Swing a cat in Indianapolis and you’ll probably hit a building or street corner with some Wabash connection. You probably wouldn’t know that, but chances are that Jon Pactor ’71 will and can tell you about it.

Recently, the Indianapolis lawyer and fervent supporter of all things Wabash developed a walking tour that guides people through the history of some of Indianapolis’ most famous and historic landmarks, highlighting their numerous connections to Wabash men across several eras. The tours are usually intergenerational, and a group of students joined Pactor, a retired professor, and a couple of alumni and a spouse for one on a sunny Sunday morning in early October. The group spanned decades, with at least one person having been at Wabash from the 1960s through the 2020s. But all had come for the same reason: to learn a little more about Wabash’s history from one of its best storytellers.

“I grew up in Indianapolis, and quite frankly, I had not spent much or any time downtown walking around the Circle and observing the different monuments,” said Kevin Benefiel ’81. “So to me, that was fascinating.”

These tours are just the latest incarnation of Pactor’s love for his alma mater. He’s written several books about Wabash, a couple more about his fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, contributed heavily to Wabash’s moot court competition, served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Wabash Men, started the WABASH Day service day and created a fund for historical preservation in the College archives. All of that barely scratches the surface of his philanthropy. His is a tale of giving back — and of singing praise — in innumerable ways, but particularly where Wabash’s history is involved. It’s an area he thinks we should pay particular attention to.

“Our history is that we’ve always been connected, and I don’t think we should disconnect ourselves from that history,” said Pactor. “I’m sure current students have said — or if not said, then heard — that we stand on the shoulders of giants. I think if Wabash students want to say they stand on the shoulders of giants, they should derive benefit from learning about those on whose shoulders they stand.”

The tour itself was a testament to Wabash’s rich, deep involvement in shaping the state’s capital. Wabash men have founded some of the city’s top law firms — national names like Barnes and Thornburg and Faegre Drinker — and its Columbia Club, a social club that hosted virtually every Republican presidential candidate for about a century. One of Wabash’s founders and original trustees, Samuel Merrill, who served as one of the state’s earliest treasurers, helped name Indianapolis and its first meaningful school. And Caleb Mills, the first faculty member at the College, was instrumental in lobbying for free public education — which had been essentially nonexistent in the state — in Indiana’s constitution, an inclusion which has paid untold dividends in the 175 years since.

As it turns out, it’s likely — probably certain, actually — that Wabash would not look the same without its connection to the Circle City. The oldest building in Indianapolis’ Monument Circle, Christ Church Cathedral, was designed by William Tinsley, who also designed our own Center Hall. And the ornate figures on the Monument’s sides were done by Rudolph Schwartz, who also produced Wabash’s senior bench and war memorial.

Rich in fact and detail, it was good to learn more about the city that’s only an hour away from campus, and to do so among Wabash men generations apart.

“I think we should not take our intergenerational nature for granted,” said Pactor. “I don’t. If you’re walking down the street and someone is wearing something Wabash, there’s likely to be a conversation. There’s this sense of belonging.”

It’s that sense of belonging that Pactor aims to foster through his tours and work for Wabash: to leave it a little, or maybe a lot, better than he found it.