Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Ep 52: Happy Accidents in Leadership With Dr. Scott Feller, President of Wabash University

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Elevate Ep 52: Happy Accidents in Leadership With Dr. Scott Feller, President of Wabash University · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

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  Welcome to the Elevate podcast, where
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  every leader has a story. We bring you
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  conversations with influential leaders
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  who are shaping our local communities.
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  Hear about their path to leadership and
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  experiences that define them and how
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  they're driving meaningful impact today.
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  Hey everybody, Jason here with another
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  episode of the Elevate Power by Braden
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  podcast with this week's guest, Dr.
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  Scott Feller. And Scott, where are you
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  at today? What are you doing? Well, I'm
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  the 17th president of Wabash College.
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  >> 17th president of Wabbash College. And
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  you told me when you guys got started.
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  It's going to be cool to hear that
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  story, but we know it's a little bit
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  further down your path. So, let's go
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  back to the beginning. Where you from
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  originally?
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  >> So, I grew up in a small town in Oregon,
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  about 5,000 people, called Silverton,
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  Oregon. So,
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  >> it sounds beautiful.
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  >> It's really beautiful there.
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  >> All right. So, whereabouts in Oregon is
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  it?
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  >> So, it's about uh it's in the Wamtt
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  Valley. It's about halfway between
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  Portland and Eugene, the two biggest
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  cities. So, uh there's a nearby state
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  park there that has about 10 waterfalls.
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  It's uh it is very beautiful, a lot of
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  great hiking, and I get back there
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  fairly regularly.
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  >> Okay. All right. So, that that's
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  hometown. What What did high school look
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  like for you? What were you doing in
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  those days?
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  >> Uh let's see. My my it was a small town.
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  My dad was the small town dentist. So,
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  uh, we knew everyone from a from a young
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  age. I was the, uh, after hours and
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  weekends dental assistant. Oh, that
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  taught me I didn't want to be a dentist
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  or a doctor.
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  >> Oh, I love that. All right. So, he's the
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  dentist in the small town, but in a
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  small town, the dentist just like
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  everybody knows the dentist. Everybody's
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  got to go. He probably only maybe had
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  one in the town, one or two.
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  >> Yeah. Everybody knows him. My my son
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  moved to the same small town when he
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  graduated from Purdue a few years ago.
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  So, yep. People uh people recognize him
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  by his his grandfather's name.
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  >> No. I love that. All right. So, you're
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  in high school going to a small school
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  as you're thinking about what's going to
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  come next. Is it going to be working
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  after high school? Is it going to
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  college? What are you thinking and where
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  do you go?
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  >> So, uh there was there's one thing I was
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  pretty good at in school. I was I was
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  always very good at chemistry
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  >> and so I had decided that uh I would uh
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  go to college uh study chemistry. I went
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  to a liberal arts college uh
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  >> similar to uh my my wife likes to point
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  out that the buildings look just like
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  Wabashing. So So where was where was
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  school? Where'd you go?
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  >> Wa University in Salem, Oregon. It's a
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  liberal arts college. uh turn um both my
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  parents had attended a whole bunch of
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  aunts and uncles eventually both my
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  younger brother and sister graduated so
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  it's kind of a family place to go
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  >> so it's the family school
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  >> it turned out I it that's not why I went
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  I think I went despite the fact that it
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  was where my family had uh gone uh but
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  somewhere along that process I decided
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  this place really fits this is where I
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  feel like I belong
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  >> you know it's interesting because
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  obviously you ended up we know you end
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  up at W mash And I've talked to a number
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  of Wall Bash folks and they they they've
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  all kind of said the same thing. They
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  feel like when they walk on campus, it
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  just felt like it fit for them. And so
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  for you as an 18-year-old, you walk on
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  campus. What was the obviously what was
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  that the feel? Just feel like home or
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  what did it feel like? I
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  >> I think so. I like the scale of it. You
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  know, I'd grown up in a small town. It
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  was not a large university. Okay.
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  >> Uh so I think the scale of it felt
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  right. Uh, you know, it seemed like a
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  kind of place where you would have
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  access to a lot a great educational
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  experience. Uh, but you know, you
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  weren't going to be a small fish in a
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  big pond.
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  >> Okay. All right. So, you're you're
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  heading there for school. You like
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  chemistry. Is that what you're going to
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  study? I yeah I studied I studied
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  chemistry and math and uh was very you
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  know very focused I suppose on chemistry
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  though I you know I had a very broad
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  liberal arts e education as well studied
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  literature and English and history and
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  music and all of those those things. Um
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  along that path, uh while I was going to
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  school, uh I had a we had a visit from a
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  faculty member at the University of
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  California at Davis who talked about
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  their graduate program. And so then that
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  got graduate school on my mind.
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  >> Okay. So as you're going through your
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  four years there, you're getting a
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  chance to study a lot of different
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  things. As you're looking into the
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  future, what do you think the future's
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  going to hold at that young age? What
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  were you thinking you're going to do? I
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  I'm not sure I was a a real big
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  long-term planner. Uh I think uh I you
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  know I think I found I liked the study
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  of chemistry and I thought I'll keep
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  doing it.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> Uh probably towards the end of my
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  college career, I did think, well,
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  this college thing, this liberal arts
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  college, it's really nice. Maybe I'd
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  like to work there. Oh, really? And so
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  uh and so you know as the thought of
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  coming to a liberal arts college as a
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  faculty member did begin to stick with
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  me towards the end of my undergraduate
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  days and that I think kind of
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  contributed to my choice of uh pursuing
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  a PhD.
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  >> Okay. So thinking about that you finish
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  up your four years after that you think
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  okay maybe my career could be in doing
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  what I'm actually doing now.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> You go to California next. Is that
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  right?
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  >> I go to California next. uh studied at
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  the Uris California Davis uh did my PhD
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  in physical chemistry there and uh and I
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  think during those years uh partly it's
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  the real difference between a large
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  university and a small liberal arts
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  college and then I really decided yeah I
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  really didn't want to work at a small
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  liberal arts college
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  >> because but you got that experience to
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  go there as a student.
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  >> Yes. So you get that experience. How
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  long were you there?
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  >> Uh I was there about four years. uh
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  finished up my uh PhD. Uh then
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  before I started teaching, I uh took a
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  position at the National
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  Institutes of Health in Bethesda,
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  Maryland. Okay.
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  >> So moved all the way across the country
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  and worked for the the NIH and the Food
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  and Drug Administration for a few years.
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  >> So now wait a second. So you're you're a
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  West Coast kid in Pacific Northwest,
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  right? Head down to California all the
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  way out to Maryland. How was that
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  changed? Did you like it out there?
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  >> So, I think you Bethesda is right
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  outside of Washington DC. Uh I think it
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  is a great place to live for a few
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  years.
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  >> Okay. It is not the place I would have
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  wanted to be for for a long time, but
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  there's a lot to see, right? There's a
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  lot of history there. Lots of things to
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  see. You know, every weekend you can go
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  and learn something. And so, by that
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  time, uh by that time I was married and
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  my wife and I had two small kids. And so
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  so the whole bunch of us uh moved yeah
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  across the country away from uh all of
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  our family really. But uh it was a great
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  it was a great few years. Uh I just
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  wouldn't have wanted to make that the
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  long-term home.
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  >> So you get married while you're in
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  California. Did you meet your wife out
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  there?
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  >> Well, I met my wife and she's from the
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  same small town in Oregon.
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  >> No kidding. No kidding. We say high
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  school sweethearts. Uh no. She didn't
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  have anything to do with me when we were
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  in high school. So,
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  okay. So, so we knew each other in a
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  small town.
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  >> Yeah. Uh somehow, uh my my charms didn't
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  take hold until later in life.
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  >> Well, you had to go get your PhD for us,
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  right? You had to go get studied, get a
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  little bit ready.
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  >> Maybe absence makes the heart grow
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  fonder. I'm not sure.
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  >> Okay. All right. So, California to
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  Maryland, a couple years out there, and
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  then what's what where do you think
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  you're going after that? are you going
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  to finally get back into back to school
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  or
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  >> so? Uh you know in those few years I was
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  working mostly as a researcher kind of
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  adding to my resume publishing a lot of
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  papers uh but still with the idea that
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  I'd like to find a career in a liberal
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  arts college.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And so uh after I I'd done that maybe I
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  was two and a half years the NIH and
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  thought I probably it's time to start
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  teaching. Uh so I took a uh teaching
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  position back in the Pacific Northwest
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  at Whitman College. I mean Wala Wallala
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  Washington that's the town so nice they
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  named it twice.
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  >> So now it it was a a visiting faculty
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  position there kind of during someone
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  someone was on sbatical and they said oh
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  you can come and teach here for a while.
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  Uh but it wasn't really a 10-year track
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  position that you would have kind of
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  long-term stability. So I was looking at
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  that point probably pretty broadly
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  looking all around the country. Okay.
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  Trying to find a small liberal arts
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  college with a strong chemistry
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  department a place that uh you know had
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  >> really strong
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  >> student faculty relationships the things
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  I'd experienced in my own college.
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  >> So open to go anywhere in the United
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  States at that point you think? You
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  know, I I think I I'm probably uh was
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  hoping maybe to stay in the Pacific
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  Northwest at the time, but by that time
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  my wife and I lived around the country
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  and we'd found that there are lots of
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  things to like about different areas of
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  the country.
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  >> Okay. So, it could kind of go anywhere.
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  And so, you start looking where where do
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  you end up after you finish and kind of
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  finished in the Northwest?
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  >> So, uh this is uh preworldwide web. So,
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  I'm I'm reading job applications in the
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  chemistry magazine that comes out every
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  week and I see a job at Wabash College
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  at Crawford'sville, Indiana.
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  >> So, had you heard of Crawford'sville?
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  Had you heard of Wabbash?
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  >> I had heard of neither of them. Okay.
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  >> I had never stepped foot in the state of
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  Indiana.
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  >> Flown over. I
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  >> I had flown over. Okay.
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  >> But never visited. And so then there a
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  couple of random things happened to me.
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  the the uh the faculty member in the
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  office next to mine had grown up in
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  Indiana. So I went and asked him tell me
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  about this Wabash College in
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  Crawfordville, Indiana. And he very
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  quickly said, "Oh, this very strong
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  science department uh really good
• 10:19
  college. You ought to look at that."
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And uh then I made a call to my PhD
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  advisor in California who turned out had
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  started his career at IU Bloomington.
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  He'd been a faculty member in
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  Bloomington. So I called him and said,
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  "What do you know about Zash College in
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  Carverville, Indiana?" So great school.
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  A lot of our best graduate schools,
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  graduate students at Bloomington who are
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  graduates of Wabbash College, you should
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  definitely apply.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> So based on those two things, I I sent
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  an application in.
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  >> All right. So you send the application
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  in. What's the process look like? Do you
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  have to come in for an interview?
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  >> Yeah, they invited me out to interview.
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  That was the first time I'd ever stepped
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  foot in Indiana.
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  >> And you know, it's a little bit like our
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  students uh reported to you. I walked on
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  campus and it just felt right. Yeah. The
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  scale felt right. Uh the people were
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  friendly. Everybody looks you in the
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  eye.
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  >> And you say, "Yeah, okay. This is a long
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  ways to move my family. This is a little
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  ways uh maybe further than I imagined,
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  but this place just feels right. It just
• 11:27
  felt right.
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  >> Yeah. The campus felt right. Size feels
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  good.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> Okay. So, you come in and when when is
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  that?
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  >> So, that would have been uh that would
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  have been in 1998. I started at Wabash
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  on July 1st of 1998.
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  >> 28 years ago. Okay. All right. So, and
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  so but you come in at and you're just
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  teaching. What's the role?
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  >> Yeah. So, I came in as a chemistry
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  professor, assistant professor chemistry
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  and I uh kind of moved up through the
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  ranks the kind of academic pathway. So I
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  was uh tenured and made an associate
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  professor. At some point I was promoted
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  to full professor. Did a couple of jobs
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  that most faculty would do. I was the
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  chair of the chemistry department. Okay.
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  Uh
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  >> was the chair of the uh sciences and
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  mathematics. Okay. So but I was
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  primarily doing teaching and research. I
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  was publishing a lot with students um at
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  Wabash and enjoying it. Uh enjoying it a
• 12:27
  lot. I I have the best job in higher
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  education.
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  >> Yeah. Absolutely. Right. So when when do
• 12:32
  you decide you're going to go down this
• 12:33
  path maybe to get into leadership?
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  >> Yes. So I you know I I'm going to
• 12:39
  hesitate to use the word decision. That
• 12:41
  that makes it sound a little more
• 12:43
  planned. Uh
• 12:46
  we had a new president at uh Wash
• 12:49
  College. Greg Hess had come in and we he
• 12:53
  needed a new uh chief academic officer.
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  It's the position that would be called
• 12:58
  provost at many places at Wabes would
• 13:00
  call that the dean of the college.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And he uh announced that we're going to
• 13:05
  have a search and that his you know
• 13:08
  first preference would be for someone
• 13:10
  internal to take the role. He had come
• 13:12
  from outside and uh he said if we don't
• 13:15
  find anyone then we'll mount a
• 13:17
  nationwide search.
• 13:18
  >> Okay. And so I I I threw my hat in the
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  ring and uh mistakes were made and I got
• 13:26
  the job. Uh and uh I had agreed that was
• 13:29
  that was going to be five years. This
• 13:30
  was not meant to be a change in career.
• 13:34
  It was five years of service that I
• 13:36
  intended in college and then I was going
• 13:38
  to go back to my teaching and research.
• 13:40
  That was my plan
• 13:41
  >> because you got the best job. You love
• 13:42
  this.
• 13:43
  >> I love this. You know the class that the
• 13:45
  students are great at Wabash. uh you
• 13:47
  know I got to teach these the classes
• 13:50
  that I love to teach. I'd had great
• 13:53
  success as a researcher. My students and
• 13:55
  I were publishing uh papers and uh you
• 13:58
  know earning competitive grants.
• 14:00
  >> Wow.
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  >> So I thought I would do this for five
• 14:03
  years and then return to the classroom.
• 14:06
  >> So get it get some experience, give it a
• 14:07
  try like you said provide some service,
• 14:11
  you know, pitch in, do those things.
• 14:13
  those five years. Clearly, you must have
• 14:15
  liked those five years.
• 14:17
  >> So, I I think I did like it more than I
• 14:19
  thought. I I went into it, you know,
• 14:22
  partly because I I think the college had
• 14:24
  treated my family and I well, and I
• 14:26
  wanted to pay it back. I did that for
• 14:28
  five years. I I did find I I found it
• 14:32
  more intellectually stimulating than I
• 14:34
  thought it would. You know, there's a
• 14:36
  new problem every day. It has things
• 14:39
  that are very different from teaching.
• 14:41
  So, it's not that I would say I I liked
• 14:44
  one more than the other. They're just
• 14:46
  two very different ways to try to use
• 14:48
  your skills to make something better.
• 14:50
  And Gotcha. So, I did that for five
• 14:52
  years and then
• 14:54
  >> I agreed to do it a couple more years.
• 14:58
  Okay. Uh and uh I think
• 15:03
  I had uh o only started my second part
• 15:06
  of my term for maybe a month and uh then
• 15:11
  our president hes
• 15:14
  called me down the office one Saturday I
• 15:16
  remember and uh told me that he was uh
• 15:19
  seriously considering another
• 15:21
  opportunity
• 15:23
  to uh he he left Wabesh. he was we were
• 15:25
  out a really good role at Wabesh uh but
• 15:28
  he left to become the CEO of what's
• 15:30
  called IES study abroad the biggest
• 15:33
  study abroad provider in the country so
• 15:35
  he decided to take his career a
• 15:37
  different way and uh during that
• 15:40
  conversation he reminded me that this
• 15:43
  seemed uh like what we used to refer to
• 15:45
  as the uh hit by a bus moment that uh we
• 15:50
  always had an unwritten agreement that
• 15:52
  if he was hit by a bus I would serve as
• 15:54
  the interim president. Okay. And that
• 15:57
  was a kind of an unwritten agreement
• 15:59
  between the board and uh President Hen.
• 16:02
  And I said, "Yeah, it does kind of feel
• 16:04
  like that."
• 16:04
  >> Well, the good news is, right, you guys
• 16:06
  had some protocol in place that if he
• 16:08
  got hit by a bus, you'd know what to do.
• 16:10
  >> Yes.
• 16:10
  >> The good news is you didn't actually get
• 16:12
  hit by
• 16:12
  >> He did get hit a chance to go do
• 16:14
  something different.
• 16:16
  >> So now, how much time before you step
• 16:18
  into the role as intro?
• 16:20
  So, uh, I think I got a call the next
• 16:22
  day from the board chair and does and,
• 16:25
  uh, just to confirm that I would be
• 16:28
  willing to do that. And I said, I I'll
• 16:30
  do whatever Wabash needs. Uh, you know,
• 16:32
  I'll I'm glad to serve as the interim
• 16:34
  president. So, this is about uh February
• 16:38
  uh of 2020, and I was going to become
• 16:41
  the interim president on July 1st.
• 16:43
  >> Okay. Wait a second. You just said you
• 16:45
  just said it some days and some years.
• 16:48
  All right. So, this happens February
• 16:51
  2020. He steps away. You now step in as
• 16:55
  interim. And of course, we know what
• 16:57
  happens in about 30 days. So, how was
• 16:59
  that experience?
• 17:00
  >> Yeah. So, I would say by by the time the
• 17:02
  contracts were written, the press
• 17:04
  releases were out, it was early March of
• 17:07
  2020, and the world was shutting down.
• 17:09
  >> Oh my gosh.
• 17:10
  >> So, uh that was the world I was going to
• 17:13
  come into. Uh it turned out I never
• 17:16
  served as the interim president. Uh
• 17:19
  because between March and July the board
• 17:23
  of trustees kind of talked among
• 17:26
  themselves and tried to determine what
• 17:28
  they thought was best for WBE. So they
• 17:31
  came back to me and said
• 17:33
  >> they proposed that maybe we just not put
• 17:36
  the interim tag on there and asked if I
• 17:38
  would we will be the president of Wab
• 17:40
  >> or go a search and say okay let's just
• 17:42
  go ahead and name you. All right. So I
• 17:44
  guess so one of the things I haven't
• 17:46
  talked to many people about during that
• 17:48
  time March of 2020 co all those things
• 17:51
  I've talked to all kinds of businesses I
• 17:53
  don't think I've talked to anybody who
• 17:54
  was leading a university at that time or
• 17:56
  a college at that time what was it like
• 17:59
  doing all this stuff what were you guys
• 18:01
  doing how did how did it affect you guys
• 18:03
  >> so it was crazy and literally every day
• 18:07
  was a new challenge so you know in March
• 18:09
  things are moving pretty quickly uh
• 18:12
  students went home for spring break and
• 18:14
  uh didn't return. So we we we pivoted
• 18:18
  all of our classes to Zoom that week.
• 18:21
  >> No kidding.
• 18:22
  >> And so just just from in person, right?
• 18:25
  Because that was 100% in person, I
• 18:26
  imagine, from beginning.
• 18:27
  >> Yeah. If you could say 110% that'd be
• 18:30
  more accurate.
• 18:31
  >> You're you're in you're in the
• 18:32
  classroom, you're learning here, you're
• 18:34
  on campus to now you're at home and
• 18:37
  we're going to do things online. And you
• 18:39
  pivoted that quickly. This is a place
• 18:41
  that's built on small classes,
• 18:43
  relationships, and all the students
• 18:45
  living on campus. Yeah.
• 18:47
  >> I told people I think we were probably
• 18:50
  the least prepared campus in America to
• 18:52
  go virtual.
• 18:53
  >> Yeah.
• 18:54
  >> But that's what we did. And that's how
• 18:56
  we got through from, you know, whatever
• 18:59
  that was, the middle to end of March
• 19:02
  until May. We uh kind of limped along
• 19:06
  with virtual classes.
• 19:07
  >> No kidding. Oh my gosh. So, wow. So, you
• 19:11
  take the role, you're interim on paper
• 19:13
  for a few minutes. You navigate one of
• 19:16
  the toughest things anybody remembers in
• 19:18
  the last, you know, let's say 30, 40, 50
• 19:20
  years, something like that, right? And
• 19:22
  then, but but you got the nod. They
• 19:24
  said, "Hey, this guy looks like he's
• 19:26
  going to be the right person." And
• 19:27
  clearly, you're here today in 2026. So,
• 19:30
  that's great, right?
• 19:31
  >> It's great. It was a it was a very
• 19:34
  interesting first year. uh by I think by
• 19:38
  April we knew we couldn't do virtual
• 19:42
  learning going forward that that we had
• 19:45
  to have all the students
• 19:47
  >> get them back
• 19:47
  >> back in and we had to do in-person
• 19:50
  classes so we began in-person classes in
• 19:53
  early August of 2020 essentially no
• 19:57
  colleges and universities were doing
• 19:59
  that the laws and you were following
• 20:02
  those things but get them back in school
• 20:05
  Right. Wow. That's that's amazing. By
• 20:07
  the way, but your whole model is built
• 20:09
  that way. Your model is built small
• 20:10
  classes like you said, in-person
• 20:12
  learning. So, it wasn't going to work
• 20:14
  doing it from home.
• 20:15
  >> It wasn't. And, you know, a key
• 20:16
  component of our learning at the college
• 20:19
  is al also what I call a a culture of
• 20:23
  personal responsibility. We are we are
• 20:25
  this interesting college that doesn't
• 20:27
  have a rule book. We have a rule. That
• 20:30
  rule is the gentleman's rule. And it
• 20:32
  says that the Wabash man uh will conduct
• 20:36
  himself as a gentleman and responsible
• 20:39
  citizen both on and off campus.
• 20:41
  >> So abide by that rule and everything
• 20:43
  else should go okay.
• 20:44
  >> Exactly. And are you there? We
• 20:46
  >> then that's how we run the college.
• 20:48
  >> One of the things you had said before we
• 20:49
  got started was you guys are coming up
• 20:51
  uh on in 2032 on an anniversary.
• 20:55
  >> Yeah, we're looking at our
• 20:56
  bicesentennial in 2032.
• 20:59
  >> That's unbelievable. And so was that was
• 21:01
  that one of the founding principles? How
• 21:03
  how did the school get started?
• 21:05
  >> So the the school was uh founded uh by a
• 21:08
  group of uh Presbyterian ministers. Uh
• 21:11
  they had been educated at Dartmouth. Uh
• 21:14
  but they wanted to start a college on
• 21:16
  what was the frontier of the United
• 21:18
  States at about a time. And so uh the
• 21:22
  college uh was has never had a religious
• 21:24
  affiliation. I think it just so happened
• 21:27
  that uh pastors were about the only
• 21:29
  people who knew how to read in West
• 21:31
  Central Indiana in uh the 1830s. And so
• 21:35
  they wanted to start this college. And
• 21:38
  uh they they did. And you know, like any
• 21:42
  small college on the edge of the
• 21:44
  frontier, rough first years and things
• 21:48
  went up and things went down, but the
• 21:50
  the college persevered and now we're,
• 21:52
  you know, we're looking at our third
• 21:54
  century.
• 21:54
  >> That's unbelievable. And you and you're
• 21:56
  the 17th president, is that right?
• 21:58
  >> 17th president in 196 years. So we've
• 22:01
  benefited from incredible stability.
• 22:04
  Sure. W Bash College.
• 22:05
  >> Of course. Yeah. Okay. So this is a good
• 22:06
  opportunity though. So Crawford'sville,
• 22:09
  Indiana, right, is where is where Waw
• 22:11
  Bash is. And for a lot of folks, they
• 22:14
  may not know a lot about Waw Bash, but
• 22:16
  miss a good opportunity to learn more
• 22:17
  about them. So tell us more about Waw
• 22:18
  Bash. So, Wabash is uh 900 students uh
• 22:23
  with a liberal arts tradition. Uh but
• 22:26
  our most distinctive element is we have
• 22:28
  an allmale student body.
• 22:30
  >> So, there are only really two allmale
• 22:34
  liberal arts colleges in the United
• 22:36
  States. Hampton Sydney in Virginia and
• 22:38
  Wbash College.
• 22:39
  >> I didn't know that. I didn't realize it
• 22:40
  was so rare, I guess. Okay.
• 22:42
  >> Yeah, there it was. I mean it was very
• 22:44
  common up through the 1950s sure to have
• 22:47
  uh single sex institutions. Uh most of
• 22:50
  the uh male colleges began to go co-ed
• 22:55
  1950s and by the 1970s almost all had
• 22:59
  converted. A much higher number of
• 23:01
  women's colleges retained their single
• 23:03
  sex major. So we have only a couple of
• 23:06
  uh allmale colleges but we have dozens
• 23:09
  and dozens of uh women's colleges. So,
• 23:12
  it's uh you know, I think those who uh
• 23:16
  both study and teach at a single sex
• 23:18
  institution,
• 23:20
  we we don't think it's the thing for
• 23:22
  everyone, but we do think it's the thing
• 23:24
  for some young people.
• 23:25
  >> Yeah. And like you said, everybody that
• 23:27
  I've talked to, they've all said the
• 23:29
  same thing. they've they've gone maybe
• 23:30
  different places. They've shown up on
• 23:32
  different campuses, but when they get on
• 23:34
  campus and they get an opportunity to
• 23:36
  talk to people, they people look them in
• 23:38
  the eye, they say hello, they have a
• 23:39
  conversation, it feels different. I
• 23:42
  think somebody said the other day on
• 23:44
  this show, they said it's it's probably
• 23:46
  not for everyone, but for who it's for,
• 23:49
  it's really for them, right? And he and
• 23:51
  he had said that I really knew this was
• 23:54
  a place that I wanted to be. And then he
• 23:57
  said the the relationships that he built
• 23:59
  there are now lifelong relationships and
• 24:01
  friendships that he's built that that is
• 24:04
  something that's helped in his career
• 24:05
  all the way through up until now. And so
• 24:07
  what a cool university, what a cool
• 24:09
  college, right? So, but there's also a
• 24:11
  lot of stuff going on. You guys have
• 24:13
  athletics and those types of things. You
• 24:14
  got a football program. Everything up
• 24:17
  there looks good for the football
• 24:18
  program except for that coach. I'll tell
• 24:20
  you if he listens to this just, you
• 24:23
  know, so you got this guy out of
• 24:24
  Westfield. I don't know what you're
• 24:25
  doing there. No, actually he's a really
• 24:26
  great guy.
• 24:26
  >> He's fantastic.
• 24:27
  >> But uh but what all what all athletics
• 24:29
  do you guys have?
• 24:30
  >> So we play division three athletics
• 24:33
  which means no scholarships. Okay.
• 24:35
  >> So our student athletes uh are coming
• 24:38
  for an educational experience that
• 24:40
  includes uh opportunities to grow uh and
• 24:44
  develop through athletics.
• 24:46
  >> Sure. So athletics is part of a a rich
• 24:49
  set of co-curricular activities that
• 24:52
  would include uh include the arts. Uh we
• 24:55
  are we've got a play uh that opened this
• 24:58
  week on Wednesday night. Our glee club
• 25:00
  concert is on Saturday. Okay. We have uh
• 25:03
  students who do uh entrepreneurial work
• 25:07
  as uh part of their co-curricular
• 25:10
  activities. We have students doing
• 25:12
  research in labs with faculty members.
• 25:15
  Uh we have 10 national fraternities. So
• 25:18
  we have many students who are uh you
• 25:21
  know uh self-governing. um them their
• 25:24
  their living situation uh during their
• 25:28
  college years.
• 25:31
  There's a lot going on. There's a lot of
• 25:33
  time in college.
• 25:34
  >> Yeah. You said nine 900
• 25:35
  >> n Yeah, about 900 students right now.
• 25:37
  >> Wow. I What a what a cool place. And and
• 25:40
  all joking aside, Jake, if you listen to
• 25:42
  us, really do like you. Good job
• 25:43
  coaching Westfield and uh and continued
• 25:46
  success. Outside of that, you guys, one
• 25:49
  of the things that's been interesting in
• 25:51
  talking to the folks from Waw Bash is
• 25:52
  with your long history, you've seen so
• 25:55
  many different things and so many
• 25:57
  different evolutions in the world of
• 25:59
  technology, the internet coming around.
• 26:01
  Like you said, before going out to
• 26:03
  Maryland, you were looking at magazines,
• 26:06
  right? Those kind of things, right? So
• 26:08
  for those kids, those magazines used to
• 26:09
  tell us stuff that we wanted to know.
• 26:11
  We'd read them weekly. It'd come in the
• 26:12
  mail. Somebody bring it to us. We didn't
• 26:15
  just get on our phone. And so, but tech
• 26:17
  is changing quite a bit. I'm curious
• 26:20
  inside of the college and kind of what
• 26:22
  do you see at W Bash or maybe even a
• 26:25
  little bit outside of W bash just in the
• 26:27
  education system? How's technology
• 26:29
  evolving and where do you think it's
• 26:30
  kind of going in the next year or so
• 26:32
  let's say?
• 26:34
  >> Uh so you you saved the hard hard
• 26:36
  questions for now.
• 26:38
  >> You know making predictions about
• 26:40
  technology uh in the short and long term
• 26:42
  is is tough. Certainly what we've seen
• 26:46
  you know over the history is that uh
• 26:49
  technology has in general provided new
• 26:53
  generations of Wabesh men with
• 26:54
  opportunities
• 26:55
  >> and we see the current moment just like
• 26:57
  that. So just as um you know our
• 27:01
  graduates uh who uh came in to the age
• 27:05
  of personal computers and our graduates
• 27:07
  who came in to the age of the internet
• 27:11
  were had new opportunities that they um
• 27:15
  that they were able to to take on. I'm
• 27:17
  thinking of, you know, here in
• 27:19
  Indianapolis, uh, Kelly Fletter and
• 27:22
  Almond Bar, late 90s graduates of Wabash
• 27:25
  College, right? Just as the internet is
• 27:27
  taking off, and here, you know, they
• 27:30
  built, um, companies in Indiana, they
• 27:32
  built companies outside of Indiana, they
• 27:34
  continue to lead in the the tech space.
• 27:37
  So, this current evolution, uh, I think
• 27:40
  it does feel different in that at the
• 27:42
  speed of innovation here, right? It's
• 27:45
  everything everywhere all the time. So
• 27:48
  that part feels a little different. Uh
• 27:50
  is creating an urgency.
• 27:53
  >> But I think the opportunity space is the
• 27:57
  same. The opportunity space is that
• 28:00
  we're going to need people who are
• 28:02
  critical thinkers or I need people who
• 28:05
  are adaptable. We need people who have
• 28:09
  discerning judgment and and can work
• 28:11
  with others. Yeah. Well, these are the
• 28:15
  fundamental skills of the liberal arts
• 28:17
  education that we've been doing for 196
• 28:20
  years.
• 28:21
  >> Yeah.
• 28:21
  >> So, there's a part of me that feels like
• 28:24
  this is a uh a moment for us to
• 28:27
  demonstrate our relevance like never
• 28:29
  before.
• 28:30
  >> Great answer. By the I love the
• 28:32
  opportunity
• 28:35
  in each one of those points, personal
• 28:36
  computers, internet, now with the age of
• 28:39
  AI, each one of them gives you an
• 28:41
  opportunity. But again, if you if you do
• 28:44
  what Waw Bash has done for nearly 200
• 28:47
  years, you're going to teach people how
• 28:49
  to learn and how to do these things.
• 28:51
  They could begin to leverage the skills
• 28:52
  and the tools that they have. Tools are
• 28:55
  different. 20 years from now, tools will
• 28:57
  be different. You guys continue down the
• 28:59
  same pace. Like you said, you'll be
• 29:01
  relevant then just like you are today
• 29:02
  like you were 40, 50 years ago. That's
• 29:04
  super cool. by the way that that it's
• 29:06
  just it's great to hear how you think
• 29:08
  about that and the opportunities you're
• 29:10
  creating for these young men that are on
• 29:11
  your campus. So you think about those
• 29:13
  young men that are on your campus and of
• 29:15
  course the city of Crawford'sville,
• 29:17
  you you've got a lot of community things
• 29:20
  going on. So when when you think of the
• 29:22
  community, what comes to mind to you in
• 29:25
  community?
• 29:26
  >> So I think Crawford'sville and Wabash
• 29:28
  College are an interesting kind of town
• 29:31
  gown relationship. Uh, Wabesh is a very
• 29:35
  small college. So, we don't dominate the
• 29:37
  town the way some small towns do, right?
• 29:40
  Some, you know, sometimes you go to a
• 29:41
  college and it's really a college town.
• 29:43
  >> It's Yeah, it's a dangerous college
• 29:45
  >> because the university is much larger
• 29:47
  than the the town or you go to some
• 29:49
  places where, you know, the the city is
• 29:52
  huge and there's a tiny college embedded
• 29:54
  in it. Wabash and uh Crawford'sville
• 29:57
  have a real symbiotic relationship,
• 29:59
  right? Wabash won't thrive if
• 30:02
  Crawford'sville doesn't thrive. And the
• 30:04
  reverse is true as well.
• 30:06
  >> So, we're we're very fortunate. We've
• 30:08
  got a four-term mayor who's a Wabash
• 30:10
  graduate. Uh I can't say enough how much
• 30:12
  that has helped us, but uh we take our
• 30:16
  responsibility as a a citizen of
• 30:19
  Crawford'sville very seriously. Uh we
• 30:21
  think that our students are a resource
• 30:25
  that the city of Crawford'sville has
• 30:27
  that frankly most small Midwestern towns
• 30:29
  don't.
• 30:30
  >> So we have such a pool of talent and uh
• 30:34
  energy there. So, our our students are
• 30:37
  doing everything from reading books to
• 30:40
  the first graders at the elementary
• 30:42
  schools uh to uh serving as consultants
• 30:46
  for local businesses and nonprofits and
• 30:49
  uh helping them uh problem solve and
• 30:52
  make their organizations uh better. Uh
• 30:55
  we've taken a over the last year or so,
• 30:58
  we've taken a special effort uh to be a
• 31:01
  good partner for the many nonprofit
• 31:04
  institutions that really make a small
• 31:07
  town run. Yeah.
• 31:08
  >> And so we're doing things like uh
• 31:11
  sharing some of our expertise in
• 31:13
  philanthropy,
• 31:15
  expertise in strategic planning, our
• 31:17
  expertise in uh building a strong boards
• 31:21
  of directors. We're taking that out and
• 31:23
  we're trying to help the city of
• 31:24
  Crawford'sville every way that we can.
• 31:26
  >> Yeah, it's terrific to hear, right, that
• 31:28
  you guys have a a handinhand kind of
• 31:31
  relationship with the city because like
• 31:33
  you said, you don't dominate the city.
• 31:34
  The city doesn't dominate you. You get a
• 31:37
  chance to be able to operate together
• 31:39
  and bring, you know, more life into the
• 31:42
  city. Actually, the mayor will be in
• 31:43
  this chair some point here in a couple
• 31:45
  weeks. I think he's coming in. So, it'll
• 31:47
  be fun to share his story, get his take.
• 31:49
  He loves he loved his time at Waw Bash.
• 31:51
  I know when I talk to him and he's just
• 31:52
  a great guy as well and so terrific to
• 31:55
  be having him on here and so great to
• 31:57
  hear your thoughts on community and so
• 31:59
  before we you know kind of finish up
• 32:01
  let's talk a little bit about fun right
• 32:04
  so one of the things you said in in your
• 32:06
  your career you had you had met this
• 32:08
  young lady in your small town um you you
• 32:11
  you ended up marrying her and then
• 32:13
  having a couple of kiddos I think and
• 32:15
  deciding to move all the way across the
• 32:17
  country and you end up going back close
• 32:19
  to home and you end up in Indiana. And
• 32:22
  so you're here in Indiana, couple of
• 32:24
  kids. Uh so how many kiddos?
• 32:27
  >> So we have uh we have two children, a
• 32:29
  daughter and who lives in Caramel and a
• 32:32
  son who went back to Oregon and they
• 32:34
  each have two children. So we have four
• 32:36
  grandkids al together.
• 32:37
  >> So four grandkids, two of them here in
• 32:39
  Caramel, a couple out in Oregon. You
• 32:40
  guys are in Crawford'sville. So outside
• 32:43
  of Waw Bash, if you're not, you know,
• 32:44
  working and doing things at at the the
• 32:46
  college, what's fun? What are you guys
• 32:48
  doing for fun?
• 32:49
  >> Yeah. So, uh, this maybe ties into a bit
• 32:52
  of how we ended up in Crawford'sville.
• 32:55
  So, um, my wife grew up on a farm out in
• 32:58
  Oregon and, uh, I mentioned my dad was
• 33:01
  the town dentist. Uh, and but he was
• 33:04
  also a farmer on the side. So, uh, so we
• 33:07
  both grew up on a farm. I say I I I grew
• 33:10
  up on a, uh, I I grew up on a as a
• 33:13
  gentleman farmer. She grew up as a real
• 33:15
  farmer. Okay. But uh so one of the
• 33:18
  things that drew us to Crawford'sville
• 33:20
  was uh the agricultural history activity
• 33:24
  in McGomery County. And so we actually
• 33:27
  bought a small farm on the north side of
• 33:29
  Crawford'sville. And that's what a lot
• 33:30
  of our outside my outside of work time
• 33:33
  is doing. Uh we we raise uh we raise
• 33:36
  sheep. That's our main uh product. Uh we
• 33:40
  we used to grow about a hundred lambs a
• 33:42
  year. We've cut back to about 50 cuz my
• 33:44
  president's job has a bit of a travel uh
• 33:47
  component. Uh but uh my wife and some
• 33:50
  partners opened a local food store in
• 33:52
  Crawford'sville
• 33:54
  >> almost 10 years ago and where she sells
• 33:56
  her lamb and yarn and wool and various
• 34:00
  products. So that's a thing that uh
• 34:02
  keeps us busy and uh you know helps me
• 34:05
  disconnect from my office job.
• 34:07
  >> Okay. All right. Well, Scott, I got to
• 34:09
  tell you, it's been a cool story, cool
• 34:11
  journey. It's excellent to hear the
• 34:13
  history of Waw Bash, how Waw Bash
• 34:16
  operates, and to hear from you as the
• 34:18
  president what I've heard a couple of
• 34:20
  times for people in this chair, what
• 34:21
  they've seen coming in and that
• 34:23
  experience you had as well. It's just
• 34:25
  great to hear that and what's going on
• 34:27
  up in Crawford'sville. So, I wish you
• 34:28
  guys continued success as AI continues
• 34:31
  to evolve. It's going to be cool to see
• 34:33
  how those opportunities come out for
• 34:34
  those young men. And uh thanks for being
• 34:36
  on the show. I appreciate you.
• 34:38
  >> Oh, thanks so much for having me. Thank
• 34:40
  you for listening to the Elevate podcast
• 34:42
  powered by Braden. Subscribe to stay
• 34:44
  informed on all things Braden and be the
• 34:47
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• 34:49
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• 34:51
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• 34:53
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