Collegian 9.29.2022

Q

&A: Fall Pulliam Fellow, Alexandra DeSanctis

By Thomas McKenna Collegian Freelancer

Alexandra DeSanctis is a staff writer for National Review and a visiting fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. As the fall 2022 Eugene C. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Journalism, she taught a one-credit course on campus called Reporting in an Age of Controversy. Her recent book, co-written with Ryan T. Anderson, is “Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves

Nothing.”

How did you first get start ed writing and reporting?

When I got to Notre Dame, I became a staff writer for the Irish Rover, which is the independent student newspaper. I wrote for that paper as a freshman, and then throughout college, I just kept rising up the ranks of the paper. I ended up as executive editor my senior year and managed layout for two years. By the time I graduated, I was able to get a fellowship at National Review as a writer. Once I got there, I just never

really wanted to leave. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned while writing for National Review?

The most important thing for a young writer is to build expertise and credibil ity. I didn't necessarily do it intentionally or consciously. But I really made a place for myself at National Review by finding a few issues that I cared about, building up my knowledge, and writing about them frequently to the point where my editors and my readers began to trust me on those issues.

How did you choose abortion as the focus of your journalism?

I grew up in a very prolife home. I didn't graduate college with the intention of becoming an abortion beat reporter. I wouldn't have considered something like that even existed. But when I got to National Review, I was given a lot of freedom to write about what I cared about, even to do opinion writing. The more I was given the freedom to find what I was passionate about, the

more I just came back to the life issue. I've always felt that this is the greatest human rights tragedy of our time. I've always felt very strongly that I had a responsibility to do something about that. It just happened that I was in the right place at the right time with the talents I had to do a small part.

What advice would you give to young aspiring writers and journalists here at Hillsdale?

Write a lot. Read a lot.

Those are the first two things you can do to become a better writer in general. When it

comes to journalism spe cifically or media, I think it's a very specific calling. It's not something that one should just do because they can write. It's not something you go into if you want to be a millionaire. You really do have to feel called and feel a sense that this is how you’re called to use your talents. At that point, I think it’s just about finding where you fit. How do your talents and your desires fit into the media landscape?

Composer to debut song for Choral Evensong

By Elyse Apel Opinions Editor

The Hillsdale Col lege Chamber Choir will perform a Choral Evensong service commissioned by the college and composed by Andrew Maxfield Oct. 2 at 2:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel.

“I’m excited that this is ours and it is written spe cifically for Christ Chapel,” said James Holleman, pro fessor of music. “It meets Dr. Arnn’s vision of music in Christ Chapel and it brings everything together.”

The service is the cul mination of a multi-year project.

“Going back several years, Dr. Arnn had the idea when we were building the chapel to have Evensong on a regular basis, so I thought, ‘Let’s commission an origi nal setting of an Evensong,” Holleman said.

Maxfield is a world-re nowned composer and was a Composer Fellow of the National Collegiate Choral

Organization and Compos er-in-Residence for New buryport Choral Society and Southern Virginia Uni versity. Holleman first met Andrew Maxfield in 2019 and decided to approach him about composing an Evensong service in 2020.

“We locked him in during the spring of 2020, and he started writing that summer, so this has been a really fruitful relationship with this young composer who’s getting his music performed all over the world right now,” Holleman said. “He’s doing great things, and he’s just a terrific per son.”

Maxfield arrived in Hillsdale on Wednesday, which allowed him time to practice in person with the choir, something junior Paul Lindauer said he is looking forward to.

“Maxfield is a young and talented composer with an engaging personality,” Lindauer said.

Hillsdale Community Foundation grants GOAL $25,000

By Maddy Welsh assistant Editor

The Hillsdale County Community Foundation has awarded $25,000 to the GOAL programs to fund volunteer efforts for this academic year.

The funds will be split between the 26 GOAL volunteer programs, junior and GOAL Coordinator Mary Ann Powers said.

The Hillsdale County Community Foundation is a nonprofit that pro vides funding and grants for local service groups and frequently works with Hillsdale’s GOAL program.

“Since GOAL is so focused on being involved with the wider local community, the Hills dale County Community Foundation really wants to help strengthen that as much as they can,” senior and GOAL Director Lucy Cuneo said.

GOAL leaders had to write grant proposals and give presentations about how they would use the grant money in their respective programs. They could request up to $1,500 each and had to have a plan of what they would do if they did not receive every

dollar they requested.

“They use that money to do things from volunteer appreciation to getting materials to help with the volunteering programs,” Cuneo said. “It's a really wonderful way of being able to serve the commu nity and direct the funds from HCCF towards places that we see need.”

GOAL hopes to expand its reach this year, and the grant money will help with that, Powers said.

“Our goals for this next year are going to be to expand our impact on the community with our two big service projects," Pow ers said. “This year, we’re hoping to, one, expand the impact of our service projects by increasing the number of volunteers, and two, unite the campus volunteers with the actual community members.”

Cuneo, who was the GOAL coordinator last year, said she has noticed an increase in service since she has been involved in the program.

“Day of Service has only been going on for three years,” she said. “The sec ond annual Day of Service had about 250 people in at tendance. The third annual had 300. For this next Day

of Service, we are aiming for 500.”

Junior Emma Widmer, who runs the Humane So ciety GOAL program, said she plans to use her grant money to promote the pro gram and provide volunteer appreciation for people who consistently visit the ani mal shelters included under the program’s umbrella. She said she wants to see students get more involved with the community at large and hopes the things she’s able to do with the grant money will help.

“I’ve been trying to get people at the shelters as much as possible and really get the connections be tween the college students and the community to be really solid,” Widmer said.

Senior Beth Pot wardowski runs the Com munity Health Outreach program, which encom passes multiple volunteer opportunities such as semesterly blood drives, the free clinic, and hospice care.

“They’re all super small nonprofits that really do rely on our volunteers to make their daily op erations run smoothly,” Potwardowski said. “The grants help fill in the finan cial gaps that a lot of the

organizations basically run on a daily basis.”

She said she will also use some of her funds for volunteer appreciation.

Cuneo said she encour ages students to look be

yond themselves and serve the Hillsdale community.

“College is a time when you’re able to be selfish,” Cuneo said. “So it takes a real act of will to get beyond yourself, which is

essential if we’re reading Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, all these things – they tell us to be virtuous, not just to think virtuously but to act in accordance with that.”

Sophomores Sarah Gregory and Dominic Pappalardo enjoy lemonade at the fair. Jack Cote | Collegian

Junior Mary Ann Powers and senior Lucy Cuneo hold a $25,000 check addressed to GOAL.

Courtesy | Emma Purdy

Professors Mattox and Mumme join Hillsdale theology faculty

By Sofie Kellar Collegian Freelancer

Hillsdale welcomed Associate Professors of Religion Jonathan Mumme and Mickey Mattox after their previous institutions grew hostile to theological instruction, the new pro fessors said.

Mumme came to Hillsdale from Concordia University in Wisconsin and Mattox came from Marquette University in Wisconsin.

“Teaching should be fun,” Mattox said. “What happened in my own institution was that all the requirements for the liber al arts were either deleted completely or minimized.”

Mattox and Mumme are both teaching Western Theological Tradition, and Mumme also teaches a Six teenth-Century Theology class. In the intro course, which Mumme described as a “behemoth,” both professors are basing their classes on the structure of the Nicene Creed.

“I came to Hillsdale so that I could teach what I know and say what I think,” Mattox said. “I felt at home on this campus from the first day of the interview, like I could get along with everyone, that it was going to be a great place to be, and nothing has contradicted my expe rience since then.”

Mattox taught at Mar quette for 19 years after studying for his Ph.D. at Duke University. He said he left his tenured position at Marquette because of the liberal environment, which had become tense and overwhelming for teachers in their depart ment.

“For the first 10 years, it was a great place to be,” Mattox said. “We had Ph.D. students from Hills dale College."

Mumme received his doctoral degree at Eber hard Karls Universität in Tübingen, Southwest Germany, specializing in 19th-century Protestant and systematic theology. He taught for three years at Westfield House in Cam bridge and two years at Concordia.

Mumme said he felt a similar draw to Hillsdale.

According to Mumme, theology has been pushed

into the corner at many universities rather than be ing honored as the queen of the sciences as it is in classical education.

“We might talk about ultimate truth, ultimate beauty, ultimate goodness, but all of those are finally one in an ultimate being with God,” he said.

In addition to whatev er a student studies, they should be able to form their souls by engaging with the great books, Mat tox said. Instead, colleges gear themselves prag matically, neglecting the meaning of the study.

Mumme recalled a 2006 address by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Resensberg, where he said without theology, a school lacks an organizing principle that keeps people talking with one another.

“Theology liberates human beings to their full potential,” Mumme said. “You’re dealing with some thing that has to do with a God who has laid claim to your heart, mind, life, and future.”

Freshman Alya Mac Manaway, who is in one of Mattox’s classes, said she appreciates Mattox’s care for her perspective.

“He wants to support you with whatever way that you’re practicing your religion or beliefs,” Mac Manaway said.

Mattox said even from a distance, Hillsdale had always intrigued him, and he admired the group of people who invited him to come.

“I was really impressed with the learning, earnest ness, intelligence, and will to have the truth,” Mattox said. “I feel a sort of joyous moral obligation to do my best to meet that expecta tion.”

Mattox said leaving his position at Marquette was worth it because being a professor at Hillsdale is “much more than a job.”

“If I was dead and gone to heaven, I would have a hard time telling the difference,” Mattox said. “I’m pinching myself every day. Hillsdale College is a special place where people like me can still offer who they are and what they know in the classroom." without fear of reproach. It's lovely."

GOAL hosts its annual field day

By Christina Lewis Collegian Freelancer

Local youth and members of Hillsdale’s special needs community enjoyed games and sports at GOAL’s annual field day Sept. 24 at Hayden Park.

“The field day is a fun time of hanging out with kids in the community," GOAL Coordinator and junior Mary Ann Powers said. "It's open to the local youth and the special needs community.”

At the start of field day, volunteers and attendees split into two teams. One team completed relays, like racing while balancing a raw egg on a spoon, while the other team played kickball.

After each team complet ed their activities, the teams switched. Toward the end of the event, both teams met at the sand volleyball pit for a game before eating lunch together.

Sophomore Ruth Kirsch, who volunteered at the event and is the leader of the Community Action Agency Preschool GOAL program, said she feels a strong con nection to the program and reaching out to the commu nity.

“I'm from Hillsdale and the community here has a special place in my heart,” Kirsch said. “I wasn’t doing anything else this Saturday, so I thought, 'Why not spend it with my college friends and with kids from the com

munity?'”

GOAL stands for Great Opportunities for Assistance and Leadership.

“Hillsdale’s GOAL pro gram creates opportunities for students to know, love, and serve the members of our surrounding commu nity,” GOAL Director and senior Lucy Cuneo said.

Throughout the event, GOAL leaders took polaroid pictures. Cuneo said it was important that attendees could take something home to remind them of the field day. Each attendee also received a participation certificate.

“Students at Hillsdale get to read Aristotle, Plato, Cice ro, and other great thinkers on how to be a virtuous

person and how to live a good life,” Cuneo said. “But one thing I've noticed after reading Cicero's ‘On Duties’ is that he encourages his son and all of his readers, not just to intellectualize and think grand thoughts in the ivory tower about the good but to actually go out and do something. One of the best ways to learn is by doing what one loves while serving others.”

Cuneo encouraged Hills dale students to participate in future GOAL events.

“There’s really something for everyone,” she said. “There are lots of ways to serve Hillsdale because there is so much need.”

GOAL adds new mentorship program: SOAR

By Alexandra Comus Collegian Freelancer

This fall, sophomore Matthew Karten started a new GOAL program to provide aid to students with difficulty in their home lives or academics.

Success through Op portunity leading to Accountability and Respect, or SOAR, is a one-onone mentorship initiative for struggling students at Horizon Alternative High School, according to Karten.

“We have 20 kids or so who are typically struggling academically, or who don’t have great home lives,” Karten said. “They have often been overlooked, so we try to build positive rela tionships with them, which may mean that we can help

them academically, but also by trying to connect them in the community — for example, helping them to get jobs.”

Karten started the pro gram after teachers from Horizon Alternative School asked Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers to come talk to students about mo tivation and responsibility, according to Rogers.

For many teens at Horizon Alternative High School, it is their last chance to graduate, Rogers said. The mentorship of older students helps to hold them accountable not only to their academic work but to themselves. He added that it is impactful for a young person to have someone to connect with them.

“You would be surprised when someone comes along

to tell one of them that they have a greater destiny, that their lives mean something, when they have been told that they will never amount to anything,” Rogers said.

Six Hillsdale College students volunteer for the SOAR program. Karten said he hopes to be a good in fluence in the lives of teens through SOAR.

“Ideally, we just want to see them succeed because they have potential that is not being realized,” Karten said.

Warren Miller, a teacher at Hillsdale High School, said the program will help to provide better outreach to students.

“I want to find ways for my students to succeed,” Miller said. “Each kid has different needs and ways to relate to people. It is really

beneficial for students to have a mentor, a friend, or a confidante, just to have an other shoulder to lean on.”

According to Miller, volunteers also benefit from new perspectives they encounter.

“An interesting side ben efit is that for the first time, the college students who volunteer are meeting stu dents from totally different backgrounds,” Miller said. “It offers lots of positive reality checks for them.”

Rogers said the leaders of the program hope to see the students in SOAR graduate and move on to jobs, higher education, or trade school.

“We’re trying to reach one kid at a time,” Rogers said. “We want them to know that they can rise above their problems, and that their lives have value.”

College launches colonial America unit to 1776 curriculum

By Jane Kitchen Collegian Reporter

Hillsdale’s K-12 Educa tion Office added a third unit, “The British Colonies of North America,” to the 1776 curriculum, which can be downloaded for free from the K-12 Education website.

The new unit will cover the pre-Columbian Native American civilizations through the settlement of the 13 colonies, according to John Adams, interim director of curriculum at the K-12 office. It will also include initial efforts toward self-government, such as the Virginia House of Burgess

Maxfield from A1

“I’m thrilled that we get the opportunity to work with him in person in the week preceding the concert.”

Lindauer has been involved with the chamber choir since his sophomore year. He said he is looking forward to performing Maxfield’s music.

“Chamber choir has performed some of Andrew

es, as well as the history of slavery in the Western Hemisphere.

“We hope that students will find in the example of so many settlers who sought a better life and freedom a model of the hope for human freedom and flour ishing that America would come to represent while acknowledging the moral failures to which every per son is subject,” Adams said.

The unit is the latest in a series of eight planned American history units in the 1776 curriculum, a subset of Hillsdale’s “K-12 Program Guide.”

According to the K-12

Maxfield’s work before, and I remember his mu sical settings as harmoni cally unique, challenging, and fun to learn,” he said.

“The music of this service strikes me as bold and is delightfully paired with the well-established and mean ingful texts of the Evensong Service. It is a great honor to have a work of Maxfield’s commissioned for our choir and chapel.”

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education website, “This curriculum provides teach ers with guidance—not dictates—about how to plan and teach a given topic in American history or civics.”

This guidance includes recommended books, online courses, and questions to ask students.

Kathleen O’Toole, assistant provost for K-12 Education, said the curricu lum offers students a style of history education that isn’t available elsewhere.

“It’s important because I think people have lost sight of the fact that the key to studying American history responsibly is beginning

Q&A from A1

What is the biggest challenge facing the pro-life movement?

Unity is the biggest challenge. The strategy will look different for pro-lifers in Florida versus New York versus California be cause what the public supports is different in each state. But it

with primary source docu ments,” O’Toole said.“Stu dents are capable of reading the historical evidence from quite a young age. So we think that’s the most respon sible way to begin.”

O’Toole said the develop ment of the curriculum is a collaborative effort between Hillsdale professors, mem bers of the K-12 Education Office, and educators who teach the curriculum in their classrooms.

“We have classical schools across the country that we work with,” O’Toole said. “We invite them to contrib ute to the curriculum and tell us what’s working and

will be important to have some kind of unified understanding that incrementalism is a great way of mov ing the ball forward.

Everything we do as a movement, even if it looks different from one state to another, should be oriented toward the ultimate goal of protecting every unborn child

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what’s not.”

Maegen Satcher is a classical pedagogy trainer at Hillsdale and former dean of academics at St. Johns Classical Academy, one of Hillsdale’s affiliate classical schools in Clay County, Florida. Satcher said one of the focuses of the K-12 cur riculum is delivering dense historical information in a way that’s understandable for very young students.

“They could draw on significant heroes from the past or they can depict battle scenes, things like that,” Satcher said. “Teachers can ask oral questions of their students to get them to retell

and simultaneously building a culture where women and families don't feel like they need abortion.

Why did you write a book about abortion?

Ryan and I wrote the book in anticipa tion of the Supreme Court decision. We didn't know which way it was going to turn out, but our

To receive weekly issues of Hillsdale College’s student newspa per, please contact Linnea Shively at lshively@hillsdale.edu

hope was it would overturn Roe v. Wade.

We wanted to write a roadmap for pro-lifers in a post-Roe country.

Of course, it's import ant to make the case that abortion kills un born human beings. But if that's the case, how can we as pro-lif ers learn to articulate how that fact harms everybody? If we

important events. It’s looking at the content in a way that would be practical for teach ers to use in the classroom, as well as for students to produce assignments.”

Satcher emphasized the curriculum’s flexibility and accessibility to teachers in any setting, whether private, public, or homeschool.

“It’s free, and there are some resources that we recommend and suggest, but any good teacher can start with a suggested way of doing things and then can add to it as they start to become more masterful in their craft,” Satcher said.

really are killing hun dreds of thousands of unborn human beings every year, how could it not be the case that this has destroyed every element of our society? Every chapter takes a look at all the ways in which legal abortion has harmed different elements of our society.

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Seniors Aidan Brewer and Jaekob Sallee volunteered at GOAL's field day on Saturday.

Courtesy | Emma Purdy

First CCA of the year focuses on Russian history, tradition

By Caroline Kurt Collegian Freelancer

Hillsdale will delve into Russia’s past and present, with talks ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to Vladimir Putin, in its first Center for Constructive Alternatives of the school year from Oct. 2-5.

Matt Bell, executive director of programs for external affairs, said studying Russian history and tradition is essential to contextualizing the actions of modern Russia.

“Today, we hear some imprudently advocate for war with Russia by proxy or otherwise,” he said. “In order to act with prudence in these vital matters, it is important that we un derstand Russia and the Russian people as they understand themselves — something we used to do but don’t see much of in

popular media or politics today.”

Bell said he anticipates more than 700 guests, including more than 160 Hillsdale students.

On Sunday, Sean Mc Meekin of Bard College and author Stephen Kotkin will present an overview of Russian history. On Monday, Gary Saul Morson of Northwestern Univer sity and concert pianist Hyperion Knight will highlight Russia’s literary and musical legacy. On Tuesday, Michael Miller man of Millerman School and Christopher Caldwell of the Claremont Institute will discuss current Rus sian politics and foreign policy. The CCA will con clude Wednesday, Oct. 5 with a faculty roundtable.

Freshman Luka Stanic said he is interested in attending the CCA because of his Orthodox upbring ing and ethnic ties to the

Balkan region.

“We as Americans have a way of looking at things that have been shaped by our nation’s history and cultural aspects,” Stanic said. “We seem to forget that a lot of other countries have their own histories that whave shaped their views. The American in volvement in Ukraine and Russia may be made from a half-understood perspec tive on our part.”

Stanic said he looks forward to gaining a more nuanced understanding and appreciation of Russia through the CCA.

The CCA cannot hope to cover all that Russia is and has been but aims to awaken wonder and pas sion in attendees, accord ing to Bell.

“Russian history and cultural contributions are enough to occupy a life time of study and more,” Bell said.

Contact Center hosts an open house to showcase new location

By Michaela Estruth assistant editor

The Contact Center held an open house for students, faculty, and the community to see the new facility on 44 N. Howell St. across from the County Court.

On Oct. 22, about 60 people visited the event throughout the afternoon, according to Contact Cen ter director Mary Margaret Spiteri.

“The open house was for faculty, staff, students, and locals to come see the new location and get excited about Hillsdale College hav ing a presence downtown,” Spiteri said.

Contact Center train ing coordinator Charles Holbrook said working downtown helps bring the campus and community together by “supporting stu dents and local businesses.”

“The local businesses are already serving more

students, and the students are exploring more local businesses,” Holbrook said.

According to account manager Elizabeth Turner, the Contact Center relocat ed because it was outgrow ing Kendall Hall, where the center was originally located.

“The college is ever ex panding its outreach efforts and the Contact Center has had to expand to meet the service needs of the college,” Turner said. “The new loca tion fits all of the staff and students perfectly now.”

Turner said some perks of the new location include windows, more space, and access to downtown.

“One of the best perks of the new location is having windows. That was defi nitely something we were missing in Kendall,” she said. “We have also really loved that we can go to local coffee shops and restaurants since everything is so close now.”

This relocation has also created additional space in Kendall Hall for professors and faculty, according to Holbrook.

“Hillsdale College is expanding its services to all of its constituents and students,” Holbrook said. “In order to increase office space for faculty, they are building new offices in the old contact center in Kend all Hall.”

Sophomore Charles Miggins said he enjoys working for the Contact Center and loves the new location.

“The new location brings a different perspective and makes the Contact Center more special,” Miggins said. “I love going to work because I am going off campus, and it’s a nice break from the campus chaos. I highly recommend work ing there because you gain great problem-solving and computer skills.”

Jewish student society honors Rosh Hashanah with service

By Thomas McKenna Collegian Freelancer

A mix of students, col lege faculty and staff, and Hillsdale residents gath ered Sept. 25 in a Kendall Hall classroom for a service to celebrate Rosh Hasha nah, the beginning of the civil new year in Judaism.

“It celebrates, first, God’s creation of the world, but it also sets off the days of repentance,” said Assistant Professor of Classics Josh ua Fincher, who teaches biblical Hebrew, as well as Greek and Latin at the college.

Rosh Hashanah is the second holiest day in Judaism. Yom Kippur is the first, a full day of fasting 10 days later.

The holiday has three themes, according to Fincher. The first is cre ation, celebrated at the beginning of a new year. The second is judgment be cause Rosh Hashanah be gins the judgment period. The final theme is kingship because Judaism celebrates God’s sovereignty on Rosh Hashanah.

“Throughout the month of Elul, which proceeds Rosh Hashanah, everyone needs to repent of their sins because on Rosh Hashanah God begins to judge people for the year,” Fincher said. “On Rosh Hashanah, he opens the books of judgment and looks at everything you’ve done the whole past year.

Because Judaism believes

that God punishes you for your sins in this life, then everything you’ve done he assigns a punishment to in this coming year.”

Fincher said God will close the books of judg ment on Yom Kippur.

“We have 10 days to repent before the book of judgment is closed,” Fincher said. “Then, all the punishments that will happen are set in place and can’t be changed.”

Fincher led the service as the “shaliach tzibbur,” representative of the con gregation. Members of the congregation took turns reciting prayers or read ing text printed on sheets passed around to those in attendance.

The service lasted about an hour, and consisted of prayers pleading for peace and readings recounting the history of the Jewish people. Fincher would sound a “shofar,” a trum pet resembling a horn, at points throughout the ser vice. Fincher said his selec tion of prayers was similar to what would be found in an orthodox synagogue.

“A bunch of pieces are in English, rather than He brew,” Fincher said. “In an orthodox synagogue, they would all be in Hebrew. I basically kept it all in and tried to make it simpler by removing some of the Hebrew so everybody can participate.”

The service concluded with a ritual meal, which included apples to “sweet

en the new year” and spinach to “foil the plans of those who mean to do you harm,” according to Fincher.

Senior Alexander Hadd ad, president of the Jewish student organization the Mishpacha Society, said the organization holds services weekly for Shabbat as well as for each of the Jewish holidays.

“We are few but mighty,” Haddad said. “We usually hover between three to five people per year, with seniors coming out and freshmen coming in. But it works really well. We all work together.”

Fincher said holding services for the Jewish community on campus and in Hillsdale is important.

“If there's a Jewish community here, then they deserve a level of religious representation,” Fincher said. “Holding services like this is one way that we can represent Judaism on this campus.”

The organization will hold an evening service Oct. 4 and a morning ser vice Oct. 5 for Yom Kippur, according to Fincher. He said he hopes non-Jewish students will attend the services.

“I would hope that everybody who's interested would come,” Fincher said. “It's having a personal ex perience and having things be a little less mystified that will promote understand ing.”

Alexandra DeSanctis speaks on future of the pro-life movement

By Elizabeth Crawford Collegian reporter

Abortion is an anti-wom an philosophy, said Alex andra DeSanctis, the fall visiting Pulliam Fellow, in her lecture, “The Direction of the Pro-Life Movement after Dobbs.”

DeSanctis, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and staff writer at the National Review, presented her lecture to a crowded room of donors and friends of the college in Plaster Auditorium on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

The thesis of her speech rested upon two fundamen tal ideas: abortion is a fun damental threat to society and pro-lifers must show what a good life is.

“They said abortion would be good for all of us and especially wom en,” DeSanctis said. “And, instead, it’s created endless problems and destroyed entire aspects of our society, such as unborn children, first and foremost, as well as relationships between men and women, their interest in families, our medical system, our politics, our law, and our culture.”

Junior Cecilia Gulick, who attended the lecture, appreciated DeSanctis’ insight.

“I thought it was incredi ble to see at what level abor tion has affected our culture and what ideologies stand at the root of the problem,” Gulick said.

DeSanctis attributed the

societal need for abortion to the sexual revolution of the 1960s which promoted “consequence-free sex as a necessary part of human flourishing.” DeSanctis said this view of sex was a departure from first-wave feminism in the early 20th century.

“Women’s rights advo cates were without excep tion opposed to abortion,” DeSanctis said. “They believed that it placed the responsibilities of preg nancy, childbearing, and childrearing even more on a woman’s shoulders, rather than requiring men in so ciety to do more to support mothers and children.”

DeSanctis said the sexual revolution made wom en think their bodies are inferior to deal with the immediate consequences of hook-up sex and promoted male abandonment as the “standard.”

“This world demands that women be let in on the ability to walk away from those who depend on them,” DeSanctis said.

This view, according to DeSanctis, clashes with both the empirical and metaphys ical claims about the nature of human interdependence.

“Human beings all enter the world in a state of radi cal dependence,” DeSanctis said. “It was never possible for human beings to live fulfilled as entirely inde pendent creatures who can follow our whims without experiencing brokenness or natural consequences,”

DeSanctis said.

Because the world promotes “radical indepen dence” for women, society blinds itself to the emotional and psychological pain which women experience after having an abortion, DeSanctis said.

Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Health and Wellness at Hillsdale College Brock Lutz agreed compassion must be shown toward those who have received abortions.

“Part of being pro-life is really being people who have mercy and grace for others,” Lutz said. “We want to have grace for people who have made decisions that they’re now hurting from, and that means we really love those people and encourage them.”

The solutions to abortion involve both political and cultural action, DeSanctis said. Politically, she urged pro-lifers to go door knock ing and write to represen tatives, but she also asked them to consider more per manent cultural solutions, such as providing a “healthy dating culture” and look ing toward “marriage and commitment as the building blocks of flourishing life.”

DeSanctis encouraged pro-lifers to be wise.

“I certainly would not advocate that we should let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” DeSanctis said. “But I think we’re at a mo ment where pro-lifers have to be discerning about what it is we want.”

Tower Light hosts workshop

By Alexandra Hall assistant Editor

The Formal Lounge in the Grewcock Student Union might not be Tabard Inn from “The Canterbury Tales," but Associate Pro fessor of English Patricia R. Bart encouraged students to explore the opportuni ties group input can offer writers.

Bart spoke to students at the Tower Light’s first-ever Authorial Convivium Sept. 23 about the importance of cultivating creative culture on campus. Bart serves as the Tower Light’s creative adviser, a position filled by a member of the English department's faculty every year.

“I want people to feel more normal and comfort able,” Bart said. “Not lazy, but normal and comfortable with writing literature. Just roll it out. Roll it out to your friends.”

From Geoffery Chau cer to T. S. Elliot, Bart examined a few short texts united under the theme of

creative pursuit. Although she claimed she’s mostly an academic writer, Bart said she believes she can offer guidance to budding creative writers.

She spent a large portion of her talk on the impor tance of considering the audience when writing.

“I’m usually in my office,” Bart said. “I can often take people just coming in and wanting to talk about their piece. If people want me to be their audience, I’m fine with that. I’m here for that.”

Senior Meera Baldwin, Tower Light’s fall edi tor-in-chief, said the turnout at this event was the best she had seen in her three years on the board.

“I’ve never seen more than a few people show up,” Baldwin said. “I really wanted to do some sort of lecture instead of what we’ve done in the past. I thought that that would bring more people in and actually be more helpful and inspiring. Things like this appeal to a wider audience.”

Attendee and Tower Light

board member sophomore Kara Miller, said she learned how to draw from the past in her creative writing.

“As a member of the board of the Tower Light, I find that there’s a lot of pres sure to be original,” Miller said. “It feels like when deal ing with literature and the arts in general, there’s pres sure to be original because you feel like everything has been done before. Dr. Bart emphasized that we don't need to feel pressured to originality when looking at literature because you have to recognize that a lot of the traditions of classic literature that we read borrow from each other.”

In addition to aiding the Tower Light’s board mem bers in examining submis sions and compiling their bi-annual editions, Bart said her main goal is to inspire writers.

“There may be genres that we know not of, right?” Bart said. “Maybe you’d be the groundbreaker of some new thing — a new way to look at culture.”

Professors Mattox and Mumme join Hillsdale theology faculty

By Sofie Kellar Collegian Freelancer

Hillsdale welcomed Associate Professors of Religion Jonathan Mumme and Mickey Mattox after their previous institutions grew hostile to theological instruction, the new pro fessors said.

Mumme came to Hillsdale from Concordia University in Wisconsin and Mattox came from Marquette University in Wisconsin.

“Teaching should be fun,” Mattox said. “What happened in my own institution was that all the requirements for the liber al arts were either deleted completely or minimized.”

Mattox and Mumme are both teaching Western Theological Tradition, and Mumme also teaches a Six teenth-Century Theology class. In the intro course, which Mumme described as a “behemoth,” both professors are basing their classes on the structure of the Nicene Creed.

“I came to Hillsdale so that I could teach what I know and say what I think,” Mattox said. “I felt at home on this campus from the first day of the interview, like I could get along with everyone, that it was going to be a great place to be, and nothing has contradicted my expe rience since then.”

Mattox taught at Mar quette for 19 years after studying for his Ph.D. at Duke University. He said he left his tenured position at Marquette because of the liberal environment, which had become tense and overwhelming for teachers in their depart ment.

“For the first 10 years, it was a great place to be,” Mattox said. “We had Ph.D. students from Hills dale College."

Mumme received his doctoral degree at Eber hard Karls Universität in Tübingen, Southwest Germany, specializing in 19th-century Protestant and systematic theology. He taught for three years at Westfield House in Cam bridge and two years at Concordia.

Mumme said he felt a similar draw to Hillsdale.

According to Mumme, theology has been pushed

into the corner at many universities rather than be ing honored as the queen of the sciences as it is in classical education.

“We might talk about ultimate truth, ultimate beauty, ultimate goodness, but all of those are finally one in an ultimate being with God,” he said.

In addition to whatev er a student studies, they should be able to form their souls by engaging with the great books, Mat tox said. Instead, colleges gear themselves prag matically, neglecting the meaning of the study.

Mumme recalled a 2006 address by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Resensberg, where he said without theology, a school lacks an organizing principle that keeps people talking with one another.

“Theology liberates human beings to their full potential,” Mumme said. “You’re dealing with some thing that has to do with a God who has laid claim to your heart, mind, life, and future.”

Freshman Alya Mac Manaway, who is in one of Mattox’s classes, said she appreciates Mattox’s care for her perspective.

“He wants to support you with whatever way that you’re practicing your religion or beliefs,” Mac Manaway said.

Mattox said even from a distance, Hillsdale had always intrigued him, and he admired the group of people who invited him to come.

“I was really impressed with the learning, earnest ness, intelligence, and will to have the truth,” Mattox said. “I feel a sort of joyous moral obligation to do my best to meet that expecta tion.”

Mattox said leaving his position at Marquette was worth it because being a professor at Hillsdale is “much more than a job.”

“If I was dead and gone to heaven, I would have a hard time telling the difference,” Mattox said. “I’m pinching myself every day. Hillsdale College is a special place where people like me can still offer who they are and what they know in the classroom." without fear of reproach. It's lovely."

GOAL hosts its annual field day

By Christina Lewis Collegian Freelancer

Local youth and members of Hillsdale’s special needs community enjoyed games and sports at GOAL’s annual field day Sept. 24 at Hayden Park.

“The field day is a fun time of hanging out with kids in the community," GOAL Coordinator and junior Mary Ann Powers said. "It's open to the local youth and the special needs community.”

At the start of field day, volunteers and attendees split into two teams. One team completed relays, like racing while balancing a raw egg on a spoon, while the other team played kickball.

After each team complet ed their activities, the teams switched. Toward the end of the event, both teams met at the sand volleyball pit for a game before eating lunch together.

Sophomore Ruth Kirsch, who volunteered at the event and is the leader of the Community Action Agency Preschool GOAL program, said she feels a strong con nection to the program and reaching out to the commu nity.

“I'm from Hillsdale and the community here has a special place in my heart,” Kirsch said. “I wasn’t doing anything else this Saturday, so I thought, 'Why not spend it with my college friends and with kids from the com

munity?'”

GOAL stands for Great Opportunities for Assistance and Leadership.

“Hillsdale’s GOAL pro gram creates opportunities for students to know, love, and serve the members of our surrounding commu nity,” GOAL Director and senior Lucy Cuneo said.

Throughout the event, GOAL leaders took polaroid pictures. Cuneo said it was important that attendees could take something home to remind them of the field day. Each attendee also received a participation certificate.

“Students at Hillsdale get to read Aristotle, Plato, Cice ro, and other great thinkers on how to be a virtuous

person and how to live a good life,” Cuneo said. “But one thing I've noticed after reading Cicero's ‘On Duties’ is that he encourages his son and all of his readers, not just to intellectualize and think grand thoughts in the ivory tower about the good but to actually go out and do something. One of the best ways to learn is by doing what one loves while serving others.”

Cuneo encouraged Hills dale students to participate in future GOAL events.

“There’s really something for everyone,” she said. “There are lots of ways to serve Hillsdale because there is so much need.”

GOAL adds new mentorship program: SOAR

By Alexandra Comus Collegian Freelancer

This fall, sophomore Matthew Karten started a new GOAL program to provide aid to students with difficulty in their home lives or academics.

Success through Op portunity leading to Accountability and Respect, or SOAR, is a one-onone mentorship initiative for struggling students at Horizon Alternative High School, according to Karten.

“We have 20 kids or so who are typically struggling academically, or who don’t have great home lives,” Karten said. “They have often been overlooked, so we try to build positive rela tionships with them, which may mean that we can help

them academically, but also by trying to connect them in the community — for example, helping them to get jobs.”

Karten started the pro gram after teachers from Horizon Alternative School asked Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers to come talk to students about mo tivation and responsibility, according to Rogers.

For many teens at Horizon Alternative High School, it is their last chance to graduate, Rogers said. The mentorship of older students helps to hold them accountable not only to their academic work but to themselves. He added that it is impactful for a young person to have someone to connect with them.

“You would be surprised when someone comes along

to tell one of them that they have a greater destiny, that their lives mean something, when they have been told that they will never amount to anything,” Rogers said.

Six Hillsdale College students volunteer for the SOAR program. Karten said he hopes to be a good in fluence in the lives of teens through SOAR.

“Ideally, we just want to see them succeed because they have potential that is not being realized,” Karten said.

Warren Miller, a teacher at Hillsdale High School, said the program will help to provide better outreach to students.

“I want to find ways for my students to succeed,” Miller said. “Each kid has different needs and ways to relate to people. It is really

beneficial for students to have a mentor, a friend, or a confidante, just to have an other shoulder to lean on.”

According to Miller, volunteers also benefit from new perspectives they encounter.

“An interesting side ben efit is that for the first time, the college students who volunteer are meeting stu dents from totally different backgrounds,” Miller said. “It offers lots of positive reality checks for them.”

Rogers said the leaders of the program hope to see the students in SOAR graduate and move on to jobs, higher education, or trade school.

“We’re trying to reach one kid at a time,” Rogers said. “We want them to know that they can rise above their problems, and that their lives have value.”

College launches colonial America unit to 1776 curriculum

By Jane Kitchen Collegian Reporter

Hillsdale’s K-12 Educa tion Office added a third unit, “The British Colonies of North America,” to the 1776 curriculum, which can be downloaded for free from the K-12 Education website.

The new unit will cover the pre-Columbian Native American civilizations through the settlement of the 13 colonies, according to John Adams, interim director of curriculum at the K-12 office. It will also include initial efforts toward self-government, such as the Virginia House of Burgess

Maxfield from A1

“I’m thrilled that we get the opportunity to work with him in person in the week preceding the concert.”

Lindauer has been involved with the chamber choir since his sophomore year. He said he is looking forward to performing Maxfield’s music.

“Chamber choir has performed some of Andrew

es, as well as the history of slavery in the Western Hemisphere.

“We hope that students will find in the example of so many settlers who sought a better life and freedom a model of the hope for human freedom and flour ishing that America would come to represent while acknowledging the moral failures to which every per son is subject,” Adams said.

The unit is the latest in a series of eight planned American history units in the 1776 curriculum, a subset of Hillsdale’s “K-12 Program Guide.”

According to the K-12

Maxfield’s work before, and I remember his mu sical settings as harmoni cally unique, challenging, and fun to learn,” he said.

“The music of this service strikes me as bold and is delightfully paired with the well-established and mean ingful texts of the Evensong Service. It is a great honor to have a work of Maxfield’s commissioned for our choir and chapel.”

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education website, “This curriculum provides teach ers with guidance—not dictates—about how to plan and teach a given topic in American history or civics.”

This guidance includes recommended books, online courses, and questions to ask students.

Kathleen O’Toole, assistant provost for K-12 Education, said the curricu lum offers students a style of history education that isn’t available elsewhere.

“It’s important because I think people have lost sight of the fact that the key to studying American history responsibly is beginning

Q&A from A1

What is the biggest challenge facing the pro-life movement?

Unity is the biggest challenge. The strategy will look different for pro-lifers in Florida versus New York versus California be cause what the public supports is different in each state. But it

with primary source docu ments,” O’Toole said.“Stu dents are capable of reading the historical evidence from quite a young age. So we think that’s the most respon sible way to begin.”

O’Toole said the develop ment of the curriculum is a collaborative effort between Hillsdale professors, mem bers of the K-12 Education Office, and educators who teach the curriculum in their classrooms.

“We have classical schools across the country that we work with,” O’Toole said. “We invite them to contrib ute to the curriculum and tell us what’s working and

will be important to have some kind of unified understanding that incrementalism is a great way of mov ing the ball forward.

Everything we do as a movement, even if it looks different from one state to another, should be oriented toward the ultimate goal of protecting every unborn child

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what’s not.”

Maegen Satcher is a classical pedagogy trainer at Hillsdale and former dean of academics at St. Johns Classical Academy, one of Hillsdale’s affiliate classical schools in Clay County, Florida. Satcher said one of the focuses of the K-12 cur riculum is delivering dense historical information in a way that’s understandable for very young students.

“They could draw on significant heroes from the past or they can depict battle scenes, things like that,” Satcher said. “Teachers can ask oral questions of their students to get them to retell

and simultaneously building a culture where women and families don't feel like they need abortion.

Why did you write a book about abortion?

Ryan and I wrote the book in anticipa tion of the Supreme Court decision. We didn't know which way it was going to turn out, but our

To receive weekly issues of Hillsdale College’s student newspa per, please contact Linnea Shively at lshively@hillsdale.edu

hope was it would overturn Roe v. Wade.

We wanted to write a roadmap for pro-lifers in a post-Roe country.

Of course, it's import ant to make the case that abortion kills un born human beings. But if that's the case, how can we as pro-lif ers learn to articulate how that fact harms everybody? If we

important events. It’s looking at the content in a way that would be practical for teach ers to use in the classroom, as well as for students to produce assignments.”

Satcher emphasized the curriculum’s flexibility and accessibility to teachers in any setting, whether private, public, or homeschool.

“It’s free, and there are some resources that we recommend and suggest, but any good teacher can start with a suggested way of doing things and then can add to it as they start to become more masterful in their craft,” Satcher said.

really are killing hun dreds of thousands of unborn human beings every year, how could it not be the case that this has destroyed every element of our society? Every chapter takes a look at all the ways in which legal abortion has harmed different elements of our society.

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Seniors Aidan Brewer and Jaekob Sallee volunteered at GOAL's field day on Saturday.

Courtesy | Emma Purdy

First CCA of the year focuses on Russian history, tradition

By Caroline Kurt Collegian Freelancer

Hillsdale will delve into Russia’s past and present, with talks ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to Vladimir Putin, in its first Center for Constructive Alternatives of the school year from Oct. 2-5.

Matt Bell, executive director of programs for external affairs, said studying Russian history and tradition is essential to contextualizing the actions of modern Russia.

“Today, we hear some imprudently advocate for war with Russia by proxy or otherwise,” he said. “In order to act with prudence in these vital matters, it is important that we un derstand Russia and the Russian people as they understand themselves — something we used to do but don’t see much of in

popular media or politics today.”

Bell said he anticipates more than 700 guests, including more than 160 Hillsdale students.

On Sunday, Sean Mc Meekin of Bard College and author Stephen Kotkin will present an overview of Russian history. On Monday, Gary Saul Morson of Northwestern Univer sity and concert pianist Hyperion Knight will highlight Russia’s literary and musical legacy. On Tuesday, Michael Miller man of Millerman School and Christopher Caldwell of the Claremont Institute will discuss current Rus sian politics and foreign policy. The CCA will con clude Wednesday, Oct. 5 with a faculty roundtable.

Freshman Luka Stanic said he is interested in attending the CCA because of his Orthodox upbring ing and ethnic ties to the

Balkan region.

“We as Americans have a way of looking at things that have been shaped by our nation’s history and cultural aspects,” Stanic said. “We seem to forget that a lot of other countries have their own histories that whave shaped their views. The American in volvement in Ukraine and Russia may be made from a half-understood perspec tive on our part.”

Stanic said he looks forward to gaining a more nuanced understanding and appreciation of Russia through the CCA.

The CCA cannot hope to cover all that Russia is and has been but aims to awaken wonder and pas sion in attendees, accord ing to Bell.

“Russian history and cultural contributions are enough to occupy a life time of study and more,” Bell said.

Contact Center hosts an open house to showcase new location

By Michaela Estruth assistant editor

The Contact Center held an open house for students, faculty, and the community to see the new facility on 44 N. Howell St. across from the County Court.

On Oct. 22, about 60 people visited the event throughout the afternoon, according to Contact Cen ter director Mary Margaret Spiteri.

“The open house was for faculty, staff, students, and locals to come see the new location and get excited about Hillsdale College hav ing a presence downtown,” Spiteri said.

Contact Center train ing coordinator Charles Holbrook said working downtown helps bring the campus and community together by “supporting stu dents and local businesses.”

“The local businesses are already serving more

students, and the students are exploring more local businesses,” Holbrook said.

According to account manager Elizabeth Turner, the Contact Center relocat ed because it was outgrow ing Kendall Hall, where the center was originally located.

“The college is ever ex panding its outreach efforts and the Contact Center has had to expand to meet the service needs of the college,” Turner said. “The new loca tion fits all of the staff and students perfectly now.”

Turner said some perks of the new location include windows, more space, and access to downtown.

“One of the best perks of the new location is having windows. That was defi nitely something we were missing in Kendall,” she said. “We have also really loved that we can go to local coffee shops and restaurants since everything is so close now.”

This relocation has also created additional space in Kendall Hall for professors and faculty, according to Holbrook.

“Hillsdale College is expanding its services to all of its constituents and students,” Holbrook said. “In order to increase office space for faculty, they are building new offices in the old contact center in Kend all Hall.”

Sophomore Charles Miggins said he enjoys working for the Contact Center and loves the new location.

“The new location brings a different perspective and makes the Contact Center more special,” Miggins said. “I love going to work because I am going off campus, and it’s a nice break from the campus chaos. I highly recommend work ing there because you gain great problem-solving and computer skills.”

Jewish student society honors Rosh Hashanah with service

By Thomas McKenna Collegian Freelancer

A mix of students, col lege faculty and staff, and Hillsdale residents gath ered Sept. 25 in a Kendall Hall classroom for a service to celebrate Rosh Hasha nah, the beginning of the civil new year in Judaism.

“It celebrates, first, God’s creation of the world, but it also sets off the days of repentance,” said Assistant Professor of Classics Josh ua Fincher, who teaches biblical Hebrew, as well as Greek and Latin at the college.

Rosh Hashanah is the second holiest day in Judaism. Yom Kippur is the first, a full day of fasting 10 days later.

The holiday has three themes, according to Fincher. The first is cre ation, celebrated at the beginning of a new year. The second is judgment be cause Rosh Hashanah be gins the judgment period. The final theme is kingship because Judaism celebrates God’s sovereignty on Rosh Hashanah.

“Throughout the month of Elul, which proceeds Rosh Hashanah, everyone needs to repent of their sins because on Rosh Hashanah God begins to judge people for the year,” Fincher said. “On Rosh Hashanah, he opens the books of judgment and looks at everything you’ve done the whole past year.

Because Judaism believes

that God punishes you for your sins in this life, then everything you’ve done he assigns a punishment to in this coming year.”

Fincher said God will close the books of judg ment on Yom Kippur.

“We have 10 days to repent before the book of judgment is closed,” Fincher said. “Then, all the punishments that will happen are set in place and can’t be changed.”

Fincher led the service as the “shaliach tzibbur,” representative of the con gregation. Members of the congregation took turns reciting prayers or read ing text printed on sheets passed around to those in attendance.

The service lasted about an hour, and consisted of prayers pleading for peace and readings recounting the history of the Jewish people. Fincher would sound a “shofar,” a trum pet resembling a horn, at points throughout the ser vice. Fincher said his selec tion of prayers was similar to what would be found in an orthodox synagogue.

“A bunch of pieces are in English, rather than He brew,” Fincher said. “In an orthodox synagogue, they would all be in Hebrew. I basically kept it all in and tried to make it simpler by removing some of the Hebrew so everybody can participate.”

The service concluded with a ritual meal, which included apples to “sweet

en the new year” and spinach to “foil the plans of those who mean to do you harm,” according to Fincher.

Senior Alexander Hadd ad, president of the Jewish student organization the Mishpacha Society, said the organization holds services weekly for Shabbat as well as for each of the Jewish holidays.

“We are few but mighty,” Haddad said. “We usually hover between three to five people per year, with seniors coming out and freshmen coming in. But it works really well. We all work together.”

Fincher said holding services for the Jewish community on campus and in Hillsdale is important.

“If there's a Jewish community here, then they deserve a level of religious representation,” Fincher said. “Holding services like this is one way that we can represent Judaism on this campus.”

The organization will hold an evening service Oct. 4 and a morning ser vice Oct. 5 for Yom Kippur, according to Fincher. He said he hopes non-Jewish students will attend the services.

“I would hope that everybody who's interested would come,” Fincher said. “It's having a personal ex perience and having things be a little less mystified that will promote understand ing.”

Alexandra DeSanctis speaks on future of the pro-life movement

By Elizabeth Crawford Collegian reporter

Abortion is an anti-wom an philosophy, said Alex andra DeSanctis, the fall visiting Pulliam Fellow, in her lecture, “The Direction of the Pro-Life Movement after Dobbs.”

DeSanctis, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and staff writer at the National Review, presented her lecture to a crowded room of donors and friends of the college in Plaster Auditorium on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

The thesis of her speech rested upon two fundamen tal ideas: abortion is a fun damental threat to society and pro-lifers must show what a good life is.

“They said abortion would be good for all of us and especially wom en,” DeSanctis said. “And, instead, it’s created endless problems and destroyed entire aspects of our society, such as unborn children, first and foremost, as well as relationships between men and women, their interest in families, our medical system, our politics, our law, and our culture.”

Junior Cecilia Gulick, who attended the lecture, appreciated DeSanctis’ insight.

“I thought it was incredi ble to see at what level abor tion has affected our culture and what ideologies stand at the root of the problem,” Gulick said.

DeSanctis attributed the

societal need for abortion to the sexual revolution of the 1960s which promoted “consequence-free sex as a necessary part of human flourishing.” DeSanctis said this view of sex was a departure from first-wave feminism in the early 20th century.

“Women’s rights advo cates were without excep tion opposed to abortion,” DeSanctis said. “They believed that it placed the responsibilities of preg nancy, childbearing, and childrearing even more on a woman’s shoulders, rather than requiring men in so ciety to do more to support mothers and children.”

DeSanctis said the sexual revolution made wom en think their bodies are inferior to deal with the immediate consequences of hook-up sex and promoted male abandonment as the “standard.”

“This world demands that women be let in on the ability to walk away from those who depend on them,” DeSanctis said.

This view, according to DeSanctis, clashes with both the empirical and metaphys ical claims about the nature of human interdependence.

“Human beings all enter the world in a state of radi cal dependence,” DeSanctis said. “It was never possible for human beings to live fulfilled as entirely inde pendent creatures who can follow our whims without experiencing brokenness or natural consequences,”

DeSanctis said.

Because the world promotes “radical indepen dence” for women, society blinds itself to the emotional and psychological pain which women experience after having an abortion, DeSanctis said.

Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Health and Wellness at Hillsdale College Brock Lutz agreed compassion must be shown toward those who have received abortions.

“Part of being pro-life is really being people who have mercy and grace for others,” Lutz said. “We want to have grace for people who have made decisions that they’re now hurting from, and that means we really love those people and encourage them.”

The solutions to abortion involve both political and cultural action, DeSanctis said. Politically, she urged pro-lifers to go door knock ing and write to represen tatives, but she also asked them to consider more per manent cultural solutions, such as providing a “healthy dating culture” and look ing toward “marriage and commitment as the building blocks of flourishing life.”

DeSanctis encouraged pro-lifers to be wise.

“I certainly would not advocate that we should let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” DeSanctis said. “But I think we’re at a mo ment where pro-lifers have to be discerning about what it is we want.”

Tower Light hosts workshop

By Alexandra Hall assistant Editor

The Formal Lounge in the Grewcock Student Union might not be Tabard Inn from “The Canterbury Tales," but Associate Pro fessor of English Patricia R. Bart encouraged students to explore the opportuni ties group input can offer writers.

Bart spoke to students at the Tower Light’s first-ever Authorial Convivium Sept. 23 about the importance of cultivating creative culture on campus. Bart serves as the Tower Light’s creative adviser, a position filled by a member of the English department's faculty every year.

“I want people to feel more normal and comfort able,” Bart said. “Not lazy, but normal and comfortable with writing literature. Just roll it out. Roll it out to your friends.”

From Geoffery Chau cer to T. S. Elliot, Bart examined a few short texts united under the theme of

creative pursuit. Although she claimed she’s mostly an academic writer, Bart said she believes she can offer guidance to budding creative writers.

She spent a large portion of her talk on the impor tance of considering the audience when writing.

“I’m usually in my office,” Bart said. “I can often take people just coming in and wanting to talk about their piece. If people want me to be their audience, I’m fine with that. I’m here for that.”

Senior Meera Baldwin, Tower Light’s fall edi tor-in-chief, said the turnout at this event was the best she had seen in her three years on the board.

“I’ve never seen more than a few people show up,” Baldwin said. “I really wanted to do some sort of lecture instead of what we’ve done in the past. I thought that that would bring more people in and actually be more helpful and inspiring. Things like this appeal to a wider audience.”

Attendee and Tower Light

board member sophomore Kara Miller, said she learned how to draw from the past in her creative writing.

“As a member of the board of the Tower Light, I find that there’s a lot of pres sure to be original,” Miller said. “It feels like when deal ing with literature and the arts in general, there’s pres sure to be original because you feel like everything has been done before. Dr. Bart emphasized that we don't need to feel pressured to originality when looking at literature because you have to recognize that a lot of the traditions of classic literature that we read borrow from each other.”

In addition to aiding the Tower Light’s board mem bers in examining submis sions and compiling their bi-annual editions, Bart said her main goal is to inspire writers.

“There may be genres that we know not of, right?” Bart said. “Maybe you’d be the groundbreaker of some new thing — a new way to look at culture.”

Opinions

Go to the most popular fair on Earth. You won’t regret it.

With just three days left to trek through a maze of barns, tents, and endless over-priced con cession stands, don’t let your discussion posts win you over. Homework will always be there, but the fair won’t.

Let’s start with the food. There’s elephant

The Collegian Weekly

The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff

Go to the fair

ears, funnel cakes, Italian sausages, Philly cheese steaks, cotton candy, popcorn, caramel corn, lemonade, soda, cider, coffee, donuts, corn dogs, hot dogs, caramel apples, and deep-fried everything. Where else in Hillsdale could you find a collection like this?

Although the annual rodeo and demolition derby have come and

gone, there’s still a truck and tractor pull tonight and tomorrow, and the all-star monster truck show on Saturday.

The contests and stu dent art exhibits are also fun to venture through.

There are competitions in photography, quilt mak ing, vegetable and flower growing, and even Lego building.

And if you love an

imals, the fair was de signed for you. The animal barns are full of horses, pigs, chick ens, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. Some are for sale, some are for show, but almost all are available to pet.

Don’t miss out on this classic small-town expe rience. This is the Most Popular Fair on Earth, after all.

NATO is the only thing keeping Russia contained

By Andrew Davidson

As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine grinds on, we should ask one question: Why didn’t he invade the Baltic states instead? Esto nia, Latvia, and Lithuania, like Ukraine, were Soviet satellites for 50 years. More than a million ethnic Rus sians still live there, pro viding a handy excuse for a “special military operation.”

More importantly, their combined land area is only 11% the size of Ukraine’s.

The Russian army presum ably could have surrounded and crushed all three Baltic countries in days (“War in Ukraine was inevitable,”

The Collegian, Sept 22).

Putin ignored this easy conquest for one reason: NATO. Since the Baltic states joined the North At lantic Treaty Organization in 2004, any attack on them is an attack on the world’s largest and most power ful military alliance. This defensive pact is enshrined in Article V of the NATO charter.

Putin has used NATO’s expansion to spin a narra tive about Western encircle ment, but his propaganda rarely reflects the facts. In 2009, Barack Obama decid ed not to offer Ukraine a NATO membership action plan, and while the Ukrai nians have petitioned for membership since then, the West has refused to commit. To placate Putin, Obama also blocked U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine. But in 2014, when the Ukrainians impeached their corrupt pro-Russian president, Putin discovered

an excuse to seize Crimea and begin the eight-year skirmish in the Donbas that has culminated in the 2022 war. NATO did not provoke Putin into that fight; he went looking for it.

invasion, and he delivered too few to deter a Russian attack.

Some Americans blame the Russia-Ukraine war on U.S. meddling in the region. This false assumption

him rape, torture, and mur der. This Soviet-era brutali ty is something that almost everyone in Ukraine—in cluding 80% of the ethnic Russians living in its free regions—wants to prevent

subjugation, that we should stay out of Russia’s zone of control. If our choices were between neutrality and total war, this argument for neu trality would carry much more weight. But we can

Anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine.

Courtesy | Fli C kr

Russia before it started. Our government failed in this, and the war began. Now, the Ukrainians need defensive and short-range offensive weapons to push Putin back without striking into Russian territory. A unified NATO, with U.S. leadership, can easily pro vide these weapons.

If Biden allows Putin to devour more Ukrainian land, he will repeat Obama’s mistakes and further erode our global credibility. Far from stopping the violence, this territorial compro mise would merely delay another vicious onslaught.

Our many security guaran tees to Ukraine will mean nothing if another U.S. president abrogates them, and the world’s despots love nothing more than a fickle America.

In the future, NATO membership will be the West’s most powerful tool for Russian deterrence, and no third nation should dictate who is in and who is out. That said, extend ing Article V protection to a war-torn Ukraine is no light matter. After Putin’s invasion is repelled, we should slowly and judi ciously begin the process of Ukrainian NATO mem bership. If incorporation proves impossible, NATO should at least arm the Ukrainians against future attacks.

Neither is our piecemeal pre-2022 military assistance to Ukraine responsible for Putin’s aggression, then or now. Unlike Obama, Donald Trump supplied the Ukrainians with javelin an ti-tank missiles, and Putin did not retaliate. Joe Biden sent defensive weapons only a month before this year’s

denies the agency of both warring nations. Ukraine wants to become more Western, and Russia wants to stop it. No matter how NATO members respond to that dilemma, Putin will conjure an excuse about Western encirclement and attack wherever he thinks he can win, bringing with

at all costs.

This is Putin’s war, and this is Putin’s fault.

The true lesson of recent history is that, as American resolve flickers, Russia will take what it can, when it can. Some Americans will point to this fact and sug gest that the natural state of Eastern Europe is Russian

pursue a third path.

At present, America’s best option is to continue helping the Ukrainians reclaim their territory with out igniting a full-scale war with Russia. Before the in vasion, Biden and Congress should have remembered Putin’s greed and made the conflict unwinnable for

We should never again be duped into thinking that appeasing thugs like Putin will bring peace. Peace is the fruit of strength.

Andrew Davidson is a senior studying philosophy.

Electric cars are as bad as people say

By Joseph Sturdy

The rise in the use of electric vehicles represents a significant threat to the affordability of cars, their safety in collisions, and surprisingly, the sustain ability of transportation in the United States (“Elec tric vehicles are not as bad as everyone says,” The Collegian, Sept. 22).

While last week’s article rightly pointed out the steady decrease in cost of electric vehicles, EVs remain far too expensive for the general public.

According to Kelley Blue Book, the average cost of a new car has increased in 2022 to more than $47,000, and the average price for EVs is $62,000. That’s more than Mich igan’s average household income of merely $59,000.

It is irresponsible to im pose the higher cost of an

electric vehicle on people who already struggle to af ford new internal combus tion engine vehicles, and the only solution to this crisis comes in govern ment intervention.

The decrease that has already taken place in EV costs can largely be attributed to massive gov ernment programs that are designed to take the con sumer’s choice out of their car-buying decision. Fur ther, these sprawling regu lations incentivize heavier vehicles because of mas sive tax exemptions given to “light trucks.” These encourage automakers to build increasingly bigger, and thus more expensive vehicles, however this also contributes to an overall decline in vehicle safety in collisions.

Though vehicle fatali ties continue to decline as a result of collision-miti

gation technologies such as lane-assist, collision warning, and adaptive cruise control, it remains a fact that heavier vehicles

icant, but at the extremes, it becomes astronomical. The new GMC Hummer EV weighs in at more than 9,000 lbs without passen

cause immensely more damage when a collision does occur.

According to Car and Driver, the aver age EV weighs in at 700 lbs more than its non-EV counterpart. At the aver age, this change is signif

gers in it. At this weight, the Hummer is 3,000 pounds too heavy to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. And when combined with a 1,000-horsepower motor that can rocket the truck from 0-60 in 3.0 seconds,

this weight turns the vehi cle into a cannonball that will annihilate anything that it comes into contact with. Though these EVs possess technologies to make collisions less likely, there is no avoiding the fact that my 3,000 lb. Ford Mustang will never win a confrontation with a mod ern EV, and that makes the road less safe for every one. Most dangerously, modern fire and rescue is woefully unequipped to deal with EV collisions, as water spreads electrical fires and the toxic chemi cals leached into nature by large lithium-ion batter ies. The danger of these vehicles in crashes thus extends into environmen tal concerns, too.

The environmental impact of EVs remains their most dubious risk to the future. Though automakers tout their

progress in battery re cycling, it remains that most EVs use batteries that are not designed to be recycled, according to Science.org. This means that every 7-10 years, these vehicles will become completely unusable, and they will remain carcasses to be crushed—a process exceedingly dangerous for the environment. Even beyond the difficulty in manufacturing and main taining these batteries, the vehicles’ chassis will rep resent billions or trillions of tons of wasted steel.

The only conclusion to be found from these premises is that EVs really are as bad as people say.

Joseph Sturdy is a junior studying politics, French, and music. He is a George Washington Fellow.

“It is irresponsible to impose the higher cost of an electric vehicle on people who already struggle to afford new internal combustion engine vehicles

A tale of two responses: modesty causes a ruckus

Last week, an article ran in the Collegian urging students to be more modest in their dress. Two students decided to weigh in.

Not far enoughToo far

By Nick Treglia (Seymour Skinne)

The author of last week’s article on modesty in fashion quoted a lot of old sayings about what people should wear. Al low me to suggest another one: “less is more.” In my opinion, the author’s standards for modesty are rather severe. It seems that the only way to com ply with her strict fashion requirements is to dress like square Kanye in his “I Love It” music video. These aren’t the only nits I have to pick with this article.

I would also like to point out that her de mand for us to wrap up like King Tut is clearly unconstitutional. The Bill of Rights grants every American the right to bare arms. Like many stu

dents here, I worked hard on my biceps and will not stand for any form of “gun control.” What would the donors think?

Her advice is also highly impractical from an economic standpoint. In this down economy, it is unreasonable to ex pect anyone to buy even more fabric. Perhaps all someone can afford is that $100 Lululemon top. With inflation soaring and the economy in a recession, the author should only be concerned with your supply and demand curves. As winter approaches, my advice for everyone is this: don’t cover up. Let’s show cam pus some cold shoulder.

Nick Treglia is a senior studying history.

By Nick Treglia (Bea Hyden)

Unfortunately, Gen Z’s attention spans aren’t the only thing getting shorter. The way things are going, I’d expect Megan Thee Stallion to be the next cover model for Prude’s Quarterly. Given the current state of the fashion world, I was pleased to see an article calling for more modesty, but was equally disappoint ed to find that it did little if anything to stop the tide of promiscuous dress in today’s young people.

One glaring oversight in the article was the lack of attention given to the men of this campus, some of whom insist on parading shirtless each Thursday, their bare, moonlit skin a stunning display of phosphor lumi nescence. Men, long sleeve shirts must be worn all the way down to the wrist and short sleeves must go. As the

old saying goes, “triceps lead to trimesters.” Finally, no man can be allowed to go clean shaven. As they say “why clean up the house if you’re not ex pecting visitors?” A good neck beard ought to put an end to those sinful cheek smooches.

As far as the ladies go, the article said that a good rule of thumb for any outfit is asking yourself if you would wear it to church. It’s obvious that we need a new standard since most of what y’all wear isn’t fit for the Church of Satan. That’s why I am proposing a new litmus test for modesty. To morrow morning, when you look in the mirror, ask yourself this: “If I were in Saudi Arabia, would I get stoned for this?” Some of you may disagree and laugh at my opinion–and that’s ok. I’m not the one going to Hell.

Nick Treglia is a senior studying history.

Modesty is more about character than clothes

By Jillian Parks

I wouldn’t show up to the gates of heaven in a hoodie and some jeans, and that doesn’t make it an immodest outfit. Cul turally, a crop top can be perceived as both mod est and immodest based on the body type of the person who is wearing it. There were things I was allowed to wear to church on Sundays for which my high school would have sent me home.

I am not advocating for a society that doesn’t care about what people wear, but the conversa tion surrounding mod esty often becomes trite and deficient.

Modesty is an outward expression of an inward condition. Outward implies dress, but also speech, conduct, and ego. According to Mer riam-Webster, the first definition of modest is “placing a moderate estimate on one’s abili ties or worth.” There are more specific definitions concerning how someone dresses, but they are not two separate concepts.

Being modest in one’s dress is about not flaunt ing or showing off. The same goes for the idea of modesty when applied to one’s behavior.

Jeremiah 17:10 tells us about this from a Chris tian perspective, “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Throughout the entirety of scripture we see the repeated sentiment that the Lord is not concerned with our burnt offerings or our good deeds if our hearts are not devoted to reverence and submis sion to the Holy Spirit. This can show up in the way we dress! However, I truly believe it is feasi ble to imagine a person wholly devoted to the

Proposal 2: Election Reforms

Vote no for secure elections

By Elizabeth Crawford

As election day looms on the horizon, the most important question Michaganders should be asking is whether or not they want their voting standards reduced to the lowest common denom inator.

Proposal 2, one of three proposals that would amend Michigan’s constitution if approved, aims to “recognize the fundamental right to vote without harassing conduct,” but it opens wide the gate for more abuses.

Instead of photo ID requirements, one would only need to present a signed affidavit match ing the signature on the voter registration record. According to Ballotpe dia, if a signature doesn’t match, “Proposal 2 also provides the voter with the right to be notified immediately and afford ed due process, includ ing the opportunity to correct the issue with the signature.”

However, the current photo ID requirement for the state of Michigan is fairly lax, allowing any form of photo identifi cation ranging from a driver’s license, a U.S. passport, or a student ID from an accredited insti

tution of higher learning.

The premise of the proposal suggests that the current identification re quirements prevent equal voting access. However, according to the Bureau of Transportation Sta tistics, well over half of Americans have driver’s licenses–212,159,728 peo ple to be precise–and that does not include other acceptable forms of iden tification, such as student IDs or a U.S. passport.

All of the above doc umentation generally requires proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate, nota rized statement from the bank, or a social security number.

While only U.S. citi zens can vote in elections,

only requiring proof of signature checked by a disinterested election official opens the door for more voter fraud and undermines the integrity and institutional stabili ty of the Michigan state electoral system.

Voter fraud is some thing which has occurred in the past and will continue to happen in the future, and it’s our job as responsible citizens to preserve our rights and form of government.

Supporting the pro posal makes it easier for undocumented individ uals to cast their vote in elections that determine the state’s course for the foreseeable future. It also allows people who are not productive members of society to have a say in the government when they have no ties to the state or to the country.

People who have not completed their high school education, hold no other form of citizenship, or do not carry a Michi gan state ID card should not be allowed to vote. Such individuals want the privileges associated with citizenship without any of the responsibilities to community and country.

Elixabeth Crawford is a junior studying politics and journalism.

Lord who wears a crop top. I also can conceive of a person who wears skirts to their knees and judges everyone else for not doing so. That does not count as being modest. The topic is more nuanced than that. What the Lord is asking us to do is far more involved, and, to be reductive about a topic much larger than the outfits we wear, does a disservice to the virtue itself.

The obsession with pointing to women show ing skin is the root of our

culture’s issue with mod esty ignores the cause. We ought to treat the condi tion itself, not the side ef fects. Some women dress provocatively because that’s the way they get attention, for good or ill. Encourage your friends, compliment their outfits (even if it isn’t some thing you would typically wear), and make them feel important. Some women dress according to what was clean, what was at the Salvation Army that week, and whether or not it’s 80 degrees out side. Either way, the re action is not to shame or condemn. There is none of that in Jesus Christ anyways.

Jillian Parks is a sopho more studying the liberal arts and journalism. She is social media manager at the Collegian.

Vote yes for more voter rights

By Josh Hypes

The purpose and effect of Michigan’s Proposal 2 are simple: it expands voter rights while maintaining secure elections.

Proposal 2 would amend the state consti tution to enact critical changes to early voting in elections and the bal lot-counting processes. It would allow for nine days of in-person early voting before Election Day, let registered voters request to vote absentee for all future elections, grant voters without a state ID the abil ity to vote after signing an affidavit attesting to their identity, and clarify current legal requirements for both post-election audits and ballot canvassing.

The proposal makes several steps to improve Michigan’s robust absen tee ballot process more accessible to low-income individuals. It would re quire state-funded postage for absentee ballot applica tions and nine days of early voting.

The initiative estab lishes that state and local officials can only con duct post-election audits seeking to fix problems highlighted over the past two years.

“No officer or member of the governing body of a national, state, or local

political party, and no political party precinct del egate, shall have any role in the direction, supervision, or conduct of an election audit,” according to the proposed amendment.

This clarification helps establish a clear hierarchy and process for post-elec tion audits and avoid some of the chaos resulting from the 2020 presidential election.

It also requires canvas boards to certify election results based only on the official records of votes cast. It also authorizes ballot drop boxes for every 15,000 voters in a munici pality.

Opponents claim the expansion of absentee ballot access compromises election security, according to Bridge Michigan. The concern is that a person might receive an absen tee ballot in the mail for a previous resident who is deceased or moved, for instance. Proposal 2, how ever, still requires voters to disclose their driver’s license or state ID number and the last four digits of their social security num ber when requesting an absentee ballot. Michigan links an individual’s social security number to their voter registration, meaning if a voter moves out of state or dies, the state removes them from the state voter

rolls.

The benefit of con venience from allowing indefinite absentee ballots is much greater than any supposed “security risk.”

So long as the secretary of state and election authorities follow the law and keep voter rolls up to date, there is no security risk.

If anything, the new changes could stream line the voting process. State-funded postage will reduce trips to the post office to buy 60-cent stamps for those who do not send mail often.

The initiative also ex pands the number of se cure ballot drop boxes in cities. Ballot boxes must be securely locked and designed to prevent ballot removal unless unlocked while under constant video surveillance in a visible well-lit area, ac cording to Michigan law. This policy ensures that jurisdictions like Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and other large cities can have multiple drop boxes closer to individual voters rather than a single cen tralized drop box for the entire jurisdiction.

Josh Hypes is a junior studying politics and journalism. He is the political correspondent at the Collegian.

“The premise of the proposal suggests that the current identification requirements prevent equal voting access.”

“The obsession with pointing to women showing skin is the root of our culture’s issue with modesty.”

City News

County fair attracts thousands

By Tess Owen Assistant Editor

Residents and travelers found “Stars, Stripes, and Fair Delights” at the Hillsdale County Fairgrounds beginning last weekend.

The 172nd Hillsdale County Fair began Sunday Sept. 25, and will continue until Saturday Oct. 1. The fair offers rides, private vendors, 4-H competitions, and events.

“We are the largest event held annually in the county, so there is a tremendous economic impact in terms of the people coming into the county,” Fair Secretary and Manager Lori Hull said.

According to Hull, the fair is hosting 175 vendors and expects more than 75,000 people to visit by the end of the week, despite overcast weather.

The fair hosts multiple events and competitions, such as the International Demolition Derby and the Truck and Tractor Pull competitions.

Horses named Pistol and Rowdy set a new Michigan record in the Hillsdale National Heavyweight Championship, according to Facebook. The horses pulled a tow truck that weighed 5,050 pounds more than 28 feet.

Joe and Janet Brown said they have been coming from Ohio to visit the fair since 1962.

“We’ve been coming for years and years,” Janet said. “I’ve been coming here even before I was married.”

The couple, who will soon celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary, said their favorite attraction at the fair is Steve’s Barbecue.

“They have the best brisket, roasted turkey legs, and baked beans,” Janet Brown said. “We wait all year to go there.”

The Browns also came to see their 9-year-old nephew show his sheep competitively.

“It was his first year doing it, and he won first place in showmanship,” Joe Brown said.

The Browns said they noticed fewer people at this year's fair compared to last year.

Hillsdale resident and Country Junctions vendor Kay Aube agreed that the fair seemed slower this year due to the weather.

“Things have been slow,” Aube said. “Fewer people means fewer sales.”

Aube has been selling her handmade home goods and decorative items at the fair for 12 years.

Keefer House Hotel renovations continue

By Lauren Scott Assistant Editor

The Keefer House Hotel may be ready for business by late spring or early summer.

Phoenix Builders and Apex Painting are working together to restore the 130-year-old building.

The hotel is owned by CL Real Estate, which is partnering with Phoenix Builders to restore the hotel while keeping its historical value, said Tom Wilson, construction superintendent at Phoenix Builders. Wilson said the project will bring the building up to code.

“It's really a neat undertaking for us because we're going to take a hotel that's over 130 years old, and we're going to do our best to try to keep her old bones together,” he said.

Wilson said his company plans to salvage many things from the hotel such as tin ceiling tiles, wall tins, door hardware, and railings so they can keep the historical value of the hotel intact.

The hotel will likely open in late spring or early summer and will offer 32 rooms, 28 of them being king and queen-size bedrooms.

The hotel will feature a main lobby, dining room, and a restaurant in back, Wilson said.

Lauren Fink, owner of Apex Painting, said her company was hired to do the hotel’s interior paint work.

“We are doing some restoration work right now

and then as we get closer, we will do the interior painting,” Fink said.

Fink said she and her team are taking the same approach as Phoenix Builders, attempting to salvage the building’s history through painting.

“We are working on all of the historic ceiling tiles, and we are restoring about 1,000 square feet of those tiles in our paint shop,” Fink said.

Fink said she is excited to be part of a project to beautify downtown Hillsdale.

“We have our shop in downtown Hillsdale, so we really enjoy it,” Fink said.

Gianna Green, communities manager at CL Real Estate, said before the Keefer House Hotel was built, a wooden building called the Hillsdale Hotel stood in its place.

“The Hillsdale Hotel burned down and the Keefer House Hotel as we know it

and see it now was built in 1885 on top of the ashes,” Green said.

The hotel used to play a vital role when Hillsdale was an important stop during the railroad boom. Many people came from other places and would stay at hotels in Hillsdale, Green said, and the Keefer House Hotel is one of the only such places that remains.

“The most recent retail tenant that the Keefer House had in there was a Radio Shack in the basement,” Green said.

The city shut the building down for poor living conditions in 2002, Green said. After that, it sat derelict and went through several different owners, she said.

“With the city's help, CL Real Estate development has been working tirelessly since 2018 to get the Keefer House Hotel back up and running as a boutique hotel,” Green said.

“I closed my shop three years ago, and now I’m based from my home,” Aube said. “My handmade soy wax candles are definitely my most popular items, so hopefully the weekend will be busier.”

Hillsdale-based McElroy Farms brought a booth to the fair, where they offer raffle tickets for the chance to win a freezer full of grass-fed beef.

“This is our first time ever here, so we just wanted to see how it goes,” Audrey VanDeusen said on Wednesday. “It definitely has been slower overall than I was expecting, but today’s actually been better.”

VanDeusen, who oversees marketing for McElroy Farms, said they sell grassfed beef and lamb online and at the Hillsdale Farmer’s Market.

Lisa Selph, Karissa Shay,

and Kayla Galloway decided to sell their woven and crocheted goods together at a shared booth. They all agreed business has been good for them.

“I haven’t stopped working this entire week,” Shay said.

All three work from home and sell their goods online.

“We are local, and we make everything by hand, including the yarn,” Selph said. “I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, but this is only our second year at the fair.”

While Shay specializes in knitting and Galloway in crafting macrame items, Selph weaves and knits her goods from wool sourced at fiber fairs throughout the state, as well as from alpaca wool she gets from her neighbor’s farm near Reading, Michigan.

Selph showcased her spinning wheel at the booth,

while Shay and Galloway knit and crafted macrame in between selling their wares.

“I help process the wool straight from the sheering, to washing, scouring, and carding it, to combing and spinning it,” Selph said.

Selph, who also sells handmade jewelry and offers her goods at local fairs and the Reading Farmer’s Market, said she expected business at the Hillsdale County Fair to be even better over the upcoming weekend.

“I think we’re the only ones selling handmade knit items, so I think we have a niche,” Selph said.

Hull said she expects a greater surge of people to visit the fair during its final days.

“A lot of people will come,” Hull said. “Hopefully they see Hillsdale and want to come back another time.”

Former stabbing suspect faces charges for stalking, assault, resisting police

By Haley Strack Senior Reporter

The City of Hillsdale Police Department arrested a repeat offender on Sept. 20 for multiple counts of resisting an officer, among other charges.

According to a Hillsdale police press release, 39-yearold Shaun David Helton was arrested last Tuesday on two counts of resisting and obstructing police, domestic assault, aggravated stalking, violation of conditional bond, and two bench warrants for failing to appear. Police detained Helton on Sept. 20 after an incident near Union and River Streets. Helton is a known felon, last arrested in February for assault with a deadly weapon.

Seniors Kyle Kudla and Josh Peroni live kitty-corner to the scene of the arrest. Peroni said he witnessed Helton flee from a house after police confronted the suspect.

“I looked outside and

there was a cop in their front yard. Then there were two cops on their porch, kind of hiding next to the door and knocking on it,” Peroni said.

“I peeked through my blinds with a cup of coffee, videoing it for my friends. Other cops started coming in and then this guy started running out the back of the house up River Street.”

Police charged Helton with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a 10-year felony in Michigan, after he allegedly stabbed a man at an auto parts store in February. The Jonesville native pleaded

guilty in July for assault with a dangerous weapon and had a sentencing hearing set for August. Police have not confirmed if Helton’s recent arrest was related to this, though he was issued multiple bench warrants this week for failing to appear in court.

Peroni and Kudla said the college and police did not notify off-campus residents of the incident.

The men praised the police for a job well done but added that nearby residents could benefit from more information.

“If we didn’t see it happen, I’d like to know that something happened right across the street,” Peroni said.

Helton’s bond violation hearing is set for Oct. 5.

If the court finds that he violated bond conditions, Helton could be in jail until his original case is resolved.

The City of Hillsdale Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Horses Pistol and Rowdy pulled 5,050 pounds, breaking the Michigan record.

Courtesy | Facebook

Apex Painting, CL Realty, and Phoenix Builders are working on projects like the Keefer House on Howell Street.

Courtesy | Facebook

Shaun David Helton.

Courtesy | JailTracker

Jonesville firefighters honor long-time comrade

By Megan Williams Culture Editor

The Jonesville Volunteer Fire Department honored firefighter Neil Finegan’s 50 years of service with a funeral procession on Sept. 17.

The fire department had planned a Sept. 17 award ceremony for Finegan, but he died on Aug. 30 at 81 years old.

“We honored him the best we possibly could,” Fire Chief Dean Adair said.

“There was a procession of vehicles made up of different departments and people around the area, who came out of respect for a man that made it 50 years in the field.”

The procession was almost a mile long with fire trucks and vehicles from across Hillsdale County.

Adair said the department arranged the ceremony and processions with Finegan’s family, in order to respect the desires of those closest to him.

“We never want to overpower the wishes of the family, so we tread lightly and we described the things that we can do and that we’d be glad to do,” Adair said. “We don’t want to step on the toes of the family, so if they want the bells and whistles, we’ll give it to them, but if they want a respectful ceremony, we can do that too.”

Finegan’s family asked Adair to speak at the funeral because of his close relationship and involvement during the later part of

Finegan’s career.

“Of course, this is a second family here at the station,” Adair said. “Every one of the guys that comes down here and does this job is a part of this tight-knit group, and their family is our family.”

Honoring the wishes of the Finegan family, the fire department transported both Finegan and his wife, who had died earlier that year, to the Mosherville cemetery, according to Eagle Funeral Homes.

all the qualifications of a career firefighter, but we do this voluntarily,” Riggs said.

“If we get a call at 1 a.m. and are there until 3 in the morning, we still have to wake up and be at our 9-to-5 job that day.”

Finegan worked as a truck driver at the fire department. At 80 years old, he was still answering calls at 3 a.m., heading to the station, and driving the fire truck to emergencies, Riggs said.

“There’s got to be a fire within somebody, to be doing what he was at that age and for that long,” Riggs said. “Neil was so dedicated that it didn’t matter when he got into his 60s, into his 70s, into his 80s. He was still coming down here and helping.”

“The family wasn’t able to lay their mother, Neil’s wife, to rest when she passed earlier this year, so we agreed to take both of them in the rig to the cemetery,” Adair said. “We know how to honor somebody and the proper procedures to do that, so it was just a matter of getting everyone together and executing, the same way we do with fires.”

Rick Riggs, JVFD assistant chief, said Finegan’s dedication to the community was so admirable because of the nature of their volunteer department.

“We are required to have

Bank plans fall event

By Evalyn Homoelle Assistant Editor

A local bank will give away free autumn plants and refreshments at a fall celebration event on Friday.

The event, hosted by the Hillsdale Community Choice Credit Union Member Center, will feature a contest to win two $100 gas gift cards, a fire pit, and a s’mores gift basket. The bank will also offer free mums, pumpkins, donuts, and apple cider. All community members are welcome at the event and are eligible for the contest and giveaways.

Kylie Bauer, manager of the Community Choice Credit Union Member Center, said the bank hopes to celebrate the fall season and give back to the Hillsdale community.

“Fall is such a great time of the year in Michigan, and we have a unique tradition in the state of enjoying our cider mills and donuts,” she said. “The atmosphere will be informal and friendly – we hope residents, students, and faculty from Hillsdale College and throughout the town come to visit.”

The fall celebration will take place from 12 to 3 p.m. and doubles as a food drive for King’s Kupboard Food Pantry, a ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church. Community Choice asks those interested in donating to the food drive

POLICE

to bring non-perishable food items to the fall celebration.

“King’s Kupboard Food Pantry is a wonderful charity that goes above and beyond for many in our community that benefit from assistance,” Bauer said.

Cathy Shively, coordinator of King’s Kupboard, said she is excited about Community Choice Credit Union’s food drive.

“I’m hoping the event increases awareness about King’s Kupboard Food Pantry and spreads the word to people in Hillsdale County who are struggling to put food on the table,” she said. “We are grateful for any donations, they will be put to good use.”

Several local businesses, such as Glei’s Orchards and Greenhouses and Jonesville Bakery, are partnering with Community Choice for the event’s refreshments and giveaways.

Bauer said partnering with small businesses in the Hillsdale community makes events like Community Choice’s Fall Celebration so special.

“These are the types of events we love when community organizations and businesses work together to make a difference and support each other,” she said. “It’s why we love to live and work in and around Hillsdale.”

Adair remembered multiple occasions when Finegan would arrive at a fire in the middle of winter and refuse to go home, simply because he wanted to do his part and was committed to protecting the community.

“I remember a night when we had a structure fire in town, and it was one of those cold, brutal nights where snow was all over the ground. I turned around, and there was Neil, standing right behind me,” Adair said.

“When I told him to get in the truck and warm up, he told me that if these guys could be out here, so could he. And he stayed until I eventually assigned him another job that took him back to the station.”

Finegan’s dedication especially showed when he served the community at a

time when firefighters had less advanced gear. Adair described the resilience it took to be a firefighter during Finegan’s earlier years.

“Finegan served during the time they considered the smoke eaters: the guys that usually ended up with lung cancer because they were breathing in so much smoke all the time,” Adair

said. “They didn’t have the breathing apparatuses we do now. They didn’t have the gear or protection we have now, which is why we have so much respect for them.”

Describing Finegan’s legacy, Adair said he would always be remembered for his hard work and love for the community, which showed in the way and the amount of time he served.

“There were a lot of words that come to mind when I think about Neil, but some are honor, integrity, loyal, dedicated, and committed,” Adair said.

“You don’t spend 50 years of your life committed to your community and doing this job without being every one of those words. And that’s why there’s big respect for him.”

As state school attendance declines, Hillsdale boasts above-average ratings

Local schools’ attendance exceeded 92%, but the state’s fell below 89%

By Josh Hypes Political Correspondent

Hillsdale Community Schools ranked above average in Michigan’s 20212022 school attendance rate, according to Michigan Department of Education data.

While statewide K-12 student attendance dropped below 89% last year, Hillsdale Community Schools had an attendance rate of 92.54%, MDE data showed.

“These data are consistent with what we have already known to be true during the past two years – students have received less instruction during the pandemic,” said State Superintendent Michael F. Rice in a press release. “Students need

more instructional time, especially vulnerable students such as those who are economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, and English learners.”

Across the state, the gap between economically disadvantaged and others almost doubled to nearly 6% since the 2019-20 school year, according to MDE data.

Martin Ackley, an MDE spokesperson, said in an email the state was working closely with districts to assist with policies, practices, and procedures to increase attendance, especially targeted toward students considered “chronically absent.”

The MDE is working with districts through its Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System,

Ackley explained. EWIMS is a data-driven decisionmaking process that assists educators in tracking students’ educational needs by monitoring attendance and academic performance.

with other states and the nonprofit Attendance Works to study the best ways to improve attendance while reducing barriers to economic inequality.

While Michigan standardized test scores continued to improve state-wide compared to last year, Rice pressed parents and districts to get students back in the classroom.

-A Reading man was arrested for operating while intoxicated. A $5,000 bond with 10% allowed was not posted.

-A Hillsdale man was arrested for domestic violence. A $10,000 bond with 10% allowed was posted.

“After one year of implementation, EWIMS reduced the percentage of students with chronic absences and course failures in the schools that implemented the process with fidelity,” Ackley said.

The MDE is also working

“Time in school was too short prior to the pandemic, yet so essential to student achievement,” Rice said. “Students need to be present in school to learn best and to address learning that remains unfinished.” Hillsdale Community Schools did not respond to requests for comment.

The Collegian has compiled a selection of arrests from the City of Hillsdale and Hillsdale County in the past week.

24 Sept .

-A Jackson woman was arrested for second degree operating while intoxicated, and two counts of resisting and obstructing. No bond was allowed.

25 Sept

-A Morenci man was arrested for home invasion, domestic violence, and resisting and obstructing. No bond was allowed.

-A Homer man was arrested for resisting and obstructing and two counts of violating bond. No bond was allowed.

-An Allen woman was arrested for resisting and obstructing. No bond was allowed.

“Students need to be present in school to learn best.”

“There’s got to be a fire within somebody, to be doing what he was at that age.”

A parade of civilians and emergency responders honored Finegan on the day originally set to celebrate his 50 years of service.

Courtesy | Facebook

Sports

Charger football: a family business

By Maddy Welsh Assist A nt Editor

When I entered the sports complex and asked where to find coach Otter bein’s office, the reception ist asked, “which one?”

Though many just know the head coach, Keith Otterbein ’79, there are two more Otterbeins on the coaching staff for Charger football – Keith’s two sons, Steve ’07 and Brad ’11.

In his undergraduate days, Keith played football for the Chargers and he has been coaching the team since 2002. Later, his sons played for him while they attended Hillsdale. And now, they’re his employees.

“That's what we do. We do Charger football and have for a long, long time,” Keith said. “You know, it's just kind of cool to be here and be with them on a daily basis.”

Between his college graduation and his home coming to his alma mater, Keith coached at other schools for 23 years right until Hillsdale hired him back.

“I had come from Ball State, which is a division one school, and the face and the direction of Divi sion I football was kind of

heading down a path that I didn't necessarily agree with philosophically,” Keith said. “So I came here, and it just felt right – the size of the school, the balance between academics and athletics – it was there.”

He didn’t ever think he’d end up back at Hillsdale –until he did.

“Once I graduated and started my career, it was never a real aspiration to be back at my alma mater, but when I was contacted in 2001, I knew I needed to take a look at it,” Keith said. “I came back, and the con nections were just right. The feeling was there. We talk in recruiting all the time about the right fit, and it was just the right fit for me.”

As for the younger Otter beins, their paths away-from and back-to Hillsdale were shorter. Steve, the defensive coordinator and corner backs coach, spent three years away from the ’Dale coaching football at Eastern Michigan University before he came home.

“This place, as a student, leaves such an impression on you that when you get an opportunity to come back and be on the other side of it, it’s nice to do that,” Steve said. “It’s had a special place in my heart and it's

an honor to be able to be a part of it and represent the school through our football program.”

Brad is the quarterbacks’ coach. It only took him one year coaching post-grad at another school before Hills dale called again.

“It’s just a special place, as probably anybody that goes here knows,” Brad said. “The people are different, the pride in the school is different than anywhere else. It’s just a special place to be a part of because of the pride I take in it – the love for the school, the love for the people that are around the school.”

Their experiences away from Hillsdale were helpful, though, especially since the only college coach they had ever known was also the man who raised them.

“We were fortunate that after graduation, in both boys' cases, they were able to go away from Hillsdale and have an experience before they came back on the staff,” Keith said. “I think it helped kind of broaden their hori zons and let them compare what we do – what Dad's program is – versus what someone else's program is.”

Brad always knew he wanted to coach, no matter where he was or who he

was working with. It just so happens that Keith and Steve are the type of people he likes working with.

“It wouldn't be different if it was not my dad,” Brad said. “His personality and my personality – that's the kind of head coach I want to work for. And the same thing with my brother. If he wasn't my brother, I still think he's a really good coach.”

He’s learned a lot from the both of them – especial ly Steve.

“I always looked up to him and wanted to be like him,” Brad said. “I never talked to Steve, that I re member, about, ‘hey, I know I want to be a football coach, do you want to be a football coach?’” Brad said. “But I knew in middle school that I wanted to be a football coach, and now the fact that my brother’s here and my dad’s here, it’s kind of the icing on the cake.”

Steve’s learned a lot from the two of them as well, in some ways that he never expected.

“It’s funny because I catch myself using the same phrases and the same ver biage that my dad uses, es pecially now that I'm getting older and everything,” Steve said with a smile.

But he’s learned more than his old man’s catch phrases.

“I've always had coaches that have been very im pactful in my life, and my dad's definitely at the top of that list,” Steve said. “So it's definitely very, very special to do that with him every day and get to come to work and be around my dad and be around my brother.”

Their closeness – a closeness they could only have after having grown up together – helps them work together better.

“I think our views on the current state of big time college athletics are similar because we've grown up as a family with values and they know what's import ant,” Keith said. “So, the words that are important at Hillsdale College – honor, integrity, loyalty, dedica tion, hard work – that's what they grew up hearing me preach as kids and then as players.”

Keith doesn’t take the credit for their successes, though.

“They have both devel oped really close relation ships with their players. I think their players feel very comfortable talking to them about football, but

also about what it's like to be a college kid growing up and all the things that kids your age go through,” Keith said. “It's a crazy world that you guys live in, and they've done a good job of stepping up and staying connected to the kids.”

For all three Otterbeins, their work all comes back to the college’s mission of improving minds and developing hearts.

“Ultimately, you know, we're trying to make better men of our players,” Keith said. “I can see that my sons are better men hav ing been in our program and their opportunity to mentor and be a role model for their players is a great thing.”

It’s also just plain fun.

“I’ve got the best job in college football. I honestly believe that,” Keith said. “When you get to represent a school that stands for the things that our school stands for, and coach young men that have phenomenal character and integrity and work ethic, that are not caught up in themselves but are very humble in their efforts, and then you get to coach with great guys and two of them happen to be your sons – how much better can it get?”

Charger Chatter Meg Kolp

If you had to replace a volleyball with any piece of fruit during a game, what fruit would you pick? Why?

If I had to replace a volleyball with a fruit, I would choose a grapefruit. I feel like they’re large enough to set and light enough to pass.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received from a coach?

The best piece of advice I have received from a coach is that being the best isn’t a natural thing. People have to be willing to bend their entire lives around in order to be great, and the major ity of our greatness is sparked by having gratitude for every thing we are given.

What is your biggest unpopular opinion?

My biggest unpopular opinion is that the movie “The Night mare before Christ mas” is a Christmas movie.

Describe your ide al fall break in three sentences or less.

My ideal fall break would be spending a weekend with my teammates at the weekend crossover tournament that we have every year. It would be nice to may be have some cider and donuts added in there as well.

From left to right: Brad, Keith, and Steve Otterbein.

Courtesy | Keith o tterbein

Charger linebacker Keith Otterbein.

Courtesy | Keith o tterbein

Chargers bounce back with win in Missouri

By Christian Peck-Dimit AssociAte editor

Sophomore wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa and the Hills dale football team’s defense stepped up late to put the Chargers back in the win column with a tough, 17-10 out-of-conference win in Missouri against the Missou ri S&T Miners.

Hillsdale improved to 3-1 overall as TeSlaa posted eight catches for 177 yards and both of the team’s touch downs, including one which he caught with a freshly broken hand.

Not only did TeSlaa’s performance earn him his third career G-MAC Of fensive Player of the Week award – his second of the season – but it also put him back in the nation’s lead for most receiving touchdowns. He is also keeping pace with the nation’s best in total re ceiving yards, sitting at fifth with 572.

“Their linebackers stepped up, their secondary stepped up and got really involved,” head coach Keith Otterbein said. “If they’re cramming that many people around the football, that means #4 is getting some single coverage, and he can make plays when he’s out there alone, and certainly Isaac had another great game.”

mirror and say that I gave it my all, then I can be a little bit satisfied,” Kudla said. “I’m really proud of our whole unit, especially on defense, every guy doing their job al lows me to make plays when my number gets called.”

The Chargers’ first offen sive drive took more than five minutes off the clock and ended with a 29-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Julian Lee to give the team a 3-0 lead.

The teams then traded in terceptions before the Miners used a 10-play drive and a 37yard field goal to tie the score at three-a-piece.

Defense ruled much of the first half, with three punts and another interception from se nior quarterback Luke Keller separating the game’s next scoring drive.

With time ticking down in the first half, and the Charger offense backed up inside its own 25, Keller uncorked a deep ball down the left side for TeSlaa, who ran into the endzone with two seconds left before halftime.

The first time the Miners’ offense got the ball in the second half, however, they used less than two minutes of game time, and a 41-yard touchdown run, to even the score up at 10.

so I got in there, broke on the corner, he was trailing me, and Keller threw a great ball,” TeSlaa said. “I don’t know if it was mentally, I didn’t want to go up with my left hand, because I’m sure I could have caught it with two hands, but I went up, stuck one hand up there and got it.”

Now with the lead, the Chargers defense stepped up, allowing just 21 com bined yards on the Miners’ final three drives. A key pass breakup and sack respective ly ended each of those first two drives, and a fourthdown pass breakup by senior defensive back Julius Graber forced a turnover on downs on the Miners’ final posses sion.

“Our defense really stepped up and played our most complete game of the season yet,” Kudla said.

“We were forcing consistent punts on their end, a cou ple of forced fumbles, the big interception by Vinnie Fransescone, and I’m super proud of the way we battled, especially when we were fac ing adversity on the offensive end, those guys know that we have their back.”

Isaac Teslaa

x2 GMAC Offensive Player of the Week

On the other side of the ball, senior linebacker Kyle Kudla led the way with eight tackles including 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and a pass breakup. Kudla’s 37 total tackles and six tackles for loss, put him at second and fourth in the conference re spectively. His performance earned him G-MAC Defen sive Player of the Week for the second time in his career.

“At the end of every game, I have a little internal reflection, and I make sure I left everything out there, and if I can look at myself in the

“This is the second week in a row where we laid an egg in the first four minutes of the second half,” Otterbein said.

“We’ve got to find a way to do better. We got the ball: three and out, punted it, and they drove it, and there were some breakdowns in that.”

The defensive battle continued through the third, with the game’s next score not coming until a 25-yard touchdown strike from Keller to TeSlaa in the first two minutes of the fourth. The one-handed catch capped off an 82-yard drive that took 5:51 off the clock.

“We called a post for me,

Hillsdale now looks ahead to its third and final night game of the season. The team will be resuming in-con ference play, traveling to Kentucky to face the Ken tucky Wesleyan Panthers in an attempt to stay undefeated in G-MAC play.

“We can’t expect to go down there and show these guys our resume on a piece of paper and think we’re gonna win,” Otterbein said.

“They fly around, they’re very athletic, maybe more athletic than what we just saw this last weekend.

They’ve been in a couple tight ball games where their record doesn’t necessarily reflect the fact that they are 1-3.”

C harger S port S

Volleyball

Chargers go 3-0 in home conference play

By Isaac Green Assist A nt editor

For the third straight weekend of play, the Hills dale volleyball team swept six straight sets, going unbeaten in its first two home conference matches of the season and extending its in-conference win streak to 78 matches.

The Chargers took down the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers and Trevecca Naza rene Trojans on Friday, Sept. 23 and Saturday, Sept. 24, playing in Hillsdale for the first time since their Sept. 6 matchup against Davenport. The final scores were 25-20, 25-17, 25-18 and 25-15, 2725, 25-22 respectively which marked 18 straight unbeaten conference sets to start the season.

“We did what we needed to do,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “It was a good overall week of work and a lot of people contributed.”

Hillsdale put forth a strong team effort against the Panthers on Friday, with all those who dressed seeing playing time. As a result, some of the younger members of the team got the chance to showcase skills on the floor.

“Jaclyn Wise and Emory Braswell came in Friday and did really well on the out side,” Gravel said. “Another good performance was from Adi Sysum, who played both days and came up with some big plays.”

Some of the more weath ered athletes on the team also noticed the positive im pact these players had while on the floor.

“This weekend was ex citing because we were able to show our depth,” senior Madeline Zenas said. “On

our team, we have so many different lineups and so many different individuals who had the opportunity to step up this weekend.”

On Saturday, the Char gers faced more of a chal lenge from the Trojans.

After dominating in the first set, they fell behind early in the second and had to battle their way back. Late into the match the Trojans held a 24-21 lead, but the Chargers were able to tie the score before moving on to finish with the 27-25 victory.

“We have a problem with staying focused in set two sometimes,” Gravel said. “It makes for exciting volleyball but probably limits my life a little bit.”

He said, though, that the game was a good opportu nity for the team to work on playing under pressure.

“We had to fight back, and it's good to be able to practice those things, especially when it comes out in your favor,” Gravel said. “But we could have very easily lost that set. Whether we deserved it or not, I don't know, but we definitely worked hard enough to get that win.”

After securing this win, the Chargers wrapped up the third and final set to take the match.

“This week we placed more of an emphasis on conditioning than weeks past, and I think this was shown during the long rallies on Saturday against Trevecca,” sophomore Lau ren Passaglia said. “They're a great all-around team as are we, but at this high of a level it takes more than talent to win games.”

In addition to running through an increased amount of conditioning

in practice this week, the Chargers also worked with more focus on individual positions.

“This week we tried some individual group position training sessions, which I think helped a lot of us,” Zenas said. “It allowed us to take some time to focus on what we could change to help better ourselves and in return, for the team. You could see a lot of us working on what we learned and it was shown on the court.”

The team concluded its home stand with an impres sive Tuesday night match against the Northwood Timberwolves. The Chargers completed the match with 63 kills and a .345 hitting percentage, winning 3-1 among many notable perfor mances.

Senior Karoline Shelton led the offensive attack with 17 kills while Marilyn Popplewell, Megan Kolp, and Maizie Brown each recorded double digit kill totals of their own. Sopho more Lauren Passaglia also accomplished the incredible feat of recording 59 assists, just two shy of the program’s single match assist record.

The Chargers now prepare to go back on the road Friday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 1 in matches against Cedarville and Ohio Dominican.

“It starts a long road stretch and it'd be nice to get that off to a good start,” Gravel said. “Cedarville can play like national champi ons at any time, and Ohio Dominican has a much improved program with a coach that has done a really nice job there. We’ve got to work out for ourselves this week.”

Sports

The Laver Cup marks the end of the 'Big Four' era

By Nathan Stanish CollegiAn reporter

The 2022 Laver Cup booked its place in history for three reasons: the Big Four — Roger Federer, Ra fael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray — all played on the same team, Roger Federer officially re tired from tennis, and Team World finally beat Team Europe.

None of that had ever happened before.

Prior to the tournament, the news focused on Feder er’s last match and the over whelming talent on Team Europe. Never before had the four best tennis players of the last two decades been on one team. Nadal and Djokovic alone won the last six out of eight Grand Slams.

Rankings wise, Team Europe had the World No.2, No.3, No.6, and No.7, while Team World’s highest ranked player was No.12 Taylor Fritz. But despite trailing 4-8 on the

third day, Team World rallied to win all three matches on Sept. 25, clinching their first win at the Laver Cup.

The Big Four, for all their hype, fell short. In Federer’s last match, with doubles partner Nadal, the Swiss Maestro failed to convert match point on his serve and lost to two younger Ameri can players in the 10-point tiebreaker. Nadal with drew from the tournament the next day for personal reasons. Djokovic, after a

convincing couple of wins on the second day, fell in singles to a young Canadian. Murray dropped both of his matches to younger players. For all their accolades, the Big Four looked old and past their prime.

With this Laver Cup win and Federer’s retirement, the next generation of tennis players has finally taken over. Tennis fans every where, myself included, will miss Federer dearly, but it’s good to see the baton passed

on to younger players like 24-year-old Frances Tiafoe and 22-year-old Felix Au ger-Aliassime, who contrib uted to Team World’s first win.

Tennis already has a new mega-star, as well. Carlos Alcaraz, a 19-year-old Span ish player, became the first tennis player to win a Grand Slam since Rafael Nadal in 2005, and the only teenager to ever reach World No.1.

Only a few months ago, Alcaraz beat Djokovic and

Nadal back-to-back at the Madrid Open, the first time any player had toppled both greats in a row on clay.

Djokovic and Nadal will likely stay competitive for a few more seasons, but with Federer gone and new stars taking the lead, the Big Three era is over. The new est generation of tennis stars can finally forge their own legacies, create their own fanbases, and bring fresh life to the world of tennis.

Volleyball remains undefeated in G-MAC play.

Anthony

Culture

Tower Players premiere ‘Translations’

By Maggie Hronrich Editor-in-Chief

In their first show of the year, the Tower Players premiered ‘Translations” by Brian Friel on Wednes day, and will continue performances through the weekend.

Director James Brandon, chair of the theatre depart ment, said he’s wanted to direct “Translations” since he was a student himself.

“I’ve been thinking about this show for a long time,” Brandon said. “We haven’t done an Irish play in a while. And we thought it was a good showcase of our students.”

The play opens in a 19th-century Irish school as Manus, the headmas ter’s son, attempts to teach Sarah, a young woman with

a speech impediment, how to say her name. Manus is in love with another student, Maire. But a love triangle quickly evolves as Maire finds herself falling for an English soldier who arrived to survey the land and anglicize Gaelic town names. Manus’ brother, Owen, serves as a translator between the Irish and En glish throughout the play.

“It’s a great post-colonial play,” Brandon said. “Liter ally something as simple as changing place names from their traditional language to, in this case, English. I love the nuances and sub tleties and all these little bits of Irish history that Owen knows. And then once we change the names, all of that just disappears.”

As the soldiers rename the Gaelic towns, the Irish

characters must learn to adapt, navigate change, and begrudgingly accept the loss of their culture. The colonization and over taking of language by the British reveals the power of words and more important ly– who controls them.

“The Brits did the same thing in Ireland as they did with a lot of Native American tribes: they sent them to schools where they couldn’t learn their native language,” Brandon said. “It’s ironic that Friel writes this play and he has to write it in English because his Irish audience for the most part doesn’t speak Irish anymore.”

Despite its darker themes, the play has ele ments of humor, hope, and love that transcend linguis tic barriers.

“It’s very Irish, but it’s also very human,” Brandon said. “That’s why you have Yoland, this British char acter who falls in love with literally the countryside but also with an Irish woman, to show what’s possible. It’s not a comedy, obviously, and it’s got some serious elements, but it’s not a trag edy either. There is hope for some of the characters, which I glom onto as a director.”

Senior Brooklyn Little, who plays Sarah, said it is difficult to play a charac ter who speaks only a few words.

“I’ve played a lot of roles and it was probably the most challenging one to approach,” Little said. “But it’s been a ton of fun. The subject matter is so dark that compartmentalizing it

to the stage and not letting it bleed into life has been crazy. It’s been a totally jar ring experience as an actor to have to do something like that.”

Little said she views her character as symbolic of the conflicts between Ireland and England.

“I really like how the playwright is able to tie history in but it still has a story; it’s still plot-driven,”

Little said. “I think it’s really interesting how my charac ter represents Ireland as a whole. At the beginning of the play, she stands up and says something and by the end of the play she’s literally silenced by the British.”

Sophomore Ciaran Smith, who plays Captain Lancey, said it was a unique role because he had to learn how to look down on the

other characters.

“I think it’s really inter esting seeing the British perspective of Ireland,” Smith said. “They saw themselves as civilizing them so they could excuse any moral failings that they came across. And that hon estly was the way Britain dealt with Ireland–look ing at them as backwater people.”

The Tower Players will perform “Translations” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Satur day, and at 2 p.m. on Sun day. A faculty roundtable will take place immediately after Thursday’s perfor mance. All shows will take place in the Markel Au ditorium in the Fine Arts Center.

Capaldi’s ‘Forget Me’ is unforgettable but confusing

By Nathan Stanish Collegian Reporter

Lewis Capaldi hit No.1 on the U.K. charts with “Forget Me,” a sad breakup song accompanied by a shot-for-shot recreation of Wham!’s 1983 “Club Tropicana” music video. Capaldi takes the part of George Michael as the heartthrob of the video, re laxing in a pool and at the beach while flirting with bikini-clad women.

For a remake, the video is excellent. The camera angles, filters, and even the mannerisms are identical between the music videos.

The first major difference, however, is Capaldi him self. He’s a far cry from the trim, handsome George Michael of the ’80s. Still, the music video treats them the same, giving Capaldi every second of female attention that Mi chael gets in the original music video.

However, the song adds another layer to the lyrics. Instead of anything upbeat, light-hearted, and carefree like “Club Tropicana,” the “Forget Me” lyrics stick to the Capaldi formula, describing conflicting feel ings after a tough breakup. “Days ache and nights are grey / My heart is still your place, babe,” Capaldi sings. As always, Capaldi succeeds in keeping the song relatable, especially for his young adult audi

ence, but the combination of depressing lyrics and upbeat visuals makes for a confusing music video experience.

Maybe Capaldi is trying for both. He wants a nos talgic callback to an ’80s classic, with an uncon ventional-looking lead to shake up stereotypical sex appeal, all tied togeth er with fast-paced lyrics about a rough relationship.

Whatever his intentions, the song has too much go

ing on and too vague of a message to pull it together.

Any of those ideas might have worked inde pendently, but Capaldi played it too safe. Rather than stick with a fun, reimagined classic track that revamps the look of a teen idol, he kept the usual doom and gloom of his other breakup songs.

Capaldi touched on his music formula in a statement released about his new single. “Lyrically

it covers a lot of the same ground as before,” Capaldi wrote. “I meet lady, lady leaves me, I whine about it in a pop song. Textbook.”

Considering the effort Capaldi put into capturing “Club Tropicana” framefor-frame, surely the lyrics could have benefitted from creativity as well. Maybe before challenging the stereotypes of an ’80s icon, Capaldi should start challenging the stereotypes of his own songs.

Farm to table: a dish inspired by Hillsdale County

By Elizabeth Troutman News Editor

Every part of my home made pasta with fresh spinach, yellow bell pep pers, and cherry tomatoes was Hillsdale County Farmers Market fresh.

The farmers market offers fresh produce, baked goods, meats, flow ers, and more, yet most students rely on Kroger or Walmart for their everyday grocery needs. As eating locally grows in popularity, I decided to make a meal using only what I purchased at the market on Saturday morning.

To make my farm-totable dish, I boiled the pasta in a pot of lightly salted water for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I combined the spinach leaves, yellow bell pepper slices, and halved red and yellow tomatoes in a sauté pan with salt and olive oil over low heat, and cov ered it until the spinach wilted and the tomatoes softened. Once the noo dles were cooked, I added them to the pan with the

vegetable mixture, stir ring them together so the tomato juices coated the pasta.

Allison Grimm, one of the sell ers at the weekend market, has been mak ing pasta from scratch for around seven years.

The farm-fresh egg noodles get their colors from pureed vegetables from Grimm’s garden like beets, spinach, kale, and asparagus, which she mixes into the spelt flour and egg yolk dough.

“I do everything by hand,” Grimm said. “I roll the dough out in pieces and then I have a hand crank and it cuts the noodles in the strips in a consistent size.”

The bell pepper and pear-shaped cherry to matoes came from Larkin Dash ’19’s garden less than 10 miles from down town Hillsdale. She said

they are her fa vorite things that she grows.

“I never sell out of them, but they’re so fun,” she said.

Ezra Ber takis and his great uncle David Spence provided me with large-leaf spinach from their greens col lection. For nine years, Bertakis has grown greens and colorful tomatoes at Chef’s Way Organic Farms on Cole Road just outside of town. Bertakis and Spence are the only certified organic vendors at the Farmers Market, and since they grow the greens in unheated green houses, they can continue to sell their greens during the winter at Hillsdale Natural Grocery.

“Whatever temperature it is that night, the greens freeze like a block of ice every night and come back to life every single day,” Bertakis said. “In doing so you get a higher sugar content out of it.”

The quality of the spinach sets it apart from store-bought produce, Bertakis said. He wants to teach Hillsdalians that all of their food can come from local sources.

“The biggest part is just the flavor and the consis tency,” he said. “This isn’t your normal store-bought baby spinach. You get big, giant, gnarly leaves in there that you can do like a lettuce wrap with.”

The vegetables pro vided color and flavor to my pasta dish, creat ing a healthy and deli cious meal to share with friends. Paired with a slice of freshly baked bread and a dessert of local-grown raspberries, my farmers market haul created the perfect meal.

The Tower Players are performing their first show of the season, “Translations” this week. Anthony Lupi | Collegian

Elizabeth Troutman cooked a fresh, healthy dish with ingredients from the Hillsdale County Farmers Market. Elizabeth Troutman | Collegian

Culture

Artists make their mark at Makers Market

By Michael Bachmann Assistant Editor

Clouds and a crisp fall chill did not stop hundreds of Hillsdale students, faculty, and residents from flocking to the Student Activities Board’s fourth annual Mak er’s Market this Saturday.

Twenty six vendors gath ered in front of the chapel from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. to sell Greek treats and crepes, jewelry and scarves, and even 3D printed cups.

This year’s Maker’s Market featured several student busi nesses including Bee Holy, a Catholic Art Company run by junior Cecilia Gulick, and sophomore Emma Turner’s Star Girl Jewelry.

Turner sold her jewelry alongside her children’s book, “My Living Constitution: A Children’s Guide to U.S. Con stitutional Amendments.” This was Turner’s second time selling at Maker’s Mar ket after last year’s success.

“I see a lot of girls around campus wearing my pieces and that’s really special to me,” Turner said.

Student Spotlight: ‘Fact of Life’ Q&A

Freshmen women start their own lifestyle podcast

By Tracy Wilson Design Editor

What is your pod cast about, and how did you first come upwith the idea to start it?

Watson: We’re talking about different political, social, and current events, all from the through of young, conservative, Christian women. We wanted to provide that perspective because we didn’t really hear it grow ing up, and so we thought it would be cool to have that outlet for people.

Noller: I think there are a lot of wonderful women out there like Candance Owens and Allie Beth Stuckey. There are a lot of great women who have awesome ideas and insights into current topics in the world today, but not many women in our age group. We were sitting in physics class one day and we were discussing how God loves us and then I said, “Mattie Grace, Do you want to start a pod cast?” It was just kind of a thing on a whim but per sonally, I have wanted to start one for quite a while.

Which Christian women do you look upto the most?

Noller: My high school history teacher. She doesn’t have a podcast but she had an incredible view coming from a strong woman of God who was able to inter pret things for men in the world through a kingdom mindset and a historical mindset as well.

Watson: My role model was an intern at my youth group growing up. Through her, I learned how to take on my faith as my own and really know why I believe what I believe, and especially how to show that to others.

What topics are youmost excited to delve into on your podcast?

Watson: I am really ex cited to cover the different ways that our generation is starting to make a name for itself, and how we can be an influence. It has the potential to go really wrong or really right.

Noller: We got a ques tion from a lady I know back home–she was lis tening with her daughter, which was really sweet. She said it brought up good topics for them to talk about. She asked a question about how our generation is being raised. There are a lot of con servative parents that are raising this generation and they feel like they’re not doing it right and worry the kids will look back and think that they’re being brainwashed. I’m excited to help people understand why we can believe what we believe and why it’s true. I’m excited to delve into both scripture and history. We’ve pulled from the Bible and the Western Heritage reader.

Watson: I quoted the Western Heritage reader in an episode that’s coming out in a little bit. It hap pened naturally. We start ed recording and I said, “Wait, I read this today. I have to pull that in.”

Is your podcast meant for everyone or are you hoping to cater specifically toHillsdale or classical ly-minded people?

Watson: We want a broad audience. We’ve had a lot of feedback from people back home who are sharing it with their friends. Not just wom en, either, but everyone in general. In our first episode, we did talk about feminism specifically, but as we go further through out the podcast, we are go ing to be covering different topics. We’ve had a lot of good feedback from wom en, from men, from all different ages. They’ve all been interested in hearing our perspective as young, conservative, Christian women.

You mentioned the Western Heritage reader: How do you hope to make those Hillsdale-specific ideas accessible to people who haven’t heard of that or aren’t familiar with it?

Watson: It came natu rally. We started recording and it just started coming. We notice we keep talking

about the difference be tween how to think and not what to think. People who aren’t associated with Hillsdale are now listening to this and learning these ideas, and realizing why we chose this school.

Noller: It’s not like we’re doing this to have an ad for Hillsdale, but it is neat to see how things naturally played into our thought process. It’s cool to see how it does become accessible because there are some quotes that apply today–you feel like they could have been written yesterday. I understand not having time to sit down and read “The Republic,” but there are some cool things in there that people would find really interest ing.

Have you had any professors yet whose ideas you might want to include, or that have inspired some of these thoughts?

Watson: Definitely my Western Heritage profes sor, Dr. [James] Strasburg. I think I talked about him in the first episode, and my Western Heritage read er in the second episode. He’ll say something in class and I’ll think, “I have to talk about this on the podcast.” He’s so energetic about what he’s teaching and really relates it to what we’re learning. It’s easy to take the application he’s showing and teaching us and apply it to my thought process, which is then coming out in the form of our podcast.

Noller: Dr. Birzer is my Western Heritage profes sor. He’s really inspiring and really connects the old concepts to modern day and our founding.

As you’re going forward, what are your dreams for this project?

Watson: Ultimately, we want to get this per spective out there for the people that need that per spective.

If the Lord wants to take that and show it to tons of people and let it grow, then so be it. If it’s only a small audience, but it’s really making an effect on that small audience, then that’s good with us.

Junior Gilian Ruch used the event to help spread the word about her new online business. She also said she also wanted to share stories with campus through her art. Her prints, cards, and stickers feature scenes of woodland animals cooking, cleaning, and playing music.

“I am working towards

building a website to sell my artwork, and Maker’s Market seemed like a great opportu nity to share my art,” she said.

Maker’s Market was Rush’s first time selling her artwork to a large audience, she said. She had previously only sold to friends and family.

Cecilia Cummins said that Gilian’s artwork was among the most popular at Maker’s Market. After seeing the crowd gathering around her booth, Cummins decided to take a peek and was in awe.

“It looked like something out of Peter Rabbit, like a real children’s book illustration,” Cummins said. “I resolved on buying two as Christmas presents and, as I was walk ing away, I bought a third because I could not help it. I spent 60 dollars on Gillian, and I don’t regret a damn thing.”

For students who pursue arts and crafts in their spare time, the event was a chance to share their work with campus and, hopefully, make a few dollars.

After learning how to crochet last summer, senior Olivia Burke manned her first stand at the event. Her table included hats, shawls, scarves, and animals cro cheted by her roommate.

“My foster sister crochets, and I started learning as a way to keep her company,” Burke said. “By the beginning of this year, I already had a lot of things that I wanted to

sell.”

Sophomore Kody Rich ards sold hand-sewn bible bags. She said that Maker’s Market was a chance for her to brush up on the skill she learned as a child.

“When I was younger, I did markets like this with my mom and grandma,” Rich ardson said. “When I came here last year, I thought, ‘I could totally do that.’ I made most of my bags sewing with my grandma one day a week over the summer.”

In addition to artwork and handmade goods, several vendors sold food. Junior Sophia Figgerio represented a taste of Greece with spana kopita, a savory spinach pie; melopita, a sweet honey and cheese pie; and revani, a lem on cake with syrup. Junior Kylie Hatch sold made-toorder pancakes accompanied by children’s books.

“I wanted something that smelled good and you can make hot,” Hatch said. “You read the children’s book about pancakes while you wait for pancakes to cook.”

Junior Chistopher Dick said he appreciated the home cooked snacks and the opportunity to get some early Christmas shopping done.

“It’s cool buying stuff from my friends that I can then give to my family as gifts,” Dick said. “It’s fun way to running the farmer’s market to camp and for students to make some extra money.”

Students find fun at fair

By Hannah Tully Collegian Freelancer

“Beep!” A buzzer sounded, the gates opened, and four pigs dashed out of their pens. They trotted around a dirt track before jumping into a pool of water and paddling for dear life.

With a final burst of energy, they charged back into their pens, wet, muddy, and triumphant.

Since 1851, the Hillsdale County Fair has fostered community and culture among fair-goers and has become a beloved fall tradi tion for students and local families alike. From floral arrangements to demolition derbies, the fair has events appealing to different age ranges and interests.

Walking along the dirt roads near the concession stands, a variety of unique smells fill the air. Wafts of cinnamon and sugar tantalize buyers with their promises of doughnuts, ele phant ears, and roasted nuts. The pungent scent of salt and vinegar surrounds the french fry concession stand. Rancid odors will make observers watch their steps as they venture through the livestock barns, especially in the horse stables.

Despite their unappeal ing scents, the livestock barns allow fair-goers to

visit the different animals on display. Amiable chatter filled the stalls as horse breeders prepared their animals for the show. Dana Cook, a Hillsdale alumna, shows Belgian and Clydes dale draft horses and has at tended the Hillsdale County Fair with her family for as long as she can remember.

“You get to see people that you only see during the fair, and that’s probably one of the biggest reasons why we continue to come back,” she said.

Describing unique fair exhibits such as the nearly thousand-pound pumpkins in the agriculture depart ment, Cook said, “There’s just certain things at the Hillsdale County Fair that you don’t see at every fair. And I really believe that sets Hillsdale County Fair apart.”

Tucked between barns, concession stands, and vendors, an assortment of carnival rides attract kids and adults alike. Madison Nakata and her brother Hunter said they enjoyed coming to the fair with their grandparents and trying out all the rides.

When asked about her favorite ride, Madison said, “The Gravitron, because it spins around really fast.”

Hunter said he prefers the Fireball, which flips riders upside down as they

coast along a loop of roller coaster track. After experi encing the fair rides, Ma disen encouraged visitors to buy some french fries, saying, “They’re super good, and you can add your own stuff to them.”

Apart from the rides, Hillsdale County Fair also allows members of the community to show off their talents, whether that means growing massive pumpkins, raising Silkie chickens, or arranging zinnias. Through livestock and strange agri cultural feats, the fair offers students a chance to see the local community from a different perspective.

Cook said the fair plays an important role in bridging the gap between Hillsdale and the college.

“It brings out the people from all walks of life because you have college kids, so a lot of them come out to see the agricultural side of what the community can do,” Cook said. “And then you have a lot of the locals that come out because it’s what they do every year – it is their tradition.”

Over the course of the week, the fair will host several classic fair events such as demolition derbies, tractor pulls, monster truck showings, and even a west ern rodeo.

Junior Brett Schaller and Senior Sam Schaefer buy salty snacks at the Hillsdale County Fair. Jack Cote | Collegian

FEATURES

Faculty families’ homemade creations win local fair awards

Compiled by Meghan Schultz Features Editor

QUICK HITS: Erik Ellis

By Isaac Green Assistant Editor

Erik Ellis joined Hillsdale’s faculty this fall, teaching edu cation. Here, he talks remote islands, fencing, and compul sory Latin. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is a word that you would use to describe yourself?

Quixotic. I like things that are difficult and that require a lot of study in order to fully appreciate and so anything I’m interested in, I tend to get overly interested in.

What made you want to pursue a career in higher education?

I’ve been around higher education my whole life. My parents are in higher edu cation and I think on both sides of my family, everyone has been either clergy or an educator for about three generations. So that sort of

service directed towards intellectual and spiritual matters has always been the norm for me.

What do you think you would be doing right now if you were not a professor?

I’m sure I would be doing something in education even if I was not in higher educa tion. But, besides that, I think the two other careers that most appealed to me when I was young were being a sol dier or being a monk.

Do you have any bucket list items?

I’d really like to go to Antarctica. I like islands and lonely places so I’d also really like to go to Iceland and an island in Japan called Hokkai do which is very remote and far to the north.

If you became Monarch of the United States, what is the first law you would pass down?

Well, I’d give my inaugural

dress in Latin, and I think it would make Latin a compul sory subject for all ages at all levels of education. I have a general conviction that the more people who know Latin well, the better place the world becomes.

If you could answer any unanswered question, what question would you answer?

To be honest I don’t think I would want to answer one of those questions. I would want the mystery to remain. Other wise, I’d be out of a job.

Do you have a favorite childhood memory?

I have a distinct memory of one morning going out and looking into the pasture that was behind our house and seeing a doe and a fawn. And the fawn was very interest ed in me and almost–in my memory at least–smelled my fingers as I was reaching out.

How do you unwind?

I like strenuous physical ac

tivity that is not competitive, but I also enjoy sports that are forms of ritualized combat like judo. Fencing also appeals to me although I’ve never really done it. And I also really enjoy board games.

If you were to ever hurt yourself doing something, what do you think you would be doing?

The closest I’ve gotten to serious injury was on a Jet Ski. So, it would probably be something like a Jet Ski or a motorcycle accident, because I don’t have a rational fear of death in those situations. My strategy is mostly, then, to avoid Jet Skis and motorcycles or anything like that.

What is some non-work-related topic that you could talk about for hours?

Well, almost everything that I’m interested in is in some way directed to my work. My passions are for history and philosophy and

language, and it would be dif ficult for me to find something that isn’t somehow related to one of those. I’ve also had a long engagement in astrono my, which hasn’t been directly related to my mind work, but probably will be going forward.

What, for you, were the best and worst parts of grow ing up?

The best parts are the friends that I’ve made along the way. And, I think there were “worst” parts that were

“worst” when they happened, but in hindsight, ended up leading me directly to some thing better. So, that helps me keep perspective on the bad things that are happen ing now.

What is a statement you try to live by?

Ora et Labora. It’s the motto of the Benedictine Order, pray and work, and I think if you do those two things, you’re doing pretty well.

Behind the scenes of Student Activities Board

By Michael Bachmann Assistant Editor

When students arrive at the gates of the Slayton Arboretum each fall, they find the space transformed into an ambient, softly-lit garden oriented toward a unique theme. Last year, the space became a real-life cottagecore Pinterest board. In 2018, the space mimicked the imaginary world of Wonderland.

This year, Student Activities Board took campus to a “Night in Santorini,” complete with a live band, sweet mocktails, and golden stars dangling between trees. For students, the night in Slayton Arboretum began at 9 p.m. and concluded by 12 a.m.–but the SAB team members working behind the scenes prepared, planned, and pulled off the event on an entirely different schedule.

Five Months to Go:

According to senior and SAB Media Lead Hannah Cote, the team began planning for their fall events on reading day of spring semester.

“It’s the only day they can get us all together when we’re not at Centrahallapalooza and not at finals,” Senior and Event Lead Grace Jagoda explained.

The team spent the most time planning Welcome Party but also began brainstorming for Garden Party.

“Before the spring meet ing even happens, there’s a brainstorm sheet where we all dump all of our theme ideas,” senior and Event Lead Katie Weis said. “We vote on all of them and then pick our top

three.”

During summer, the team met over Zoom to pick the theme.

The only thing confirmed by the start of the school year are the band and theme, but menu ideas are also discussed.

SAB provides Metz Catering with a list of items that fit the theme, and Metz gets back with what they are able to do.

“They make most of their decisions based on what large quantities they can make at once and make ahead of time,” Jagoda said. “We really wanted kabobs but they can’t string thou sands of kabobs together for us.”

This year’s menu includ ed pita, hummus, salad, and meatballs, which Weis said are the new chicken tenders.”

One Month to Go:

According to Cote, the creative team does most of the brainstorming for Gar den Party in early Septem ber but doesn’t start making any of the decorations until the week before the event.

“A lot of time we’ll go an tiquing around Hillsdale over and over to keep collecting different stuff if we know we want certain elements,” Jagoda said. “We might not have all the details worked out, but once we have the theme we can start collecting stuff.”

According to Cote, Garden Party is the third most labor intensive event to prepare for after CHP and President’s Ball.

Unlike the other events which are inside or under a tent, Gar

den Party requires the team to deal with an open, outdoor space.

“For Garden Party, you need to create all of the environment,” Jagoda said. “You need to make more ele ments for the theme to show through.”

One Week to Go:

With one week left before Garden Party, the team spent hours each night prepping for the event.

“No one does anything else. It swallows our week,” Jagoda said.

The team has shop nights at Hayden Park Monday through Thursday to build and paint larger decorations such as the photo booth.

“Working with the whole team makes it fun,” Cote said. “We play loud music and everyone is dancing around painting stuff.”

One of the team’s proudest

accomplishments was building the columns leading down from the gazebo to the stage area.

“We took cardboard cylinders and stacked them and screwed them together in bases,” junior and Promotional Lead Ian Schlagel said. “We painted them white and then literally staked them into the ground.”

When not at the shop, the

going to a couple of days be fore and then shopped for the ingredients,” Schlagel said. “It’s a little more last minute, but it’s fun to come up with menu ideas to do.”

This year’s drinks, Medi terranean Sea and Santorini Spritz, were both served with a sugar rim.

“We were really bougie at Garden Party,” Weis said. “We had sugar rims, and mind you, it was in the dark. They bartended in the dark.”

24 Hours to Go:

On the morning of Gar den Party, SAB members wake up and head to the Arboretum. They begin set ting up for the event at 7:30 a.m., with team members taking turns working shifts between classes. This year, they began their morning with coffee that Jagoda brought for everyone from Checker Records.

“We do anything that would get damaged if we left it out the day before,” Jagoda said. “Centerpieces, bistros, decorations, tables and chairs.”

“If the band is good, stage watch is the best,” said Jagoda. “But you do have to stop peo ple from crowd surfing which always makes people mad.”

According to Weis, there is no best job–it’s all personal preference.

“Mocktails were special this time, but I usually prefer just floating and talking to people,” Schlegel said.

Due to sugar rims on the mocktails, the team agreed that trash was a more undesir able job than ever.

“That was the stickesist trash shift I’ve ever had,” Jago da said. “Every cup I picked up, I had a layer of sugar run ning down my hand.”

Post-Event:

After the last guest leaves the Arb at midnight, the team’s work continues. They stay to tear down the event and clean up until 1:30.

team works between classes to prepare decorations that don’t require intensive construction, such as the flower arch and centerpieces.

“It’s very staggered in a way,” Weis said. “You might have to run to Walmart or the antique store. I felt like we went to Gelzer’s eight times in one day.”

During the week leading up to Garden Party, the promo tional team also plans their cocktails.

“We decided what we were

The team said they were fortunate not to be scrambling to finish anything the morning of Garden Party, although they did have to find bistro lights to string by the food.

At the Event:

During the events, each team member takes turns working two of six jobs: band watch, entrance security and welcome, mocktails, trash, floating, media, and photo booth.

“We all pound Red Bulls before clean-up starts so we can go triple speed but still have fun after work,” Cote said. “Everyone drinks it at midnight right when Garden Party ends.”

The team still had the ener gy to enjoy themselves when their work was done. Schlagel said he went to Taco Bell with other SAB members, while Cote, Weis, and Jagoda relaxed on Cote’s porch.

“After Garden Party, I grabbed a popsicle from the SAB fridge and we all went back to my house and hung out for a while,” Cote said. “It was an amazing last Garden Party for the seniors.”

Erik Ellis hiked in Torres del Paine in Patagonia this February. Courtesy | Erik Ellis

Nine-year-old Alex Cole, son of Chairman and Associate Professor of Philosophy Lee Cole, presents his Lego pumpkin. His “bouquet in an unusual container” won third place in the competition.

Alex’s 16-year-old sister, Margaret Cole, entered three oil paintings into competition: two portraits and a mountain scene. She recieved an award for “Best in Category.”

Eight-year-old Evelyn Servold, daughter of Assistant Direc tor of Dow Journalism Program Maria Servold, built a Lego fish tank. The homemade tank, complete with a toilet-paper roll container of “fish food,” came in third place.

Courtesy | Maria Servold

Courtesy | Kelly Cole

Courtesy | Kelly Cole

Team members Josiah Jagoda and Ian Schlagel serve mocktails.

Courtesy | Hillsdale Student Activites Board

FEATURES

There’s no place like Homer: Fall festival bursts with life

By Tracy Wilson Design Editor

With tin men and trac tor rides, tattered wallpaper, old ice tongs, and a tur tle-gone-TikTok star, the Homer Fall Festival teemed with life, filled with relics of the past and the stories that go with them. Returning for the annual event, attendees shared their homemade hobbies beside displays of antique farming tools.

The Homer Historical Soci ety hosts the fall festival every year as a fundraising event.

On Sept. 24, festivalgoers both young and old had the chance to shop for homemade items, hear live music, view antiques, and tour 19th-century build ings.

Out in the fields, volunteers displayed old farm equipment. The field, lined with tractors, hummed with the gentle whirr of a nearby sawmill cutting logs.

Terry Crandall and his grandson 11-year-old Hunt er Crandall showcased the tools people used to use when cutting or shaving ice. Cran dall said he had gotten a block of ice for the festival from a nearby Amish community.

“When I went down to the Amish to ask for a block of ice, they kind of looked at me funny,” Crandall said. “I said to them, ‘You don’t realize most kids and some adults have never seen a block of ice? They see bags of ice in a gas station but never a block of ice.’”

Hunter demonstrated

how to use most of the tools, including ice tongs.

“Here’s an ice shaver. You can make pretty much like a snow cone, like this. Right here is ice tongs. You pick it up. Over here we have a horsedrawn ice saw.”

“Boy, your grandpa taught you a lot, didn’t he?” one festi val-goer interjected.

Hunter ran off to another part of the field to meet Snap py, a large turtle surround ed by a group of children.

According to his owner, Bill Martinson, Snappy is a 30-year-old, 60-pound snapping turtle.

“Well, he was this big when I got him: just bigger than my thumbnail, like a nickel,” Martinson said. “He’s super-dup er friendly, as you can see. He has big dogs lick his face; kids ride on him. He just puts up with everyone.”

Snappy gained internet fame after Martinson posted a video of him going to the vet on TikTok. So far, Snappy has ac crued about 25 million views.

“I took him over to the vet and had the girl grooming his claws,” Martinson said. “We put it on TikTok and every body said, ‘Oh, he was gonna bite her! He was gonna bite her!’ I said, ‘He wasn’t going to bite her–he was in love with her.’”

Martinson first found Snappy on the side of a road

in Lake George, when he was riding in a pickup truck with his son.

“I looked down and there he was, a tiny little thing. About the size of a little beetle, you know? I said, ‘Hey, stop!

There’s a little turtle. I’m gonna get him,’ and picked him up,” Martinson said. “I took him home, leaned back in my chair, set him on my chest, and he

rian-era farmhouse that was once the home of Albert and Ella Blair and their daughters Maude and Bessie Blair,” ac cording to the Homer website. “Albert was the son of Homer pioneer Dr. George Blair, who was Homer’s first doctor.”

The home included a black couch made out of horsehair, frayed wallpaper patterned with flowers, and an old wooden baby cradle. A basket of worn-out dominos rested on a wooden table, which had been made with

the children looked up at the photograph.

A few minutes later, an old er couple walked by the same picture.

“Look how grumpy they look,” the woman said.

In the yard outside the Blair home, vendors set up booths and sold wares like doll clothes, framed photographs, and honey.

Arlene Kinder displayed her line of handmade doll clothes. Her collection fea tured doll outfits in a wide variety of sizes, as well as other items like baby bibs.

“I have sewed since I was probably 12 years old. I’m 80 now,” Kinder said. “My mom couldn’t do any thing more than sew a button on, and she said, ‘You will learn to sew.’”

The tin men, strung on metal poles, came to life with a vari ety of hand-painted patterns, pictures, and slogans.

“My mother-in-law brought one back from Arizona 25 years ago and we just ran with it. It was held together with twisted wire and we just im proved upon it,” Sechler said.

“My husband and I have built them for 20 years now.”

Sechler, a Coldwater resi dent, has sold her crafts at the Homer Fall Festival for several years. The tin men are made from recycled materials, which Sechler collects from her friends and family.

“At first I painted them solid colors, and then I got brave,” Sechler said. “If you screw up, you just spray paint it and start over.”

went right to sleep.”

Another major attrac tion at the festival was the historic Blair House.

The interior of the Blair House was filled with the smell of freshly-baked choc olate chip cookies. A mel ody playing on an Aeolian self-playing piano drifted through the small, antiquated house.

“Visitors can walk the na ture trail and tour the Victo

wood from the property.

A portrait of Betsy Blair, posing stoically, hung on the wall of the piano room. One mother stopped and pointed out the picture to her children.

“They didn’t really smile for pictures,” she said, while

Kinder said she was inspired to make doll clothes after her grand daughter was given an American Girl doll. Kinder also sews doll clothes for other brands, because she said she knows not ev eryone can afford the expense of an American Girl doll.

“I like watching the little girls come in who can’t quite make up their mind which dolls’ outfit they want,” Kinder said.

At another booth, Sarah Sechler displayed decorative men made out of tin cans.

Sechler said she often gets her ideas for designs from T-shirts and other items she sees in daily life. She said she even felt inspired by items she had seen at the festival that day.

“This lady over here has got some really cute sayings on cups, and I’m probably going to steal a couple of those,” Sechler said, laughing.

She pointed to her favorite tin man, one with, “It’s 5:00 somewhere,” written on his hat.

“That is one that really excites a lot of people,” Sechler said. “There’s another really cute one that says, ‘Everyone brings joy to this place: Some when they enter, some when they leave.’”

Art in advertising: How marketing a CCA transforms ideas from Pinterest boards into final products

By Alexandra Hall Assistant Editor

In 2017, Hillsdale College External Affairs experi enced the Shanna Cote effect. Hired as art director, the self-taught graphic design artist brought years’ worth of experience and a uniquely creative eye to the job, transforming how the department markets Center for Constructive Alternatives’ regular lec ture series.

Center for Construc tive Alternatives hosts the special lectures sched uled twice a semester at Hillsdale. Its invitations used to look similar to the stoic and classically color-themed elements of a typical Imprimis edi tion. Once Cote was hired, though, her creative team ditched navy and white. The posters came to life.

“It’s funny because now we’ll be at a President’s Club reception on Parent’s Weekend and somebody will introduce me. They’ll say, ‘Oh, you do the CCA designs?’ and get really excited about it,” Cote said.

“I just love designing.”

Over the summer, the CCA design team received a list of the upcoming lec ture series topics and got to

work. This first series of the academic year will feature Russian history, literature, music, politics, and foreign policy, according to the course description. So with an itinerary in hand and Adobe Illustrator open, Cote and her team set to work.

With a nation as large and impactful as Russia, they weren’t grasping at straws for inspiration. But what spurred the design process might be smaller than you’d think. In fact, it was the size of a doll.

“For this one, we’re not just talking about the ter rible things about Russia,” Cote said. “I kept thinking of those little Russian nest ing dolls and their design which is how we got to this point. It was really fun.”

Armed with cluttered mood boards and Ma tryoshka dolls in mind, the poster design process began. Cote’s right-hand woman for this project, senior student designer Alexandra Mulet, helped bring this creative vision to fruition.

“I drew inspiration from classic examples like balle rina Anna Pavlova and im perial Russian architecture, weaving modern fonts and design trends to match the

existing Hillsdale design modus,” Mulet said. “While our early ideas are just as heavy on form, line, and shape as the final product, Shanna contributed much of the dimensionality and storybook whimsy that completed the look.”

The final product is an intricate blend of varying shades of deep reds, yel lows, and blues. The poster features the simple title of “Russia” in creme lettering on top of some floral em bellishments and above a double-headed eagle with a banner that reads “CCA 1.”

Both Cote and Mulet agreed that their favorite detail of the poster was the eagle.

“It’s interesting to me that the imperial crown, which began as the pri mary inspiration for the poster, appears only subtly—but powerfully—in the final design,” Mulet said. “The double-head ed eagle is a widely used symbol throughout history and across many national identities, but a uniquely Russian identity emerg es from this eagle on a backdrop of rich color and intricate decals.”

The Russia poster is similar to that of the In klings CCA hosted in the

fall of last year, which had an emerald color with gold lettering and resembled an old storybook. According to Cote, they took special care in printing those to make the lettering look as embossed as possible, despite merely being print ed. The Film Noir poster of this past spring also accurately represented the media it was discussing, featuring sketch-like stills from some of the movies featured. The compelling designs of the CCA posters have helped draw people in, reflecting a sliver of the various topics’ richness.

“My brother is adopt ed from Russia,” senior Hannah Douthitt said. “I’m taking the CCA because even though I’ve been to Russia twice, I was very young. I think it’ll give me some insight into Russian culture. The curved edges and floral details of the poster are very Russian.”

It might be impossible to capture Russia’s aesthet ic in one poster, but Cote and her team surely got the gist. With three more CCA events for the year, people can look forward to seeing what new ideas the nesting doll of the design team has to hatch.

By Henry Lennington Collegian Freelancer

After first joining the sail ing club, I quickly learned I looked like a landlubber.

Quizzical looks passed across plenty of faces after friends learned of my new hobby. Unfortunately, their instincts were spot-on: I couldn’t have identified my starboard from my port.

It took just three short weeks for that to change. After a handful of short practices, I’ve sailed from commoner to naval com mander. Let me share some newfound wisdom: every thing I wish I knew before I joined the sailing club.

Joining sailing club

While it was daunting at first, sailing became a simple and mostly painless task. Beyond contacting the commodore Emily Marsh or the vice commodore Vivian Tork to join, I only had to come to practice.

As there were enough able seamen ready to instruct newcomers at a moment’s notice, it was easy to show up with zero experience.

“Everyone’s very friend ly. The commodore and vice commodore are very accommodating. If every one on the team wasn’t so nice and helpful I would be overwhelmed on the water. But as it is, I feel like I learn a lot,” freshman Riley Ham ilton said.

Sailing is something completely different from anything I’ve experienced. It’s not like driving a car, Jet Ski, or even a bike. When I’m on the water, it’s just me, the ropes, my crew, and my own knowledge. There is nothing more exhilarating than leaning my whole body out of the boat, grasping nothing but the lines and yelling to my crew as we rip through the water.

Practicing weekly Practices are on Mondays and Tuesdays from 3 p.m.6 p.m. and 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. I learned to come expecting to get a little wet.

I spent my first over whelming 15 minutes watching the more expe rienced people scramble to get sails on the boats and successfully launch them into Baw Beese Lake. Everyone sails as much or as little as they like, and even beginners require only a wiser skipper and a little gumption. For downtime during practice, homework and a social attitude tends to come in handy.

Team members come from all sorts of back grounds, from sailing in a naval fleet across the At lantic, to high school races off the coast of Chicago in Lake Michigan. No matter how I spend my time at practice, it’s always a unique and worthwhile use of time alongside new friends.

Mastering the Regatta Regattas are the bread and butter of the sailing club. A regatta is a sailing race that comes in two forms.

Fleet racing is the most common. A team uses one boat to race through a series of buoys. A team race is less common and includes a points system, with each team has multiple boats.

Only a few weeks after the sailing club started the team competed in a regatta at the Detroit Yacht Club. It consisted of 10 races over two days and resulted in Hillsdale’s victory.

“Winning was great. It was great to be out in the world representing Hills dale, and there was a lot of camaraderie between all the teams. Ultimately, we work together as a team very well,” freshman Alya MacManaway said. “Go Chargers!”

‘Nothing more exhilarating’: Freshman describes his first experience setting sail

Alexandra Mulet created a Pinterest board for poster inspiration.

Courtesy | Alexandra Mulet

This CCA poster drew design from Russian nesting dolls. Courtesy | Shanna Cote

Betsy Blair stares out at Blair House visitors. Tracy Wilson | Collegian

Snappy the turtle poses for his adoring fans. Tracy Wilson | Collegian