Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2015 | Page 7

Wheaton Launches HoneyRock
Gap Year for High School
Graduates

HoneyRock, Wheaton’s Outdoor
Center for Leadership Development, is
now accepting fall 2015 applications for the
Vanguard Year, a new gap year program for
18- to 22-year-olds.The program is designed
to develop body, mind, and spirit through
experiential learning, says Dr. Rob Ribbe,
director of HoneyRock. “It is specifically
for those needing a break from traditional
education and seeking a highly formational
year that prepares them for their next steps
after high school.”
The Vanguard Year takes its name from
Wheaton’s first wilderness-based transition
program, “Vanguards,” forerunner to
Wheaton Passage. The program emphasizes
community-based activities, such as
outdoor adventures, service projects,
ministry trips, small group discussions,
hands-on vocational training, practice of
earth care and sustainable living, corporate
worship, and spiritual reflection.
Under the guidance of Wheaton faculty,
HoneyRock staff, and local experts,
students will build a portfolio of reflection
papers, group presentations, and service
projects that may apply toward college
course credits.

Wheaton Dedicates Historical
Marker for Freedom

A marker symbolizing Wheaton
College’s historic commitment to
abolitionism and ongoing dedication to
racial reconciliation now stands in the
foyer of Blanchard Hall. The Wheaton
community gathered October 9 to dedicate
the reconstructed marble obelisk that once
marked the grave of James Burr, a friend
of Wheaton’s first president, Jonathan
Blanchard, and a fellow abolitionist who
asked to be buried on free soil. The reassembled grave marker was fittingly placed
in Blanchard Hall, an official site of the
National Underground Railroad “Network
to Freedom,” designated by the United
States National Park Service on April 14,
2013. Stops like Blanchard Hall were used
by men, women, and children seeking
freedom from slavery before and during the
Civil War.

Learn more at wheaton.edu/honeyrock/
students/vanguard.

The Thunder at Home

Wheaton’s Sports and Recreation
Complex received an orange-and-blue
makeover, complete with thundercloud
veneers and prominent placement of the
Wheaton Athletics mission statement. “The
new look creates a real collegiate feel and
brings a sense of enthusiasm and school
spirit to the space,” says Athletics Director
Julie Schmela Davis ’91.
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