Collegian 3.7.2024

Elizabeth Spalding speaks on combating modern communism

By Tayte Christensen CollegiaN reporter

Marxist communism is alive and well, said Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Elizabeth Spalding in a speech on Monday.

“Widespread ignorance about communism prevails,” she said. “Many Americans are uneducated, have forgotten, or have chosen to disbelieve truths about communism and the destruction it brings.”

Spalding pointed to the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as the foundation of communist ideas and highlighted several countries, including China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, that have embraced these ideas in recent history. Her speech discussed the history of communism as well as the hold it has on Americans currently.

Spalding said 44% of Americans aged 18-29 today have a positive view of communism despite the cultural destruction caused by those ideas in societies.

“Communism denies human nature and rights,” she said. “It turns men into blank slates, ready to be socially engineered.”

According to Spalding, communism has four principles it aims to destroy in societies.

“Private property, religion, family, and country are the things communism wants to abolish most of all,” she said. “In a communist society, there is limited scope for human flourishing and no real freedom.”

Spalding highlighted figures such as Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin as some of the biggest names in the spread of communism, which has been the political system responsible for the most deaths in recent history.

“Communism has killed more people in the 19th and 20th centuries than any other political system,” she said. “There have been 100 million

deaths in communist regimes worldwide since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which is more than both of the world wars combined.” Communism not only aims for physical death, Spalding said, but it advocates for the death of personal freedoms.

“In communism, there was and is no rule of law, no self-government, no free press, no rights of association, and no petition,” she said. “Communism aims to repress, eradicate and destroy what we in the West take for granted.”

Spalding said it is important to not only fight for these rights and to stand up against communism, but also to support the work of those who do.

“We should bring attention wherever possible to those who dissent,” Spalding said, referring to the recent death of Russian dissenter Alexei Navalny. “What is correct, right, and ultimately in our own interest are things worth defending.”

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a nonprofit organization that aims to remember the lives lost to communism and encourage those still fighting against it.

Senior Mary Clare Hamilton attended the speech and said she is thankful for the opportunity to hear Spalding speak.

“It is definitely an honor for her to come and talk to us,” Hamilton said. “She is a giant in the world that is fighting the Communist Party, and it’s an honor to listen to her.”

Hamiltion said Spalding’s discussion of communism in youth today is an important topic to keep discussing.

“I think that the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is doing a lot of really awesome work, especially in Washington, D.C., to counterbalance this narrative,” she said. “Because communism is definitely something that 18 to 30 year olds are for.”

Richard Day retires from maintenance after 32 years

By Moira Gleason a ssista N t e ditor

After working for the college since 1991, zone maintenance technician Richard “Rich” Day retired from fulltime work Feb. 29. He will remain on the maintenance staff part time.

College President Larry P. Arnn said Day was one of the first people he met when he came to Hillsdale.

“He was setting up telephones in our new home,” Arnn said. “He was on that day what he has been ever after: courteous, efficient, cheerful. He has been a blessing to the college with his skill and his good character. He tells my wife he will still be around and do some work from time to time. We are all very glad about that.”

Day, who is 67, was born and raised in Hudson, Michigan, where he still lives with his wife. Day joined the Hillsdale College maintenance staff in September 1991, after working in factories, on farms, and then for six years installing phone systems for Larry’s Telephone Service in Hillsdale County. Day said his then-boss Lawrence “Larry” Reasoner told him about the job opening at the college.

The college hired someone

else the first time he applied, Day said, but when the initial candidate quit a year later Reasoner encouraged him to apply again.

“He told me to get my rear end up there, and I interviewed again, and that was the beginning of it,” Day said.

Day said he wishes he had started working for the college sooner, but he is grateful for the time he had here.

“I just kind of fell into this wiring job and doing phone work and I was surviving, but I didn’t know where I was going with my life,” Day said. “And then I come up here, and I could see that this was going to be steady employment and it was going to be steady work. Not only was I doing the phones, but I was doing the mechanical work, too. And it’s what I enjoyed, and it’s been very rewarding. It’s been a great adventure.”

During his time in maintenance, Day said he began by installing and maintaining telephone systems but has also worked on cable locating and outdoor lighting among other general maintenance tasks.

“I’m pretty good mechanically-wise,” Day said. “I mean, you name it, I can pretty much do a little bit of everything.”

Day said he has never stopped learning and tries to provide insight to the newer members of the maintenance team when he can.

“That’s kind of my outlook on life.”

“Any time you can put your feet on the ground and strive to do good where you’re at, you may not be able to always give it 100%, but try to give it the best you can,” Day said.

Fleet mechanic Scott Handy said Day has often stepped up to help him with vehicle preparation, equipment maintenance, and event setup.

Final CCA of the semester covers the American musical

By Faith Senne Collegia N Freela NC er

The American musical sets the standard for the cultural understanding of the genre as a whole, speakers at this week’s Center for Constructive Alternatives said.

The CCA, titled “The American Musical,” was the fourth CCA of the academic year and ran from March 3-7. It included showings of classic American musical films and lectures from experts on the subject.

The CCA’s first event was a showing of “Singin’ in the Rain,” starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor.

The same evening featured a lecture by Ken Bloom, author of “Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time.”

Bloom spoke on the history of the American musical, which he said originated in the operetta and opera, first with spoofs of operas.

“Most modern Broadway musicals lack creativity and include songs that don’t contribute to the plot,” Bloom said.

Friends of the college, students, and parents again crowded into Plaster Auditorium on Monday afternoon to watch Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!,” starring Shirley Jones and Gordan MacRae.

After watching the twohour-and-25-minute movie, Oscar Hammerstein II’s nephew, John Steele Gordon, lectured on the history of Rodgers’ musical partnership with Lorenz Hart, an American lyricist of the 1930s. He also covered how Rodgers and Hammerstein began to work together and the different ways in which their first hit “Oklahoma!” influenced every musical that came after it.

“The beautiful morning of the golden age of musicals dawned with ‘Oklahoma!,’” Gordon said.

“‘The Music Man’ ran 1,375 days on Broadway,” said Mark Cabaniss, lecturer on “The Music Man” and author of “Miracle of The Music Man: The Classic American Story of Meredith Willson.”

The film is about the transforming power of music and love and faith, according to Cabaniss.

Sophomore Ava-Marie Papillon said she loved Cabaniss’ engagement with the audience.

“Oklahoma!” influenced “The Music Man,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and “West Side Story,” according to Gordon. Attendees watched “The Music Man,” starring Robert Preston and Shirley Jones, on Tuesday.

Radio students travel to New York City for IBS awards

By

Lauren

Scott

City News editor

Senior Therese Boudreaux won first place for “Best Documentary” from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, as she and seven other radio students competed as finalists for national awards last weekend in New York City.

“These awards are open to radio/audio programs at colleges across the country,” said Scot Bertram, general manager at WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. “Thousands of submissions are received each year and only the top 3% are recognized as finalists in their respective categories.” IBS is an organization that supports both college and high school media outlets and organizations, according to its website. More than 3,000 entries were submitted from 100-plus schools across the country and the globe this year. Bertram and six radio students traveled to New York City to attend the IBS awards ceremony. Boudreaux was the only first-place winner from Hillsdale.

“I submitted a radio documentary about lawyer Robert Bilott’s investigation of PFAS chemicals, the dangers they pose, and DuPont’s coverup,” Boudreaux said. “I originally made that documentary in Scot Bertram’s Advanced Radio Production class, so if I hadn’t taken that class, I wouldn’t have won this award.”

Bertram said he loves seeing the work of Hillsdale students being recognized by top leaders in the radio industry.

“The award is excellent outside affirmation of the work that is done at WRFH on a daily and weekly basis,” he said.

Hillsdale students were nominated for seven other categories as well.

“It was a good cross-section of content that ended up with nominations,” Bertram said. “Our production, sports, and news department both grabbed two finalist honors each and we also had our talk programming

and a long-form drama recognized.”

Junior George Accola and sophomore Patrick Scott were finalists in the category “Best Specialty Show (non music)” for their 22-minute show, “Wall Street Weekly.”

“Honestly it was completely unexpected to be named a finalist at IBS,” Accola said. “It’s cool to know that people enjoy a show that’s a hobby for us.” Accola said the IBS conference in New York was valuable.

“The conference was a great opportunity to listen to industry leading speaker’s and learn ways that we could potentially improve our show,” he said. “And who doesn’t like New York?”

Bertram said Hillsdale students understand the power behind great storytelling.

“They have dedicated themselves to producing high-quality content and it’s satisfying to see others recognize their passion and effort,” he said. “We have a well-established process that occurs before a radio show or

podcast is produced to create an environment in which students are able to thrive. That attention to detail and quality control is a key ingredient in our success.”

Boudreaux said Hillsdale’s journalism department has amazing opportunities.

“The station is a hidden gem on this campus, and I’m excited to see more people take interest as radio journalism continues to grow at Hillsdale,” she said.

Bertram said the radio program has great support from the college.

“Some of the most prominent and successful radio/audio programs in the country produce the finalists at IBS and it’s always gratifying to see Hillsdale College and WRFH listed among the very best,” he said. “We have tremendous support from the Dow Journalism Program and the administration at the college, and I’m always proud to have evidence that we’re doing things the right way.”

Radio students enjoy a dinner in New York after the award ceremony. Courtesy | sC ot Bertram

Richard Day holding his retirement cake at a celebration the college hosted for him. Courtesy | a li C ia Kelley

Students host final statue golf tournament before construction on the quad begins

By Alessia Sandala & Megan Li Collegian Repo R te R s

A student played the Star-Spangled Banner on a kazoo to open the Statue Golf Masters Tournament for a final round of the campus tradition before quad construction scheduled to begin on March 9. Forty-three men played, according to freshman Alexander Buehrer. The game’s rules are the same as traditional golf, but instead of trying to get the ball in the cup, players aim for Hillsdale’s Liberty Walk statues.

“I’m not good at golf,” Buehrer said. “It’s so much fun.” Senior Justin Peterson said the key to statue golf is not necessarily in hitting the statue itself.

“The goal is to hit any concrete connected to the statue, so the bases count,” Peterson said.

The winner of the tournament was awarded a black jacket with the tournament’s logo glued on the back.

Buehrer said admissions counselor Ben Strickland won the tournament, but the prize was given to freshman Francesco Reale because Strickland is a college staff member.

“Franc now has the jacket,” Buehrer said. “And then we’ll give it to the guy who wins next year.”

Freshman Joe Vankat was a participant in the tournament.

“We’ve been playing for the past couple of weeks,” Vankat said. “It’s an official

tradition, it’s even on Hillsdale’s website. People haven’t been doing much recently, and so we started playing a little bit, got kind of hooked and we’re trying to get everybody else in on it.”

Buehrer said he also started playing this semester and got invested. He said Strickland, first introduced him to the game.

“I kept on seeing him around, and you’ve probably seen him around playing sometimes, too,” Buehrer said. “And then, some nice day in January, he’s like, ‘Alex, gonna play?’ and I’m like, ‘Bet, let’s go.’ So I played the whole thing.”

Freshmen Evelyn Shurtliff and Katharine Reyes said they have witnessed the game before when the weather is nice. “We’ve passed by it several times as we walked through the quad,” Shurtliff said. Peterson said he became involved with statue golf through his friends. “Alex and Joe are friends of mine, and they just started out playing statue golf in their free time,” Peterson said. “Then they set up this tournament, and so it was kind of just something they wanted to do before the quad got torn up, and that’s how I got signed up.”

Buehrer said that the golf course takes between 30-45 minutes to play.

“You just have a good time, enjoy the outdoors a little bit,” Bueher said. “It gets you moving, you take a study break, all that.”

“We have a kind of full suite of statues on campus,” Buehrer said. “So you take your tour of all of them while playing golf.”

Buehrer said the golf is played with foam balls in order to not hurt anyone or break a window.

“You just make your way around: Margaret, Thomas Jefferson, Washington,” Buehrer said. “You head down to the Civil War Statue, the eagle as well, make your round of Liberty Walk and then end at the fountain, so it’s a big loop.”

Buehrer said the removal of the Ronald Reagan statue

altered the typical statue golf course.

“Reagan was one of the OG statues. So we had to adapt,” Buehrer said.

Vankat said statue golf will change all the more once construction of the Diana Davis Spencer Classical Education Building begins.

“It is kind of sad,” Vankat said. “We’re gonna do our best to put together some kind of course on that side of campus when everything over here is closed. This is the last time we’re going to be able to play the full course, which is a little unfortunate.”

Psi Chi brings animals from Humane Society to campus

By Megan Li Collegian Repo R te

R

Puppies from the local Humane Society spent time with students March 5 as part of the psychology honorary’s second philanthropy event of the semester. “Midterms tend to be a very stressful part of the year, so we wanted to have some sort of pet therapy and people coming in just to pet dogs,” said senior Paul Miller, the president of Psi Chi.

Orchestra performs program of classical music, film scores

By Malia Thibado Collegian RepoRteR

The Hillsdale College Symphony Orchestra filled Markel Auditorium for both days of its “Let’s All Go To The Movies” program, where it performed both classical pieces and modern film scores.

On March 2 and 3, the orchestra performed its modern ensemble pieces including “Overture to West Side Story,” “Theme from Jurassic Park,” “Suite for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” and “Back to the Future Suite for Orchestra.”

The winners of this year’s concerto competition, sophomore Elena Bull and junior Paul Sri, each performed solos accompanied by the orchestra.

Bull performed both as a soloist and a member of the orchestral ensemble. After her solo piece, “Concerto for Flute” by Carl Nielson, Bull joined her peers in the orchestra’s wind instrument section.

“It was a bit like a mental shift, going from the very classical concerto to the more light film stuff,” Bull said.

Sri said he had no prior experience working with the college orchestra before rehearsing this performance. He played “Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, op. 18” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

“This is the kind of piece that I really need the orchestra for. It’s a team effort,” Sri said. “All the musicians behind me are every bit a part of the piece as I am.”

pieces we do,” Holleman said.

The orchestra performed a similar program featuring popular film scores two years ago, according to Holleman. When choosing the pieces for this year, Holleman said he wanted to choose different scores from the last performance but still widely recognized pieces of renowned composers like John Williams.

Jack Jarzab, the father of sophomore clarinet player Samuel Jarzab, attended both programs. He said he has attended orchestral concerts in Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, and many other places with his son.

“My oldest son performing a lot of these film pieces has developed another level of connection,” Jarzab said. “Seeing the orchestra perform them is like an ultimate treat for me as well.”

The program also included a collection of short pieces titled “Silent Movie” by Ralph Herman that encompassed an entire storyline through music, according to Holleman. The pieces incorporated unconventional instruments like bird whistles, which Holleman said are used in professional live performances and are entertaining for the percussion section.

Sophomore Stephen Zhu attended the Sunday concert mainly to support his friends but said he enjoyed the pieces.

“The movie pieces were really fun,” Zhu said. “Different styles, but still fun. I liked how over the top the movie was. It didn’t take itself too seriously.”

Senior Madelyn Frawley and junior Veronica Crnkovich, both members of Psi Chi, tabled in the student union prior to the event. Tabling events included a guessing game that asked passersby to match professors to their dogs.

Speech from A1

Spalding’s balanced presentation of communism in history as well as its presence today. “She was very well-spoken and it was just a really well done presentation — very informative and numbers-driven,” he said. “She did a good job of mixing the ideas of, ‘the reality is, communism was and is really bad,’ but also not like ‘we’re doomed, this is happening again.’”

“We want to boost people’s moods and raise morale during a stressful time while also helping out one of our local organizations that’s doing good work,” Frawley said.

Senior Sarah Heinrichs, the chapter liaison of Psi Chi, said she visited the Humane Society a week ago.

“We’re going to get their little puppies,” Heinrichs said. “They’re very cute, super, super friendly dogs.”

The event took place in the union, with appearances from a goldendoodle named Golden Corral, a German shepherd named Biggby, and two cats named 2D and 3D.

Senior Megan Draghiciu took care of the animals during the event.

“I’m just here watching them and making sure everyone can play with them and that they are well-rested and watered,” Draghiciu said.

Heinrichs said she appreciates the events that the honorary is able to host for both the college and the Hillsdale community.

“I was philanthropy chair last semester in the Student Federation,” Heinrichs said. “I ended up actually getting to pair up Psi Chi and the federation for one event. We got money raised for Domestic Harmony, so it was pretty cool.”

Miller said one of the reasons he joined Psi Chi is that the honorary not only recognizes outstanding students in the psychology department, but also does work to support people on campus.

“It offers a lot of opportunities to be involved in the events that we host,” Miller said. “It’s something you can put on your resume or to get a leadership opportunity. It’s also a good way to stand out in the major itself.”

Heinrichs said she looks forward to coordinating more psychology-related events.

“I’m looking into getting a person to come on campus to do a certification in first aid mental health,” Heinrichs said. “It’s cool to be able to do stuff for the campus.”

Sri said the orchestra only had four weeks to incorporate both his and Bull’s pieces into the program. He said he was very impressed with the result and thankful for the support of both the orchestra and his friends and family.

Director of Choirs and Orchestras James Holleman said he was eager to take advantage of the change in venue from the normal Christ Chapel to play a different type of orchestral music. He said there are many different watered-down versions of the modern film pieces, but he wanted the students to do the original pieces.

“When professionals do their series, they do the same

Day from A1

“He’s very knowledgeable about the college,” Handy said. “Ask him any question and he would know just about everything you need to know.”

In addition to mechanical work, Day said he has enjoyed working on greenhouses and landscaping around campus with college horticulturist Angela Girdham.

Hillsdale’s music department puts on more than 100 performances every academic year, according to Holleman. The next orchestra concert will be on May 10 and will feature three more of the concerto competition winners as well as “Appalachian Spring Suite” by Aaron Copland and “Pines of Rome” by Ottorino Respighi.

“I came mostly to see Elena and Paul, but John Williams is like, my favorite composer ever,” sophomore Andrew Winter said. “It was pretty darn excellent.”

and people come and go. He said he has always tried to take his time and provide quality workmanship to make the campus better for students.

Day said he is humbled by the number of people who care about him on campus.

“There’s a lot of people that are not around anymore, but there’s a lot of them that are, and we’ve got a bunch of good faculty and staff,” Day said. “I’m a pleased man.”

Provost Christopher VanOrmann said he has worked with Day for many years.

“It was good to be reminded of just how dangerous these ideologies can be when they’re implemented,” he said. Spalding said that moving forward, it is important to continue to fight against the spread of communism as many have been doing for decades.

“The opposite of evil is good,” she said. “If we look to the highest good, then we must then call out and reject the evils of communism as Reagan worked to do.”

Hughes said he appreciated Spalding’s warning against communist ideas in today’s society.

CCA from A1

“He just brought the stories to life,” Papillon said. “I also loved when he actually performed the song ‘Ya Got Trouble.’ You could tell he is passionate about ‘The Music Man’ and musicals just by that flawless performance.”

The 1974 musical “That’s Entertainment!” played on Wednesday as the last film of the event. Recording artist Mark Steyn, author of “Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now,” presented the final lecture titled “American Musicals and the Great American Songbook.”

A faculty roundtable discussion will close the CCA today at 4 p.m., featuring Dean of Faculty Mark A. Kalthoff, Professor of Theatre James M. Brandon, Chairman and Associate Professor of Theatre Christopher Matsos, and Department of Music Accompanist Thomas Ryskamp. “As a huge fan of old movie musicals, it’s been a lot of fun to watch musicals with a whole audience of people and to get to watch some of them with my friends for the first time,” sophomore Anna Teply said. “My favorite so far has been ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ because it’s such a funny and joyful movie.”

“I work with her a lot because I know how important it is, the first impression,” Day said. “What people see are the little things that most people just overlook.” Girdham said Day took over her responsibilities at the Hayden Park greenhouse in 2022 when she had to take an unexpected leave.

“He is such an advocate for my crew; always predicting our needs and going above and beyond to make them happen,” Girdham said. “Rich is such a wealth of information from all of his years at the college and often provides important guidance for projects. He is an absolute pleasure to work beside and exactly the type of person you want as a part of your team.”

Day said he has seen the campus change a lot during his time at the college as buildings are constructed and torn down

“He has been a tremendous asset to the college,” VanOrmann said. “I wish him the best in his retirement and will miss seeing him working around campus.”

Day said he hopes to spend his retirement fishing, overhauling engines, and visiting with his two children and four grandchildren, who live in other areas of Michigan. He will still be on campus occasionally to help in maintenance.

“I can’t just shut it off. After 32 years, I don’t think I could just say ‘Oh, I’m done. I’m just gonna do this and do that,’” Day said. “It’s time for me to have a little more free time for myself, but I will be back on campus.”

Freshmen Alex Buehrer and Joe Vankat (left to right) pose for a photo at the statue golf tournament. Alessi A sA nd A l A | Collegi A n

Sophomore Dylan Hughes said he enjoyed

Students gathered in the TV lounge Tuesday to take a break from studying with puppies from the local Humane Society. Courtesy | Psi Chi

Devil’s Advocate with Claire Gaudet

to sit in class teeming with young creatives and say nonsense like “I just don’t think there’s any more great books waiting to be written.”

dents, and love modern art.

No, I don’t mean the purple and orange abstractisms outside your public library. I mean the incredible art made by our contemporaries — Hillsdale students or otherwise.

Art — poetic, visual, lyrical — thrives at Hillsdale College. Don’t believe me? Swing by Howard or pick up a copy of the Tower Light in a few weeks. I can’t imagine the gall it takes

Healthcare patients deserve a call back

By Alexandra Hall Design eD itor

My mornings follow a strict routine: I battle the snooze button, check to make sure there are no spiders in my slippers before putting them on, and call Wade, my neurologist.

I’m not calling my neurologist at 7:59 every morning because I want to hear his sweet voice. I am calling because I only receive care when I am annoying, aggressive, and often threatening. It takes three unanswered calls for me to switch from “please give me a ring as soon as possible” to “if I pass away, my blood is on your hands.”

Wade’s receptionist, Crystal, recognizes my apathetic morning groan and doesn’t even ask the standard slew of questions. It’s my 12th call this week.

Healthcare shouldn’t resemble a nasty breakup with a romantic partner, but it does. Between pleading with insurance companies, accessing your own medical documentation, and navigating intricate hospital systems, taking care of yourself these days is more complex than having a rocky relationship.

This isn’t my first time being in a toxic medical relationship. Over the past eight years, I’ve developed a roster of hospitals who have likely shaved more years off my life working with them than my actual illness has.

Typically when you call a doctor’s office of any kind, you have approximately 15 seconds to recite your full legal name, your birthdate, and a one sentence synopsis of your current ailment. These seconds are vital. You have to convince whatever unlucky, minimum-wage paid employee on the other side of the phone that you need help from the person in the white coat who does not answer phones.

In an ideal world with an ideal healthcare system, patients would receive timely, effective care. Referrals would go through seamlessly. Doctors wouldn’t prescribe hormonal birth control for every single symptom in the book. Patients would treat receptionists with respect

and show up for scheduled appointments. Specialists wouldn’t be booked out entire years in advance.

This is not the world we live in, and the most effective way to cope with this is to be as vigilant a patient as possible. My doctors might roll their eyes when they see me approach their table with color-coded medication lists and a binder of past discharge summaries, but I know that I have a set amount of time in which I will be given a professional’s attention. I know that if I do not plead my case expertly, I’ll be kicked to the curb like another unwanted lover. Or even worse — I’ll be kept in a friendzone of complacency and negligence. The hardest pill to swallow isn’t an opioid or the newest antidepressant — it’s the fact that en masse, the American healthcare system does not care about people. It is just like any other system, a faceless entity that values efficiency and profit above all else. Individual companies and practitioners can care about you, but by and large, you are a piece of data. These days, you’ll be lucky to find a doctor who doesn’t treat appointments like one-night stands. That is what makes healthcare communication issues so infuriating — it feels personal when it absolutely isn’t. The only solution is persistence. Patients should not feel guilty for calling repeatedly and documenting the wild goose chases that compose appointment arrangements and medication changes. Patients should use online portals, take down names of the individuals they speak to, and be an active participant in the lifelong pursuit of taking care of yourself. Because if we don’t, it’s clear no one else will.

If that were true, half of the college’s staff would be unemployed and their students without majors. Moreover, if students truly believed that, would there even be a point to them attending a liberal arts college? It’s an awfully nihilistic view of the thing you’re paying to do.

Even outside of the Hillsdale bubble, the “no more good art” premise is proven false over and over again.

The internet has opened the educational floodgates to so

many more people than ever before. Ten year olds can hop on Reddit and learn how to animate from their iPad. Sure, this makes for more bad art, but it also increases the diamonds in the rough exponentially.

Liz Obert is one of my favorite photographers of the 21st century, and fans of 16th and 17th century still lifes would love her musings in the series “Modern Vanitas.” Not unlike Andy Warhol, Obert finds beauty in household items like Skippy peanut butter jars and beach balls.

I think those who’d dismiss the efforts of millions of living creatives should, instead, say “I’m uneducated in the field we’re discussing, and I probably shouldn’t make generalizations about something I haven’t researched.”

Alternatively, they could say nothing at all.

Claire Gaudet is a senior studying rhetoric and journalism.

Similarly, writers and poets have found a safe haven to showcase their talents on websites like Substack. The ability to self-publish to a large audience is without a doubt one of the greatest outcomes of the digital experiment.

Life without distraction: take out the AirPods

By Moira Gleason AssistA nt eD itor

“I love you.” I didn’t expect to hear those words, at 8 a.m., as my classmate sat down across from me in A.J.’s.

I stuttered for a response. We’re really not that close.

“Ok, I’m gonna go now. Bye, Mom.” She glanced at me, grinned, and tapped her left AirPod as she ended the call.

It’s a common experience. We increasingly live with the tiny white plastic speakers in our ears, tuning out our surroundings with the newest Taylor Swift album, Ben Shapiro podcast, or phone call home.

When you are in a social setting talking to other people, take out your AirPods.

Since their release in 2016, the snug little wireless headphones have provided invisible walls for office workers, a bubble for introverts, and a constant soundtrack for life. The new Conversation Awareness mode on AirPod Pros introduced in October makes it easy to leave AirPods in all day long while you slip in and out of conversations. When you start talking while wearing AirPods, the setting automatically lowers your media volume or pauses your podcast and amplifies the voices of those around you, according to Apple.

Even if you can hear perfectly well with AirPods in,

wearing them in a social setting sends mixed signals to the people around you. Earbuds say: “I don’t want to talk to anyone right now. Don’t bother me.”

If you want to block out your surroundings occasionally, great. Me too. But when you start a conversation with another person

ing at a climbing gym in downtown Charlotte as a high school senior, when the boulder bros would try to strike up a conversation with me while still seemingly plugged into their Aerosmith. It’s off-putting. It gets worse in office spaces. AirPods and noise-canceling head -

while still wearing a figurative “do not disturb” sign, it can make otherwise friendly interactions confusing, awkward, and even rude. The people on the other side of your earbuds cannot immediately tell if you meant to address them or if you can even hear their responses.

I encountered the same phenomenon daily work -

phones are a fixture in environments where employees want to block out their surroundings and focus.

In a recent feature from the Wall Street Journal, reporter Nicole Nguyen tested Conversation Awareness by wearing her AirPods all day long for a week.

Nguyen said while the speech-detection technology worked with minimal

glitches, it didn’t solve the question of social etiquette. She said she felt rude when ordering at a bakery, talking to her server at dinner, or walking around her office talking to coworkers.

“When you wear AirPods, there’s still ambiguity for the other person,” the article said. “Are you giving that person undivided attention? Are you listening to something?” Hillsdale students may not be the worst offenders, but we do it all the time. Students walk together on campus or sit at library tables engaged in conversation with one AirPod still dangling from an ear.

Sometimes it is nice to tune out the freshmen in the library, take a phone call, or listen to Earth, Wind & Fire on your walk from Lane to Kendall. But leaving AirPods in while talking to someone suggests the person you are talking to does not have or deserve your whole attention.

This is Hillsdale. You don’t have Brad from Marketing invading your personal space or people hustling you on the street corner, so you don’t need an excuse to look disengaged. Take the AirPods out for a moment and be present to your friends.

Moira Gleason is a sophomore studying English and journalism.

Liz Obert’s “Modern Vanitas #2” in black and white. Courtesy | Liz obert

Sophmore Hana Cobia wearing AirPods in A.J.’s.

eL izabeth t routman | Co LL egian

A Professor’s Opinion

Compiled by Thomas McKenna

“Which professor would you like to see host an episode of ‘Wheel of Fortune?’”

Gary Wolfram, Economics

“I would like to see Thomas Treloar. He teaches Game Theory, and it would be fun to have him offer suggestions to the contestants based on his knowledge of Game Theory. Also, for a math professor, he is a pretty funny guy.”

Charles Steele, Economics

“The obvious answer is Gary Wolfram. Not only is he the most popular professor on campus, he could give a classic album pick on each show. And he would fit well with Vanna White. Dr. Arnn wouldn’t be a bad choice, either, except that he would likely force contestants to explain and defend their answers even when they were right.”

My

thoughts on

Ken Calvert, History

“Justin Jackson! Justin knows how to spell most words, and his beard would intimidate the contestants, particularly people named Romanov.”

Catholic school as a Protestant

By Lillian Ferrell Collegian FReelanCeR

Catholic and Protestant debates among students are commonplace at Hillsdale. Between designated Protestant vs. Catholic soccer games, or debates in the union, convicted students openly and confidently share their thoughts on campus. As someone who went to a Catholic high school but is a non-denominational Christian, my fellow students are often surprised that I didn’t convert to Catholicism during high school. Rather than feeling at odds with my peers holding different beliefs than myself, my eyes were opened to the common values that unite members of divergent Christian denominations.

I transferred to Catholic school my junior year of high school. Having never attended a Catholic Mass until my junior year, I had many questions about the rules, formalities, and what was permissible for me to do in Mass as a non-denominational Christian. With practice and through my exposure to Catholicism, I grew to have an appreciation for much of the tradition and beautiful ceremonial practices within the Catholic church. Aware that a portion of our student body was not Catholic, my school definitely took a more open, welcoming approach to education, being sure to include everyone in mandatory religion classes irrespective of where each one of us was in our spiritual journeys. My senior religion class centered on discussions

about moral issues, the way scripture intersects with 21st-century politics on topics such as abortion, or simply reflected on our religiosity as young adults heading off to college.

Despite the enforcement of a list of, often trivial, Catholic school dress code rules and restrictions — yes, girls had to wear plaid skirts in both freezing winters and hot spring weather — my school welcomed the whole student body to religious retreats, Masses, and even celebrations for holy days of obligation. I started to see those who had never been exposed to religion before, or even those who were vehemently opposed to the existence of God, become more open-minded, even if they didn’t become part of the Church by the end of their four years. The heart behind such initiatives was truly Christian, hoping to expose others to the Lord through love, not focus on increasing church membership or attendance. I saw what effective discipleship was even if I wasn’t of the exact same denomination as my peers or teachers. At our core, we were all united by similar values and convictions.

Rather than debating our denominations — when, in fact, all Christians agree that God is our Heavenly Father — we should focus on the question of intention behind our practice. Do we go to church to foster a relationship with the Lord, or are we using religion as a means of habit, checking off church attendance as if it is a chore on a to-do list? The conviction behind our practice is what

makes all the difference.

What critics of religion and religious education systems get wrong is their assumption that students of a specific denomination use God as a moral “safety net,” or use the Lord’s forgiveness as a means to justify self-destructive behavior that doesn’t align with Christian values. This is, in fact, a human problem; not one of denomination, or one of correct Christian practices. Stereotypes of Catholic high school culture, pointing to the lack of conviction behind spiritual practices for all students, couldn’t be further from the truth. We can’t fault sinners for sinning, especially teenagers who are learning how to be independent adults. Despite not being a Catholic myself, I learned so much about my own relationship with God while familiarizing myself with new Christian practices, and I have amazing Catholic mentors and teachers to thank for that.

The next time you sit down to debate the differences between Protestant and Catholic beliefs in Saga, or overhear quarrels over which denomination is most aligned with the Lord’s vision for mankind, I urge you to make a list of similarities instead. If we united over what we have in common, we could focus on the bigger picture for the better: sharing the Gospel with those who don’t know the Lord.

Lillian Ferrell is a freshman studying English, music, and journalism.

Lee Cole, Philosophy

“Joe Garnjobst. He has the charisma for the bright lights, and he would confound the contestants by inquiring whether they’d like to buy a “wowel.” On the other hand, I’d pay money to watch Justin Jackson walk off the set in the middle of the show as he muttered into his lapel mic, ‘What are any of us even doing here?’”

Dwight Lindley, English

“I’d like to see Dr. Lee Cole as guest host. He cleans up nicely, has a fine, public-facing manner, and would have the Dickens of a time playing the role without ironic undertones, eyebrow-raising, and philosophical asides. Among other things, I would pay money to hear Dr. Cole incorporate the scholastic adverbial clause ‘mutatis mutandis’ into a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ round.”

Adam Carrington, Politics

“Dr. Butters. He’d not only have a great rapport with contestants. He could do a spin-off show where he advises winners on how to spend their money or take their vacation ‘Austrian-School Style.’”

Saying ‘hi’ isn’t that deep

By Jamie Parsons Collegian RepoRteR

Saying “hi” is not rocket science — it’s common courtesy.

Many students have a difficult time greeting each other on campus, or gauging when it is appropriate to do so. I am not entirely sure if it’s because Hillsdale students are socially awkward or because we are afraid. But either way, if you’re contemplating whether or not to say “hi,” just do it.

One of the downsides of going to a small school is that you see everyone all the time, including the people you don’t want to see. This, paired with the weird phenomenon that once you meet people they pop up everywhere on campus, makes for many awkward passings in Saga or in front of Central Hall.

I understand how awkward it might be to pass someone you barely know and say “hi.” Maybe you met them at a party on Saturday or a mutual friend introduced you to them, but saying nothing is more awkward than saying “hi”.

But I know it’s a lot easier said than done. When it comes to saying “hi,” rejection is a big fear. Rejection in any capacity is hard and the possibility of it happening is scary. But no one should shy away from saying “hi” to someone out of the fear of rejection.

Worse case scenario, you say “hi” to someone, and they don’t say it back. You may feel embarrassed. It may be even more awkward the next time you see them. But they did you a favor. You want to fill your life with people who respect you — no weirdos allowed.

Many people like to read into everything, including me. But saying “hi” is not something that should be read into. It’s a polite gesture, not a confession of love, and not a request for a hand in marriage.

Additionally, saying “hi” is not a grand gesture, but it can go a long way. When someone says “hi” to me, it brightens up my day — especially if I am not really close to them. So the next time you pass someone, take a second to ask yourself, “Would I want them to say hi to me?”

I recently discovered that I am not a shy person, but a quiet person — there is a big difference. I enjoy being around people and making new friends — I just don’t talk very much. That is why I despise how I have developed this habit of ignoring people on campus.

Sometimes — most of the time — I am in my own world. I am not aware of the people I pass — I might know them, I might not. This is something students at Hillsdale can relate to because everyone is too preoccupied juggling so many

things all at once: a heavy workload, athletics, clubs, friendships, etc. So in these situations, the thought of not saying “hi” to someone doesn’t cross my mind, nor does it keep me up at night — that is my insomnia.

If you don’t want to make new friends, that’s OK, but that doesn’t justify ignoring someone. A friendship is more than an exchange of “hi’s” — no need to worry about making a new friend from a simple hello. Say “hi” because it takes minimal effort, and it’s a polite thing to do.

I am not advocating for you to greet everyone you pass on campus — strangers and opps are an exception. But I encourage you to make it a habit to say “hi” to those you know. Haven’t we all discussed in Great Books that chivalry and lady-like manners are what should be expected in society?

So I call on every student to join me in this battle to normalize common courtesy on campus — to normalize being a decent human being.

If you ever see me up the hill and notice that I have failed to say “hi,” just remember that I am a warrior trying to fight this battle. And sometimes you’re going to lose a battle every now and then trying to win the war.

Jamie Parsons is sophomore studying politics and journalism.

There are more reasons to walk to class than you might think

By Zachary Chen Collegian FReelanCeR

The reasons to walk to class go beyond saving money on gas, enjoying campus’ beauty, saving the environment, or even getting extra exercise.

Walking is better than driving because it can be an antidote to the twin maladies of utilitarianism and pragmatism. That is to say, you ought to walk to your classes rather than driving because it will provide you with an opportunity to engage with — and ultimately embrace — your own limits.

The issue with typical arguments for walking to class is that if the weather is cold or you’re running late, altruistic thoughts about helping the trees and getting your exercise are going to fall quite flat. So instead, I’d like to argue that walking is a good thing in its own right and is worth being enjoyed even under adverse conditions.

To be fair, I never thought much about walking until I got to college. It is true that I’ve always enjoyed hiking, but when I was younger, I considered hiking to be mostly a means of enjoying nature that hap-

pened to involve walking. It is true that one of the great things about taking a walk is the fact that it frees you up to enjoy the world around you in a way in which driving simply doesn’t allow. If you walk to class instead of drive, I can guarantee you that you will get to know the walk to your class building quite well. But even if your surroundings as you walk to class are less than idyllic, the very act of walking can still be enjoyable for you.

A good walk involves the whole person — it forces you to use your body, to set a pace and keep it,

and to work to get to your destination. Walking isn’t merely physical, though. By its nature, walking is quiet and lends itself well to reflection, prayer, or conversation.

Today, we are constantly assailed by the hectic busyness of everyday life. We have emails to send, papers to write, texts to read, and social media to pore over. As T.S. Eliot put it, we are “distracted from distraction by distraction.” Concerned with our affairs of consequence, we have no time for the useless, the sub-optimal, or the unnecessary. If you don’t have

a car, of course you have to walk, but if you do happen to possess a car on campus, the decision of whether to walk somewhere becomes a cost-benefit analysis weighing the pros of getting somewhere quickly and the cons of having to park and pay for gas. Rather than being a necessary evil or a nice exercise, walking is a chance to throw yourself completely into a journey, to fully engage in the strain, the difficulty, and the beauty of physically getting yourself to your destination. To walk is to wander, and it is only by wandering that one is led

to wonder.

So please stop and think about your walk the next time you go to class. If you drive, consider hoofing it over to Lane or Strosacker. I can’t guarantee that you’ll get to class on time or that you’ll enjoy the time you “wasted” on your walk. But I can tell you that you’ll get an opportunity — a gift — the chance to slow down, reflect, and relish the burden of your human limitations.

Zachary Chen is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

City News

Quincy schools test clear for water, air contaminants

Health officials are still working to discover the

cause of students’ sickness

By Logan Washburn Associate Editor

Quincy Community Schools meet air and water safety standards, superintendent Marc Kramer said, as school and health officials are seeking to determine the cause of seizures and other ailments among students.

“Water testing results received so far showed no issues with the water supply at our schools and that it is safe for consumption,” Kramer said.

“Results showed no issues with our indoor air quality.”

The district requested indoor air and water quality testing after parents reported neurological symptoms including seizures, tremors, and tics among students, Kramer said. The reports, posted on the district’s website, do not appear to show the presence of contaminants exceeding safety guidelines.

Kramer said the district partnered with Trace Analytical Laboratories and Michigan Air and Mold to conduct the testing.

The air quality tests aimed to find dust, debris, mold, and gasses, but when officials received the results Feb. 29, the air met Environmental Protection Agency safety standards, according to Kramer. He was still expecting the final batch of water reports as of March 2, and the Collegian did not hear back with more current information in time for publication.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the district decided to request water testing and air testing to ensure the conditions were not created or aggravated by attending our district buildings,” Kramer said. “The health department has indicated that they have no link directly connecting the school with any of these

concerns.”

Quincy parents reported symptoms to the BranchHillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency on Feb. 15, and the agency has been investigating the cause ever since.

“Water testing results received so far showed no issues with the water supply at our schools and that it is safe for consumption. Results showed no issues with our air quality.”

Ethan’s Donuts to open in Hillsdale early May

By Olivia Hajicek Science and Tech Editor

Ethan’s Donut Factory will open on May 1 in downtown Hillsdale, according to co-owner Wayne Babcock.

Babcock said they are finishing the interior and shooting to get all the equipment delivered to the site by the middle of this month. After that he said they will get a final inspection from the local health department, hire employees, and hope to open on time.

Babcock said he has opened multiple food service businesses, including Olivia’s Chophouse and Saucy Dog’s Barbecue, but this will be the first one focused on sweet baked goods.

When customers place an order, employees will make and decorate the donuts in front of them, Babcock said.

“They’ll be fresh and hot. So when you get into your car or you’re walking out the front door and you take that first bite of that first donut,

the sauce is going to be nice and warm, the donut’s going to have a warm temperature to it,” Babcock said.

Babcock said Ethan’s Donut Factory is named after his 11-year-old son.

“Olivia’s Chophouse was named after my daughter,” Babcock said, “and I promised my son, ‘If I ever do another project, I promise I will name it after you.’”

Babcock said the shop will also sell ice cream, as well as ice cream and donut combinations such as milkshakes topped with a donut and whipped cream.

Sam Fry, communications coordinator at Hillsdale Board of Public Utilities, said that while the city hasn’t had much involvement with the project, they are excited to see the new business open.

“Right now, we’re just cheering them on from the background and I think I can speak for many Hillsdale residents when I say we are excited to see – and taste – the final result of their efforts,”

Fry said.

Fry said he thinks Ethan’s Donut Factory will complement the recent increase in downtown events.

“From an economic development standpoint, it’s always exciting to see investment in Hillsdale, especially in our historical downtown,” Fry said. “A business like a donut shop or sweet bakery is something that appeals to a large portion of the community, so it’s a great way to draw more people in to the downtown.”

Fry said he hopes to be one of the first customers when Ethan’s Donut Factory opens to the public.

Junior Sofie Kellar said she will check out the donut shop when it opens. “This is something we definitely need in town, and if they do a good job, it’ll be amazing,” Kellar said. “A good donut is like heaven in your mouth.”

Gloria Aguirre retired from Hillsdale County Senior Services Center, according to the center’s Facebook page.

“We appreciate the additional steps that Quincy Schools has taken to have air and water samples tested,” said Kris Dewey, public information officer for the BHSJ Community Health Agency.

The agency sent officials on a walkthrough of Quincy Middle School and Quincy High School Feb. 21, according to Kramer, but they did not find any obvious areas of concern. Dewey also said they did not find evidence of water damage or an active rodent infestation.

“We have been made aware of comments that have been posted about rodents in our building. Given our location, rural near woods and fields, from time to time we may have a rodent get in our building. The district con -

tracts with a pest management company and they are proactive,” Kramer said in a statement posted to Facebook March 2. “We do not have any record of a rodent in the building this school year.”

The BHSJ Community Health Agency gave the district a letter with an online survey to distribute to parents in the middle and high schools, requesting they complete it by March 3.

“The survey tool will gather basic information from parents or guardians and students about any new or worsening health issues since September 2023,” Dewey said.

“The agency will be reviewing the surveys that were provided and determine next steps. This is an investigative process that will take time.”

‘The Founding’ to lead music workshop at the Dawn Theater

By Eleanor Whitaker Collegian Reporter

Irish folk band “The Founding” will teach a music workshop at the Dawn Theater from 3 to 6 p.m on March 16.

“It’s a great opportunity for students of all ages to be exposed to Celtic music,” said Gianna Green, general manager of the Dawn Theater. “The band has arranged for three different levels of workshops so no matter what level you are, or if you want to try it out, we’ve got something for everyone.”

“The Founding” is a group of classically-trained musicians who perform Irish-inspired music on stages nationwide.

“With their timeless, powerful approach to songwriting and unique instrumentation, they strive to balance tradition and innovation as they bring new music to life,” the band’s website says.

According to Mary Wolfram, an organizer of the event, “The Founding” will provide a fun and educational experience for Hillsdale musicians.

“They have spent extensive time studying and learning the technique and style of Irish music, both directly from great traditional players and by studying recordings and manuscripts,” Wolfram said. “They work to further the Celtic tradition with modern songwriting while preserving the technique and style of the genre.”

Wolfram said she contacted “The Founding” about hosting a strings workshop after seeing them in concert.

“I’m a big Irish music fan, so I follow a lot of Irish music bands and events,” Wolfram said. “I had seen ‘The Founding’ advertised in concert at other venues, so my husband and I went to see them last year.”

The Young String Players Workshop is open free of charge to students of all ages who play the violin/fiddle, guitar, viola, cello, bass, flute, and mandolin. Attendees will be split into groups depending on skill level.

According to Wolfram, participants will learn both tunes and technique from Irish music. Those who attend the event will learn about jig rhythm pat-

terns, tune structure, and the genre of Irish music,” Wolfram said. “They will learn basic melody parts, ornamentation, and harmony for up to three Irish tunes, depending on skill level.”

Attendees will be invited to perform what they have learned during “The Founding’s” concert at 7:30 p.m that evening.

According to Green, this workshop will enrich the Hillsdale music scene.

“Hillsdale has a lot of great music educators from a wide variety of musical disciplines, but I do think we’re bringing something unique and different to the area by providing an opportunity to learn and explore Celtic music and its background,” Green said.

This workshop is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from The Pediatric Place, Century 21 Affiliated, First Presbyterian Church of Hillsdale and the Hillsdale County School of the Arts.

“The Founding” is a folk band. Courtesy | Instagram Aguirre hugs a friend. Courtesy | FaC ebook

Pittsford High School to host benefit for rare-cancer victim

By Sophia Mandt Collegian Freelancer

As Blade Gore fights a rare form of cancer, friends and family will hold a benefit event for the 2022 graduate of Pittsford High School on March 9 from 2-6 p.m. in his alma mater’s cafeteria.

He was recently diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a rare form of blood cancer, said Kelly Lewis, a close friend of Gore’s family. Since his diagnosis, Gore has had a tumor removed from his skull and a quarter size piece of his skull replaced. Doctors have also discovered the existence of nine tumors on his lungs.

“He is at this point receiving chemo,” Lewis said.

Lewis said his condition has neither worsened nor improved since treatment began.

The benefit is intended to raise money for medical bills and the loss of work as a result of his diagnosis, Lewis said, adding that El Cerrito has donated a taco bar for the event.

“We’re going to have baskets to raffle off, we’re going to sell tickets, and we’ll have a bake sale,” Lewis said. “Whatever we can do for him will be wonderful.”

Lewis said she wants to support Gore.

“We want to be there one

hundred percent of the way, and do whatever we can to help them because we just love them,” Lewis said.

Lacie Brown, a friend of the family, said that she hopes the benefit raises awareness for Gore and Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

“It’s just so important to support him in every way that we can,” she said. “We’ve always thought of them as our family. We would like to

help them in any way that we could.”

Lewis said everyone stands beside and helps each other.

“We use the slogan ‘Blade’s fight is our fight’ and we don’t fight alone,” she said.

Underdogs throws weekly ladies’ night with ‘The Bachelor,’ cocktails

By Evalyn Homoelle Senior Reporter

Underdogs, a sports bar in Market House Supermarket, hosts a weekly ladies’ night event on Mondays at 8 p.m., featuring a “Bachelor” watch party and specialty cocktails.

Market House owner Brett Boyd said after football season ended, Mondays in Underdogs were relatively quiet, so his events coordinator suggested they host a weekly ladies’ night and stream “The Bachelor” episodes, which are released every Monday.

“It’s just been growing and growing,” Boyd said of the ladies’ night event. “The first week was decent, the second week was a lot better, and hopefully this week will be even better yet.”

Senior Sabrina Sherman attended the event at Underdogs with a group of friends and said she enjoyed the experience and is excited to go back.

Sherman said she prefers “The Bachelorette” to “The Bachelor,” but that she will continue to attend Monday ladies’ nights at Underdogs and would recommend the event to Hillsdale women.

“I plan on going next week and until the finale,” she said. “Supporting new local businesses is important and Underdogs did a good job catering to a female audience. There are huge TVs behind the bar to

watch the show, they lit up the lights under the bar with pink LEDs, and they had a specialized menu with drinks named after different people on the show.”

Senior Alexandra Gess also attended the event and said she appreciated the fun environment.

“I really liked going just to watch with other people who were also invested in the drama,” she said. “It made it more fun to watch because I could have conversations as everything unfolded.”

Gess said the friendly service at Underdogs gave the ladies’ night event a great personal touch.

“The bartenders were super attentive and personable and even engaged with us about the show, which was really nice,” she said.

College students and Hillsdale residents who are not 21 are also welcome to watch “The Bachelor” on Mondays. Boyd said Underdogs serves non-alcoholic specialty mocktails and offers sliders, steaks, and fresh-made sushi from its newly-opened kitchen.

Boyd said Monday ladies’ nights events will continue until the football season resumes, and said he plans to bring trivia and karaoke nights to Underdogs in the future.

While the event is catered toward women, quite a few female attendees brought their

boyfriends and husbands along for the fun, Sherman said.

“We didn’t bring any of our guys, but other girls there did drag their significant others,” she said. “One girl’s husband was the most into the show out of anyone there.”

Sherman said that watching “The Bachelor” presents a fun opportunity to interact with and analyze pop culture entertainment.

“I think engaging with highly secular media and entertainment in general is always interesting and a great opportunity to start a dialogue with your friends and family,” she said.

“Obviously you are not going to get your ideal Christ-centered marriage or contestants with perfect Aristotelian virtue out of this show, but Joey does seem generally like a nice guy who will love and commit to his wife well and who also has the prudence to properly identify which women are there for love and which are there for fame.”

Sherman said Monday ladies’ nights at Underdogs are especially appealing because attendees can grocery shop right after the event.

“I think the practicality of it is genius,” she said.

Hillsdale Craft Supply to host watercolor painting class Saturday

By Alessia Sandala Collegian Reporter

Hillsdale Craft Supply will host a beginner-level watercolor painting class taught by Cheyrl Thomas on March 9.

“We teach basic beginners and anyone can learn the techniques the way we teach them,” said Shelley Mangus, the owner of Hillsdale Craft Supply. “You don’t have to have any experience with watercolor at all. When you leave that first class, you will know all of the basics and be able to paint at home just by learning one thing.”

Mangus said the store makes it easy for people to learn new crafts.

“We are an art and craft supply store, we make ourselves available for anybody

to learn any craft they haven’t done before,” Mangus said. “Customers request what they want to learn to paint, so now we are doing birds.”

The painting for the upcoming class is a Chickadee and other birds will be chosen for future classes. “Our next bird will be either a robin or a cardinal,” Mangus said. Mangus said people have shown interest in the class and future classes. The class on March 9 is currently at capacity with eight students. “Anytime a class runs more than eight we will then add a second time slot on the same day or create another event a week or two later,” Mangus said.

Cheryl Thomas, the owner

of CA Thomas Art and teacher of the upcoming coming class, said eight is ideal for teaching a beginners painting class.

“Eight students gives me a chance to spend time with each person,” Thomas said. “It’s a nice number that sits around that table that I can work with.”

Thomas said she loves to see the joy of her students when they create a piece.

“I love seeing the people being in awe of what they produce. Most of them have never picked up a brush before,” Thomas said. “I believe art is for everyone and it’s just a matter of finding the right techniques that resonate with people.”

Thomas said watercolor painting differs from other

forms of painting. “You want to make sure that you don’t soak the paper too much with water because then you are just waiting the whole time for it to dry a little bit,” Thomas said. “Blending colors is also very important. It’s a process of layering the colors. It’s the opposite with pastels on animals where you start with the darkest and build up to the lightest color. With watercolor you start with your lightest and then add more and more color.”

Hillsdale Craft Supply will give students everything they need to paint a Chickadee with watercolors.

“We provide everything ––you just come in with a smile,” Mangus said.

County National Bank opens new office Theater to host St. Patrick’s Day bash

By

Besides housing the bank’s wealth management team, the new location offers drivethrough banking services, according to Amber Yoder, assistant vice president and community engagement officer.

“The actual drive-through there has been pretty busy because you can easily see it,” Yoder said. “We closed a drivethrough on Lewis Street, which is kind of a side street, so this one is much more visible.”

Tim Sullivan, 2nd vice president and trust officer, said the office is quieter and more private that some of his colleagues

Christopher Phillips, senior vice president and senior wealth management officer, works in the new office, which opened Dec. 4. “We’ve had lots of people stop in to see it, but our clients really love it,” Phillips said. “We’ve tried to make it very nice, and so it’s a comfortable setting, and people really are responding to the work that we did to make it feel high-end, but also comfortable at the same time.” He said the wealth management team used to be on the second floor of the main office, along with the commercial lending group, but they have the new office to themselves, and everything is on the first floor. He said the office is more accessible for the wealth management team’s clients, many of whom are older.

who previously worked in an open space now have private offices.

“The offices were designed to be very client-friendly with a little bit of extra space and nice seating and meeting tables,” Sullivan said. “We have a conference room that is very modern with computer hookups and high-quality zoom. So we can have conferences with clients and very productive and private meetings with clients.”

He said there are a lot of windows to let in natural light,

his personal favorite feature of the new space.

“The clients are comfortable and they really like visiting, and they like the client experience,” Sullivan said.

Yoder said the bank is always looking for new opportunities.

“I think it’s wonderful for us, and it shows that we definitely have a lot of community support,” Yoder said. “I foresee us just continuing to grow.”

By Lauren Bixler Collegian Freelancer

The Dawn Theater will host a St. Patrick’s Day bash March 16.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for full-bar service, according to Mary Wolfram, one of the event coordinators. Tickets to the concert include the after party from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. There will also be green beer, according to the event’s flier.

“The Founding,” a progressive folk band from Kalamazoo, will perform at 7:30 p.m.

The Friends of the Dawn Theater, a nonprofit created to aid in the restoration of the Dawn Theater, is hosting the event as an opportunity to raise funds needed to support the theater.

“The funds of this event will be used to raise money to restore a pipe organ that was built for the Dawn Theater in the 1900s,” said Gianna Green, general manager of the Dawn Theater. The event has much support.

“This engagement is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts,

with additional contributions from Hillsdale Renaissance, Woman’s Life Insurance Society Chapter 741, CL Real Estate Development and Hillsdale Brewing Company,” Wolfram said.

According to the GIG Fund’s website, it “is a grant of up to $4,000 that supports Midwestern organizations that want to contract with a professional artist to offer activities to their community.”

Wolfram said the grant, as well as Hillsdale Renaissance, a company owned by Luke Robson ’17, are key supporters of the event.

The Dawn Theater received the grant for bringing in The Founding to perform. Wolfram said she pitched the idea to bring in the band.

“Members of The Founding are all classically trained musicians in violin/fiddle, guitar, viola, cello, bass, mandolin or flute who met while they were students at Western Michigan University,” Wolfram said. Green said they want to host more events.

“We want to make the Dawn Theater the home of performing music arts,” Green said.

County National Bank has a

Courtesy | FaC ebook

Craft supply often hosts workshops. Courtesy | FaC ebook

Gore graduated in 2022. Courtesy | FaC ebook

Softball

Hillsdale wins three of four

By Ellie Fromm Collegian Reporter

The softball team won three of four games over the weekend at the University of Illinois Springfield, with junior Joni Russell breaking the Hillsdale strikeout record.

In a Saturday doubleheader, the Chargers defeated the University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars 7-6 and 10-0 consecutively. Sunday, they split games against the Quincy University Hawks, first losing 8-5, then winning 5-0. The Chargers’ overall record this season is 6-6.

The Prairie Stars knocked the Chargers out of the NCAA playoffs last year in a 5-0 shutout, so Saturday was validating for the Chargers, according to Coach Kyle Gross.

“We played pretty good against them last year but the difference this year was our hitting,” Gross said.

Russell said the team’s energy was high during these games against the Prairie Stars.

“From the start of the first game our bats were hot and the energy was high,” Russell said. “You could tell everyone on the team was genuinely excited to be there and playing.”

Sophomore Taylor Lewis, senior Hailey Holtman, senior McKenna Eichholz, junior Hannah Hoverman, senior Grace Wallner, freshman Sydney Davis, sophomore Emma Sather, sophomore Maggie Olaveson, and junior Emma Vis scored runs. Senior Erin

Kapteyn, junior Joni Russell, and sophomore Mackenzi Maxson pitched for the Chargers. Russell set a new career strikeout record for Hillsdale with 478 strikeouts. She is set to be the first pitcher for the Chargers to break 500 strikeouts this season and was named GMAC pitcher of the week. Russell is also the first Charger to receive the Wilson/ National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Co-Pitcher of the Week.

“It’s an amazing honor and super cool to be recognized on a national level,” Russell said.

Gross attributes the first-

game loss to the Hawks to Charger mistakes, which he believes the team fixed to win the second game.

“We made more defensive mistakes than we could overcome in that first game,” Gross said. “In the second game, we did what we needed to do to scratch across runs.”

Vis said defense improved in the second game.

“Our defense was better the second game, as was our hitting,” Vis said. “We just had a few more hits that we strung together [in the second game] so we were able to score more runs.”

During spring break the Chargers will travel to Florida and compete in four games. They are scheduled to play the Rollins College Tars, Florida Southern College Mocsies, Eckerd College Tritons, Slippery Rock University Lions, Purdue University Northwest Lions, Shepard University Rams, and Saint Anselm College Hawks throughout the week.

Gross said he looks forward to competing against Rollins and Purdue Northwest. He said he wants to see how the Chargers hold up against Rollins, a top 25 nationally ranked team.

The Chargers lost 2-0 to Purdue Northwest in February. Gross said he wants to even the score next week.

“We are hoping to avenge that loss [against Purdue Northwest] down in Florida,” Gross said.

Women's Tennis Chargers best Saginaw Valley at home

By Isabella Helms Collegian Reporter

The Hillsdale women’s tennis team split two regional matches this weekend, losing on the road to Wayne State University 6-1 March 1 but defeating Saginaw Valley State University 4-3 at home March 2.

“This weekend’s win against Saginaw Valley was great for the team since we lost last time we played them,” junior Elizabeth McGivern said. “It was a tough match and a fight down to the end.”

The Chargers lost all three doubles matches to Wayne State. Despite these early setbacks, junior Courtney Rittel earned Hillsdale’s only point in singles play. Rittel lost the first set, claimed the second set and managed a super-tiebreak in the third, for a final score of 1-6, 6-4, 10-7.

“Courtney clinched the match for us at the end, which was amazing after she and Ane had clinched the doubles point

earlier in the day,” McGivern said.

In their Saturday match against Saginaw Valley, the Chargers’ success hinged on notching the doubles point. The No. 2 duo, Rittel and freshman Ane Dannhauser, emerged victorious in a 7-6 win against the Cardinals. This win, paired with a 6-2 victory from the No. 3 doubles team of McGivern and senior Helana Formentin, handed Hillsdale a vital 1-0 advantage early on.

Key victories in singles came from senior Melanie Zampardo at No. 2 singles with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win, and McGivern who achieved a 6-3, 6-3 victory to complete an undefeated day.

“I was also pleased because I played the same opponent who I lost to last year but was able to come out on top this time,” Zampardo said.

At the No. 6 position, Rittel capped off the singles competitions with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over her opponent, finishing the day with a perfect 2-0 record.

Baseball

Chargers drop four games straight

By Cassandra DeVries Social Media Manager

In a three-day trip to Saint Louis, the baseball team lost to Maryville University and McKendree University on March 1, Missouri-St. Louis on March 2, and Maryville University again on March 3.

“It was pretty much just a rough weekend for us, but we definitely want to turn it around,” senior Joe Hardenbergh said. “We just need to come back and work hard in practice. We’re in a rut right now, but it’s alright; we’ll come back and turn it around.”

In the opening game, the Chargers lost 10-0 to host school Maryville. Hardenbergh hit a single in the first inning, junior Tommy MacLean pitched for Hillsdale, striking out one and walking one, and senior Devin Murray pitched two innings of relief, striking out one and walking two.

In their second game that night, Hillsdale lost 7-0 to McKendree but managed five hits.

Hardenbergh and junior Zak Kent hit doubles, and senior Danny Passinault stole two bases and earned three walks. Freshman pitcher Luke Miller

pitched for three innings, striking out four players and walking two. Senior Drew Olssen pitched almost five innings of relief, striking out six players and walking one.

“We didn't play too well in all three aspects of the game; hitting, pitching, and defense were off,” Hardenbergh said. “But that’s baseball. We're gonna work hard, and hopefully we can gain some traction going into conference play.”

In Saturday’s game, the Chargers led 13-4 in the fifth inning, but UMSL rallied and won the game on a walk-off double in the ninth inning in a 17-16 finish.

Hardenbergh and freshman Rocco Tenuta both hit tworun home runs and two more players made it home on a hit by Jeff Landis. Shannon, Passinault, and freshman Tyler Turner also led Hillsdale’s offense in batting.

Despite Hillsdale’s performance at the game’s start, UMSL returned in the sixth and seventh innings and took the lead after scoring 10 points.

Freshman Will Millard’s home run tied the game 14-14, and Hardenbergh hit a second home run, bringing the game to 1614 in favor of the Chargers.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, UMSL loaded the bases and hit a grand slam, winning the game.

In the Charger’s Sunday match, senior Jaekob Sallee hit an RBI single and brought Landis and Shannon home early on, but Maryville made seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to take an 8-2 lead.

Year Daly Skees pitched just over four innings, striking out three and walking two, and senior Chad Stevens pitched two innings of relief, striking out four. Seniors Paul Brophy and Brendan Pochmara also pitched for Hillsdale.

Freshman Aaron Jasiak and Hardenbergh both added a run in the seventh inning, but Maryville rallied in the eighth inning, bringing the game to 14-4.

“We played hard, but it didn’t go our way,” Sallee said. “There were a lot of learning moments this weekend and things we can build on going forward.”

The Chargers’ next series will be Pennsylvania with Indiana (PA) starting on Saturday, March 9.

“Playing against Saginaw Valley this weekend was a great representation of how we’ve grown as a team within the last year,” senior Julia Wagner said. “This was the first team we played last year and we lost to them 3-4.”

Amid the day’s highlights, McGivern said that one teammate’s performance stood out to her, in particular. “Another teammate I wanted to praise is Jules who was in a lot of pain,” McGivern said. “She was the last match out there with Courtney, but she slowed down her play and fought through her injury to come back so that Courtney didn’t have to face the stress of playing alone with all the attention on her; it really played a key role in helping us win.”

Hillsdale’s record now stands at 3-6 for the season. The team looks to build on these performances in matches against Nova Southeastern on March 11, and Palm Beach Atlantic on March 13 in Florida.

By Carly Moran Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale College shotgun team overcame multiple trials at the Association of College Unions International/Scholastic Clay Target Program Missouri Regional, placing second highest overall. The last tournament before nationals took place from March 1-3 in Columbia, Missouri, where the team finished just behind rival Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Missouri. Despite facility troubles, strong winds, and two Hillsdale athletes competing for Team USA in the Dominican Republic, the Chargers still pulled through.

“I don't really feel like that has a demoralizing effect on us,” head coach Jordan Hintz said. “I actually think that as a whole I really don't feel like we shot poorly given the circumstances. People were a little frustrated with some issues at the time, but I feel like once everything is said and done, everyone has a pretty good attitude about it.”

The team as a whole earned 2123/2250 potential points, with freshman Madeline Corbin winning second women’s HOA (404/450), freshman Ava Downs third women’s HOA (398/450) and junior Josh Corbin winning third men’s HOA (428/450).

“This ACUI regionals was an improvement on last year,” sophomore Leif Andersen said. “My skeet shooting and sporting shooting has im -

proved drastically. I left some on the table this past weekend though, and I know I can shoot better scores.”

The team placed second in doubles skeet with an overall score of 242/250. Junior Kyle Fleck placed second in the men’s category with a score of 50/50. Madeline Corbin placed second in women’s with a 48/50, while Downs closely followed with a 47/50.

“I left some on the table this past weekend though, and I know I can shoot better scores."

The team placed second in doubles trap with a 231/250, and senior Jessica Strasser took second in the women’s category with a 45/50.

The team also placed second in skeet with a score of 490/500. Madeline Corbin placed third in the women’s division with a 98/100.

“To prepare for the end of the season, we have practiced three times a week,” Andersen said. “We have traveled to multiple regional shoots to compete and get experience under our belts. Over spring break, we will shoot 250 shells a day during practice.”

Some members of the team are already driving southwest to Tucson, Arizona, where the USA Shooting Olympic Trials will take place from March 11-17. If they score high enough, it will earn them a place with Team USA in Paris 2024, putting Hillsdale College athletes in the Olympics.

Following Olympic Trials, the team will then travel eastward to San Antonio, Texas, to finish the season at the ACUI/SCTP Nationals. Last year, the team placed fifth highest overall.

In sporting clays, the Chargers took second again with a 456/500. Strasser placed first in women’s with an 87/100, while Josh Corbin earned second in men’s with a 94/100. The team placed third overall in trap, with a collective score of 486/500. The Chargers took third in super sporting, with a 218/250. Madeline Corbin won second in women’s with a 42/50, while Downs took third with a 40/50.

Senior Joe Hardenburg hit two home runs against Missouri-St. Louis. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Sophomore Mackenzi Maxson has nine strikeouts this season. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Freshman Sydney Davis had three hits vs. Illinois-Springfield. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Opinion

Football announces new recruiting class

By Nathan Furness Collegian Freelancer

The Hillsdale College football team has recruited three transfer players, including a quarterback, to add to its Team 132 recruiting class.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Cole Canter, sophomore offensive lineman Hudson Jones, and sophomore defensive back Jonah Jensen arrived on Hillsdale’s campus for the spring term and are already practicing with the team. They will play their first games for the Chargers in the fall.

“I thought the football staff did an excellent job identifying and recruiting a class full of great student-athletes,” football head coach Nate Shreffler said. “I can honestly say that I am thrilled with this recruiting class.”

After taking snaps at Wayne State University, Canter hit the transfer portal.

“I was looking for a place that would give me an opportunity to come in and compete,” Canter said.

Throughout the recruiting process, Canter said he thought things went smoothly despite him being a transfer.

and our coaches so they can figure out if we are a good fit for them as well,” Shreffler said.

Jones transferred from Western Carolina, a Division I school. He said many schools tried to recruit him.

“The college is academically prestigious and they don’t have a problem teaching the truth,” Jones said. “I prioritized that in my choice.”

“I am extremely excited to build relationships with my teammates and coaches and bring a G-MAC championship back to Hillsdale," Canter said. Shreffler said beyond athletics, the new transfers fit well with the college.

“Our recruiting process gives the prospects time to learn about Hillsdale, our program,

“When I hit the portal I got a lot of attention but I had applied to Hillsdale ahead of time and the interest for me to play here was mutual,” Jones said. “I had quite a few good options but Hillsdale was just different.”

“Each one of our 2024 committed student-athletes fits our culture, both on and off the field."

Jones said he thinks the football team will be a much better fit for him. Off the field, he loves the values Hillsdale stands for in its academics.

Jones hopes to be successful on the gridiron and in the classroom in his time here. He said he wants to bring a championship to the Chargers and later pursue his dream of attending law school.

Jensen transferred from The Air Force Academy where he played defensive back. He will look to make an impact immediately onto a Shreffler said he thinks the transfers will make a huge impact on their culture.

“Each one of our 2024 committed student-athletes fits our culture, both on and off the field, and they are outstanding additions to Team 132,” Shreffler said.

Club Rugby Rugby starts spring season with trip to Ohio

By Luke Waters Collegian Freelancer

After winning the Men’s National Collegiate Rugby Midwest Small College Championship 62-12 in their first semester in the league, the Hillsdale College Club Rugby team is back in the full swing of things in the Allegheny Rugby Union.

In a recent friendly tournament at John Carroll, Hillsdale encountered challenges with several new players and some regulars missing due to Parents Weekend. Despite losing all three games, players said they gained experience with seven-player rugby after competing with 15 players in past matches.

"In fifteens, you have 80 minutes of play, but in sevens, it's a 14-minute game with two seven-minute halves, making it a much faster and more intense experience," Sophomore Elijah Pangrazio said. Heading into the current season, the team faces the challenge of a smaller player pool.

"We have about 12 core guys showing strong interest. It's a busy time, and people

have harder classes," junior Connor Khoury said.

The selection process for sevens focuses on performance in practice, with the coach assessing attributes like

Meyers said the team exhibited resilience through three back-to-back high-intensity 15-minute matches.

"When you play sevens in tournaments, it's a lot differ-

“When I look around the field, I feel like I'm playing a barbarian sport with barbarians."

speed and agility. "Deciding who goes is about looking at speed, who's working the hardest in practice. It's performance in practice to get game time," Pangrazio said.

Junior winger Israel Meyers said the team faced multiple challenges during the sevens rugby tournament, including dwindling numbers. "We had a tough road to head down,” Meyers said. “We were down a lot of players because of our Parents Weekend. So the deck of cards is already stacked against us."

Who is your dad’s favorite son? Not me.

What's the best thing $100 can buy?

Peanut butter.

What is it like to be stung by a bee?

Ouch. Not very fun. Not a good time, one might say.

Lord of the Rings or Narnia?

Lord of the Rings, not even close.

ent than if we had every weekend like three losses in a row,” Meyers said. “Playing fifteens, these are 15-minute matches, quick little snapshots on something that we're just getting into the groove of, and we're expecting better results in these upcoming tournaments, given the fact that we'll be playing with our full side."

Pangrazio said the team’s new coach, Chuck Hickey, is taking over for Robert Brandau, who coached the team for the past 2 semesters.

"It's a completely student-run club. We had an election, and it was like, 'Okay, I

want Chuck,' and that was it," Pangrazio said.

Despite the recent tournament losses, Pangrazio said he is confident in the team's potential, especially as they have more time to develop skills, conditioning, and teamwork.

"We have a lot to work on. We've been practicing maybe a month this semester, and for some guys, this is the first three months of rugby they've ever played in their life," Pangrazio said.

Khoury said the camaraderie and sportsmanship in rugby is unique.

"It's a much more gentlemanly sport," Khoury said. Meyers said Winston Churchill accurately described rugby culture by calling it as a “barbarians’ sport played by gentlemen.”

“We've got a team with such incredible grit and chutzpah that sometimes when I look around the field, I feel like I'm playing a barbarian sport with barbarians,” Meyers said.

Deimel: One team that has been consistently overrated this year has been the University of Arizona Wildcats, who are currently ranked fifth in the AP Top 25 poll. Although the Wildcats are in first place in the PAC-12 standings, they have competed in a conference that features only one other top 25 team, and is only 3-3 against ranked teams this season.

Deimel: On the opposite side, this year’s most underrated team has been the Creighton University Bluejays. Head Coach Doug McDermott’s squad currently sits at 10th in the AP poll with a 22-8 record, recently knocking off conference rivals Marquette and UConn, who are also top 10 teams. Creighton finds themselves just behind the UConn Huskies, who they just beat, in scoring, point differential, and allows only 69.5 points per game in arguably the most competitive conference in NCAA basketball.

Scherer: Purdue and success in March Madness seem to be diametrically opposed. In the last three years, the Boilermakers have become the laughing stock of postseason basketball after losing to 13th, 15th, and 16th-seeded teams. They were only the second team to ever lose to a 16th seed. Despite running a top-10 offense, Purdue’s defensive vulnerability has occasionally been exposed.

Scherer: McNeese State, a mid-major program from Louisiana, is a dark horse. The Cowboys went from a 11-23 record last year to having the best season in program history, with a top-4 defense and top-50 offense. Maintaining the highest scoring margin, the third-highest turnover margin, and a top-10 three point percentage in DI basketball, the Cowboys have the makings for a Cinderella story as long as they can win the Southland Conference.

Who Wins?

Deimel: Going into their final game of the regular season, the Tar Heels are 23-6 and are ranked seventh in the nation. Senior forward Armando Bacot has led the Atlantic Coast Conference in rebounds, while senior point guard R.J Davis leads the conference in scoring, and is ninth overall with 21.5 points per game. Davis is also favored to be runner-up for the prestigious “Wooden Award”, given to the most valuable player in college basketball each year.

Scherer: Let’s acknowledge the threat of a UConn repeat. After blazing through the tournament last year with an average margin of victory of 20 points, UConn looks to reclaim its title. After losing stars Jordan Hawkins and Adama Sanogo to the NBA, the Huskies brought in a top-six recruiting class to play under the leadership of Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer. UConn has the talent, experience, and gritty defense to do what it takes to win another title.

Can you defend pecan pie?

I would rather eat a squash.

What would be your first action as a submarine commander?

“Let’s see if we can touch the bottom.”

What is the highest elevation you have run at?

Probably in Greece, in the mountains of Nathpilon.

What does the name "Emil" mean?

I think it’s Latin in origin. It means “to strive.”

Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Charger Sports Men's

knocked from tournament in first round

Swimming and

By Alex Deimel Assistant Editor

After avenging a prior loss to the University of Findlay Oilers last Thursday, the men’s basketball team came up short in their first game in the G-MAC tournament to the Thomas More University Saints 72-71, ending any hopes at a G-MAC title.

Going into halftime, the Chargers found themselves down 40-23, only making nine of their 23 total shot attempts as a team. Hillsdale would begin a comeback in the second half that just fell short, out-scoring the Saints 48-32, making 21 of their 33 field goal attempts.

With 41 seconds to go in the game, senior guard Charles Woodhams hit a crucial three-point shot to cut a 6-point deficit to 3. Now leading 71-68, Thomas More hit one free throw before missing the second, allowing freshman guard Mikey McCollum to hit another three-pointer cutting the Saints lead to only one, but the 0.2 seconds left on the clock was not enough to com-

plete a comeback.

“This is a huge learning experience for us,” sophomore C.J Yarian said. “Obviously this isn’t the outcome we

rebounds and one assist in 16 minutes of play.

Additionally, junior forward Joe Reuter finished his first year as team captain with

“I’m so incredibly grateful that all 10 guys returned, and all five of our freshmen remained committed.”

wanted, but it’s good to look into the future to see that we return to the same team and can carry that forward with more confidence that we had before.”

Woodhams finished with 18 points of his own, as well as seven rebounds and three steals. McCollum finished with eight points, and two rebounds, while freshman forward Caleb Glaser scored in the double-digits with 11 for the third time this season. Off of the bench, Glaser had four

eight points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. After hitting the 1,000 point mark two weeks ago, Reuter finished the season with 420 points, and currently sits at 40th in the alltime Hillsdale points list with 1,018.

Assuming this is the end of their season, the men’s basketball team finished the year with an 18-10 overall record and a 13-7 G-MAC record under first-year head coach Keven Bradley. The Chargers were 12-2 on their home

court, while finishing 6-8 in away games. In a defensively dominant year, the Chargers allowed a mere 63.9 points per game, second only to the Walsh University Cavaliers in the G-MAC.

“Obviously, Coach [Bradley] isn’t new to the program, so he knows and we know the standards that we have for each other and what we hold ourselves to,” Reuter said in January.

If the Chargers are not selected to compete in the NCAA Division II tournament this year during the selection show this Sunday, they will return 14 of their 15 players next season. Only graduating one senior, guard Samuel Vasiu, will leave Bradley’s squad for the 2024-25 season.

“When coach Tharp announced that I would be replacing him, there was always a moment of uncertainty about how players would react. I’m so incredibly grateful that all 10 guys returned and all five of our freshmen remained committed,” Bradley said in a January interview.

Chargers out of G-MAC tournament after loss to Thomas More Women's Basketball Home victories over Findlay, Ursuline cap winning season

By Moira Gleason Assistant Editor

After finishing with its best conference record in 15 years, the fifth-seed women’s basketball team fell to fourth-seed Thomas More University 50-41 Tuesday night in the G-MAC Quarterfinal.

The Chargers end the season with a record of 17-12 overall and 13-7 in the G-MAC after back-to-back wins at home last weekend, defeating the University of Findlay 71-63 on Feb. 29 and Ursuline College 85-56 on March 2. Hillsdale tied for fourth place in the G-MAC regular season standings, making their second tournament appearance since 2008-2009.

“Making the G-MAC tournament two years in a row shows how unified our team is,” junior guard Kendall McCormick said. “We are all so close on and off the court and can push each other on the court while also being best friends off. Our coaching staff this year also really pushed us out of our comfort zones to become leaders and great teammates.”

Senior Sydney Mills earned G-MAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for her performance in the final games of the regular season. Mills led Hillsdale with 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocks against Findlay and recorded 19 points and eight rebounds against Ursuline. It’s her second time earning the award this season and the fifth

time during her career.

The Chargers outscored Thomas More 12-5 in the first quarter and traded the lead as late as 8:23 in the fourth quarter. They couldn’t get the edge as Thomas More scored on four consecutive possessions in the final minutes to pull away.

Hillsdale’s defense held Thomas More to a 31.4% shooting percentage and only allowed 4 three-point baskets out of the Saint’s 23 attempts.

“Our defensive energy was great the whole game,” McCormick said. “They made some tough shots, while we struggled to make shots on the offensive end.”

Junior point guard Lauren McDonald led the Chargers with nine points and eight rebounds in the contest. Mills added seven points, eight rebounds, and two assists. Junior guard Caitlin Splain chipped in seven points as well.

Redshirt freshman Sydney Pnacek and freshman Annalise Pietrzyk hit buzzer-beater 3-pointers as Hillsdale avenged their previous loss in a dominant offensive performance against Findlay on Thursday.

The team was eager to beat Findlay after losing to the team five days prior, according to Splain.

“I think that we had an extra chip on our shoulder the second time we played them, and it really showed defensively,” Splain said. “Most of our changes were to step up on the defensive end

our offense. The two buzzer beaters definitely gave us momentum during the game. It kept our energy at a high going into the breaks.”

Hillsdale took a nine-point lead into the half and then pulled away by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, answering every attempt by Findlay to make a comeback in the fourth.

Brennan said the team did well with shot selection and sharing the ball as the Chargers shot 50% from the floor and made eight 3-pointers in the contest.

Mills just missed a double-double with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds in addition to three assists and two blocks. McDonald added 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals, and McCormick also chipped in 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists.

Hillsdale opened the Ursuline contest strong, scoring 51 points and making nine 3-pointers in the first half to take a 28-point lead into the break.

“From the tip, we had the confidence that we were going to win that game,” Splain said. “Coming off our Findlay game, our defense was in a good spot, and we used that to fuel our offense. Getting steals and stops defensively takes the life out of the other team and allows us to take advantage of that offensively.”

Despite a push from Ur-

suline in the second half, the Chargers continued to dominate offensively for the entire contest, shooting 56.7% from the field and 50% from deep with 12 made 3-pointers.

“I was grateful they came and started the second half with a full head of steam,” Brennan said. “It gave us a chance to refocus and say ‘what can we control right now and how can we help us gain the momentum back.”

On the other end of the floor, the Chargers held Ursuline to a 36.2% shooting percentage and only 21.4% from deep.

Five players scored in double digits for the Chargers. Mills and freshman Savannah Smith tied to lead the team with 18-points and three made 3-pointers each, a career high for Smith. McDonald added 14 points, three assists, and four steals. Junior Ashley Konkle and Splain each chipped in 10 points.

“I think our team this year was the ultimate example of perseverance,” McCormick said. “We were faced with a lot of adversity including many injuries, new coaches, and adjusting from losing some key players last year. Everyone was ready to step up at all times and do whatever the team needed.

Next year will definitely be an adjustment losing Sydney, but I am hopeful we can make another tournament run. We are a pretty young team, so I am excited to see all of the success we will have next year.”

Junior Kendra McCormick had 13 points against Findlay. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Junior Samuel Vasiu grabbed six rebounds against Findlay. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

C U L T U R E

Homemade meals: building community through food

By Adriana Azarian Collegian Reporter

With the convenience of a cafeteria and grab-and-go meals, homemade meals are rare for many college students. Yet some still make time to prepare and enjoy meals with friends in their dorms and houses.

Junior Mary Elizabeth “Daisy” Jordan said she recalls cooking for her family before she was old enough to talk. Now, she and her brother, senior John Jordan, host dinners every week at John’s on-campus house.

“The nutritional content of the food is generally better for you if you make it at home,” Daisy said. “But it is also nourishing for the soul to know somebody cared enough to make it for you.”

Daisy said homemade meals are wholesome for the body, mind, and soul as attendees must be selfless and ensure there is enough food for everyone.

Junior Brian Knewtson, who regularly attends the Jordan siblings’ dinners, said the homey atmosphere brings people closer. “There is something about being in a home and having a meal, even if it’s still an

on-campus house,” Knewtson said. “I remember wishing people happy birthdays and having some very important conversations with my friends at dinner.”

Sophomore Mary Boudreaux said she helps make Sunday brunches at her house throughout the semester. Her family and Louisianian heritage taught her the importance of food and hospitality, she said.

“My mom has been hosting events in our community for as long as I can remember, and she always has such a gift for making others feel loved and appreciated through them,” Boudreaux said. “It’s been really special for me to carry on my family’s tradition here at Hillsdale.”

Boudreaux said she prepares and serves foods like lasagnas, breakfast casseroles, and desserts in large pans with sides of fruit and bagels to feed large crowds.

“We’ve definitely perfected our methods since we first started,” Boudreaux said. “We’ve also been figuring out different helpful tricks for keeping down costs or finding substitutes for more obscure ingredients.”

According to Boudreaux, flexibility, creativity, and shopping cost-effectively are necessary life skills.

Sophomore Clare Horvath helped host Sunday dinners at her dorm last semester to foster a welcoming community.

“I remember the first week we had a couple of girls, and then the next week they

brought their friends, and more and more people came over,” Horvath said. “Everyone was always happy to do dishes and chip in for food, which was really cool.”

Horvath said she prepared her dishes using simple ingredients from the store. Her favorite meal to prepare was egg roll bowls for dinner with fried apples for dessert, she said.

“It’s easier to cook a meal for people than I thought. If there’s a recipe, it’s not that hard to figure it out.”

“It’s easier to cook a meal for people than I thought,” she said. “If there’s a recipe, it’s not that hard to figure it out.”

Jordan said homemade meals are not about perfection but building genuine community.

“Don’t be afraid of cooking,” Jordan said. “I think a lot of people are nervous to make bad food, but taste as you go and try to figure out what you and people like. Just do it.”

‘Dune: Part Two’ shines amid Hollywood decline

By Ty Ruddy Collegian Reporter

Directors considered Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel “Dune” unadaptable, but amidst Hollywood’s creative decline, Dennis Villenueve delivered a triumphant masterpiece.

Villeneuve’s 2024 “Dune: Part Two” far outperforms any recent movie of its kind for its visual quality and imaginative fervor.

The film follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) on his quest to avenge his father and his bloodline against House Harkonen and the puppeteering Emperor of the Known Universe. Atreides must assimilate with the Fremen, natives of the planet Arrakis, and convince them he is the long awaited Lisan al-Gaib, the Voice From the Outer World. Nephew and heir to House Harkonen, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), deals with the Emperor to gain control of Spice, the valuable

substance that controls intergalactic travel.

On their side are the Bene Gesserit, a race of witches who have overseen the installation of Lian al-Gaib and who doctor bloodlines to maintain power of the great houses. The vicious heir to Harkonnen stands in Paul’s path as he seeks to become Lisan al-Gaib and restore the desert of Arrakis to paradise.

The most immediate and striking quality of “Dune: Part Two” is its visual sublimity. Arrakis’s eclipses and seas of sand radiate reds and golds. In the Emperor’s secure paradise, spring greens and a budding rainbow of flowers frame every shot. And in the Harkonen arena, where the vicious Feyd-Rautha proves the worthy successor to his uncle’s throne, the screen turns a sheer black and white, inspiring a shock of blunt horror. But color is only part of the spectacle. Villeneuve does not shy away from scale. Audiences will enter the theater to see

an intergalactic adventure and they will leave having seen worlds (and worms) larger than they could have imagined. Every penny of the budget finds its way to the screen: from the sprawling desert of Arrakis to the titanic ship of the emperor, to the spice harvesters and the cathedral of the Bene Gesserit.

The plot jumps across the universe from scene to scene, and the audience finds poetry in motion on every planet.

The acting matches the visual standard. With a cast combining some of the most recognizable Hollywood names, it comes as no surprise that the performances are some of the most compelling audiences will see this year.

From scene one to the finale, Chalamet and Zendaya, who plays Chani, travel across the barren desert together, displaying harmony and synchronization. With a mighty crescendo, Chalamet plays the part of ethnic outsider to ambitious religious warrior.

Austin Butler appears as Feyd-Rautha, marking a sharp diversion from his breakout performance in “Elvis.”

Rebecca Ferguson acts as the powerful, protective, and scheming Lady Jessica, Reverend Mother of the Fremen. Javier Bardem delivers a passionate performance of religious devotion as Stilgar, and Stellan Skarsgard chills as the ominous Baron Vladimir Harknonen. Florence Pugh and Dave Bautista play to the strengths and weaknesses of their characters with limited screen time.

Hans Zimmer completes the piece with an ancient and horrific sounding score, a soundtrack no less masterful than his “Interstellar” and “The Prince of Egypt” scores. Thanks to Zimmer’s symphony from distant planets, the world of “Dune” swallows its audiences, leaving them dazzled by landscape and soundscape alike.

Some Hillsdale College students make homemade meals with their friends. Courtesy | Daisy Jordan

Senior John Jordan prepares dinner for friends. Courtesy | Daisy Jordan

Junior Daisy Jordan said cooking a meal is easier than she thought when there’s a recipe. Courtesy | Daisy Jordan

Top Hollywood celebrities like Austin Butler, Timothee Chalamet, and Zendaya star in “Dune: Part Two.” Courtesy | IMDB

Sophomores Alba Isabel Blanco Padron (left) and Mary Boudreaux (right) make Sunday brunches throughout the semester. Courtesy | Mary Boudreaux

Here comes the sun: Hillsdale students discuss their morning routines

By Megan Li Collegian Reporter

When many Hillsdale students walk out the door in the morning, they’ve done more

than roll out of bed and brush their teeth. They’ve lived their morning routine: a set of practices intentionally designed to set the tone of the day to come.

Junior Joanna Leckband,

head resident assistant of McIntyre Residence, said she is a morning person.

“I operate by the principle that a good morning routine depends on a good nighttime routine,” Leckband said. “Because I did all the things the night before, I have time to actually sit down and eat breakfast in my room, or in Saga depending on the day, and read the Bible, which is a great way to start your day.”

Leckband said she makes sure all her dishes are washed, her backpack is packed, and her clothing options for the day are all laid out the night before.

“I like to be prepared,” Leckband said. “I’ll make my coffee, and then I’ll text my mom ‘good morning’ and walk out the door.”

Leckband said she doesn’t have a set time she wakes up at but rather focuses on getting seven to seven and half hours of sleep every night.

“I always make sure I get enough sleep because otherwise I actually have a really bad day,” Leckband said. “If I get up really early, then I have more time to maybe do homework or do some extra reading or listen to more of a podcast. But if I really need to sleep, then I’m just going to sleep in and be a little bit more rushed getting ready.”

Sophomore Charlie Cheng said his morning routine varies based on his class schedule. On

the days he has 8 a.m. classes, he wakes up around seven, gets ready, and goes straight to class.

“Obviously, it’s difficult to get away from my bed when it’s so cozy and warm,” Cheng said. “What I do is lay there for a few minutes, think of the possible things to look forward to: the people I’m going to meet, my classes I like — just the fun things I really look forward to that make me feel excited. And then oftentimes, I’d maybe say a small prayer to thank God for a good night’s sleep and pray for a good day ahead.”

Cheng said he uses his phone to expose his eyes to a stronger light in order to wake himself up more forcefully before heading to class, after which he eats breakfast.

Cheng said he admires those with coordinated morning schedules.

“I’m not a hugely organized person,” Cheng said. “It’s kind of like ‘Lord, why do I have to do this?’”

When Cheng first came to Hillsdale, he said the excitement of being at the college kept him up later than his current bedtime.

“Right now, I do feel like as it gets later in the night, I really cannot do anything efficiently,” Cheng said. “It forces me to pay more attention to my schedule so that I can finish stuff at some other time of the day.”

Freshman Rhys Woodard, who is a track and field athlete, said his morning routine hinges on whether he has morning practice that day.

“Usually, when I’m running in the mornings, I like to be awake at least 45 minutes before my run,” Woodard said. “So I usually wake up around 6-6:15. I read my Bible, get ready for practice and get over to practice by about 6:55, and then practice will usually go until about 8:30 or 9:00.”

Woodard said he normally returns to his dorm to shower and then eat breakfast. He goes straight to breakfast with his teammates if practice runs late. He said his 7:45 a.m. math class last semester — on the days he didn’t have morning practice — made his morning routine more hurried.

“I like that I’m able to take my mornings a little more on the leisurely side at Hillsdale except for morning practice days,” Woodard said. “They keep me disciplined, and they make sure I get to bed at a decent time.”

For senior Laura Rein, who lives off-campus with five housemates, her morning routine depends on when she wakes up, but a few things stay consistent. Rein uses an alarm clock (she keeps her phone downstairs), and right after she wakes up, before she opens her eyes, Rein says something she

is grateful for.

“I definitely closely link gratitude and prayer,” Rein said. “Even if I’m not sitting down to read the Bible in the morning, I know I’m still doing stuff.”

Rein said she always brushes her teeth and makes her bed, and after changing out of her pajamas, she likes to sit still and read parts of the Bible, which she sometimes has to do while walking if she is running late.

“Sometimes, if I’m really stressed, I wake up early,” Rein said. “And sometimes if I’m really stressed I wake up late. It totally depends.”

Rein reflected on changes she made to her morning routine over the years.

“Freshman year Laura did not actually have a routine,” Rein said. “The record for waking up and getting out of the dorm was probably two minutes and thirty seconds or something like that.”

Rein said her bedtime routine has gotten more consistent as well.

“This is literally the first year of routine because there’s a lot to learn in college outside the classroom,” Rein said.

Rein says her routine establishes the right tone for the day ahead.

“That’s part of why it helps me set my thoughts straight before I face the day, regardless of whether I’m excited to do that,” Rein said.

Athletes and ancient tongues: Hillsdale students are a peculiar bunch

By Caroline Kurt Assistant Editor

Flat caps, denominationally-based friend groups, and conversational Latin: The eccentricities of Hillsdale College students are many.

When freshmen arrive to Hillsdale each fall, they soon learn to recognize the peculiarities present across campus. The wide range of students also stood out to sophomore Joshua Mistry when he transferred to Hillsdale.

“The homeschool students, depending on how sheltered they were, sometimes they’re dressing like it’s the ’20s with the Newsies caps and a four piece suit,” Mistry said. “And then they’re sitting next to a football player in sweats and a hoodie in Great Books reading the ‘Odyssey.’ It’s hilarious to see that.”

According to sophomores Catherine Graham and Aidan Christian, some adopt a retro style. Christian listed unconventional items he’s seen peers wear: flat caps, dog tags, watch chains, and rings. “Men dress like their grandfathers and women dress like their mothers,” Graham said. Sophomore Aidan Christian agreed. “My grandfather wore this outfit yesterday,” Christian said jokingly. “I come by it honestly.” Junior Madeline Scheve found that Hillsdale students often make assumptions about people with piercings or tattoos.

“Like, if you have more than one piercing, then you’re probably a socialist,” Scheve said. Graham said the same assumptions go for blue hair.

“If you dye your hair, you’re a communist,” Graham said. Hillsdale’s Core and liberal arts environment creates

opportunities for students to study a wide range of disciplines. Sometimes, according to Graham, the combination is comical.

“People have weird major-minor dualities,” Graham said. “People study totally unrelated things, and then get a job that has nothing to do with either of them. It’s a great thing. It’s just unique.”

The small-school environment also means Hillsdale students tend to know their peers and professors well — perhaps too well, Graham said.

“People create cult followings of specific professors,” Graham said. “I feel like that’s not normal.”

According to Graham and Christian, Hillsdale students don’t think philosophy belongs only in the classroom.

“People think deeply and have philosophical reasoning for everything that they do,”

Graham said. “People are overly intentional about everything.”

“They have a thoughtthrough justification for having fun on a weekend. I hear that stuff all the time,” Christian said. “Not a single person cares.”

Scheve said this hyper-intentionality also seeps into Hillsdale’s dating world.

“People talk about dating culture every day and never actually do anything to change anything,” Scheve said.

According to Scheve, Hillsdale’s small size means many students talk about the couples on campus, whether spotted in a booth at Saga or strolling across the Quad.

Mistry said he was surprised by how scholarly Hillsdale students were compared to Texas A&M, where many of his friends went.

“The balance of academics and sports is very different

here,” Mistry said. “There’s other things to do on the weekends that are much more focused on the academic side of the school.”

According to Scheve, Hillsdale students adopt odd academic interests.

“We read a lot of weird books,” Scheve said.

Graham pointed out how many students speak ancient languages — something unheard-of at many universities.

“People learn ancient Greek, and it’s not frowned upon at all,” Graham said.

While many students take their studies seriously, Scheve said that few seem worried about their future salaries.

“There’s an overall lack of concern for money,” Scheve said.

Graham said that because many of her female peers anticipate getting married and raising children, they take a

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different approach to their professional life.

“It’s like universally agreed upon that if you’re female, you only have to have a career if you want one,” Graham said.

Hillsdale’s religious culture stood out to Scheve.

“Students wear a sweatshirt that openly declares your denomination,” Scheve said. “That’s kind of weird.” Teder said he came into contact with a wider variety of Christian groups when he came to Hillsdale.

“I did not know there were American Anglicans until I came here,” Teder said.

According to Graham, the Honor Code creates problems for her when she leaves Hillsdale.

“I have to remember when I’m not at Hillsdale that I can’t just leave my stuff around,” Graham said. “Airports are very difficult for me.”

Sophomore Charlie Cheng (right) said thinking about the people he will meet that day motivates him to get out of bed. Courtesy | Charlie Cheng

Juniors Joanna Leckband (left) and Michaela Estruth (right) pose for a picture before the homecoming parade this fall. Courtesy | Joanna Leckband

FEATURES

Ava Ramuni: the newest Olds mom

By Lauren Bixler Collegian Reporter

When freshmen women flooded into the Olds Residence parking lot in August, many new faces greeted them. Among them was Ava Ramuni. Ramuni, or as the women of Olds call her, Mama A, began her first year as Olds house director this fall.

Ellenor Scarbrough, a transfer freshman, said Ramuni has been a great help, especially at the beginning of this semester.

“I haven’t known Mama A for a long time, but in early February when I got really sick, she was the sweetest and checked in on me to make sure I was OK,” Scarbrough said. “She also brought me warm soup and a hot water bottle.”

Making Olds a home, Ramuni cooks in the kitchen and shares samples with the residents. When not cooking, she works on various craft projects. For Christmas, she made nearly 80 cross bookmarks with a message on each one for every Olds resident.

During fall break, when most students were home for the weekend, Ramuni provided popcorn treat bags and charcuterie for the residents who stayed on campus.

“Being a Christian, I hope that in whatever way I can be God’s arms extended — that is my desire,” Ramuni said, “Just being a servant to me is rewarding enough, and I have that kind of heart. Whether it’s putting a thermometer in their mouth when they’re sick, giving them some tylenol, taking them to the clinic or the hospital, feeding them, cooking them something, that’s just who I am.”

Olyvia Oeverman, sophomore and resident assistant in Olds, said Ramuni has had an impact on the dorm community.

“Her life is so different from ours at Hillsdale,” Oeverman said. “She patiently waits until we need her, and is always ready and willing to help. I love her willingness to serve, and that is something we can gloss over as college students.”

Originally born near Detroit, Ramuni has always been connected to the Hillsdale area.

“I started out in Hillsdale in 1996 and lived here outside of town a little ways. I worked with Dr. Robert Schafer at Baw Beese Orthopedic Sports Medicine until the practice moved on,” Ramuni said. “Once I lost the job, I decided to visit relatives in

Tennessee for a while, but felt very comfortable there and stayed nearly 20 years.”

During her time in Tennessee, Ramuni suffered the loss of immediate family members, leading her back to the Midwest.

“So having just one sister left of my immediate family, and my son and two grandsons living in Fort Wayne, Indiana, through much prayer and seeking God, I asked him to direct my steps and give me an open door,” Ramuni said, “And I believe that’s exactly what he did here at Hillsdale College.”

Through Debbie Showler, the house director for Pi Beta Phi sorority, Ramuni connected with the Olds Residence house director last spring.

“I have known Ava for over 20 years. Her sister is a good friend of mine. If you go visit Ava, you will most likely leave with a homemade treat or craft that Ava has made,” Showler said. “I knew that Ava would be a natural in the role of house mom.”

Desiring to be near her family, Ramuni said she was waiting for a door like this to direct her back to the Midwest.

“I believe nothing happens by accident. I think that God allows you to come in contact with people through people,” Ramuni said.

Ramuni said she was unsure of her ability to succeed in the role. Having lived alone for 20 years, she questioned how she would adjust to living with such a large number of women under the same roof.

“Even though I was unsure of myself and didn’t know what I was facing, I just felt peace, confirming to my soul and spirit that I was where I needed to be,” she said.

Oeverman said Ramuni has carried her posture of peace into Olds.

“She slows life down and finds so much joy in the little things, especially in serving others,” Oeverman said.

Ramuni said she would love to serve as house director for as long as she can.

Ramuni’s advice for young people is to follow Proverbs 4:23.

“This is my quote to all young people on campus, boys, girls, it doesn’t matter,” Ramuni said. “‘Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.’”

Club freezes for a reason

By Anna Broussard Collegian Reporter

In the dark morning hours, there is nothing less appealing than clamoring into the freezing waters of Baw Beese — but that’s exactly what 12 students do on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“It is the physical reminders of the spiritual realities we’re in that we’re fighting,” freshman president of Areté Luke Waters said.

In the water, the students begin a five minute timer, sing a sea shanty of Psalm 136, and face the mental challenge of freezing temperature burning skin. They then rush off to 8 a.m. classes with complete normalcy.

Areté is a men’s club striving to strengthen traditional masculinity through mental, physical, and spiritual practices.

“Your body is not your own. It is God’s, and so we should

get used to denying our fleshly impulses and overcome hard things. For example, I don’t want to get in the water, but I’m going to get in the water,” Waters said. Areté comes from the Greek word meaning excellence or virtue.

“We are attempting to build a group of joyful and self-controlled men,” Waters said.

To accomplish this mission, the group practices weekly cold plunges in Baw Beese, boxing, self-defense exercises, and a group Bible study.

The group of 12 official members has grown close while modeling a brotherhood to promote accountability for the members. On Sunday evenings, each member of the group meets with their accountability partner to assess the upcoming week and establish their goals.

“It is cultivated through accountability partners,” Waters said. “We have a bunch of guys

who all want to learn how to exercise self-control, who all want to build a relationship with God and we encourage each other to find that.”

Although the mission of Areté has been to encourage Godly manhood, the group’s original intent was to be an intercollegiate boxing club.

Freshman Andriy Pasichnyk, member of Areté, said he had hoped to create a club that would focus on boxing for competition, but with the help of Waters, he said he has been happy with the club’s evolution.

“It started to turn into something more ambitious and fruitful,” Pasichnyk said.

The evolution of the club allowed many freshmen to get involved with its formation. The appeal was to provide a different avenue for brotherhood outside of fraternities or athletic teams.

“When I came to college, I was looking for a place where

I could not only learn something, but that I could also grow spiritually, physically, mentally,” freshman member Widley Montrevil said. “Areté has provided me with all these materials.

Pasichnyk and Montrevil both accredited Areté for their personal growth last semester.

“It is looking at who you want to be, who you are willing to work to become,” Pasichnyk said. “Because it doesn’t really matter what you do or don’t know about masculinity when you first join. It’s if you are willing to put in the work and effort to become the man that you want and aspire to become.”

The club ultimately hopes to produce men ready to go out into the world as warriors for the truth of the gospel, Waters said.

“It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war,” he said.

Nimrod director receives national conservation award

By Jackson Casey Collegian Reporter

Al Stewart never thought his years of doing the work he loved in conservation would earn him a prestigious award. To his surprise, Stewart won the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Wayne Bailey National Lifetime Achievement Award late last month.

Stewart, who serves as the director of Hillsdale College’s Nimrod Educational Center, received the award during the NWTF’s 48th annual convention in Nashville. The award recognizes wildlife biologists, trappers and managers who devote their careers to the wild turkey’s restoration and management. Stewart has been a part of that work for decades, having been involved with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ statewide conservation efforts for five decades.

Stewart said he was honored to receive the award, which is named after the esteemed wild turkey biologist R. Wayne Bailey. Bailey was the first recipient of the NWTF’s Conservationist of the Year Award in 1978.

“My initial thought was, ‘wow,’ you know — Wayne Bailey is an icon in the wildlife world, and to even be considered in the same sentence as him is a huge honor,” Stewart said. “I just did what I thought was important to do at the time. It’s a surprise to see that others saw this as something significant.”

Stewart said he has had a passion for nature and conservation since he was a child, and his interest has only grown with time.

“I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in nature or the outdoors. It’s just continued on and expanded,” Stewart said.“What really got me interested in being a wildlife biologist, or initially, a wildlife veterinarian, was a 1960s National Geographic TV show about the outdoors.”

of the Nimrod Center, which exists to educate the public on consumptive and shooting sports’ benefits to wildlife preservation.

“Even while helping to restore wildlife or work with hunters in doing conservation

Stewart said his love for wildlife fueled his life’s work at the Michigan DNR. Stewart said he joined the department in the 1970s and recently retired after a fruitful tenure.

“I was hired by the Michigan DNR’s wildlife pathology lab to help them collect samples and take care of animals that they had as part of their research projects. That started in the early seventies,” Stewart said. “It was a long career, and I loved every minute of it.”

After retiring from the DNR, Stewart became the director

work as a wildlife biologist, you’re still trying to inform the public about the essential contributions of hunters, anglers and shooters to conservation,” Stewart said.“That’s the mission of this job.”

Stewart said wildlife groups’ contributions are essential for the preservation of wildlife and natural resources.

“They are the individuals that pay for fish and wildlife conservation in this country. It is the best resource management model in the world,”

Stewart said. “They’re the ones that have brought back animals from species of scarcity,

like many were in the 1900s, to animals of abundance today.

Turkeys are a prime example of one of these animals that have been restored by hunters.” Morgan Morrison ’21, associate director of business and industry at Hillsdale who oversees many aspects of the Nimrod Fellows program, joined Stewart at the award ceremony.

“It was humbling to meet people who worked with Al over the years and know that we, as college staff, now have the opportunity to work alongside him here at Hillsdale,” Morrison said. “Everywhere I went at the convention, someone spoke fondly of Al. He is kind, wise, and has a special knack for knowing exactly what gift or word of encouragement someone needs at any given time.”

Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé said he admires Stewart both personally and professionally.

“I have always thought the world of Al. His warmth and enthusiasm are contagious. I have learned a great deal from him too. He has to be the most knowledgeable person in the world living today about every type of waterfowl. His knowledge about conservation is vast,” Péwé said. “Everyone in these circles knows about Al and respects him.”

Péwé said Stewart’s work in conservation has been a welcome contribution to the college’s goals overall.

“This award is a big deal and honor,” Péwé said. “I am so proud that Al works for Hillsdale, especially for what he has done and continues to do to promote consumptive sports and conservation.”

Stewart’s office is full of taxidermy turkeys. Jackson Casey | Collegian

Ramuni and Old residents dressed up for President’s Ball. Courtesy | Lucy treene

Shedding light on the IVF debate

Student and faculty weigh in on the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling on frozen embryos

By

Assistant Editor

Few people know sophomore Elizabeth Mitchell’s father is all over the headlines.

“It’s been really surreal seeing, for instance, the President of the United States put out a statement about his majority opinion,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell, who goes by “Tully,” says she doesn’t often bring up the fact that her father is Justice Jay Mitchell of the Alabama Supreme Court, the judge at the heart of a recent headline-grabbing decision on in vitro fertilization (IVF).

“It’s funny, because I’ll have friends who’ve known me for over a year, and we’ll be really good friends,” Mitchell said. “It’ll come up in conversation. They’re like, ‘No, what?!’”

When a patient accidentally destroyed several frozen embryos in an Alabama fertility clinic in 2020, the parents of those embryos sued. The case made its way to the Alabama Supreme Court, where the justices ruled 8-1 that embryos qualify as children for the purposes of the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.

Justice Mitchell wrote the majority opinion. The 131page opinion affirms the right of the unborn child to the same protections other children receive under the law, citing the

2018 Alabama constitutional amendment that “recognizes and supports the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children,” as well as previous rulings of the court.

“There was both a textual precedent and a court precedential history,” said Adam Carrington, associate professor of politics.

The Feb. 16 ruling caused national dissension, with groups on both sides of the political aisle responding with vitriol. The Alabama legislature passed two bills protecting the IVF industry from civil and criminal liability. Governor Kay Ivey has indicated that she will sign them.

Mitchell said she was happy to be at Hillsdale during the time the case was released.

“I’ve seen a lot of rage online from former classmates,” Mitchell said. “And I can understand where they’re coming from.”

The IVF case brought new questions to national attention, Mitchell said.

“It was the first time that an issue like IVF had been placed on the table as something that was up for debate,” Mitchell said. “I feel like it’s this national reckoning.”

Because of the case, Mitchell said she found herself questioning aspects of her pro-life beliefs.

“I was aware of IVF before this. I actually know people back home who’ve gone through IVF and they have beautiful kids. And it’s been such a blessing in their lives,” Mitchell said. “I can really understand where people are coming from personally, and on the other hand, I think I’ve been forced to grapple with it

move the bar wherever you want it.”

To Mitchell, the case has revealed that many of her former peers misunderstand the justice system.

“Classmates who I had the same civics class with come out and say things like, ‘The Supreme Court in Alabama banned IVF,’” Mitchell said.

“It was the first time that an issue like IVF had been placed on the table as something that was up for debate.”

in a different way, just seeing the results of it.” According to Mitchell, the case has changed the way she thinks about IVF.

“My opinion on it has shifted somewhat, really just in a process of asking myself philosophical and theological questions,” Mitchell said. “It’s forced me to think about things more basically in terms of, ‘Does life start at conception or does it start at implantation?’ I think if it starts at implantation, it kind of forces you to admit, you really can

“The court explicitly says in the brief that policy issues are not the responsibility of the court.”

Mitchell said she sees the same misunderstandings play out in national politics on both sides of the aisle.

“We’re seeing people on the right come out and say things like, “Good job. You just damaged our chances electorally,’” Mitchell said. “I, for one, am thrilled that the Supreme Court is not supposed to be concerned with questions of electoral liability.”

According to Mitchell, the case reveals a fault in American education. “Probably my biggest takeaway from all of this is that civics in America need help. Civics classes need to do better,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell says she learned about the limited scope of the courts from a young age, when her father would quiz her about the roles of each branch of government on the way to kindergarten.

“I distinctly remember him in the car asking me, ‘Do you know what the protocol is if somebody blows up all Congress in the State of the Union address?’ and him telling me about the designated survivor.”

Mitchell said her father’s commitment to the Constitutional role of the judicial branch hasn’t wavered, even when the litigation attorney was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2018.

“I’m really proud of my dad,” Mitchell said. “He’s stressed emphatically for so long that the court and judicial branches have a really limited function. Its job is to interpret the existing laws on the books, as they’re written, not to read into them what they would prefer them to say and not take into account policy concerns.”

Nathan Schlueter, professor of philosophy and religion,

QUICK HITS with Tory Matsos

By Christian Papillon Collegian Reporter

In this Quick Hits, Lecturer in Theater Tory Matsos talks Bruce Springsteen, Judy Dench, and Shakespeare.

What is your favorite play?

I don’t know if I have one. The best answer is probably whichever play I am working on at the moment.

If you were to teach something other than theater, what would it be?

I already often have the opportunity to work with students in other disciplines through my course in Alexander Technique. I’ve had students from RPA, music, and even athletes take that course to help improve a variety of performance

skills. So, I’m happy to already have that opportunity to support student work in a variety of areas.

What is your favorite film?

My favorite film is a Tom Hanks film which may be one of his more underappreciated movies, “That Thing You Do.” It is just a really fun, delightful movie.

What is one of your most unpopular opinions?

I don’t know if this is unpopular, but I really find that Shakespeare is best understood by encountering it on its feet, rather than through reading of the text.

What is the best class you took while at Hillsdale? The Civil War class with Dr.

Birzer was really impactful for me, in part because he was so skillful in delivering the course through storytelling, and it resonated so deeply because of that. He had a way of drawing out of you a contribution to the topic.

If you could only listen to one album on loop, what would it be?

It would probably be Bruce Springstein’s “Greatest Hits.”

If you could have dinner with any three people, alive or dead, who would they be?

Shakespeare, Judy Dench, and Greg Doran, who is the past Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I’d like to hear the three of them talk about Shakespearean performance.

said the decision is the natural conclusion of a logical position.

“The logic of the opinion is perfectly sound. The fact is that the zygote is a human being. It’s a distinct organism,” Schlueter said. “That seems to me standard biology.”

According to Schlueter, the case calls national attention to IVF’s need for regulation.

“The whole artificial reproduction industry is a travesty,” Schlueter said. “It’s completely a wild west of unregulated technological engineering of human beings.”

Carrington sees the Alabama case as indicative of questions the post-Dobbs world needs to address.

“People who are pro-life are realizing there’s a lot of things that maybe they didn’t have to confront,” Carrington said. “Now, because it is in their power to legislate, they’re going to need to work them out.”

According to Carrington, pro-lifers need to discuss whether life begins at conception and what role technology ought to play in reproduction.

“In some ways, our technology has gotten way ahead of our morality,” Carrington said.

What is one of your most unpopular opinions?

I really find that Shakespeare is best understood by encountering it on its feet, rather than through reading of the text.

What is one thing you wish you learned sooner?

That if you’re truly interested in learning, failure is more useful than success.

What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?

I do a lot of reading and baking, and I’m just generally a bit of a homebody.

If you could add one statue to the Liberty Walk, who would it be?

I would add the 18th-century playwright Friedrich Schiller.

Matsos starred as Alma in “Summer and Smoke” by Tennessee Williams, produced by Ohio State University. Courtesy | Tory Matsos

Caroline Kurt

Sophomore Elizabeth “Tully” Mitchell’s father, Jay Mitchell, wrote the majority opinion in the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling on IVF. Courtesy | Elizabeth Mitchell