CRAWFORDSVILLE Ind.—Wabash College has no plans to change its all-male tradition of 181 years by starting to admit women, the Indiana institution’s new president said.
Gregory Hess, who was inaugurated this month as president of the 900-student private liberal arts college in Crawfordsville, said Wabash expects to remain one of three all-male colleges left in the country.
Hess told the Journal & Courier that stance isn’t meant to limit the opportunities for women in higher education, pointing out that he has a daughter in college and another who is a high school senior.
“College participation rates, particularly for liberal arts colleges, are significantly lower for men. Completion rates, too,” he said. “The same is true for high school. Wabash is the type of institution that is specifically designed to counteract these social trends.”
The Wabash Board of Trustees in January hired Hess away from Claremont McKenna College in California, where he was vice president of academic affairs. Hess previously was an economics professor at several other colleges.
Hess replaced Patrick White, who stepped down after six years as Wabash’s president.
The college’s financial situation is improving; after its endowment plummeted from $390 million before the 2008 recession to $257 million, it has slowly bounced back to about $320 million as of this summer.
