] so we weren’t close.”

Interestingly enough, they didn’t make the decision to come to Wabash together either. Shifferly, like most Wabash athletes, valued both his education and his athletic ability equally and wanted to attend a school that could cater to both.

“At first I thought I wanted to play Division I tennis,” said Shifferly. “But then I figured that I would have to think about my education. Because tennis is only half my life.

“When I first visited Wabash, I didn’t think I would like it that much,” added Shifferly. “It was kind of a weird school.”

Despite the weirdness, Shifferly committed. Not long after, Koeneman committed as well—but for completely different reasons.

“I knew I wanted to play [college tennis] because I had the opportunity,” said Koeneman. “And college sports run in my family..”

Also like Shifferly, Koeneman initially wanted to play in Division I.

“I really wanted to go to IU,” said Koeneman. “But I knew that if I wanted to play tennis, I would have to pick Wabash. I said to myself

before I committed, so it was just a coincidence. [Wabash] was in my top five before I knew Cole committed.”

Once at Wabash, the two reunited as associates of Lambda Chi Alpha in the fall. Now official brothers of the house, the pair spend as much time together off the court as they do on it.

And their friendship off the court has paid dividends, which is evident in their play.

“I think it’s good that I know that Ethan can take the criticism that I give him. He’s going to be strong in his position, but he is going to listen to me,” said Shifferly. “And vice versa. If Ethan tells me I’m doing something completely wrong, I might not think that’s wrong, but I’ll say ‘let’s try it.’”

The duo prides themselves on the energy and competition that they bring to the court during their play.

From travel tennis at a young age to the Collett Tennis Center, Koenenman and Shifferly’s relationship has come a long way from when they were 10. Despite their unique paths to Wabash, it’s hard to listen to their story and not think that a higher power isn’t at work.

“I think fate had some sort of plan,” said Shifferly.

As brothers, friends and teammates, Koeneman and Shifferly embody the Wabash spirit, competitive to their core. They are but two of the batch of talented, en-

session, running in to level the scores. The conversion put Wabash into the lead, the halftime score 7-5 to the Little Giants.

And in the second period, Wabash thoroughly asser-

ted their dominance. From the kickoff again, this time it was Fil DeFrenza ’23 who took back the ball and passed it off to Lucas Budler ’24 for the try. Not long after, Goodnight collected the ball from a scrum and extended Wabash’s lead to 17-5.

John Carroll pulled back a try and conversion to make the score 17-12, but by then it was too little, too late. The damage had been done, and the Little Giants were ARU champs.

“Sweet taste of revenge?

Better than sweet,” said Matthew Brooks ’24. “It felt so good to finally lift that trophy and be able to show the students here at Wabash that rugby means business.”

John Carroll may have loomed large in the Wabash psyche all year, but when it mattered it was the Little Giants that finally emerged victorious. However, the victory wasn’t a product of luck; it was a result of a year’s worth of training and planning.

“John Carroll is, without a doubt, a strong rugby team

and a good program,” said Budler. “However, this season, we were much more prepared to face them as we played a tougher schedule before the conference tournament to sharpen up and really dissect our weaknesses. Essentially, we lost to learn how to win. This worked well for us as we were mentally prepared, united and committed to playing a game of winning rugby against a bigger and stronger program.”

The team will need to utilize all of that experience again as they look forward to the national championship on the weekend of April 28-30.

And though the schedule has yet to be determined, Wabash has already begun its preparations.

“Yes we won conference, and yes we’re ecstatic about that, but now we have our next goal to meet,” said Brooks. “So, it’s back to the grind, and we’re excited for it. We’re back practicing, we’re back to watching film and we’re back in our routine for the next few weeks.”

This year will mark the first time a Wabash rugby team has ever made the national tournament, an achievement made all the more remarkable when one considers the team is a club sport with no official head coach.

Despite a two-decade long push to make rugby a varsity sport, the efforts have been to no avail.

With this being the club’s first time at nationals, there is a real sense of stepping into the unknown. But the mystery, Goodnight says, cuts both ways.

“I’m not really sure what to expect to be honest,” said Goodnight. “I don’t know which teams we will play, but that doesn’t really scare any of us. The other teams don’t know us either, so I think we can take a few by surprise.”

The NCR national tournament gets underway on Friday, April 28, at the University of Maryland. All games will be livestreamed and The Bachelor will provide live coverage of the entire weekend.

ergetic freshmen on the ten

nis team, which just recent

ly won its first conference match in five years. Wabash defeated Wooster on Saturday, April 1, by a

PHOTO BY ELIJAH GREENE ’25

Cole Shifferly ’26 serves in a singles match against Principia College on February 25, 2023, at the Collett Tennis Center.

PHOTO BY ELIJAH GREENE ’25

Matthew Brooks ’24 throws the ball out of the ruck against IUPUI at the Wabash College Invitational on March 25, 2023, at Little Giant Stadium.

COURTESY OF BRAYDEN GOODNIGHT ’23

Brayden Goodnight ’23 triumphantly raises the Allegheny Rugby Union tournament trophy after beating John Carroll University on April 1, 2023, at Joe Walton Stadium.

Baseball sweeps the Dannies

ANDREW DEVER ’25 | OPINION

EDITOR

• After a tough weekend that saw the Wabash baseball team fall twice to the nationally-ranked Denison Big Red, the Little Giants returned home to host a doubleheader against the DePauw Tigers on Tuesday, April 4, at Goodrich Ballpark.

Setting aside the struggles from last week, Wabash emphatically rebounded, convincingly crushing their vaunted rivals 6-3 and 14-4 to advance to 16-9 (2-2 NCAC) on the season. In addition to the sweet satisfaction of the sweep of the Dannies, including a run-rule victory in the second game of the back-to-back, Tuesday was the first time that the Little Giants had swept the Tigers since 2011.

Wabash’s renaissance came thanks to a prolonged stage of explosive offense. Several Little Giants had their best offensive performances of the season, led by outfielder Camden Scheidt ’25 with six hits, four RBIs and four runs scored. Scheidt’s dominant day was supplemented by a cohort of offensive efficiency from the plate, with outfielder Kamden Earley ’24 and infielder AJ Reid ’24 each accounting for four hits. After using their offense to break the 3-3 deadlock in the first game, the Little Giants continuously strung together hits to put up 14 runs in the second game.

In the opener, after a really contentious and close game throughout the first seven innings, the Little Giants surpassed the Dannies thanks to their offensive prowess and the shutdown pitching of starter Jacob Bishop ’23, who kept Wabash within striking distance during his 6.1 innings on the mound, and Sam Phillips ’23. Phillips came on in relief, contributing 2.2 shutout innings, while only giving up one hit and claiming his second victory of the season.

On the offensive end, Reid, Scheidt and Earley all contributed offensively, collectively tallying five hits, three walks and five RBIs. After a quiet first couple of innings, Earley opened up the scoring for Wabash with a two RBI single followed by important hits from the other two later in the game.

“The games against DePauw through my four years have always had a different kind of excitement,

and yesterday was no different,” said Bishop. “For me to be able to go out in game one and help my team to victory against them my senior year was an amazing feeling. The team came together really well and played their tails off for

the sweep.” Although the first couple of innings were also close in the beginning, the second game was ultimately no contest. Rather, it was the Scheidt game. Scheidt accounted for four hits, missing only a home

Golf team emphasizes togetherness ahead of tough tournament

RYAN PAPANDRIA ’25 | SPORTS WRITER

• The Wabash golf team will travel to Normal, Illinois, over the weekend of April 7-8 to play in the Illinois Wesleyan University Invitational. The two-day tournament features teams from around the Midwest, most notably the 13th-ranked host IWU Titans.

The tournament will also be played at two different courses, the first day at Ironwood Golf Course and the second teeing off at Weibring Golf Course. With two different courses to contend with and prepare for, the Little Giants are taking a cautious approach to the weekend.

run to complete the cycle in the game. After breaking a 4-4 tie in the third inning, the Little Giants never looked back. And after taking the lead, Wabash erupted in the fifth inning, scoring seven runs to confidently secure the win. In this game, the Little Giants had 18 hits, and were winning so convincingly that the game ended after seven innings via the mercy rule.

On the bump, Wabash was steadied by Gavin Pierson ’25, who pitched 4.2 flawless innings to claim his first victory of the season. Pierson was consistent out of the pen, only allowing five hits in his time on the mound. His domination gave the offense the time it needed to catch fire, extinguishing any chance of a DePauw rally.

Coming off the resounding sweep, the team will look to continue to perform well as they prepare for the resumption of conference play. The Little Giants will return to the diamond next week with two non-conference games, before resuming conference play against Hiram the following weekend. First, on Monday, April 10, Wabash will travel to Manchester, Indiana, to play Manchester University. Then, the following day, Wabash returns home to host Anderson University.

All-time leading scorer Jack Davidson ’22 makes professional debut

ETHAN WALLACE ’25 | BASKETBALL WRITER • The most notable Wabash basketball player in recent years, Jack Davidson ’22 made his professional debut with the Ballarat Miners on Saturday, April 1. Wabash’s all-time leading scorer and recipient of the 2022 Jostens Trophy for most outstanding Division III basketball player, Davidson was destined to end up playing professionally; the only question was where?

The Ballarat Miners play in the NBL1, a semi-professional basketball league in Australia. The league consists of sixty teams divided into five conferences, of which Ballarat plays in the southern section. After graduating from Wabash in May 2022, Ballarat signed Davidson for the 2023 season after a prolonged search for a new home.

Davidson arrived in February and has settled in quickly. During the preseason, he put up two 35+

point performances, including one game with nine three-pointers.

“I’ve been here for over a month now,” said Davidson. “That gave me plenty of time to get acclimated with the team and play several preseason games.”

Davidson’s first competitive game came in the season opener for the Miners against the Melbourne Tigers. Davidson, now wearing the number nine jersey, scored the first six points for the team with

an and-one off a tough layup and three-pointer from two feet behind the arc. His deep threes all found their way onto the team’s highlight reel after the game. Thanks in no small part to Davidson, the Miners walked away with the win 92-68.

“It was a relief to get the first professional game under my belt and come away with a win,” said Davidson. “Our team has gelled really well together and I’m super excited for the rest of the season to see what we can accomplish.”

Davidson tied for lead scorer of the game with 20 points. And despite being considered undersized at 6’1’’ (or 1.85 meters as they would say in Australia), Davidson recorded seven rebounds.

Davidson played his second game for the Miners on Thursday, April 6, against the Bendigo Braves. And with a 23-game season ahead, there should be plenty more action to come from the Hoosier down under.

“We’re going to play Ironwood with a more conservative gameplan just because of some of the hazards that we all may not be aware of,” said Mark Poole ’24. “But we still are going into the tournament with the same confidence. Nothing else is changing.”

As well as having to navigate the challenge of two separate courses, the Little Giants will also have to navigate some fierce competition. The team is well aware of just how tough the field is.

“Since IWU is hosting, we are expecting some really good teams to be there,” said Sean Bledsoe ’26. “The team has talked about how we want to go and shock these other teams and put our name out there.”

Shocking the highly-touted teams at this tournament cannot happen without teamwork and an uplifting environment. Regardless of the fact that golf is an individual sport, the Wabash golfers are trying to emphasize togetherness.

“We try to rally the team together and trust each other through the season,” said Poole. “We’ve overcome some bumps already this season, so it’s only a matter of time before we have more guys putting up scores in the 70s.”

Earlier this season, on March 2728, the team played Wittenberg and DePauw in a match-play tournament. After beating Wittenberg 3.5-2.5, Wabash fell 2-4 to the Tigers of Greencastle. But despite the loss, Bledsoe believes that this earlier tournament was pivotal in the team’s sense of togetherness.

“That tournament really helped us in terms of team camaraderie,” said Bledsoe. “Because we were all dependent on each other, it truly brought us together.”

Going forward, both Poole and Bledsoe believe that the team’s bonding, built not only through that one tournament but the entire season, will pay dividends for the rest of the year. The main point of focus for Bledsoe, Poole and the rest of the team is quite simple:

“We want to go out there and post numbers below par,” said Poole. “I think that will come from having an aggressive mindset with a conservative strategy.”

“We need to bring a certain fire, too,” said Bledsoe. “Coach [Justin] Kopp ’21 and I talk a lot about bringing a sense of urgency and igniting good play for not only myself but for my teammates too.”

After the IWU tournament, the Little Giants only have one more competition before the NCAC championships on April 28-30. A strong showing this weekend would give the team great experience and confidence for this final stretch of the season.

COURTESY OF THE BALLARAT COURIER

Jack Davidson ’22 takes to the floor for Ballarat Miners in a practice match against Keilor on March 10, 2023.

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE ’23

Michael Galanos ’25 rips a line drive towards left-center field during Wabash’s win against DePauw on April 4, 2023, at Goodrich Ballpark.

PHOTO BY JAKE PAIGE ’23

Ben Henke ’26 (left) watches the pitch come in as he prepares for his at-bat against DePauw.