Looking at his thrifted green pants, his purple sneakers and his shirt from a skateboarding group, Carson Price ’23 dresses differently from most on Wabash’s campus. Still, despite his appearance, Price’s Wabash tenure has been the prime example of a time at Wabash. Price has remained deeply involved and created deep connections while at Wabash before matriculating to grad school.
In 2019, Price came to Wabash, hailing from Hudson, Michigan, a small town close to the Indiana border with a population of fewer than 3000 residents.
“It’s very, very rural,” said Price. “Most of my friends that I grew up with still live at home.”
Wrestling brought Price to Wabash, but when he had to quit wrestling due to injury, he found himself turning to one of Wabash’s greatest resources: its professors.
“I thought about transferring,” said Price. “I was going to transfer to Michigan, [thinking], ‘Well, what else is here for me?’ I started realizing that I needed to reach out and talk to some professors and get to know them. Everybody always talked about ‘the network’ and things, but it’s hard to really get a grasp on what actually is here until you do it. And I think that I was convinced to stay by professors.”
After getting to know professors like Dr. Gower and Dr. Trott, Price realized his passion for philosophy.
“My interest is in social theory [and] how we construct identities within a subjective existence.”
Price hopes to use his philosophy work to make social change. After looking at bills like those that ban Critical Race Theory and affect transgender rights, Price wants to break down the philosophical underpinnings of those bills and understand why some people support these bills and why they believe what it is they believe.
Price has developed a deep passion for these issues and gotten involved here on campus, joining the Malcolm X Institute and College Democrats and taking a leadership role in both.
Even still, if Carson is defined by anything on Wabash’s campus, it is the distinct fashion sense that he holds. On any given day, Carson can be found in cargo shorts, a thrifted pair of pants or a beanie from one of his favorite skateboarding brands.
“I think that making a conscious effort about how you dress is something that I need to express something about myself,” said Price. “I’ve had some great success thrifting at the Goodwill here in Crawfordsville.”
Carson is set to take a year off working in public policy before attending grad school for philosophy, pursuing either a doctorate or master’s degree before returning to policy work, where he’ll get to influence the issues that he feels most passionate about.