Features Overview
HISTORY
Since its founding in 1921, the Sphinx Club student organization has been an integral part of Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The members are dedicated to fostering campus unity and spirit throughout the Wabash community by sponsoring and promoting a variety of events. The Sphinx Club elects its own members who must be juniors or seniors at Wabash College. There are approximately 2,000 living alumni members.
Announcement of the founding of the Sphinx Club in The Bachelor, December 16,1921
First appearance of the Wally mascot in The Wabash, 1956
Sphinx Club members at a home football game as pictured in The Wabash, 1987
Members at a recent home football game
1920’s
The founding members of the Sphinx Club decided to affiliate themselves with what was then a national organization with chapters on multiple campuses. A group of Wabash College juniors and seniors representing the seven fraternities on campus at the time traveled to Indiana University on December 15, 1921, to be initiated as members. A list of the founding members can be found here. A collection of photos from the IU chapter is here.
As the 1920’s progressed the club began taking an interest in events and activities benefiting the Wabash community at-large. The first formal banquet honoring the Wabash football team was sponsored by the Sphinx Club in 1927 and the club continued it as an annual event for several years.
1930’s
Members began serving as judges for the annual Homecoming float contest among the fraternities in the early 1930’s. The club sponsored “Wabash Follies”, a humorous one-acts contest, to keep things entertaining during the depths of the Great Depression.
1940’s
The 1940’s saw the Wabash campus converted into a naval training facility during World War II and the club became inactive from 1943-1945. The club reorganized after the war and assisted with the gradual revival of student life on campus.
1950’s and 60’s
The Sphinx Club had a larger membership in the 50’s and 60’s with many of the lettered athletes in the junior and senior classes being elected. Club members provided assistance to the Senior Council, the student governing body, to help ensure that members of the freshman class followed the social rules that were in place at the time.
1970’s
The student government reorganized itself in the late 1960’s as the Student Senate. In 1970, the new Senate called on the Sphinx Club to take over “freshman sing”, an event where all freshmen would gather to prove their knowledge of Old Wabash, the school fight song. The contest became voluntary among the fraternities and independent men and was renamed “Chapel Sing”.
1980’s
The 1980’s brought a more active role for the Sphinx Club in cheer leading at Wabash home sporting events. Donning red-striped overalls, members would setup on the track at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium and serve as the head fan section.
1990’s
Regular chapel hour had been a part of the Wabash academic curriculum until the faculty voted to remove the requirement in 1971. The Sphinx Club organized a revival of a voluntary chapel hour in 1997. Each Thursday the Sphinx Club president would host a speaker from the Wabash community to give a talk in Pioneer Chapel.
2000’s and 2010’s
The Sphinx Club’s Thursday “Chapel Talks” grew in popularity as Wabash presidents, deans, and professors were invited to regularly speak. The annual “Bell Chapel” became a raucous pep rally with the coach and captains of the football team getting the campus fired up for the Monon Bell Game. The club recognized a number of Wabash community members with honorary memberships during these decades. A full listing of honorary members can be found here.
Centennial
The Centennial Celebration of the Sphinx Club of Wabash College in honor of the club’s 100th year on campus was held on October 29, 2022. Photos from the celebration, a schedule of activities, and a letter recognizing the official Centennial of the club on December 15, 2021, are available here.
Today
Many of the campus activities mentioned in this brief history are still carried on by the Sphinx Club to this day. The Sphinx Club sponsors Chapel every Thursday, and TGIF every Friday, where students and professors from all over campus can get together and celebrate the beginning of a new weekend. The Sphinx Club holds weekly cookouts at all home football games, and most home soccer and baseball games, before taking the track or sidelines as the college's head cheering section. Chapel Sing, the voluntary annual rite of passage for new Wabash students each fall, is still presided over by the Sphinx Club.
To see some additional photos from the pages of Wabash history, click here.
To see some additional photos from the modern era, click here.
Current members and officers of the club are listed here and the alumni roster is posted here. All past presidents of the club and their fraternal affiliations can be found here.
Wabash Always Fights!