Riley Woodward, Beta Theta Pi, ’22 had every reason to leave Wabash, but he chose to stay.
As a high school letterman in football and wrestling, Woodward was drawn to attend Wabash for its opportunities in athletics. During his freshman year, he got through summer training as a linebacker on the football team and then suffered a concussion early in the season that kept him off the field.
“That was it,” Woodward said. “I had just started out and then all of a sudden, it was over.”
After that, Woodward found himself filling out transfer papers a few times, but the philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) major and rhetoric minor never ended up finishing the documents.
“There’s just something about this place that makes you want to stay,” said the senior from Valparaiso, Indiana.
“It’s because of the strong friendships I made freshman year with my Beta Theta Pi pledge brothers,” he said. “I’m very thankful for those guys who stayed by my side and pushed me during those hard times.”
The next three years brought more challenges for Woodward to overcome, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, but he was able to do it with the help of his Wabash classmates and professors.
Thanks to their mentorship and guidance, Woodward is days away from graduation and preparing to attend Western Michigan University Colley Law School and pursue a career in real estate.
