Scarlet Masque Theatre Journal New Beginnings and Fond Farewells Vol. 1 | Page 132

Muha:​ You’ve very clearly impacted the lives of many Wabash students over the years. And
have expressed how much you enjoy keeping in touch with those students after they graduate.
So, what are some of your favorite experiences with students outside of the classroom after
they've graduated?
Watson:​ You know, I mentioned earlier that there's the occasional student that uh, they’re the
regular student who pursues theatre and those become colleagues in the theatre. I mentioned
Patrick. And he went into the priesthood after. A very talented actor. but to have had that
relationship with Patrick at Saint Meinrad’s for several years, and then following that to have
steady conversations with him is very meaningful. And as a division chair to bring back a
speaker to our Fine Arts scholarship one year, I brought Patrick back and he came. It was
inspiring to hear him talk almost 15 years later. I have a lot of alums that operate along those
lines, where they are professionals and they are theatre artists at the high school level, college
level, university level, or they are professionals in the world of theatre alone. And when I hear
about them or contact them or see them, it's very rewarding to have those conversations. So that
happens with the theater types, the majors, and that relationship sort of continues, matures. As I
said, less about students and more faculty or colleagues.
But given liberal arts and my exposure to students from other walks of life and other disciplines,
I find great joy hearing from a student. For example, a student from several years ago called me
and had been a JAG in the army, and had practiced law in London for many years. He wanted to
reconnect with me once he and his wife started to go to London theater and seeing things. So he
started to write me on his London theatre experiences. This is 10 or 15 years after he’d finished
Wabash. We just reconnected, thinking about some of the literature that we read and discussed
when he was a student. So there are different and regular kind of connections. It happened a
could of weekends ago when a class of 5 years ago, Gus Mckinney asked if I’d have a beer with
him at the new brew club. So I sat down and reminisced about [times] on the London trip with
me a few years before you went on the trip. Both of them had been to New York with me when
we had the opportunity to perform at the Field Museum of Natural History. So yeah, these
relationships have a way of resurfacing. Some honestly I can say, I’ve lost touch with and I
would like to reconnect, but you know, people get busy.
Muha: “Life after Wabash.” What do you think of this notion? What do you think Life
after Wabash will look like?
Watson:​ Well, for the [Theatre] Department. I think it's in great shape. We have great people
doing creative and interesting things. We have student leaders, that are second to none from my
time at the college, I think your peers are some of the best. So, if there is a good time for
someone like me to step away, and redirect my energies, now’s the time. Because, this sounds