The Hillsdale Collegian 2.24.22 by The Hillsdale Collegian

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Vol. 145 Issue 20 - February 24, 2022

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New charter school management organization hires first CEO By Ben Wilson Editor-in-Chief A new charter-school management organization associated with Hillsdale College hired its first CEO last month. Joel Schellhammer ’01 started as CEO of American Classical Education Inc. in January. The organization formed last year to oversee the creation of charter schools in Tennessee, where Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, invited Hillsdale College to bring its Barney Charter School Initiative program to Tennessee to offer its support to charter schools. “It was the right time in my

career where I felt like I was able to spend time pursuing something I was passionate about,” Schellhammer said. “I'm delighted to have the opportunity to help build something that's truly excellent.” A 2007 graduate of Harvard Law School, Schellhammer previously served as chief strategy and innovation officer at NSF International, a product-testing company in Ann Arbor. He was also a student in the first class taught at Hillsdale by President Larry Arnn. ACE is independent of the college, Chief Staff Officer Mike Harner said. As it does with charter schools through-

out the country, BCSI will provide its services to ACE charter schools at no cost. “It’s a separate entity,” Assistant Provost for K-12 Education Kathleen O’Toole said. “It was formed to carry out the mission of our work in K-12 education but it's not a Hillsdale College entity.” ACE is seeking to start schools in three Tennessee counties: Madison, Montgomery, and Rutherford. ACE has submitted applications to the local school boards, but none have been considered yet, Harner said. “Our purpose is to start and maintain excellent classi-

cal-education-focused charter schools wherever we feel there's a strong market for it, starting in Tennessee,” Schellhammer said. Charter management organizations such as ACE allow a single board to manage groups of schools, instead of each school having its own board. This can improve efficiency and philosophical alignment, O’Toole said. “Working with dozens of independent boards adds complexity,” College President Larry Arnn said. “One board simplifies. Simplicity is especially good when there is already inherent complexity.”

The CMO was deemed necessary after Lee invited Hillsdale to support charter schools in Tennessee, according to Harner. Each charter school must seek permission from its local school board, according to Laine Arnold, communications director for Lee. “While we would love to see many Hillsdale options in Tennessee, that will be entirely contingent on the independent approval process,” she said. ACE’s schools will apply through “the same established and unbiased charter application” as any other school or CMO, according to Arnold.

“We have invited Hillsdale to undergo the application process in an effort to introduce another high-quality K-12 public education option for Tennessee students,” Arnold said. “Hillsdale specializes in classical education which would be an exciting new option for Tennessee parents.” Schools that affiliate with ACE initially will serve kindergartners through fifth-graders, adding a grade each year until they become K-12 institutions, Harner said. ACE’s board consists of

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Dawn Theater hosts private grand opening By Josh Newhook News Editor

Arlan Gilbert reading a book. | College Archives

Former history professor Arlan Gilbert dies at 88 By Ben Wilson Editor-in-chief Arlan Gilbert, who retired from teaching at Hillsdale College in 1998, died on Feb. 22 at Drews Country Living in Hillsdale. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on March 2 at Hillsdale First Presbyterian Church. He was a professor of history at Hillsdale for 38 years, beginning in 1960. He served as chairman of the history department from 1963 to 1970 and was the first Grewcock Chair in American History from 1995 to 1998. “For all his excellence, he was one of the most humble and kind people I have known. He was unfailingly pleased to be in the company of students, friends, and colleagues,” Dean of Faculty and Professor of History Mark Kalthoff said. “He will be missed dearly.” He wrote a two-volume history of Hillsdale College, “Historic Hillsdale College: Pioneer in Higher Education, 1844-1900” and “The Permanent Things: Hillsdale College, 1900-1994.” Other books included a biography of college founder Ransom Dunn and an account of the college’s role in the Civil War. “His two-volume history of the college is indispensable,” Professor of History Bradley Birzer said. Kalthoff remembers Gilbert working “diligently” on the books. “Every afternoon during those years he predictably walked from his office to the old snack bar to get a large soda to sustain him in reaching his daily word-count quota,” he said.

Gilbert’s interest in the Civil War extended to family vacations. “Every summer we would travel all over the United States and see all the battlefields,” Gilbert’s daughter Angie Berry told the Collegian in 2019. “He was very passionate. We even had a dog named Gun Powder.” Kalthoff first met Gilbert as a student and later worked alongside him in the history department. “My senior year as a student, I campaigned with my fellow classmates to secure his winning Professor of the Year for 1984,” Kalthoff said. “I actually didn’t have to work very hard. Everyone liked him, a lot. He won easily.” Deanna Ducher, who teaches American history and civics at the Hillsdale Academy, remembers her first class with Gilbert. “When I came to Hillsdale as a freshman, Dr. Gilbert was my first class on my second day of school,” she said. “His love of American history was evident in every lecture.” Ducher said he always ended his classes with the same closing words. “I'll never forget that he ended every, every single lecture by addressing the class with, ‘Thank you for your attention,’” she said. “Which epitomized what a perfect gentleman he was.” Gilbert’s family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Ransom Dunn Endowed Scholarship at Hillsdale College “to further the education of the students he loved so dearly.”

The Dawn Theater celebrated its completed rehabilitation with a private grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 19. Inside the decorated brick building, supporters of the theater mingled to see the space in its completed form for the first time. More than 200 people turned out for the event, said Calvin Stockdale ’10, one of the project’s board members. “It’s wonderful to see a turnout like this,” Stockdale said. “It shows the great support this program has had in the community.” The Dawn Theater, a

1919 Vaudeville theater that was closed and in disrepair, received a $1.4 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in 2018. The theater is located at 110 N. Howell St., across the street from Hillsdale City Hall. While the city owns the building, CL Real Estate will be managing the building beginning in March, Stockdale said. Stockdale said it was the first event hosted inside the space. “This is a big celebration of an astonishing achievement,” he said. Matt Taylor ’92, project manager for Foulke Construction, said he is happy with the

way the project turned out. He said he was emotionally attached to the project. “I grew up here and went to movies here, like ‘Bambi’ and ‘Star Wars,’” he said. “I always knew it would be great, but it exceeded my expectations.” Dean Melchi ’74 and his wife, who live in Ohio, also said they have memories from when the Dawn was a movie theater. “We came here on a date,” Melchi said. “I think the renovation is wonderful.” Melchi said it was the only movie theater in town at the time, and it hosted only one movie per day on weekdays. They came from out of state to see the final product of the

rehabilitation and to catch up with friends. “We felt it was nice to support the community,” he said. After sharing hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beer with friends for an hour, Mary Bertakis, secretary for Friends of the Dawn, spoke of how the theater captivated her the first time she entered it 10 years ago. “Walking into this room, it was red and dark, but it still produced a ‘wow,’” Bertakis said. She explained the role of the Friends of the Dawn moving forward.

See Dawn A7

Swimmers stand on the podium after winning the G-MAC competition on Saturday, Feb. 19. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

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Swim team wins G-MAC for third year in a row By Maddy Welsh Assistant Editor After an undefeated season, the Hillsdale College swimming team is the GMAC/MEC champion for the third year in a row. The Chargers finished the four day meet with a total score of 1631.5, 87 points ahead of their main rival, University of Findlay. “Even though we're undefeated, and we have beaten Findlay not just this year but the last few years, I knew it was going to be close,” Head Coach Kurt Kirner said. “They had nine freshmen, and when you bring new people in, they can get out there and they

can swim really well. Our depth came through again.” Hillsdale swimmers won twelve of the eighteen events at the meet – nine individuals and three relays. Kirner said it was the most wins they have ever had at conference. Three Chargers also won awards at the end of the meet. Sophomore Cecilia Gaudalupi received recognition for having the highest women’s GPA in the GMAC. Elise Mason won freshman of the meet and Kirner won Coach of the Year for the fourth year in a row. “Our kids are unbelievable ambassadors in terms of representing Hillsdale

and I think a lot of my coach of the year has to do with the way they represent us,” Kirner said. “I’m blessed to be at Hillsdale College and get the type of athletes I work with. When you get old, you realize the award is just a representation of the team in general.” Sophomore Caroline Holmes, freshman Emma Dickhudt, senior Anna Clark, and Guadalupi opened up the meet with a strong third place finish in the 200 yard medley relay at 1:48.57. Mason was the conference champion in the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 10:28.08, five seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

Hillsdale swimmers took second and third in the 200 yard individual medley. Guadalupi finished in 2:08.13 and freshman Joanna Burnham was a close third (2:08.41). Junior Marie Taylor won the first sprint of the meet, the 50 yard freestyle, with a time of 23.87, which earned her a NCAA B cut time. “It was just insane to see such a high level of performance out of everyone, not only on our team but on teams in general and how the other teams push us to be at our absolute best,” Taylor said.

See G-Mac A9

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February 24, 2022

Charter from A1 nine members, four of whom are Hillsdale College employees, according to Harner. He added that the organization is looking for a headquarters in Tennessee. “We have provided the initial capital to the CMO and nominated a minority of the board membership, but will never take money to the college from the CMO,” Arnn said. The Barney Charter School Initiative will help ACE’s schools the same way it helps other charter schools. BCSI is a part of the college’s K-12 Education Office, which supports private and charter schools across the country. “There are already four CMOs in different parts of the country we work with,” O’Toole said, like Optima Foundation in Florida, Ascent Classical Academies in Colorado, and others. “The structure with ACE is not going to be any different.” BCSI receives no funding from state governments or the schools it helps. Rather, its funding comes from supporters of Hillsdale, O’Toole said. Before ACE, Hillsdale would wait to be contacted by a local group asking for support in starting a charter school. But with the Tennessee project, the partnership with ACE brings a way to be more proactive. “It was necessary for us to be able to take action rather than just respond to requests,” O’Toole said. “We can drive it and ensure that these schools will be good schools. Until this point, we haven't been driving.” When BCSI agrees to help a school, it provides guidance on hiring, curriculum, and methods to create a favorable school culture. “Initially, Hillsdale may provide certain logistical functions for this CMO free of charge because we are already doing them on a significant scale,” Arnn said. “But it is likely that the CMO will outgrow these as it matures and grows in scale.” The three Tennessee schools

are ACE’s focus right now, but Schellhammer said there is interest in potential future locations. “We’ve had a tremendous response from communities across Tennessee, which is really exciting,” he said. Arnn said it is important for Hillsdale to help open schools across the country. “Anyone who knows beautiful things has a duty to share them,” he said. “Any charity requires support from the outside world, and the best and most honest way for a college charity to get it is to demonstrate the value of its work through sharing what it teaches.” Arnn pointed to online courses, conferences, radio ads, and charter school guidance as ways the college shares what it teaches, adding “If we think of something else, we are likely to do it.” “Take all this together, and one has an organism that can think, live, nourish, and breathe, no part working against the other, and therefore able to grow and thrive. That is what we work to achieve,” he said. Schellhammer said he wants ACE’s schools to be places where Hillsdale graduates apply for jobs. “Hillsdale has a tremendous pipeline of graduates, some of whom are looking to get into teaching and education,” he said. “We hope we can create schools that are attractive locations for students to consider as a next step.” There are also jobs for graduates who are interested in marketing, business, and other positions. “There are job opportunities all over the K-12 outreach effort,” Arnn said. “One such is the head of the CMO, now a certain Joel Schellhammer.” Schellhammer said ACE’s work is “an extension of the mission of the college.” “It’s a lot of hard work to open and start a school,” Schellhammer said, “especially one that you want to be all the things that Hillsdale wants— the good, the true, and the beautiful.”

Parents clap and smile amidst this week's Phonathon. Courtesy | Bob Cenk

Parents spend more than 30 hours on the phone to fundraise for the college this week By Erin Osbourne Collegian Freelancer This week, Hillsdale parents will spend more than 30 hours on the phone to talk about the college. The Spring 2022 Phonathon began Feb. 21 and will end on Feb. 24. Since 1997, 20 parents meet in the Contact Center the week leading up to Parents' Weekend to call other parents, including parent alumni, to raise funds for the college. “The Phonathon is parent-to-parent calling to raise funds for the college,” Phonathon leader and Parents Association Steering Committee member Bob Cenk said. “We’re planting the seeds to talk to parents about fundraising, and we’re also making personal connections.” PASC is Hillsdale College’s parents association, which runs fundraising, freshman, career opportunities, prayer partners, and admission assistance subcommittees. The Phonathon, led by Bob Cenk, is part of the PASC’s fundraising subcommittee.

“The Phonathon members are ambassadors,” Cenk said. “They develop enthusiasm about the college.” The parents build camaraderie by striking a gong every time a donation is made, and by participating in leisure activities together. “We eat together, pray together, shoot together, ‘wine down’ together, goof off together, decompress together – it’s a pretty special week,” said Retired Major General Matt Malloy, who volunteers at the Phonathon. These additional activities allow the Phonathon volunteers to enjoy their time at Hillsdale College while they help raise funds. “It's a summer camp for adults,” Malloy said. “We have too much fun.” Malloy and his wife chair PASC and have volunteered at the Phonathon together for two years. “I don’t need a professional salesperson,” Cenk said. “I don’t ask if they’ve had any sales training. I just want to see someone that’s excited about doing it and learning something new and giving back to the college.”

Career Services hosts trip to Grand Rapids By Hannah Cote Culture Editor Students will have the opportunity to network with some of the nearly 300 alumni working in Grand Rapids at Career Services’ Alumni Networking Reception next Thursday, March 1. “Networking is vital to finding and securing professional opportunities, whether an internship, summer job, or post-graduate position,” said Roma Rogers, program manager and internship coor-

dinator. Rogers said networking also provides students with industry professionals to seek advice from and learn more about different jobs. “Often, companies have positions that aren’t listed externally,” Rogers said. “Still, someone in your network may know of an opening, or they can refer you directly to the hiring manager and bypass some screening processes. Every little bit helps.” This year, two Career Services staff members will be driving and attending. Career

Services will provide transportation to Grand Rapids which is scheduled to leave campus at 3:30 p.m, and arrive back on campus around 11:30 p.m. “We have alumni working in a wide array of industries in Grand Rapids,” said Kenneth Koopmans, executive director of Career Services, “including banking, finance, medicine, education, think tanks, local government, retail, manufacturing companies, and some in law.” Both Rogers and Koopmans said this trip will be

beneficial to students looking for summer internships, or graduates looking for jobs. “The Grand Rapids alumni have been extremely supportive of students, one another, and the college,” Koopmans said. “These events allow students to network with local alumni and learn about potential summer internships or jobs.” Career Services’ next networking trip is to Lansing on March 29. Students can register for the on Handshake.

Junior Ethan Tong received 2nd place during last year's Edward Everett Oratory Contest. Courtesy | Ethan Tong

Rhetoric department hosts Edward Everett Oratory Contest By Elizabeth Troutman Assistant Editor Students will have the opportunity to exercise their rhetoric skills in the Edward Everett Oratory Contest on March 8 at 11 a.m. by delivering a 10-minute speech on Individual Rights and the Common Good in Government. Sponsored by the rhetoric and public address department and the office of the provost, the contest will feature prizes of $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third. “Eloquence in public

discourse remains today, as it always has, an essential element of a traditional liberal-arts education,” the college said in a press release. “At Hillsdale College, our students understand that the defense of freedom and liberty hinges on rational and thoughtful rhetoric.” Feb. 11 was the deadline to apply. The preliminary competition, which will determine who competes in the finals, will take place on Feb. 26 and 27. The final competition will take place during the events of the Center for Constructive Alternatives IV in the Plaster Auditorium.

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Each round is open to the public. Faculty and staff will judge preliminary rounds, and invited judges, including Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn will judge the finals. “The Edward Everett Prize in Oratory encourages and fosters the spoken word, but at Hillsdale, the students have taken oratory upon themselves,” according to the college. “In class, on the debate team, in student organizations, and even in private debates, Hillsdale College students hone the important craft of discourse.” Junior Ethan Tong re-

ceived second place in the 2021 contest and looks forward to participating again. “I did speech and debate in high school, but I was competing against people who weren’t necessarily the most well-read or deep thinkers,” Tong said. “My experience with the Everett Oratory Competition was different. Everyone in my room had unique thoughts, utilized incredible sources, and presented professionally. I had so much fun presenting my speech to faculty and staff in a competitive environment.”

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Cenk interviews each of the volunteers before they work on the Phonathon and trains them when they arrive at Hillsdale College. “We begin Sunday at 6 p.m. for training and fellowship,” Cenk said. “Monday morning is sales training, and talking about what we’ll say and do on the phone. We then meet at 4 p.m. for dinner together, and begin calling from 5 p.m. until 12 a.m..” During that time, Phonathon volunteers talk to parents across America, from the East Coast to Alaska and Hawaii. “There is always plenty of coffee,” Malloy said. “We have some people that are absolute cheerleaders. Someone even played music to dance to the other day.” As much fun as the Phonathon is for the parents, it is also an act of service, Malloy said. “When I retired, I found that this was an opportunity to continue to serve,” Malloy said. “The Phonathon is such an opportunity to give back to the school. We know that our funds are integral

to cutting tuition costs for students.” This year, the Phonathon is raising funds for state scholarships. “Donors can designate their giving towards a state scholarship, which then goes to the students from those states,” said Marie Socha, director of the President's Club and parent relations at Hillsdale College. The Phonathon continues to break its own fundraising records. Volunteers at Hillsdale’s 2021 Phonathon made almost 11,000 phone calls in four days, according to Socha. “The parent caller who gets the most ‘no’ in the week, has the largest pocketful of ‘yes.’ You ‘no’ your way into success,” Malloy said. The callers are encouraged to continue calling other parents, and not to be discouraged. “I would put this sales team against professional sales teams anywhere in the country,” Cenk said. “But the thing I am most proud of is leading and helping to create fellowship and an impact on Hillsdale College.

Mock Trial team receives bid to compete at nationals, three students receive awards By Jane Kitchen Collegian Freelancer Three students received awards at the American Mock Trial Association’s Regional Tournament earlier this month and one team received a bid to compete at nationals. Junior Abigail Elwell and senior Jacob Hooper took All-Regional Attorney Awards, and sophomore Konrad Verbaarschott captured Hillsdale’s first double All-Regional Witness Award. Among the college’s three mock-trial teams, Team 1298 received a bid for AMTA’s Opening Round Championship Series, after posting six wins, one loss, and one tie. Team 1300 competed on Feb. 5 and 6, while teams 1299 and 1298 competed the following weekend. The tournaments involved four rounds of competition, with judges casting two ballots each round. Teams vied for invitations, called “bids,” to ORCS, where competitors will have the opportunity to secure spots at the national tournament. Team 1299, with five wins and three losses, was placed on the open bid list, which allocates extra bids to teams who did not win them directly at the regional tournament. Team 1300, with four wins and four losses, did not receive a bid. “We’re currently preparing two teams to go on,” said Jonathan Church, who coaches Teams 1298 and

1299. Church said that while he can’t know for sure, he feels confident that Team 1299 will receive an open bid for ORCS. Church said if Hillsdale can send two teams, it will break a peculiar pattern of performance established in recent years. “The AMTA does criminal case problems one year and then they do civil the next – so it rotates – and since 2015, we’ve sent two teams to the ORCS in civil years and we’ve sent one team in criminal years,” Church said. “Right now, it looks like this will be the first criminal year where we send two teams.” Regionals was the first tournament of the competitive season and the teams have been preparing for their cases since the first week of January. Sophomore Evalyn Homoelle said she felt confident going into the tournament. “I typically get really stressed at tournaments,” Homoelle said, “but this one was very relaxing and I think everyone had a chance to show what we’ve been working on.” Church described some potential causes of the teams’ successes. “We focus a lot more on performance than we used to,” Church said. “We’ve always been strong on argumentation. We really have tried to do some work on making people sound the way our content is — powerful and polished.”

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February 24, 2022

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Entrepreneur offers advice for starting a small business By Sean Callaghan Assistant Editor Entrepreneurs should establish principles that guide their small businesses, said Patrick Whalen at a talk on Friday, hosted by the Kehoe Family Initiative for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Whalen, assistant to the president, is a former Marine Corps officer who opened both a boys’ highschool called St. Martin’s Academy in southern Kansas and a coffee roastery in Hillsdale named Ad Astra Roasters. “You should have principles that will dictate what you will be,” Whalen said. He said the principles create the structure rather than the size of the business. Because the business stems from the principles, an entrepreneur has the freedom to keep his or her business at a lower scale. He said keeping a business small can be a choice rather than a default. “Small is OK if it accomplishes your goals,” he said. “Do one thing and do it well.” Developed by Career Services, the Kehoe Family Initiative seeks to give students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs a chance to develop and launch their own business idea. Whalen addressed the stereotypes of starting a new business that “if you can’t be the best, then you have no reason being an entrepreneur.” He said a business does not necessarily need to dominate the world, produce millions of dollars or monopolize the market to be successful. “Use your God-given gifts, think it through, come up with your plan, follow it, and then be true to it,” he said. Whalen said your business should meet a need within either the immediate or outside community. Ad Astra Roasters is the only roastery in Hillsdale and St. Martin’s Academy is one of the few schools in the country that offers an alternative high school education. In the course of his talk, Whalen discussed the business structure for both Ad Astra Roasters and St. Martin’s Academy to help students envision the idea of a small business as a practical reality. For the school, the business model is to help educate young high school men. “I want to unlock the God-given potential in these souls,” Whalen said. “You can’t force them to grow, but

you can set the conditions.” Whalen’s business idea for the academy contrasted with the contemporary view of education where students sit in classrooms all day, and hear people talk to them, in hope of learning something valuable. He said his school offers something fresh and revolutionary. The academy is a 200-acre sustainable farm located in southern Kansas dedicated to forming young minds through teaching animal husbandry, farming, cooking, butchery, and other skills that instill responsibility and resilience. Whalen said he wanted to build an environment that would allow young high school students to thrive. He capped the enrollment at 60 students in order to maintain the integrity of the environment. “You’re not supposed to do schools of 60 kids,” Whalen said. “It’s not effective. It’s not economically efficient. People say this is a dumb idea because it’s not efficient.” Whalen encouraged students not to be afraid to remain steadfast to the principles upon which their business is founded. “What are you trying to do?” Whalen said. “I would encourage you to ask yourself: what’s at the root, what’s driving this? Find it and do that.” In starting his school, Whalen knew wealth would not be a guarantee, and yet, it didn’t matter to him because of his principles. “If that means “inefficiency” then so be it for the sake of keeping to my principles and mission,” he said. “I could scale the company at a much higher rate, but that means liability, debt, and more risk.” For Ad Astra Roasters, keeping to principles meant functioning with zero funding. His family could expand the Ad Astra Roasters, but he is more interested in maintaining a slow on-ramp approach to remain true to his original principles that family is priority number one. Whalen said he is willing to sacrifice a much higher growth rate for the sake of maintaining a strong family life. We’ve chosen this place intentionally and scaled the business to fit this place,” Whalen said. Whalen said to accept more funding would mean higher risk, calls during dinnertime, and more

unexpected trips since the stakes would be so high. This, in turn, would eat into his family life. “Entrepreneurs tend to be folks for whom the system or the structure doesn’t make a whole lot of sense or who have some insight or imaginative impulse,” Whalen said. “You bring that slightly different perspective to everything.” Whalen advised students to enroll in an accounting or finance course as a practical step toward better understanding the numbers involved in business that will make it run and be successful. “Have your ducks in a row because whether it’s your buddy or the local bank, you still need to have the dollars and the cents for the business to line up and make sense,” Whalen said. “It will help to have a relationship, but that’s not everything.” Whalen encouraged students to get started, no matter how small their business starts. “As an entrepreneur, you’re blessed with the kind of intellect and imagination to see asymmetrical solutions to contemporary problems,” Whalen said. “With every blessing comes an obligation. I encourage you to exercise that imagination and that intellectual ability in accordance with your principles, and then pursue it.” Freshman Katrin Surkan said she was inspired by Whalen’s talk. “It struck me that he started both a coffee shop and a school which seem to be different and disconnected: one is personal and one is impersonal,” Surkan said. “For both of them, however, he had similar principles which was interesting. The message that really shone through his entire talk is that you have to have a principle to found any kind of business or else it’s not going to be of much use.” Sophomore Kevin Rybka said he appreciated Whalen’s approach to incorporating ideas into realities. “He’s all about practical structures,” Rybka said. “I think principles are important in building a family, culture, or anything. Everyone lives by certain principles, but the question becomes how do you actually put those principles into something that is concrete and not just talk about them in abstract ways?”

Robert Alt wasJosh the Warren, lead attorney in Phillips v. OSHA. Courtesy | Minneasota Sunwon last year's Sophomores Jonathan Abrantes, and Finn McHale (left-to-right) competition. Courtesy | Jonathan Abrantes

Robert Alt was the lead attorney in Phillips v. OSHA. Courtesy | The Minnesota Sun

Robert Alt, Buckeye Institute CEO, Q&A By Olivia Hajicek Collegian Reporter Robert Alt, president and CEO of the Buckeye Institute, was the lead attorney in Phillips v. OSHA, the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay preventing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate from going into effect on Jan. 13. Alt spoke at Hillsdale on Feb. 16. What advice do you have for Hillsdale students who are interested in going into law? I think part of it is you need to decide what it is you wish to do in the law. If you’re wanting to do something like public interest law or do work in legal challenges related to the scope and the authority of the administrative state, my recommendation would be a couple of things. Try to maximize your chance of getting a good judicial clerkship. I think that’s invaluable experience, and it is, in addition to learning a great deal in a short amount of time about the law working for a judge, it also ends up being a key credential that ends up being prized by appellate litigators, particularly if it’s a court of appeals clerkship or a Supreme Court clerkship. While you can get a clerkship if you’ve attended any accredited law school, there are certainly some that have a greater success rate with regard to placements than others. As I would say, if you're interested in these sorts of issues, you should consider public interest law. It really creates unique opportunities to be involved in significant constitutional and statutory cases at a level that’s very difficult to do in other contexts. Frequently you’re able to get into court to have a more significant role in brief writing than you might have working at a large firm, even. Certainly, in terms of being able to actually get in and make arguments, it provides opportunities to work on really interesting and impactful cases. What does the Buckeye Institute do?

Students to compete in Charger Chopped on Saturday

By Elizabeth Troutman Assistant Editor

Will your dish be on the chopping block? Students will have the opportunity to find out at the Student Activities Board’s Charger Chopped competition Saturday from 1 p.m to 3 p.m in the Old Snack Bar. Based on Food Network’s hit show “Chopped,” teams of three will attempt to prepare a main dish using an unconventional conglomeration of food items. Teams will pres-

ent their creation to a panel of judges, including Bon Appetit Manager Andrew Deike, Student Activities Programs Assistant Riley Arlinghaus, and Assistant Professor of History Miles Smith. “It was super fun last year and went well,” said Zane Mabry, director of Student Activities. “We hope to have a repeat of that this year.” Since the competition will take place during Parents’ Weekend, Mabry said parents are welcome to watch their children cook and present

their dishes. Sophomore Jonathan Abrantes, last year’s Charger Chopped winner, said he looks forward to returning to the competition. “Charger Chopped was an experience I would do again in a heartbeat,” Abrantes said. “Cooking alongside my friends, Josh Warren and Finn McHale, brought us closer together through the camaraderie established and the challenges of winning and competing.”

Buckeye is a state-level think-tank that often does public interest litigation, so we work predominantly on economic and legal policy questions. We’re focused on those generally speaking at a state level, particularly Ohio, but we work in states across the country. For instance, we have an economic research center that does dynamic analysis of state budgets and related questions, and we’ve saved taxpayers in the ballpark of $3.5 billion based upon our research being adopted, so that’s the economic side. We do quite a bit on criminal justice policy. We’ve won international awards for our work in Ohio on criminal justice policy. We also engage in public interest litigation. What was your role in the OSHA case? We had two companies who were very concerned about the application of this rule to their businesses and wished to sue. We filed a lawsuit in the Sixth Circuit Court — the court covering Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky — challenging the rule and asking the court to issue a stay against

the rule. In this type of an OSHA challenge, if cases are filed in more than one circuit, then by random drawing they select what circuit the cases get transferred to. There were cases filed in every federal circuit in the country with the exception of the circuit called the Federal Circuit, and when the random drawing occurred, the Sixth Circuit, our circuit, ended up getting the random draw. When that happened, Buckeye was the first firm to go ahead and request, rather than having three judges hear the case, to have all 16 judges of the court of appeals hear the case in a process called initial en banc. The court deadlocked 8-8 as to whether they should take it as an initial en banc case — as to whether all 16 judges should hear it as an initial matter — and the chief judge of the circuit, Chief Judge Sutton, issued a very lengthy and detailed opinion on why it is that they should and why it is that a stay should be granted. That opinion ultimately was heavily relied upon by the United States Supreme Court when it ultimately issued its stay. Following a decision by the three-judge panel, which lifted a stay that was in place in the case, we were the first petitioners to file in the United States Supreme Court, asking them to stay the case, and ultimately they agreed with us that OSHA lacked the regulatory authority to mandate vaccines for all employers with 100 or more employees. What was your argument in the OSHA case? Ultimately, this is not a question of whether vaccines are good or bad policy. The question is whether or not OSHA as a regulatory agency has the authority to mandate this for all employers with 100 or more employees. So you begin with the fundamental issue that the federal government does not have the general police power. States have the ability to pass regulations for health and safety. Generally speaking, the federal government doesn’t, and so they sought to do this through OSHA, but OSHA’s authority is not unlimited authority. They have the authority to promulgate rules that create safe workplaces, and the Supreme Court ultimately found that this regulation exceeded OSHA’s authority, that this really wasn’t an occupational regulation. It fundamentally violated something like the major questions doctrine the Supreme Court has laid down: it affected a significant political or economic decision, and if Congress had intended OSHA to be able to do something like the vaccine mandate, it would have clearly given OSHA the authority to do so. Congress had not done so, so it was impermissible for OSHA to regulate in that space. Did you agree with the Supreme Court’s reasoning in granting the stay? They began with the major questions doctrine. That was actually our lead argument in the case — again, the idea that Congress had not granted the authority. This was a significant question that affected a large swath of the economy, and they relied extensively on authority that we cited for those propositions. Subsequent to the Supreme Court ruling on that matter, the Biden administration went ahead and withdrew the emergency temporary standard rule. The

OSHA vaccine mandate functionally ended. Otherwise, this was just a stay, so it would have gone back to the Sixth Circuit so they could consider the merits of the case. The Biden administration essentially threw in the towel based on the fact that the Supreme Court said we were likely to win on the merits. Which Supreme Court Justice do you align with most philosophically? I would probably have to say Justice Clarence Thomas. He is the most principled justice on the court, so I find myself in very frequent agreement with him, and if at any point I’m in disagreement with him, I find myself needing to double check how it is that I’ve approached the question. What is your newest case? The District of Columbia has issued a rule requiring restaurants and bars to verify the vaccination status of their patrons before they can enter, as well as a mask requirement in those establishments. Eric Flannery owns a restaurant, Big Board, in the Capitol Hill area, and he had issued a statement saying all are welcome in his restaurant. Following this, he was subject to a number of regulatory visits, and the city ended up suspending both his operating license and his liquor license for failure to enforce the vaccine mandate and the mask mandate at his establishment. Subsequently, the mayor reversed course and ended up withdrawing the vaccine mandate and announcing the mask mandate would end at the end of this month. Notwithstanding that, the Big Board is still closed by these agencies, and the Buckeye Institute is representing Mr. Flannery seeking to get his restaurant reopened. At this point we’re presently trying to see if we can get the agencies to respond to common sense and to enforce common sense. If not at that point we’ll file in court, but we have not done so yet. What opportunities do you have for Hillsdale students to get involved? We take both undergraduate and law students as interns. We do it year-round, but obviously for most people who are students, unless they happen to be students in the Columbus area, it’s easier to do so in the summer, and our summer program is a bit more robust. We have a speaker series among other things, a number of distinguished speakers from around the city to talk about public policy, law, etc., but it is a very substantive internship. We run a very lean organization, and so we genuinely rely heavily on the interns to be able to do substantive work. This is not a coffee and photo-comping sort of internship. This is doing substantive research, sometimes drafting and other functions that have the potential to have impact on some of the policy work that we’re doing and potentially on the litigation work as well, particularly for those who are law students and might have legal research capabilities. If you’re trying to decide if this is something that would be a good fit for you, whether it’s law school, or whether as a student going in that direction, I think it’s a great program.

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www.hillsdalecollegian.com

A4 February 24, 2022

(517) 607-2415

Rethink your study habits

Six tries, five letters, four reasons to play Wordle By Nikoleta Klikovac

We all need a break sometimes, and Wordle provides Only six attempts stand that short escape from the between you and the best world. victory of the day: solvA mother-daughter ing the Wordle. The game duo that lived on opposite takes only five minutes, but sides of the country used considering you only get the ability to connect with to play once every day, that others through Wordle this short period is exhilaratmonth. The mother, Denyse ing. The game consists of Holt, sent her daughter guessing a five-letter word her Wordle score every in six attempts. Either you morning. When Holt did guess correctly, or fail the not send the Wordle score daily puzzle. While it may one morning, her daughter sound like something your knew something was wrong suburban dad would play, and called the police. This Hillsdale students should interaction, or lack theremake it a part of their daily of, saved Holt’s life, as she routine. was being held hostage by a On Wordle, there are home invader. plentiful opportunities to There are a multitude connect with your friends. I of mental health beneintroduced multiple classfits of Wordle. An article mates and coworkers to published in the Journal of the game, and even joined Geriatric Psychiatry showed a group chat dedicated to that brain puzzles imsharing Wordle scores. proved memory, cognitive Every night, I stay up until function, problem solving, midnight, waiting for the and creative thinking. The new word to drop. One game is also a healthier way time, I shared my score at to spend your time than 12:01 a.m. and got a text simply scrolling through from a fellow Wordle player Instagram or playing a who wanted to figure out time-consuming game on how I solved it so quickly. your phone. When there The benefits of the game are so many benefits that go beyond social influence. come from spending a Sometimes, classes and few minutes playing a fun, other commitments can be semi-competitive, word exhausting. When television game, there is no reason not or TikTok don’t cut through to play. the boredom, Wordle is a great break from the dayNikoleta Klikovac is a to-day. You get a moment sophomore studying psyto be proud of yourself for chology and theater. solving the word game.

The Collegian Weekly

The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff

Picture this: It’s 7 p.m. on a Sunday and besides dinner, you’ve been in the library since 2 p.m. You need to do a few more tasks tonight, but you’re talking with friends instead. You probably feel overworked and unmotivated. Leave the library. Go to your dorm, a classroom, Penny’s, or A.J’s Cafe. Or leave campus

altogether. After working in the same place for several hours, your productivity can start to diminish. Don’t try to force resilience on yourself. Just move to a new workspace. The change of scenery can trick yourself into feeling like you are starting afresh. You may think you don’t

President Joe Biden has failed the American people once again. While the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis has put Americans on edge, the conflict also has worsened a domestic problem that targets our wallets and pocketbooks. Inflation is the highest it has been in 40 years, and the sad reality is that there is no end in sight. Consumer prices jumped an astonishing 7.5% last month, compared to a year earlier, according to the labor department. Goods and services both cost significantly more nowadays. In a recent analysis by Help Advisor, reported by Fox Business News, displays that nearly 24% reduced their food

and medicine bills so that they could afford their energy bill. As energy and the cost of food rise, people’s carts become more bare. In a recent article, AP News shared the story of Courtney Luckey, an American experiencing the effects of inflation. One hundred dollars used to fill her cart; however, now that same amount fills half a cart. Luckey isn’t the only American going through this. It is affecting most of the working class. Medicine and food have seemingly been put on the backburner as other bills must take priority. Small businesses and large corporations are suffering as well. Due to higher costs for supplies and labor, small businesses are looking to compete

to do this than with the 15-minute transition time between locations? The physical activity of walking, albeit brief, will clear your mind. Then, you’ll be able to return to your work with renewed energy. And while you’re at it, consider moving to a place where you can get a snack. You’re probably hungry.

Make the most of Parents Weekend By Michaela Estruth “Parents come to the college and talk with your professors?! Isn’t college about independence?” This is a common response I hear when I describe the unique tradition of Parents Weekend to friends at other colleges. The idea of parents traveling to spend an entire weekend on campus, and even attending “parent-professor conferences,” is foreign to most American college students. This is because most colleges accept federal funding, which prohibits professors from sharing classroom observations or grades with parents. So, why does Hillsdale host parents weekend once a semester? Do Hillsdale students agree with their peers elsewhere that it is a ridiculous tradition? Hillsdale’s Parents Week-

end is important and valuable for both parents and students. It builds upon the foundation and purpose of education at Hillsdale. Hillsdale understands the true definition of college as a “partnership.” This institution partners with students and their parents in an agreement to train the pupils in virtue and self-government. Parents Weekend allows Hillsdale to act on that partnership with the parents by sharing the experiences that their children have daily. Independence cannot be achieved without the transition into college and the development of self-government. This is a process, and Hillsdale invites parents to view that process in their children’s lives. Parents Weekend also benefits students. After months away from home, the joy of seeing your parents

and escaping for some good food refreshes students during the busy semester. A meal outside of Saga and on your parents’ dime, who would complain about that? Even the parent-professor meetings are helpful for students. Every time I call my parents, I say numerous times, “It’s hard to explain, but you’ll understand after you meet him.” Sometimes, the stories I share are twice as long because I try to explain the personality or background of my professors or friends. After Parents Weekend, parents finally have a face for each name their child mentions over the phone, and they don’t have to ask, “Who is that again?” It’s also fun for students to meet their friends’ parents. Unlike high school, students don’t know their friends’ families. Meeting the parents allows for greater connection

between friends because they, too, have a face to the name. So, if your parents are here this weekend, be grateful for the unique and special opportunity to share your joys with them. Also, don’t forget the students whose parents could not make it for the weekend. Parents Weekend for those students is often one of the hardest weekends. Adopt your friends for the weekend and share the joy of escape and that free meal with them. So, in response to my non-Hillsdale friends, I always say, “Yeah! It’s called Parents Weekend! It’s so fun and really special that the college cares that much to host all the parents. I’m so grateful.” Michaela Estruth is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

Get psyched with a new class By Dylan Leebrick

The Hillsdale College psychology department is the best bridge between the sciences and humanities because it understands and incorporates the value in both. Though psychology is small and unknown compared to the renowned humanities departments and the reputable science departments, this is beginning to change. Hillsdale students are called to pursue truth. But for philosophers who oppose scientism and for scientists who are skeptical of metaphysical inquiry, more are looking to psychology as the middle way toward the same truths. Psychology is a fractured field with competing schools of thought vying for primacy. Long gone is the dominance of Freudian

psychoanalysis or Skinnerian behaviorism, though both left valuable impacts and followers. These two particular schools represent the dichotomy between phenomenological and natural science as it exists in modern psychology. But at Hillsdale, instead of avoiding this divide or aligning itself with a particular school, the psychology department has transcended it by integrating the two. Associate professor of psychology Collin Barnes, a social psychologist by training, is at liberty to teach Carl Jung, whose writings are steeped in mythology and philosophy. Simultaneously, chairwoman of the psychology department Kari McArthur, whose background is in clinical psychology, favors empirical research and scientific consensus in courses like Abnormal Psychology or Learning and Behavior. In

No end in sight with rising inflation By Micah Hart

have time to pack up your stuff, walk (or drive) to another location, and then set all your stuff out again. But you could easily waste 30 minutes or an hour doing subpar work in a distracting or boring environment — and still feel overworked. After a few hours of work, your brain needs a break anyway. What better way

with their larger competitors that have more money on hand. This has caused some small businesses to take on debt or use the cash they were saving. Although small businesses are trying to keep up, the corporations have their own struggles. For example– according to AP News–Chipotle has increased its menu prices by a staggering 10%. The company even warned that if inflation keeps rising, so will prices. Even though the horrific inflation that America is already dealing with is suffocating the general public’s wallets, prices are bound to rise as the United States is involved in the Ukraine-Russia affair. It is estimated that this issue could cause inflation to

surge to 10% if the conflict worsens, according to Fox Business. The person to blame in this situation is Biden. He promised to “revitalize” the economy after COVID-19 wrecked it. Has he done that? No, Biden has done the exact opposite and caused Americans to struggle even more. Inflation will not get better anytime soon, but midterm elections are coming up. Every politician should be held accountable for their actions. While Democrats are in power, there are Republicans that also must be held accountable. Most of these politicians are millionaires who can not relate to the American people struggling day in and day out. As reported by Open Secrets, a news source

Hillsdale psychology, both the philosophical and scientific approaches are treated with equal significance and dignity. Many Hillsdale students may be prepared to explain what Athens has to do with Jerusalem. But how many of us feel prepared to explain what Athens or Jerusalem have to do with Paris or London? In other words, how many of us know how to reconcile the humanities and natural sciences in our quest toward truth? Hillsdalians know that there is value to a well-rounded liberal arts education. What remains unclear to most is how best to integrate the different modes of thinking which characterize the humanities and sciences. Therefore, I urge Hillsdale students: get involved in psychology, even if that means taking a class outside of your major. You will see for yourself how both philosophy and

scientific research can be effectively and concurrently utilized within this diverse and intermediary field. Psychology at Hillsdale is on the rise, as are the ways to get involved. Researchers are looking for eager participants, counseling and therapy are now more plentifully available at the Health Center, and national demand in the helping professions is high amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The addition of Professor Jared Parker, a theoretical and philosophical psychologist, is another good sign that methodological diversity and growth will continue. Now is the time: get into psychology.

Dylan Leebrick is a junior studying psychology.

Inflation is the highest it has been in 40 years. Courtesy | Flickr

focused on following the money in politics, more than half of the members in the 116th Congress are millionaires. Out of the members who filled disclosures last year, the median net worth was just over one million dollars. Politicians aren’t deciding if they can afford their medicine or should buy a little more food to put on the table.

Inflation may continue to rise, but the American people can rise above it by rocking the vote and making sure our voices are heard. Enough is enough. Politicians must be held accountable and forced to see the harsh reality of life. Micah Hart is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

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www.hillsdalecollegian.com

February 24, 2022 A5

Canada’s descent into tyrrany should worry the US By Gabriel Powell

Canada left the ranks of liberal democracies last weekend and became a dictatorship under its Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. At his order, police called in from throughout the country crushed an up to that point entirely peaceful protest against his COVID-19 vaccination mandate, forcibly removing the truckers from the capital of Ottawa. In the United States, the press have devoted little coverage to the trucker protests. Yet the Canadian response to these protests should be deeply troubling to the citizens of its closest neighbor. The self-styled Freedom Convoy, consisting mainly of Canadian truckers, had been protesting in Ottawa for three weeks against Trudeau’s mandate that they receive COVID-19 vaccines. The organizers have repeatedly stated in interviews that they intend to remain peaceful, and this had been the case to date, as no one had been physically harmed by the truckers. According to the Washington Post, the scene reflected more of a block party complete with bouncy houses—a far cry from the “mostly peaceful protests” that have been seen here in the U.S. over the past few years. In sworn affidavits filed to support one of the lawsuits challenging Trudeau’s actions, multiple Ottawa residents have described the protests as peaceful, one even describing how they have helped feed the homeless of Ottawa. The only violence that did occur was

a car attack on the protest that was swept under the rug more quickly than the attack on the Waukesha Christmas Parade, and likely for similar reasons, as Andy Ngo uncovered that the attacker was a known Antifa militant. Despite the peaceful nature of the protests, Trudeau decided that the “occupation” of the capital had gone on for long enough. Truckers honking their horns between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. while blocking streets in the national capital were a threat to the security of Canada . On Feb. 14, he invoked the Emergencies Act, formerly the War Powers Act, giving him additional emergency powers so that he could stop the “illegal blockades” that were “endangering public safety.” What has Trudeau’s invocation of emergency powers led to? Among other things, the government can now seize bank accounts without a court order, cancel vehicle insurance, and remove and fine those within the government-declared “restricted zone.” The deputy prime minister made clear that it is the government’s intention to freeze the personal and corporate bank accounts of protestors, as well “broadening the scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering laundering and terrorist financing rules so that they cover crowd funding platforms.” In an ominous warning, Trudeau told protestors: “It’s time to go home — especially if you have kids with you.” The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, akin to child protective services, followed up on

this thinly veiled threat, informing parents that they should find alternate care arrangements for the children, “should they become unable to care for their children following potential police action.” For good measure, the fate of any pets in the convoy was also thrown into the balance, Ottawa’s animal shelter tweeting that “If you are unable to care for

tests that have roiled the nation’s capital for three weeks.” Videos criculating online appear to show police officers beating protestors, and police have opened at least one internal investigation after a disabled woman was one of many trampled by mounted riot police in the course of making nearly 200 arrests. Despite clearing the streets of Ottawa

Canadian police started cracking down on protests. Courtesy | Xavier News Wire

your animal as a result of enforcement actions, your animal will be placed into protective care.” Finally, on Feb. 19, riot police moved into the protest. In a surprisingly frank (and subsequently edited) New York Times report, the situation was described as follows: “Canadian police officers advanced on trucks sometimes at gunpoint, smashing truck windows and arresting protesters in front of the country’s Parliament building, an aggressive escalation in the government’s effort to finally end the pro-

of everything but police checkpoints, Trudeau has insisted that emergency powers are still needed. Monday night, after the protest had been cleared, Canada’s parliament was finally able to weigh in. Parliament granted that extension in a vote along party lines. Despite using a declaration of an emergency to use police to violently remove peaceful protesters, freeze their bank accounts, and threaten to take their children, the U.S. State Department has not issued any denouncement on Canada’s actions. No

We need more minimalism

By Alexandra Hall

It seems like the minimalism movement stopped as soon as in-person shopping resumed. When everyone had months to stare at their belongings and decide what to clear out, the internet saw a spike in Marie Kondo-type content. Minimalism emphasizes the shift in focus from quantity to quality. By curating a more intentional set of belongings, people are able to focus on personal relationships and other more important aspects of life. With YouTube acting as a breeding ground for every new lifestyle habit that is in vogue, minimalism saw an exodus from bland interior design trends and adoption into more meaningful communities. It’s a hot topic among modern followers of stoicism, like fans of Ryan Holiday. But minimalism saw a huge rise through creator Matthew D’Avella’s YouTube videos and subsequent documentaries. Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known better as “The Minimalists,” are the two primary creators who

provide an array of content and services about minimalism. From budget courses to writing classes, the Minimalists have covered their educational bases in the past few years. The two were featured in both of D’Avella’s documentaries, “Minimalism: a Documentary about the Important Things” (2015) and “Minimalism: Less is Now” (2021). The latter was produced after D’Avella’s content started to blow up on YouTube. The Minimalists focus on the philosophy that minimalism is about less of the material and more of the meaningful. By decluttering, people are freed to focus on the more important things in life like their relationships with others. With the rise of this wave of content, people

were temporarily infatuated with the desire to throw away all their belongings. Alongside other trends like the van-life movement and cabin off the grid/cottage-core style, the internet watched these themes peak during the pandemic. What all of these slow-living trends offer is escapism. But as the world starts to creep back into normality, the movements are losing steam. Minimalist content has petered out and D’Avella’s “Minimalism: Less is Now” film received backlash last year for lacking any new information about the philosophy. There is nothing wrong with the Minimalist movement that suddenly made it obsolete. Simply, it became another commodified idea that once

“For most people, the idea of throwing away all their belongings isn’t appealing, but minimalism is needed now more than ever.”

no longer “trendy,” lost its audience. For most people, the idea of throwing away all of their belongings isn’t appealing, but minimalism is needed now more than ever. In the age of hyper-consumerism where we can get Amazon packages in a matter of hours, the lessons that minimalism embodies are vital. Sites like Shein and Zara make fast fashion faster than ever, despite their sweat-shop-driven business practices being ambiguous and their products lacking in any quality. As regular internet users become influencers and attention becomes a commodity, these practices are not sustainable in the long-term, environmentally or socially. While some extremists preach that you only need some arbitrary number of belongings, a large part of the minimalist philosophy is moderate. With the ease of buying more and more easier than ever, moderation in our material belongings is valuable. Alexandra Hall is a sophomore studying the liberal arts.

It is time to move on from COVID-19 By Reagan Gensiejewski A 72-foot-long Brachiosaurus skeleton looks over travelers as they board their planes in Chicago O’Hare International Airport. And just like the thousands that come through the airport everyday, the dinosaur wears a mask to protect itself from COVID-19. Signs around the dinosaur flash reminding travelers that going maskless is a federal offense, while a similar public service announcement echoes through the terminals. We will be in a pandemic for the rest of our lives, requiring us to wear a mask and show a vaccine card to

eat in many restaurants. And if that is the case, there is certainly no point in letting it rule our conversations, too. For two years now, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the lives of Americans. Reminders of the virus are simply everywhere, from a giant dinosaur, to the person standing next to you. Americans are constantly being screened for symptoms, and how and if the pandemic ends must be the most popular smalltalk topic. The only person who probably has ever reaped joy from discussing COVID-19 is Dr. Anthony Fauci, so why don’t we just shut up about it

already? Maybe we talk about the pandemic because we are so angry at it for disrupting what was a seemingly perfect life. Schools were normal, the economy was booming, and concerts were lively. But after two years of talking about it, it is certainly not making anything better. And besides the women in S.T.E.M, is there anyone who actually desires to unpack the little microscopic virus that is running rampant through our country? Imagine if everyday talk about COVID-19 stopped. Just as a flower dies when it’s deprived of water, COVID-19’s control on our

life would die along with our chatter. Everyone knows the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again without any change in result. This is what we are doing with COVID-19. Our time is better spent discussing taxes. Let’s leave the airport PA system to be the only one talking about the annoying virus and just shut up about COVID-19 already. Reagan Gensiejewski is a senior studying rhetoric and public address. She is the design editor at the Collegian.

member of Congress has introduced a bill recommending sanctions. President Joe Biden has not issued a statement decrying the actions of Trudeau as incompatible with human rights. The scary reason why is also the simplest: there are some who would seek to do the same in this country, using the same justifications. A Rasmussen poll of likely voters found that a majority of Democrats would support fining or putting under home arrest the unvaccinated, and only slightly less than a majority of Democrats would support internment camps or digital tracking programs for the unvaccinated. Twenty-nine percent would even support removing parents’ custody of children over the parents’ vaccination status. While a slight majority of all Americans disapprove of Trudeau’s handling of the protests, the split is strong along party lines: 88% of Republicans and 75% of independents disapprove, while 66% of Democrats, fully two-thirds, approve of his actions. The current presidential administration appears all too willing to use the label of domestic terrorist against political opponents, whether it be the Department of Homeland Security’s bulletin listing the number one risk contributing to the heightened risk for terror “false

or misleading narratives regarding COVID-19,” or the Biden Department of Justice using the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division against parents protesting at school boards based on a now withdrawn letter from the National School Boards Association commissioned by the secretary of education. The other coercive elements of Canada’s approach are also in nascent form in the U.S. GoFundMe has repeatedly shut down fundraisers, including for the Freedom Convoy itself, for ideological reasons, Mike Lindel, the founder of My Pillow, has been “de-banked” for his claims surrounding the 2020 election, and at least one U.S. mother has had her custody revoked by a judge based on her vaccination status. In the end, it seems, the Covid restrictions and mandates have at their heart not a dispute over what the right policy ought to be, but who ought to be making policy: the people, through their elected representatives, or unelected government doctors and bureaucrats, whose wisdom and motivations shall not be questioned by the people. The matter has been decided, at least for the near future, in Canada. Americans should be vigilant, lest the same tactics be tried here. Gabriel Powell is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

RAs deserve fair wages By Elizabeth Troutman

One of the most important and demanding jobs on campus pays less than minimum wage. Despite working approximately 320 hours each academic year, Hillsdale College resident assistants, on average, earn only $3,000. Serving as an RA at Hillsdale College has many rewards beyond financial compensation. RAs have the opportunity to practice crisis-management skills, leadership skills, and empathy, and they gain the satisfaction of serving others. They gain hands-on experience which benefits them in the real world. The job is demanding, as RAs are always on duty. They spend hours encouraging, counseling, and aiding residents with their various needs. RAs sit at the desk in their dorm’s lobby between five and six hours per week and attend two hours meetings weekly. They host a minimum of four dorm events per semester and attend one to two hours of training monthly. RAs undergo three 10-hour days of training prior to the arrival of their residents. When students move into the dormitories the Saturday and Sunday before classes start, RAs spend at least nine hours each day helping students and parents set up dorm rooms. The only financial compensation RAs receive is half the price of their room charge. Typical dorm residents pay $6,000 for room and $3,000 for board. RAs earn $3,000 for room, but still must pay the full price for board. Most make the equivalent of $9.38 per hour, while Michigan’s minimum wage is $9.87, which is what many other student jobs on campus pay.

Hillsdale RAs often say they did not take the job for the money. “I applied to be an RA because I really wanted to serve the community that served me so well my freshman year,” a sophomore RA said. Most RAs accepted their position aware of the low pay and they are motivated by being a positive influence in the lives of their residents. This does not mean that their willingness to sacrifice their time and energy should be taken for granted. Many RAs have to work multiple jobs to pay for college expenses, draining their already limited time. “Working so many more hours takes away time from not only being a good student and a whole person, but from being a good and available RA,” another sophomore RA said. At University of Michigan, RAs are compensated with full room and board. Liberty University provides its RAs with a special scholarship covering the entirety of their room and board expenses, along with a portion of their tuition. At Eastern Michigan University, RAs are paid with full room and board, in addition to being paid hourly for additional hours. Albion University’s RAs earn $4,100 per year. Hillsdale RAs are motivated by the desire to make residents feel comfortable, loved, and welcomed on campus. Their hard work is appreciated by their residents, and this should be reflected in their paychecks. Elizabeth Troutman is a sophomore studying politics and journalism. She is an assistant editor at the Collegian.

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

A6 February 24, 2022

City News

Nurses at the Hillsdale Hospital. Courtesy | Facebook

Hillsdale Hospital ranks in top 6% of rural hospitals nationwide By Megan Williams Assistant Editor Hillsdale Hospital ranks among the country’s top 100 rural hospitals, according to a new report. The Chartis Center for Rural Health assessed hospitals on the quality and efficiency of care as well as the quantity of local patients treated. It released the results on Feb. 11. Hillsdale Hospital President and CEO JJ Hodshire attributed their success to the vision and teamwork of Hillsdale Hospital staff. “Our organization’s vision is that through strong local governance, we will lead the nation in defining and

advancing the role of rural health providers,” Hodshire said in a press release. “This recognition demonstrates our commitment and progress toward realizing that vision, all thanks to the work of our incredible team.” Michael Topchik, national leader of the Chartis Center for Rural Health, praised the perseverance of rural hospitals across the United States for their diligence during the COVID-19 pandemic in a press release distributed by Hillsdale Hospital. “Despite unprecedented adversity, rural providers continue to display resiliency and a steadfast commitment to their communities,” Topchik said in the statement. “Honoring the Top 100 is one

of the highpoints of our year. We are delighted to recognize the exceptional performance and innovation of this year’s recipients, particularly in light of the extraordinary challenges facing America’s rural health safety net.” The Chartis Center is an organization that supports rural hospitals by providing information and educational materials. They are well known for their annual evaluations of rural hospitals. According to the American Hospital Association, there are 1,805 rural hospitals in the United States, placing Hillsdale Hospital in the top 6% of rural hospitals nationwide. Hillsdale Hospital’s director of marketing and

development, Rachel Lott, said the hospital has continued to grow and expand its care in a time when many rural hospitals are closing their doors. “A lot of rural hospitals have had to close things like their obstetrics unit, their birthing centers, and their behavioral health units,” Lott said. “Hillsdale Hospital has been investing in those areas; we have a behavioral health unit, and we built a brand-new birthing center in 2015.” Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hillsdale Hospital focused on continually improving its technologies and services to help better serve the local community. In 2020, it became the first public hospital in Michigan to

install a new MRI technology that produces higher quality images and is more comfortable for patients. The hospital was also one of the first six hospitals in the nation to offer a new laser technology for kidney stone treatment, according to the hospital’s press release. These improvements helped secure not only the health and wellbeing of Hillsdale residents, but also the financial stability of the hospital. Lott described how many rural hospitals close because necessary services are too expensive to maintain. Hillsdale Hospital’s technological improvements help to counteract that problem, making care more efficient.

“This community and this team is not limited by the fact that they are rural,” Lott said. “We don't see that as any sort of barrier to our ability to provide excellent care; we don’t let that limit our vision of what’s possible for our community.” Lott described this award as motivation for Hillsdale Hospital to continue improving and providing the highest quality of care possible to the community. “Hillsdale Hospital has been caring for this community for 106 years and will continue to do so for the next 106 years and beyond,” Hodshire said.

The grant would completely restore the trail through the waterfall and the path to the docks to make them handicapped-accessible, according to Bob Godfrey, a Hillsdale County road commissioner. “If we receive the grant all docks would be aluminum and handicapped-accessible,” Godfrey said. The county hopes to conduct maintenance around the waterfall, according to Ingles, and officials aim to make the park’s trail ADAcompliant. “There is a trail in particular that is going to be ADA-compliant. They are also going to upgrade the waterfall that has deteriorated over the years,” Ingles said. Ingles said the county is also applying for a wildlife and fisheries grant, which

has an application deadline of Oct. 1. “What we are hoping for is to dredge two of the six ponds for the health of the fish,” Ingles said. Ingles said COVID-19 has made Lewis Emery Park a popular place to enjoy nature and these upgrades would only increase the community’s love for it. “With the handicappedaccessibility it is going to make it available to even more people,” Ingles said. The grant will require a minimum of a 25% local match, according to Andrea Stay, grant coordinator at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Ingles said the county commissioners have approved the expenditure of the match, should the DNR award the grant to the county. Application scoring and site visits will take place in

the summer of 2022, and awards will be recommended at the Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund Board meeting on Dec. 14, 2022, Stay said. If the DNR selects Hillsdale County for funding, according to Stay, construction can start as soon as 2023 or 2024. “For the 2022 grant cycle we expect to fund approximately $20 million in projects. These grants are competitive and are scored on a multitude of factors,” Stay said. Grants are scored upon factors such as public support, ease of access, compliance with program procedures, natural resource access, and universal accessibility, according to Stay. Ingles said these upgrades are crucial. “These are projects that are needed and through the years some of these very expensive projects get pushed back,” Ingles said.

By Tracy Wilson Features Editor

toward the end of summer, building shelving in it, racks, things like that,” Hephner said. “It would all be in this trailer with a specific intent.” At first, the department wasn’t sure what emergencies they would use the trailer for, Hephner said. When the county faced extreme weather in 2021, however, firefighters put the trailer to good use. “Last year, when we had the three major storms that hit our area, including the EF1 tornado, it became evident to us we needed to ensure that we could get from our fire department to a rescue scene, whether it’s a house or something else, without depending on anybody else,” Hephner said. Jack McLain, Hillsdale Township zoning officer, said the trailer would benefit more than just residents in the city of Hillsdale. “It’s going to be great for the mutual aid because we all help each other,” McLain said. “If we get in a spot and need the equipment they have, they’ll bring it to us. It’s great for everybody concerned. I think it’s a great thing.” The fire department has held several meetings recently about its mission in serving the Hillsdale community, Hephner said. “It could be the college; it could be the whole city that gets hit with something. If we need to be able to go and get there, we want all of our equipment in one place,” Hephner said. “Not getting there and not helping is not going to be an option. That’s not part of our mission. We will figure it out. We will get there.” Hephner said it’s important to be self-sufficient and ready for anything. “We may not be able to rely on anybody else. I’ve had people ask, ‘Well, just have the street department come in with a front end loader tractor to move stuff out of the way so you can get there.’ My response is, ‘How is that person going to get in to get the tractor if there are trees down everywhere?’”

County Commissioners seek to make Lewis Emery Fire department assembles Park handicapped-friendly with $224,000 grant new rescue trailer By Lauren Scott Circulation Manager Hillsdale County plans to make Lewis Emery Park handicapped-accessible with more than $200,000 in grant funds from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. Douglas Ingles, a Hillsdale County commissioner, said former commissioner Bruce Caswell applied for Department of Natural Resources grants as part of a five-year plan for Lewis Emery Park. The grant application required that they update the recreation plan, according to Ingles. The county is in Phase One of applying for the grants, Ingles said. The grant the county applied for this year would upgrade trails at the park so they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The state would award the county $240,000 for upgrades through the initial grant. The trail and the docks in the park would be ADAcompliant after officials make renovations, according to Ingles.

Upcoming in the city:

“Handicappedaccessibility... is going to make it available to even more people.”

With the help of its new rescue trailer, the Hillsdale City Fire Department is now better prepared to help at any rescue scene, according to Police and Fire Chief Scott Hephner. During floods last week, the fire department used the trailer to help various homeowners in a subdivision near State Road. “We assisted in pumping out a flood zone because there were some houses there that were getting flooded,” Hephner said. “In this particular case last week, we took 1,000 feet of hose. Being able to just grab the rolls of extra fire hose and put them in the back of this trailer was way more efficient than trying to hoist them up on a huge fire truck and get them back off the fire truck. It was very efficient and very helpful.” The trailer is a V-nose trailer about 14 feet long and 8 feet high, according to Hephner. In recent months, his team has stocked the trailer with tools like ropes, ladders, toe-straps, and wood beams. “We started outfitting it toward the end of summer, building shelving in it, racks, things like that,” Hephner said. “We had a lot of equipment but it would be spread out between either the fire trucks or in the station. We went through all of our equipment to decide what should be in this trailer that we wouldn’t have to look for. It would all be in this trailer with a specific intent.” Hephner said the fire department welcomes community members to donate any equipment they might have, such as jacks and chain saws. “We’ll never know what exactly we might need,” Hephner said. The fire department received the trailer as a donation in the spring of 2021, and since then, it has been slowly adding more tools and equipment to prepare emergency responders. “We started outfitting it

City News

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

February 24, 2022 A7

Family to open new businesses in downtown Hillsdale, seeks to help those with disabilities

By Carly Moran Collegian Freelancer

Two new businesses geared toward helping people with disabilities will open in downtown Hillsdale. The Hambleton family will be opening The Knowledge Emporium, a homeschool curriculum center, in May, and Sempre Pizza Etc., a restaurant, on 12 and 14 South Howell Street in the fall. The first business to open, The Knowledge Emporium, will both be run by and will cater toward those with special needs, according to the owner David Hambleton. “We'll have the storefront with a seating area where hopefully it can be a social place where folks come by and hang out,” Hambleton said. “We can learn together. We have a couple of booths there for tutoring, and those will open up into a classroom so that if a group of homeschoolers wants to do a math class or a science seminar, we can entertain a small group for that sort of thing.” Hambleton said they plan to consolidate the costs of maintaining a brickand-mortar building with

streaming their curriculum online. “You buy one thing here, one thing there: you're paying atrocious fees for shipping,” Hambleton said. “So what we'll do is we'll be the receiving point, pack and ship for the international customers, and I think there'll be a better income stream between that and internet sales than our little brick and mortar, in and out the front door.” Sempre Pizzeria Etc. plans to hire several people with special needs to help run the business, Hambleton said. “Other organizations are finding out that hiring autistic people is a great business venture. It's a matter of having roles and positions for them to do,” Hambleton said. “We're starting a superpower incubator so that we can open and run businesses where their special purpose, special talents and interests can be optimized.” The business will adopting a similar business model to In-N-Out Burger with a simplified menu, Hambleton said. “It'll be a brick oven pizzeria with woodfired pizza,” Hambleton said.

“We're going to offer about four items on the main pizza menu; a very simple menu. For those who know the company, In-N-Out Burger is kind of our business model.” The parents plan on employing their older children at the businesses, alongside other adults with disabilities, Hambleton said. “I sit on the board of Key Opportunities in town, and that's not a required connection. It just is an

Opportunities Julie Boyce, the two new businesses will make all the difference. “Our primary mission is to train and employ, so having the opportunity to work with Mr. Hambleton is going to be a great opportunity to have another place to apply and look for job opportunities,” Boyce said. Key Opportunities is a local charity specializing in training and finding jobs” for

Downtown Hillsdale will soon welcome two new businesses. Courtesy | Howell Street Holdings, LLC

interesting one. I'm tied to a community of a whole lot of folks that makes me think we're not unique in my house at all. There's lots of people that need work,” Hambleton said. According to Executive Director of Key

adults with developmental disabilities, according to their website. Hambleton said their two new businesses on Howell Street will serve as an extension of Key Opportunity’s mission. “We're painfully aware

Profile: Michigan governor candidate Ryan Kelley

Ryan Kelley hopes to win the GOP nomination for governor. Courtesy | Facebook

By Christian Peck-Demit Sports Editor Republican Ryan Kelley said he’s running for governor because he sees too many self-serving people and not enough who want to do the right thing in the government today. “Too many times you have the people who would probably be great for the job just sitting on the sidelines, running their business, living their life, enjoying the American dream, because they don’t want to deal with getting involved and being beat up a little bit,” Kelley said. Kelley, the owner of his own real estate firm from Allendale, is one of more than a dozen candidates who seek the Republican nomination to take on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic incumbent. The primary is on Aug. 2. “A lot of prayer went into where to specifically go,” Kelley said. “God’s number one in my life, as well as my relationship with my wife, and the Lord being the center of our marriage. So, lots of prayer, lots of talking between my wife and I, and there was a path that led this direction, so I’m following it as long as God keeps opening up those doors.” Since announcing his

Dawn from A1 “We, like farmers, will tend the projects that arise,” she said. Mary Wolfram, board member for the Friends of the Dawn, said the purpose of the project was to repurpose the past to serve the future. “And this event is an example of what it is going to be like,” she said. Michigan House Rep. Andrew Fink said he greatly appreciated everyone’s support. “I have been looking forward to this night for several years,” he said. During the event, the

there's a rift; there's two different economies in town. There's more mouths and yet there is more money in our house than in most of our neighbors’ houses. So how do we serve them? Running the business, I'm not gonna call it noblesse oblige, but it's whatever I can do to make this a better place for the school, for the folks in the town to coexist and flourish together,” David Hambleton said. Seven out of the eight children in the Hambleton family are on the autism spectrum, Hambleton said, the family stays involved in the community. David and Cassie Hambleton’s children are just as busy as them: four sons are medalists in the Special Olympics, and their daughter Eliana is receiving her bachelor’s degree this spring from Liberty University with a 4.0 in Creative Writing. Hambleton said she plans on working as an accountant for the family company. David Hambleton said students can give back to the community too. “Don't let your volunteerism end at the requirement,” David Hambleton said. “Use it as a

Grace Church Suite offers a wedding chapel. Courtesy | Bryant Cox Photography

candidacy, Kelley said he has spent time traveling around the state learning about people’s expectations. The top priority for many citizens around the state is to end COVID-19 restrictions, Kelley said. “People are over the pandemic” Kelley said. “We’re done. We’re finished.” Kelley said that the slogan “14 days to flatten the curve” was ineffective with government officials seeking to take peoples’ jobs and control where they can participate in society. “That’s not happening here in Michigan, but places like New York, California, it’s absolutely happening,” Kelley said. “It’s an election year, so Gretchen’s on her best behavior, but if it wasn’t an election year, you best believe a lot of those same restrictions would be here.” Day One of Kelley’s First 100 Days Plan involves canceling all emergency orders statewide and eliminating all mandates and executive orders that have to do with the pandemic. “If Gretchen weasels her way back into the governor’s seat, expect vaccine mandates,” Kelley said. “She’ll have another four years to do what she pleases. If somebody wants to wear a mask, they should feel comfortable doing so not under propaganda or coercion, but the fact that they feel they’re protecting themselves.” Kelley’s other Day One objectives are to cancel “Dominion, ES&S, and Hart electronic voting machine contracts” with the state of Michigan, according to his website. “Traveling around the state, the number one, top issue that I have heard is election

integrity,” Kelley said. “The 2020 election was garbage. It was a fraudulent election beyond the scope that we probably could even wrap our heads around.” Kelley recently appeared in a viral video on Twitter, telling listeners to unplug voting machines if they witness fraud. “If you see something you don’t like with the machines,” Kelley said, “unplug it from the wall.” Several have taken to Twitter against Kelley, such as radio host and lawyer Qasim Rashid, who called this “terrorism.” “If you’re working the next election, and you witness fraud and you see something that you don’t like that’s going on with the machines, unplug the machines, take control of the situation,” Kelley said. “The left-wing media takes that, made it look like I’m telling random people, ‘After you cast your vote, go over there and unplug the machine or just start walking into precincts and unplug the machine.” According to Ballotpedia. org, Kelley’s campaign has spent $67,180, ranking sixth among his competitors. Kelley said this isn’t an issue at all. “Dick DeVos, in 2006, spent $35 million aiming to defeat Jennifer Granholm, who was beatable back in 2006. He lost by 14%,” Kelley said. “For us to think that money is going to be the sole determining factor in this race, and who beats Whitmer, I think we’re setting ourselves up for another 2006.” With such a crowded field of 14 candidates for the Republican nomination, Kelley said his history of conservative activism sets him apart.

“The April 30, 2020 rally at the capital, I planned that, I hosted that, the permits for the event were in my name, so very early on I was speaking out against the lockdowns, that was during a stay-athome order and I’m hosting protests on the steps of the capitol,” Kelley said. “It’s walking the walk, all these other candidates, they’re against this stuff now, but stayed silent during the heat of the moment.” In June of 2020, Kelley organized a counter-protest in front of a Civil War statue in downtown Allendale to ensure that protesters did not forcibly take it down. “In July of 2020, I was encouraging the FBI and the DOJ to arrest Whitmer,” Kelley said. “None of the other candidates were walking that kind of walk, they were all silent.” Citing a recent uptick in state spending, Kelley criticized Whitmer’s fiscal policies. “She’s trying to play moderate, she’s almost trying to play Republican so that she can win back votes,” Kelley said. “She’s just driving up the price of everything all around us.” In a year where Whitmer’s approval rating has dropped below 50% at times, Kelley said the incumbent is vulnerable to a challenge and claimed he is the best candidate to run against her. “We need someone that’s not going to be fearful to call her out, but be able to communicate real, true solutions,” Kelley said. “If we think that just going into a debate with her or going into some form of tit-for-tat type thing talking about how bad she is, I don’t think that’s going to cut it. We have to be able to communicate and have strong solutions and the confidence of Michigan voters, that whatever those solutions are, can be executed by our next governor.”

County National Bank presented a $25,000 check to help the theater, which it will pay out over the next five years, but most of which it will pay upfront. In addition, the formal presentation featured a history of the pipe organ, one of only 13 of around 2,200 Wurlitzer organs produced during the silent movie era left in existence, according to John Ourensma, the organist at Hillsdale First United Methodist Church. The pipe organ was sold to Hillsdale College in 1944 and installed on the top floor of the Central Hall, Ourensma said. In the 1970s it was removed, and eventually given to Dr. Jeffery Horton,

a former dentist dedicated to preserving Hillsdale’s history. Horton has offered to give the organ back to be put in the Dawn. “We are grateful it was not thrown away,” Ourensma said. “It will go in the same place. That’s the dream.” Friends of the Dawn chairman Ron Scholl said it will be the job of the community to make the dream come true. “As a community, we need to breathe life back into this space,” he said. The Friends of the Dawn invites the entire community to attend a free public open house and ribbon-cutting at the theater on March 4 between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

The Dawn Theater hosted its Grand Opening on Feb. 19. Collegian | Josh Newhook

“The number one, top issue that I have heard is election integrity.”

springboard.” Hambleton said the two businesses are very different but will both serve the community. “We're painfully aware there's a rift; there's two different economies in town. There's more mouths and yet there is more money in our house than in most of our neighbors’ houses. So how do we serve them?” Hambleton said. “Running the business, I'm not gonna call it noblesse oblige, but it's whatever I can do to make this a better place for the school, for the folks in the town to coexist and flourish together.” Hambleton said he believes people with developmental disabilities are no less able to participate in the community than others. “I'm a rugged individualist, I believe very much in our community being able to do incredible things. The whole idea that ‘these people’ are supposed to go get on SSI and sit, vegetate, and watch a movie and be happy and out of the way is so reprehensible to me,” Hambleton said.

Grace Church Suite offers lodging, wedding venue By Maddy Welsh Assistant Editor Visitors to the college can stay in a renovated historic church in Jonesville just minutes away from Hillsdale. Grace Church Suite is a bed and breakfast located at 36 E. Chicago St. in Jonesville. Alex and Amanda Stemme have owned it since the fall of 2020 when they purchased it at an auction. Guests can view availability and book the room via their website at gracechurchsuite.com. “We actually looked at the church a number of years ago and it just wasn’t the right timing,” Stemme said. “But it came up for auction and we were able to purchase it at a reasonable price, which allowed us to have a budget to make some improvements on it.” The building includes a chapel, which is available for use as a wedding venue, as well as a suite that is used for lodging, Alex Stemme said. The suite sleeps up to eight adults and includes a living space, full kitchen, laundry facilities, and an en suite bathroom.

“It’s going to walk you back in time to the 1950s or ’60s with the retro style,” Stemme said. Stemme said they rented out the chapel for a wedding in 2021 to Delinda Tobalske. “Her grandfather was the pastor there. He was kind of the last, long-term serving pastor they had in the 1960s, maybe early ’70s,” Stemme said. “She really wanted to have her wedding there and so that really kind of encouraged us to work on the chapel enough to get it going for her wedding so she was able to have it in there.” After they completed the renovations, they began taking guests in August 2021. Visitors to the college have stayed at the suite for events like the CCA and parent’s weekend. Renovations in the chapel are ongoing, and in the future they hope to do more with the indoor and outdoor event spaces. “Hopefully we’ll be available for people to have weddings even as soon as this summer, certainly next fall,” Stemme said. “We have quite a large lawn space next to the church where we could potentially host outside receptions.”

“It’s going to walk you back in time to the 1950s or ‘60s.”

A8 February 24, 2022

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Sports

Sports Opinion

Women's Tennis

Why teams shouldn't follow Chargers lose to the Rams' and Bucs' path Midwest powerhouse By Luke Morey Assistant Editor

By Tracy Wilson Features Editor The Women’s Tennis team lost to Ferris State University 2-5 during an away match on Feb. 21. Senior Sophia Spinazze said having played against Ferris State for 3 years, she was prepared for difficult competition. “They have good talent and the determination to grind out tough matches. I give them a lot of credit, but also tried to not be afraid or nervous to play them,” Spinazze said. “Our team saw this match as a great opportunity to face tough competition and better our own skills through playing them.” Ferris State is a challenging opponent for the Chargers, according to freshman Libby McGivern. “I think the team did a great job against one of our toughest competitors and that we had a bunch of really close matches and that it really could've gone either way,” McGivern said. After losing her first set against Parker Nolan 3-6, Libby McGivern ultimately won her singles match, finishing her second and third sets 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4. Everyone who played a third set, “fought down to the last point,” McGivern said. “I was talking to my coach about changeovers and she was giving me good advice, telling me I was right there and that I just needed to get a couple more points,” McGivern said. During her second set, she and Parker fought “neck and neck” to win the set — McGivern ultimately came out on top. “Libby was able to win and turn around being down

Swimming from A1 The Chargers closed day one with a win in the 200 yard freestyle relay. Taylor, Golladay, junior Leah Tunney, and Gaudalupi earned the win with a time of 1:35.64. On day two, Clifford topped the 100 yard butterfly event with a 57.16. The 400 yard individual medley saw Burnham in first (4:34.70) and Mason in third (4:36.00). Tunney took first in the 200 yard freestyle with a 1:54.14, just out-touching the second place finisher who swam a 1:54.15. Holmes finished third (1:54.40). “That was a funny one because at our dual meet in November the exact same thing happened,” Holmes said. “At our dual meet, Leah out-touched the same Findlay swimmer by just a couple hundredths and I came in a couple hundredths behind her.” Holmes said it was a fun but tense race. “The 200 free is one of

and in the match and then coming back and winning,” junior Canela Luna said. By the third set, she said, both she and Parker were tired, yet neither wanted to give up and let the other win the match. “I wish I would have moved forward more into the court when I came up and played at the net that worked really well and took time away from her,” McGivern said. “I think I stayed back at the baseline too much which elongated our point a lot which added to my exhaustion. I was able to pull it out at the end which was really exciting.” Luna and senior Sophia Spinazze excelled in their doubles match, winning 6-2 against Parker Nolan and Agata Klak. “To go up 4-1 we won a deuce game, which is a win by one situation, when their better server was serving, which was a very big confidence boost for us,” Spinazze said. The turning point of the game, Spinazze said, was when her opponents took over the serve and bumped the score up to 4-2. “That put a ton more pressure on us for that game because all they needed to do was hold serve and Canela and I would lose a lot of our lead and momentum,” Spinazze said. “We ended up breaking them back and that really propelled us to serve out the final game and win the match.” Spinazze said she wished she would have switched up her strategy during her second singles set. Though she lost her singles match 3-6, 6-4, and 10-6, she said she plans to use the setback to prepare for future competition. “I had been controlling play

before that point, but after that changed I could have done better about adjusting my strategy and finding a new way to win,” Spinazze said. Although she felt she did well in her doubles match, Luna said she got too discouraged during her singles match, which affected her performance. “It was nice to at least have one win from doubles going into the main singles,” Luna said. “My goals going into the match were to hit out more on the ball and not to overthink it. I feel like I definitely accomplished that in doubles which is why we played so well. In singles, I did it halfway but then halfway through the match I kind of reverted and that’s partially why I lost the match.” Luna said another great moment from the match was watching junior Ellie Chawner beat her tiebreaker against Kennedy Dumas 10-0. “She pretty much made no mistakes ten points in a row,” Luna said. Next, the team will compete against Northwood University at Hillsdale College on Feb. 27, 4 p.m. McGivern said in the upcoming match, she hopes she and her teammates are able to advance to playing third sets just like they did when playing against Ferris State. “My goals are to just be excited for every match to be like that, to want every match to go down to the last point where it could quite literally go either way just based off of a couple points,” McGivern said. “Embrace the challenge and have everyone pull out those long matches. I think that’s the most fun part about college tennis.”

those events that’s physically very taxing. You’re going all out for as long as your anaerobic system can handle plus a little bit more,” Holmes said. “Neither of us were expected to win but the fact that Leah came out on top was really fun.” Holmes, Dickhudt, Clifford, and Taylor took second place in the 400 yard medley relay with a time of 3:53.92, two seconds down from their seed time. Holmes said day three was tough for many of the swimmers who were starting to get tired out. Last year, the conference meet only lasted three and a half days due to COVID-19 restrictions, and the extra half day made a world of difference. “This week really proved to me the perseverance and tenacity and ferocity of our team, everybody was just super tough,” Holmes said. “It was a lot more mentally challenging of a meet than I remember from last year and I think a lot of people felt that way. But we were really able to just take it one day at a time and focus on the next objective, the next race, the next length, the next session.”

Mason agreed and said the team’s morale was important for her. “Meets like this just bring everyone closer together,” Mason said. “It kind of takes the pressure off your own times and it’s more about what you can do for the team.” The first final of day three saw Mason finish first in the 500 yard freestyle with a 5:01.19, which earned her a NCAA B cut. Holmes came third in the 100 yard backstroke with a 58.09. Clifford earned first place as well as a meet record in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.52. To close out day three, the Chargers took another relay win in the 800 yard freestyle relay. “This event, this relay, the scores were at razor thin margins,” Holmes said. “We were like, this is crucial, it is necessary that we win this relay to stay on top.” Mason, Clifford, Tunney, and Holmes finished the event in 7:40.47, 13 seconds faster than Findlay in second place. Holmes said there was a moment she wasn’t sure

The past two Super Bowl champions have looked eerily similar. After building a stout defense and a decent offensive line, and acquiring at least one star receiving target, both the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a big move for an aging quarterback While Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was obviously a higher caliber player than Rams’ trade target Matthew Stafford, who holds literally every quarterback record of the Detroit Lions, they drafted and built and then waited to luck out with a quarterback. While it worked for these two teams, it only guarantees one to two years of contention compared to a dynasty like the New England Patriots. For one, the chances are next to zero that you can get the greatest winner of all time in Brady, which is impossible now that he’s retired, at least for the moment. The chances are only slightly better in hoping for a very good quarterback like Stafford who spent most of his career in football purgatory with the Detroit Lions. There aren’t that many good quarterbacks in the league, and you’d have to luck out and find an excellent quarterback who is available through trade or free agency. If you don’t find this mystical quarterback, you’re stuck in a position like the Indianapolis Colts, who boasted seven players in the Pro Bowl and yet lost their last two games, including one to the three-win Jacksonville Jaguars and missed the playoffs thanks to QB Carson Wentz throwing for only 333 yards over two games.

The Colts are a perfect example of this path’s downsides. They were in the sweepstakes for Stafford but settled for Wentz, who was coming off his worst year as a pro, with 15 interceptions in only 12 games. While Wentz had some decent moments in his first year as a Colt, he eventually could not even lead a talented team to the playoffs, let alone a Super Bowl. Both the Rams and the Buccaneers have done an exquisite job drafting and trading for talent. The Rams drafted defensive tackle Aaron Donald and wide receiver Cooper Kupp, the best players at their positions this year. They traded for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, linebacker Von Miller, and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr,. two of them in this season alone, to compliment Donald on defense, and Stafford on offense. The Rams were one of the most talented teams the NFL has ever seen. The Buccaneers drafted WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, linebackers Shaq Barrett and Lavonte David, as well as 2020-21 rookies Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield Jr. Their team was set up perfectly for Brady and tight end and friend Rob Gronkowski, to join the team and lead them to a Super Bowl. The downside to both teams’ moves is beginning to appear now, especially with the Buccaneers. Brady has retired, leaving the same quarterback hole open that was vacant until he joined the team. The Bucs now have to hope another quarterback wants to leave his team and go to Tampa, or hope they can draft a rookie who can make an immediate impact.

Either way, they are at least two years away from truly competing for another Super Bowl, and by that time, Evans and David could retire, Godwin is a free agent, and Wirfs and Winfield Jr. will be in line for larger contracts. For the Rams, Donald is already considering retirement, which would be a massive blow to their defense. Stafford is planning to sign another contract but he’s 34, an age when most quarterbacks begin their decline. Additionally, the Rams have no first-round draft picks until 2024, and have only a fifth round and two seventh round picks this year. While the Rams won a Super Bowl, they will eventually be forced to offload talent to begin restocking the draft cupboard. This path sets teams up for one or two Super Bowl appearances before a steep decline, not a consistent contention most teams desire. The Rams’ Super Bowl opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, show the path most teams have taken in the past, and should continue to take: draft a quarterback when you have the chance, get talent around him by drafting and signing good complimentary players in free agency, and be patient until it all works. It almost worked for the Bengals in quarterback Joe Burrow’s second year, and he’s only going to get better. The Bengals are set at quarterback, barring any terrible injury, for the next 10 years thanks to one draft pick, and now they can build around him. This is the path teams should follow, not the Rams’ and Buccaneers’ push the chips in mentality.

Send any sports opinion ideas to cpeckdimit@hillsdale.edu they would take the top spot. “I saw my team cheering on the sideline and I saw a girl swimming from Malone who was right next to me and I thought, have I been focusing on the wrong thing?” Holmes said. “So I went faster, but it turns out that was not the case. We had lapped her. But we ended up winning by a pretty good margin. I had never been on a relay that had won before so it was fun to get the dub on it.” Going into the last day, the scores were tight. “I told them, today we're just going to have fun and just get out there. You want to put an exclamation point on this whole championship and our kids were really lively and excited and just very supportive of each other,” Kirner said. “That last day, I just knew that we had more. We had more people ready to swim.” Taylor said she found Kirner’s attitude helpful, especially since the scores were so close. “Our coach did a really good job of pushing that we’re not supposed to be stressed the entire time and no matter what happens, it

doesn’t take away from the value of the performances,” Taylor said. On the final day of the meet, Mason set a meet record and earned a NCAA B cut with her first place finish in the 1650 yard freestyle. She finished in 17:11.51, 33 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Taylor won the 100 yard freestyle with a 52.22, just out-touching Guadalupi in second (52.59). Tunney and Holmes finished third and fourth in the 200 yard backstroke at 2:06.97 and 2:07.93, respectively. To close out the conference meet, Guadalupi, Tunney, Clifford, and Taylor won the 400 yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:32.08. “That was big for us to win three out of the five relays,” Kirner said. “We had the freestyle relays pretty well nailed down.” Kirner said he was very proud of all the swims he saw last week. “Everyone was a part of this and we can’t do it without all of them. Unfortunately we can only have 18 scoring members on the team but the

ones that are not scoring still swim and their swims are still inspiring and mean as much to me and to the rest of the team as some of the big wins.” Holmes said the win was very gratifying. “I don’t think it’s a check the box moment,” Holmes said. “It was a fight, for us it was a fight the whole way. I don’t think it’s something to take for granted at all.” Clark agreed and said the environment of the team was crucial for their performance. “This year was 100% the team. It was really an all around team effort. Every girl on that deck gave everything,” Clark said. Most of the Chargers are done competing until the next season starts up again in the fall. However, Clifford, Mason, and Taylor are waiting to find out if their NCAA B cut swims will qualify them for the NCAA DII championship meet that runs March 9 to 12. Clifford, if she qualifies, would swim the 200 yard butterfly. Mason hit the cut time in the 1650 yard freestyle, and Taylor earned it in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle races. They will find out Thursday whether they qualified.

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Shotgun

Sports

February 24, 2022 A9

Shotgun team readies for spring season, nationals

By Olivia Pero Collegian Freelancer

The shotgun team’s spring season begins this weekend at a small competition in Missouri. From March 21 through the 26 they will compete at the Annual Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Nationals in San Antonio, Texas. “This weekend is exciting because it’s our first team shoot after last semester,” sophomore Jessica Strasser said. “We've done some smaller competitions since the fall season ended but so far this spring semester we haven’t done anything where the whole team has traveled together.” According to Head Coach Jordan Hintz, the spring season is focused on preparing for nationals. “The big goal for the spring season is to go down to nationals and bring some hardware home,” Hintz said. The team will continue to prioritize sporting clays during practices in an effort to improve from the fall season, according to Hintz. “It's always sporting clays. That's really where we've got the most ground to make up,” Hintz said. “By far that's been the biggest focus this year and going forward. I can't really see that changing. Especially when we're shooting as well as we are in trap and skeet, it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend a lot of time in those other than at a maintenance level.” According to Hintz, the team’s scores in American Trap and American Skeet were fantastic this fall. “We definitely want to keep the momentum going in those events,” Hintz said. According to Strasser, the

team practices three days a week for two hours but they often practice around seven to nine hours each week. “It's always more time in the spring because we have to shovel off all the fields and there's a lot of loading,” senior Thomas Rodgers said. “We have to check all the stations for the load of targets.” According to Rodgers, the team is getting back to team lifts where they work out together. “Before Covid, we lifted twice a week and were also required to have study tables twice a week,” Rodgers said. According to Strasser, the team will leave for nationals after spring break and will miss the first week of classes after the break. “We always stay at the college over spring break and we practice every day leading up to nationals,” Strasser said. “We currently have six practices before nationals.” After nationals, the team’s season is over, according to Rodgers. “It’s a lot of pressure but then you just get it over with and get to relax for the rest of the rest of the semester,” Rodgers said. According to Strasser, the team is excited for nationals but also nervous because it will be their first time competing as a division II team. “We've always been a division III team,” Rodgers said. “Divisions are purely based on size. We’re at a disadvantage because we only have 11 shooters traveling to San Antonio and we will be competing against teams who have up to 20 shooters.” According to Rodgers, teams with more shooters will have more shooting opportunities as well as shooters who specialize specifically in

Women's Track and Field

The shotgun team's spring season begins on Saturday. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

one event. The team has gone as far as they can in Division III, according to Rodgers. “We're seven-time Division III national champions so we don’t have any more ground to gain in Division III,” Rodgers said. “Division II is where we need to go. Division II trophies mean way more than Division III trophies. Everyone's going Division II or

Division I so that's where we need to be as well.” According to Strasser, the team is strong and should do well at nationals. “I think we'll be okay at nationals because we are a much better team with the freshmen we got this year,” said Strasser. “The freshmen are crazy good. So even though we’re at a disadvantage, we are better than we've

ever been during my time on the team.” The team’s plan is to stay in Division II, according to Strasser. “We’re not just going to do it and see how it goes but we want to become a Division II team,” said Strasser. “We want more people to come to Hillsdale and shoot. According to Rodgers, the team is looking for prospec-

tive members who can shoot well and also are strong students. “Hopefully, with more recruiting in the future we'll be able to fill our team up more and have at least 13 to 15 shooters to be more competitive in Division II,” Rodgers said.

Record-breaking day marks tune-up invite win By Katherine Miller Collegian Freelancer On Friday Feb. 18 and Saturday Feb 19 the Hillsdale Women’s track team won the Hillsdale Tune-Up meet. The team had two members break the weight throwing record from 2017 and won eight events. Hillsdale came out on top against the five other teams competing, finishing with 138 points, 72 points in front of Adrian in second place. The Chargers scored more points than the second, third, and fourth place teams combined. Sayles and junior Nikita Maines both broke Hillsdale’s record for weight throw from 2017 of 19.08 meters set by Dana Newell ‘19. Sayles finished in first place with a distance of 20.07 me-

ters, going far past the record and setting a new personal best. Sayles said she was grateful to compete and have another chance to do great. “After breaking my record, I felt really good, all of my hard work has paid off,” Sayles said. “I was also beyond grateful to my coach for helping me to get better.” Sayles said her biggest strategies are having confidence in herself and having fun during meets. “I feel prepared for the championship season,” Sayles said. “I’ve been dedicated and hardworking throughout the season and I trust in my coaches' training to put me in the best position as possible to throw far during championships.” Maines finished in second

place in weight throw by throwing a distance of 19.64 meters and moved up to the seventh best mark in the NCAA Division II. Freshmen Chargers also swept the G-MAC women’s Athlete of the Week Awards. Reese Dragovich won the track athlete award while Sayles won the field athlete award. The team started out strong as junior Zalonya Eby took first in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.93. Eby was followed closely by freshman Shura Ermakov with a time of 8.03. The Chargers continued to dominate as Isabella Guittierrez took first in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.97. In the 800 meter run Dragovich took first with a time of 2:16.05. Following closely

behind, freshman Nicole Marshall took second with a time of 2:18.86. In the 3000 meter run freshman Brynn Edison took third with a time of 11:18.39 minutes. Edison said she felt the race went well and that this event was a shorter distance compared to what she's used to. However she said that racing the 3000 meters was a good experience for the future. “It was a bit like going in blind,” Edison said. “It had been four years since I raced a 2 mile and a 3k is 200 meters less than that. I was confident in my abilities but also a bit apprehensive about pacing.” Edison also said that the competition was good but that it can sometimes be hard to track where runners are in

their individual places on the indoor track. However, Edison did not let this stop her from earning a top spot. “I just treated everyone in front of me as competition and went from there,” Edison said. In the 60 meter run freshmen Louisa Klasearner and Grace Gottwalt took first and second with times of 9.08 and 9.36 seconds. In the high jump freshman Reagan Dahlquist took first, reaching a height of 1.67 meters. Dahlquist was followed by junior Alexie Day reaching a height of 1.63 meters. In the pole vaulting event freshmen Morgan Iverson and Katie Clifford took second and third vaulting heights of 3.66 and 3.51 meters. Iverson and Clifford were followed by freshmen

Isabella Socha in fourth with a height of 3.36 meters and Kaylee Jackson in fifth with a height of 3.21 meters. In the triple jump sophomore Emily Gerdin took first, jumping a distance of 11.11 meters. Gerdin was followed by freshman Grace Chen with a distance of 10.10 meters. In the shot put event, Maines took first throwing a distance of 15.10 meters. Maines was followed by freshman Averi Parker who took second and threw a distance of 14.17 meters. Freshmen Peyton Panka and Sayles took fourth and fifth with distances of 12.63 and 12.09 meters. The G-MAC Indoor Championships start on Friday, Feb. 25 in Findlay, Ohio and finish on Saturday.

CHARGER CHATTER Reagan Gensiejewski

What is your Do you have a If you had to If you could favorite book? excel at life motto? listen to one another sport, song on loop which one for ten hours, would you which one pick? would you choose?

Reagan Gensiejewski is a senior rhetoric and pubic address major on the softball team from Victor, New York. She is the Design Editor for the Collegian. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Not tennis, because my mom says I play too angrily and hit the ball too hard. But really, I’ve always enjoyed basketball because it’s such a quick game and I love to shoot baskets in my free time.

Alienated America by Tim Carney. He’s a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner. I met him this summer and asked for advice on becoming a journalist. He said “you gotta be tough, and that’s hard to do if you’re not from New York,” and I said “I am from New York.”

Embrace the moment. My high school basketball coach always used to say that to us. He passed away unexpectedly my sophomore year of college, and since I started living by that motto and it radically changed my life.

Normally, when I find a new song that I like, I listen to it on loop for 24 hours. Right now, it’s “Long Live Cowgirls” by Ian Munsick and Cody Johnson.

Compiled by Rachel Kookogey

A10 February 24, 2022

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Fifth-year seniors Tavon Brown and Austen Yarian were honored before their game against Lake Erie on Saturday. Saturday. Courtesy | Anthony Lupi

Charger Sports

Men's Basketball

'These have been the best five years of my life'

By Christian Peck-Dimit Sports Editor

The Hillsdale College men’s basketball team honored graduating fifth-year senior forwards Tavon Brown and Austen Yarian, and grabbed a key, 79-67 win over the Lake Erie College Storm to move into second place in the G-MAC. The team used a hot start to take a 14-point lead into halftime, and big baskets from its upperclassmen helped to close out the Storm in the final minutes of a senior-night win. The Chargers have gotten hot at the right time, building a three-game win streak and pushing themselves into second place in the conference with just two games remaining on their regular season schedule. The team remains one game behind Walsh University, and must win out and hope for Walsh to lose at least one of its remaining games to have a shot at a third-straight G-MAC regular season title. “I think we benefited from

those two tough losses to Findlay and Malone and that gave us some motivation to keep working to get better toward the end of the season,” Yarian said. “This is the best time of year for basketball, we’re getting into the conference tournament and NCAA tournament-play time, we’ve just got to finish out the year strong and give ourselves the best chance at making the tournament.” Before the game, Brown and Yarian were honored in front of a crowd of 1,121 for their five years with the team. Yarian was flanked by six basketball team alumni and friends and reflected fondly on the team’s culture during his career. “On senior night, my dad wasn’t able to make it right at the start for the walkout, and some of my old teammates stepped up and walked me out, that just shows the family and brotherhood that we have within our program,” Yarian said. “I’m just appreciative of all the guys that laid the foundation for the program and gave me an

Women's basketball

opportunity to continue the tradition we have here.” After coming off the bench in the previous nine games, Brown was reinserted into the starting lineup, and was joined by his family during the pregame ceremony. “Honestly, before we got announced, it was pretty emotional, it was just crazy thinking I only have a few more games here,” Brown said. “It was good playing in front of my family, I’ve always loved doing that, whenever they get to come to games, it’s always a joy to play in front of them. Then having all the alumni back, I just wanted to play hard and show them what it means to be a Hillsdale basketball player.” During the game, the Chargers came out hot behind 23 combined first-half points from juniors Patrick Cartier and Jack Gohlke. The second half was much closer, with the Storm outscoring the Chargers by two. “In that first half of basketball, I thought we did some really good things, I don’t think we played very well

in the second half,” Head Coach John Tharp said. “But I thought our two-three zone in the second half was incredibly successful for us and gave us some great minutes.” The second half featured highlight-reel plays from Hillsdale’s upperclassmen, including four dunks, three by Cartier and one, off the bounce, by Brown, as well as a long three from Yarian in the game’s closing minutes. Though they still have multiple games left in the regular season, Brown and Yarian already boast careers where they helped lead the Chargers to back-to-back conference championships and the first ever trip to the NCAA final four in program history. Brown has started 40 games in his career to date, and is coming off a season where he made the G-MAC all-defensive team. “Tavon Brown embodies who we are as a program,” Tharp said. “He really is a heck of a teammate, he cares a great deal about the team and the guys he plays with, and whatever role we’ve

asked him to fill, he’s done that at the highest level. In regards to that, you couldn’t have asked for a better person in representing the college, he has really grown at Hillsdale, I think it’s been a win-win for Tavon, and I’m super proud of him.” Yarian currently sits as the 30th best scorer in program history with 1132 career points and the 10th best rebounder in program history with 737 career rebounds. “These have been the best five years of my life,” Yarian said. “I think it was my junior year, the first time Coach Tharp won in Findlay, after that game in the locker room and the bus ride back to Hillsdale, was something I’ll never forget. Everybody was having fun and excited on the bus and it just gives you perspective on how much everyone means to everybody.” Cartier was also honored over the weekend, making the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District team for the second year in a row. “Pat embodies everything

that I hope Hillsdale College stands for and what we’re supposed to be about,” Tharp said. “We’re supposed to be student-athletes in today’s world, and that’s exactly what he is. He cares about academics greatly, works hard at it, and Pat’s a great player, so he deserves to be recognized that way.” The Chargers have two games remaining in their regular season, at home against Tiffin on Thursday, and in Ashland for their season finale on Saturday. “When we’re playing meaningful basketball this time of year, there’s certain things that you have to do particularly well, usually those are just the fundamentals, getting back on defense, rebounding the basketball, being in the gaps, taking care of the basketball offensively, being as sharp as you can,” Tharp said. “You can’t get caught up in this game is more important than another game, you’ve just got to focus on one possession at a time.”

Seniors Lauren Daffenberg and Sophia Pierce were honored before their game against Lake Erie on Saturday. Courtesy |Isabella Sheehan

Hillsdale in fight for conference tournament By Claire Gaudet Socia media Editor Every player on the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team scored in the past week after winning back-toback games against Lake Erie College and Trevecca Nazarene University. The Chargers faced the Storm on their senior night and won 104-71, the most points scored by the Chargers since last February. Senior guards Lauren Daffenberg and Sophia Pierce were joined by their families in a pregame ceremony to honor their careers. “It was really good, and very emotional,” Pierce said. “It was the point where I realized basketball was coming to an end. Despite their poking-fun at my emotions, it was great to have great teammates by my side.”

Daffenberg said she did not feel the same way, saying there’s much more work to be done. “It was just weird to follow senior night up with a Monday home game and another this Thursday,” Daffenberg said. “It just hasn’t really hit me yet.” Daffenberg hit three three-pointers against Lake Erie, finishing with 10 points total. “I’m glad that everything’s starting to click together at the end of the season, that’s when you want it to,” Daffenberg said. “Our offense is running really smoothly, so I think we’re hitting our peak at the right time.” Every Charger on the roster got a chance to score against the Storm. Freshman forward Carly Callahan led the team with 15 points, and was followed closely by freshman

guard Peighton Nelson with 13 points. “It’s always sad to be leaving, and I know that the program and team are destined for great things, especially with the freshman now,” Pierce said. “It’s really nice to know that the people who are coming back next year are so determined.” The upperclassmen came out strong against the Storm as well. Senior guard Grace Touchette gained 13 points and six rebounds for the Chargers, and was followed closely by junior forward Sydney Mills and junior forward Arianna Sysum who each had 11. “I definitely think this program is only going to continue to grow, and thankfully we’re keeping a lot of leadership around like Grace, Sydney, and Maverick,” Daffenberg said.

Junior forward Maverick Delp led the Chargers with eight rebounds. “Maverick is the ultimate team player, she’ll do anything to benefit the team,” Head Coach Charlie Averkamp said. “She’s really come into her own offensively and defensively.” The team faced the Trevecca Nazarene Knights two days later, and was able to pull out a 75-55 win after a rocky start. “We, admittedly, didn’t play our best game in the first half,” Pierce said. “We really came out at the end of half time though. Everyone had this determination coming into the third quarter, knowing we needed to step on them and not look back. We always knew it was a game we could and should win.” The Chargers won every quarter of the game, but

gained momentum by winning a decisive third frame, 21-12. “Lauren, especially the Trevecca game, had quite a few clutch three pointers that really got us going offensively,” Pierce said. “Grace was also a really great offensive presence for us.” Daffenberg went fourof-eight on her threes, and finished with 14 points for the Chargers overall. She was second only to Touchette with 15 points and five rebounds. Mills earned her 11th double double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds. “She’s unbelievable, she's unrelentless on the board,” Averkamp said. “Any time you average a double double two seasons in a row is amazing. She’s really just been such a luxury to us.” After the past week’s wins,

the Chargers have fought their way back into the top six, therefore qualifying for the G-MAC tournament. Their final two games of the regular season will determine whether or not they keep it. “These are big games,” Daffenberg said. “It’s nice to play games that actually matter at the end of the season. We haven’t gotten the chance to do that in the past couple years.” The Chargers finished 10th in the conference last season with a record of 4-17. “More than anything, I think our team is hungry for these games,” Pierce said. “Last year we were not close to playing important games at this point in the year, and we’re ready to get to do that.”

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February 24, 2022 B1

Junior Matthew Welch stars in “The Threpenny Opera.” BELOW: “The Threepenny Opera” opened this week. Phoebe Vanheyningen | Collegian

C U L T U R E Collegian Critique

‘Threepenny Opera’ opens this weekend By Megan Williams assistant editor Crime, affairs, and corruption thrive in the back alleys of 1928 London—and in theTower Players’ production of “The Threepenny Opera.” Directed by Theatre Department Chairman James Brandon, “The Threepenny Opera” is based on an English play, “The Beggar’s Opera,” written in 1728. The show follows the illegal dealings of Macheath, played by junor Mathieu Weisner, as he attempts to steal from, sleep with, and rule over the lowlifes of London. The musical begins in the Peachum’s, played by sophomores AJ Palubinskas and Emiliya Smyk, family business, where they clothe and train beggars in order to make money off of the sympathetic. The story takes an immediate turn when the couple discovers their daughter, Polly

Peachum, played by junior Olivia Kroh, is planning to marry Macheath. Twisting through the streets and jails of London, “The Threepenny Opera” shows the audience the reality of a corrupt, individualistic community. With critiques on capitalism and reminders that “money rules the world,” the musical presents a thought-provoking outlook on modern society. “It’s not the easiest Hillsdale show, and that’s purposeful. We’re not some indoctrination camp or a glorified community theater,” Brandon said. “We’re an educational theater and I think some of what we do is shows that are difficult or that make us think, and that’s what we should be doing at a college theater.” On the surface, the show appears to simply follow the detestable life and actions of greasy gangsters, poor prostitutes, corrupt cops, and brash beggars. Yet the incomplete

sets and intriguing lyrics point the audience to ideological questions that go beyond the comical characters. Brandon described the purpose of the musical in his Dramaturg’s Note in the production’s program,

tions than answers, more calls to action than reassurance in our own virtue. Many of the men and women onstage are far from laudable. What compels us to listen?” Senior Shannon Petersen also remarked on the perfor-

explaining how writer Bertolt Brecht doesn’t give us an easy answer to any of the questions he poses. “The play’s outlook on the state of the world seems very negative,” Brandon wrote. “Brecht offers us more ques-

mance of putting on a show with darker, mature themes at Hillsdale. Citing the cursing, alcohol, and romantic scenes, Petersen explained there’s not a readily available moral message to extract from the production. Yet, this show still

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presents an opportunity to experience another side of the Hillsdale campus and support those who spent the last two months working on it, he said. “This is something that’s great about Hillsdale. When you take any of the religion or politics classes and you have a firm belief, these classes challenge you to strengthen and defend those beliefs,” Petersen said. “Some of the things that might raise some eyebrows are good things that I think are intentionally thought provoking. I think that it’s good to have that at Hillsdale.” From the actors to the musicians to the stage managers and lighting directors, the Tower Players production involves over 45 Hillsdale students. The set achieves a steampunk, Victorian era look, with individual bricks acting to its character. Palubinskas explained that 70% of the production comes from the set and costume design, so

the shop workers put in long hours to create the backbone for a production. With jazz-inspired music to match the costumes and sets, “The Threepenny Opera” is suited for the actor and singer, not simply those with choral expertise. Featuring many solos and duets, the music helps to lighten the plays’ otherwise ominous messages. “I’m very happy with the casting of the show and am thrilled with how the students are preparing the vocals,” professor of music James Holleman said. “The pit orchestra instrumentation is also a good fit for many of our music students that have not had the opportunity to play for a musical in the past.” The musical has performances at 7:30 p.m. tonight through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday in Markel Auditorium.

Agatha Christie’s novel cruises to the big screen By Michaela Estruth Collegian Freelancer Is there anything you wouldn’t do for love? In the latest murder mystery, “Death on the Nile,” a couple devises a money scheme to support their new, “happy” marriage. In the end, however, murder defeats all lovers. This remake of Agatha Christie’s 1937 mystery novel “Death on the Nile” premiered in theaters over the weekend. The film is the second Christie movie directed by Kenneth Branagh, who plays the world-renowned detective Hercules Poirot. The first of this series, Murder on the Orient Express, premired in theatres in 2017. In “Death on the Nile,” Poirot joins a newlywed couple and their party on a honeymoon cruise across the Egyptian river. The beautiful couple, Mr. and Mrs. Simon Doyle, played by Armie Hammer and Gal Gadot, were married after a whirlwind six weeks — six weeks after Mr. Doyle broke off his previous engagement to Jacqueline de Bellefort, played by Emma Mackey. This heart-broken yet determined woman haunts the happy couple on their honeymoon. Mrs. Doyle, previously Linnet Ridgeway, begs Poirot for his protection not only

from Jackie, but from all the passengers, trusting no one. Despite the happy occasion, a murderer strikes. The key suspect, Jackie, has an airtight alibi. But Poirot sees through the desperate plot. After interviewing all the passengers, he locks them all in the living room of the cruise ship: “The murderer is in this room,” he says. Poirot presents each one’s potential motive and possibility to kill. In the end, he uncovers the truth: Doyle and Jackie performed this false, heart-wrenching breakup. Doyle faked his love for rich Linnet Ridgeway, winning her affection and eventually her money after killing her. Ideally, Doyle and Jackie would sneak away, happy and rich. However, Poirot uncovers them, and in desperation, Jackie ends her lover’s life and her own with one gun shot, fulfilling her vow of “till death do us part.” The movie concludes with a melancholic arrival home. The remaining guests return to shore safely, but with heavy hearts, walking off the boat behind the wrapped bodies of those who boarded young and healthy, but had to be carried off cold and dead. In addition to the Christie plot, Branagh also included history for the early life of Poirot, giving the character his own tragic love story that

opens the movie. In this digression from the main story, Poirot strategically conquers enemy territory during World War I, but in that battle, an explosion caused permanent damage to his face. With tear-filled eyes, he turned to his fiance, revealing the bloody, rough scar which cuts across his smooth, young face. “Simple,” she responds, “you’ll grow a mustache.” This tragic moment changed the rest of young Poirot’s life, eventually leading him to use his smarts in detective work. He advises young Jackie to also move past her broken heart and redirect her life after the blow of her broken engagement. These deep moments compel the audience to connect with both Poirot and Jackie. Throughout the film, the audience flips from sympathy to judgment for every character. Is he right? Is she right? Does she deserve that? While trying to answer all the questions, body after body drops dead. Love is messy and confusing and eventually leads to blood in the Nile. At times, the viewer even feels unsafe in the seat. If you have wits like Poirot and aren’t too bothered by twisted love and ugly plots, perhaps you too can solve the mystery.

C U L T U R E B2 February 24, 2022

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STUDENT ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:

Q&A: Ashton Mills, pursuing portraits By Michael Bachmann Assistant Editor Senior art major Ashton Mills only began to seriously pursue art during her sophomore year at college, but has since become one of Hillsdale’s prominent portraitists. What mediums do you use? Oil paint, drawing, graphic design, and I’ve taken sculpture and photography, but those are not my preference. Oil painting is my favorite and I like graphic design as well. What are your favorite things to paint? My family. I like painting people the best. How did you get into art? I’ve always liked it. When I was in highschool we didn’t have any art classes, so in my second semester sophomore year I took my first art class here, and I just fell in love with it. The more classes I took here, it was all I wanted to do.

What are your plans after graduation? Right now I’m thinking about teaching or working in graphic design. My dream job would be to own my own business where I can design my own products and portraits. Who is your favorite artist? I really like Jenny Saville. She’s a contemporary artist. She paints figures using a lot of overlapping. What do you dislike about being an artist? I don’t like how it doesn’t seem valued by our culture so it can be hard to have opportunities. How long does it take you to complete an average painting? It depends on how big it is and what it is, but most portraits take me from 50 to 70 hours. How do you persevere through such a long process?

It helps to be in class where I have to work on it, but I also low-key hyperfixate on my art. When I’m not in the studio I like taking pictures of it and looking at what needs to change the next time that I go into the studio. I try to always be thinking of ways to improve whatever I am working on. What do you like to listen to while painting? I usually listen to podcasts or audiobooks because I get tired of listening to music for three hours straight. My go-to podcast is “Dissect.” It’s about this guy who every season has a new album from a rapper, and he analyzes every song from the album. What’s a stereotype about artists that is true? That they have big egos. What’s your opinion on modern art? My main thing with modern art is with modern art education. I don’t think

they do a good job at teaching fundamentals, which is why I like Hillsdale. They teach you traditional skills and then say, “You can do with this what you want to.” A lot of schools now just focus on the concepts. As a result, modern art can be super pretentious and kind of ridiculous. But also I think there are really cool things that can be done with modern art, and they shouldn’t be ignored. I think that studying modern art can give you new perspectives on how you do representational art. I think the best art is representational art that uses abstraction. Who has been the most influential figure in your development as an artist? Definitely Professor Suarez. It’s very evident that he cares a lot about teaching and about our development as artists. He has poured into me a lot and tried to push me as an artist while encouraging me. He’s just there if I need anything when it comes to art.

Ashtons Mills’ self portait. Courtesy | Ashton Mills

Collegian Critique

‘He’s still alive’: The Godfather 50 years later

Rainey Qualley stars in “Shut In.” Courtesy | Twitter

By Sean Callaghan Assistant Editor

The Daily Wire’s ‘Shut In’ missed the thriller memo By Jillian Parks Collegian Freelancer “Gosh, I wish something would happen.” That’s what a friend said as we watched The Daily Wire’s new thriller, “Shut In.” Released on Feb. 10, “Shut In” is the first original film from Ben Shapiro’s media company. The movie, while rich in symbolism and cinematic shots, lacked originality and really cannot be called a thriller. The story begins with a newly sober Jessica, her two children, and an abusive ex-boyfriend. She lives in the country with fields riddled with rotten apples, struggling to make ends meet. Her ex-boyfriend comes over, locks her in a pantry under a methamphetamine-induced rage, and she has to struggle to save her children before anything else can harm them. “Shut In” thematically deals with the concept of good and bad people symbolized by apples throughout the entire movie. The movie is infused with ample additional religious symbolisms, which is really the only “conservative” thing about the film. The influence of religion on broken people was nicely explored with shots of a Bible, a statue

of Jesus on the cross, and *spoiler alert* holes in the hands meant to advance the idea that just the presence of religious images and symbols have power and carry weight. They operated with subtlety until they decided you also needed it spelled out for you. The movie is not political and served more to make a statement about humanity as a whole. Viewers wouldn’t know it’s a product of Ben Shapiro’s online empire, aside from the opening credits and the platform on which it’s watched. Cinematically, the movie had a lot of classic, close-up, anticipation-building shots. In some cases, the shots served as excellent foreshadowing, but in most cases, they seemed to only be there for aesthetic purposes. While the cinematic aesthetics consistently create beautiful shots, closeups are notoriously meant to draw focus, and when a director chooses to adhere to that in some instances and not in others, it just becomes confusing. Overall, the setting was well-established and believable, but the movie was a major letdown. Especially under the pretenses, from the Daily Wire itself, that this was a movie from a “fiercely independent film studio mak-

ing movies that Americans love.” The concept itself was interesting, but that’s exactly what it remained the entire movie. It was a belabored concept that left the movie with a lot of dead space and boring scenes. There’s no humor. The mood throughout the entire movie was the same until the end when, shocker, the ambiance picks up. To call this movie a thriller would be inaccurate. The only times I felt truly engaged, on-theedge-of-my-seat, thrilled were when something gorey or violent took up the screen, maybe five or six times for about 30 seconds. I do feel like the only conservative in America who did not adore this movie. I thought the movie was good, but it wouldn’t have been this appreciated or talked about if it wasn’t connected to the Daily Wire. I wasn’t enthralled, I wasn’t shocked, and I wasn’t challenged like I would normally expect from The Daily Wire, but conservatives don’t need to like things just because conservatives made them. The movie has some good moments, but with mediocre dialogue and underwhelming plot details, I wouldn’t watch it again–and I can’t recommend that you watch it once.

Half a century later, “The Godfather” still makes us an offer we can’t refuse. Next month marks the 50th anniversary of the Academy Award-winning film “The Godfather” having premiered in 1972. Set in New York City during the late 1940s, the iconic film tells the story of the Italian mafia under patriarch Vito Corleone, starring Marlon Brando, in his fight for control against the rivaling gangs. Corleone becomes the figure to whom the rest of the mobs bow to because of his political connections and societal influence. It is a heart-wrenching and compelling film carried by the strength of the actors, plot, and cinematography. Suspense propels the viewer forward amid the tension between the ruthless Italian families. Corleone even sustains five gunshots, putting him into a critical condition, and absolving him from his position as the head of the Corleone operations. During Vito’s recovery, the Corleone brothers struggle to main-

tain a grip on the political power they once possessed. We receive an accurate portrayal of the violence and the brutality of the Italians mobs likened to a 1987 film called “The Untouchables” starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Robert de Niro. The director, Francis Ford Coppola, finds ways to create a gloomy and lifeless tone to the atmosphere to reflect the disparaging culture of the Italian mobs. As a viewer, we also catch glimpses of hope through the youngest Corleone, Michael. He is an American war hero who tries to set himself apart and forget the bloody past of his family. He begins to engage with the violent culture of the mobs by murdering two major opponents to the Corleone operation in cold blood. Michael tries to escape this life by traveling to Italy, in hope of marrying and beginning a new life. Yet, through hearing about the murder of his brother and witnessing the murder of his first wife, Michael succumbs to the vicious ways of the mob and assumes the new positon as the head of the Corleone operations, Don Corleone.

“The Godfather” was released in 1972. Courtesy | Twitter

At first, it seems Michael will be using his role as the Don Corleone to bring about a new order to the family and restore its name. We see him attending a baptism as if to emphasize this new way of life. But at the same time, we see the other family heads of each of the mobs being eliminated one by one under Michael’s command. Coppola ends the film with the Corleones committing one last act of revenge by murdering a man who had killed a member of the family. Michael’s wife asks him whether he was involved, and Michael denies it. But the film ends with Michael in his office, closing the door, leaving his wife on the outside. Has Michael adopted a new way of life or not? All in all, “The Godfather” gives viewers a taste of powerful acting, plot suspense, artful cinematography and strong character development. The longevity of the film’s reputation is not unbiased–it’s not an Academy Award for no reason. And if you love it, there’s always part two. And three.

Features

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Poke around Hillsdale this Parents Weekend By Hannah Cote Culture Editor As a student whose parents live approximately 0.6 miles down the road, you can trust that we’ve exhausted the possibilities of how to spend a weekend in Hillsdale. If your parents and family are coming for Parents Weekend, use this list as a local guide from a Hillsdale resident: Coffee Crawl Sure, you’ve tried Hillsdale’s eclectic collection of coffee shops numerous times,

Jilly Beans has many drink flavors. Collegian | Hannah Cote

but have your parents? Spend your Saturday morning trying coffee, tea, and cocoa at our variety of shops. Hillsdale is home to coffee shops like Jilly Beans and Rough Draft. Some of its shops also sell other items. Checker Records sells a wide array of records and CDs, while Gifted Gardens offers a variety of art and jewelry (as well as a secret garden in the back of the shop) . Maybe your parents will discover a new favorite. Sports Complex If your family is athletic or loves to play games, don’t waste your time wondering whether or not you can play statue golf in the snow.

Tree from B4 lowed the Giving Tree to continue year round. “We’ll show up to the office, and there will be a large plastic garbage bag full of some of the most beautiful knittings, and they’re all anonymous,” he said. Michelle Wollet said she

Instead, head to the Roche Sports Complex. You can reserve the racquetball court for an afternoon, play knockout or pig on the basketball court, and go climbing at the rockwall. Cross Country Skiing at Hayden Park If you want to spend the afternoon out in the open air, consider taking a ride on Hillsdale’s slopes: the soft inclines of Hayden Park. I will admit, my family has never done this, but my housemate has and gave raving reviews. “Wild Bill” Lundberg is always ready to set out equipment free of charge for anyone to use at Hayden Park. Granted, you might have to wait for some snow to fall first. And if you didn’t know that you can use skis, now you do. Bowling Night Dinner and Hang Hillsdale Lanes never fails to serve up a good pizza, and the best news is that the Bowling Alley is right next door. You can eat while you play, or you can slide into the connected restaurant for a sit-down meal. If you have younger siblings, there’s an arcade just around the corner for them to enjoy.

February 24, 2022 B3

QUICK HITS: Michael Chambers

Baw Beese in wintertime. Collegian | Maggie Hroncich

If you don’t own a pair of skates, have no fear. Head out on the ice for a game of broomball, a simplified version of hockey played with sneakers, brooms, and a ball. These are just a few outof-the-box ideas to get you and your family off campus and into the city of Hillsdale. Maybe this Parent’s Weekend, you can start a new family tradition for future visits.

A student climbs the rock wall Collegian | andrew dixon

By Isaac Green Collegian Reporter

Michael Chambers has traveled to many places. Courtesy | Michael Chambers

Michael Chambers is a vsiting assistant professor of English. This interview has been edited for length, clarity, and style.

up with both hard rock and metal, and then on the other hand post-punk. So guitar and melody-heavy music, rock and pop and that kind of area.

What is one of the coolest things you have ever done? I’ve gotten to stay twice now overnight in a French chateau that is owned by a friend of a friend. He’s a count but doesn’t like to talk

Do you speak any foreign languages? I’d like to say I’m fluent in French and I sort of say that I can speak vulgar Spanish, such that if I were to find myself alone on the streets of Barcelona, I wouldn’t get

Ice Skating on the Lake If you have your own ice skates, it’s the perfect time of year to pull them out. Baw Beese Lake is frozen over and there are multiple spots near the shore where lakeside residents play hockey, ice skate, and even go ice fishing. believes acts of kindness are best done quietly and is glad for this opportunity to give back to the community. “It’s a good way for Hillsdale to show that it is the people,” Michelle Wollet said. “It is a good way of living, and we do take care of one another, and we’re doing it out of the kindness

of our heart and not for the notoriety of it all.” Giving does bless the giver, though, according to Roth. “When you give instead of always receiving,” Roth said, “that makes your heart healthy. So always pay it forward.”

Michael Chambers poses with his daughter. courtesy | Michael Chambers

about it because he’s a very humble guy. In this chateau, he had us stay in the same room that, a couple centuries earlier, Marie Antoinette stayed in.

killed. I could get myself out of situations. But French has been amazing because I’ve been able to spend a lot of time in France over the years.

What were some of your interests as a kid? I played baseball starting in T-ball at five years old and I played competitively through high school. I was convinced up until I was maybe 15 or 16 years old that I was going to go pro and then reality set.

What was one of your least favorite subjects in school? By the time I got to senior year of high school I was in AP calculus, and math had gone from being this thing that I was really good at to “I just can’t wrap my head around double integrals.” I ran into this brick wall and it was so frustrating, and I thought the more I work at it, the more at some point I’ll be able to to bust through that wall and keep going. It was disheartening, but at the same time it reminded me that everybody can’t be good at everything.

What is a simple thing that brings you joy? A clear sky at night so I can see all the stars. And, most music, like some simple lulling piano tunes. Who would you want to cast as the lead role in the movie of your life? I’ve always been a big Christian Bale fan. I think he’s just a phenomenal actor and can assume so many roles. And I think that he has this kind of reflective look on his face all the time and I sort of think about that as me going through life just trying to reflect on things. The “Giving Tree” is available to those who need it. Courtesy | Michelle Wollet

What is your favorite kind of music to listen to? I could probably sum it

What was your favorite non-major related subject in school? Philosophy and various aspects of it, from Aristotelian to more modern philosophy. What is your favorite word? I came across this word that could be pronounced one of two ways, and you didn’t actually know which

way to pronounce it even with the context of the poem. It was the word bowed. It could have been pronounced either bowed (rhyming with toad) or bowed (rhyming with loud), and I realized that this was just so fascinating: these kinds of words that are the exact same word where even given the context you can’t really know how to pronounce it. Do you have a favorite book to teach? I tend to say whatever book we’re discussing in class is my favorite. But if I were to choose I would probably say Virginia Woolf ’s novel “Mrs. Dalloway.” She’s so innovative in the way she uses her narrator and weaves in and out of different and almost unrelated characters’ consciousnesses. It’s just really fascinating to see that work and that idea of knitting together a community out of isolated individuals. What is one of the most beautiful places you have ever seen? This one’s pretty easy for me. It is in France, but it’s very close to Switzerland. It’s called Lake Annecy. It’s this super pure Lake, in the foothills of the Alps that is nestled within these towering, snowy, and bare rock peaks. So you’re on the beach next to this lake that’s in this quaint kind of tourist town, but you have these just gigantic rising mountains around you. You get this feeling of awe of the nature around you and feel dwarfed in comparison with everything and it’s just amazing. Do you have any dishes you really like to cook? Homemade pizza. And I love making hearty, warm, cold weather French-Swiss dishes like a fondue or this dish called “tartiflette,” which is this casserole of onions, potatoes, pancetta, and special cheese on top called reblochon. It’s just this gooey, potatoey, wonderful goodness that just makes me feel ski lodge kind of vibes. Do you have any favorite college memories? I went to college at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. One thing that I really loved there was getting out of town, going into the mountains, driving around, and hiking. What is some of the best advice you have ever received? This is coming from numerous sources, but I would say something along the lines of don’t try to go it alone. Don’t try to do it all on your own. Ask for help when you need it.

February 24, 2022 B4

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Features

Michelle Wollet adds items to the “Giving Tree.” Courtesy | Michelle Wollet

An empty tree makes full hearts: ‘The Giving Tree’ provides to Hillsdale residents in need By Olivia Hajicek Collegian Reporter In front of Michelle Wollet’s real estate business in downtown Hillsdale is a small Christmas tree her husband Joe built — a simple wooden frame covered with chicken wire and Christmas lights. Gloves and mittens hang from clothespins, covering the tree like ornaments. A handwritten sign reads, The Giving Tree Have One, Leave One Need One Take One Wollet said she and her husband created the Giving Tree in 2019 around Christmas. “My goal was just to have people put things on the

tree, and then people who needed things could stop by whenever they needed it and just take it off the tree,” she said. “We do have a homeless population in Hillsdale, and I just thought that would be a way to get them some of the little items that they need as they’re walking by.” The tree has been up ever since. “It has worked out really well. It has brought the community together,” Wollet said. “People come and drop things off at the office so I can put them on the tree, or I’ll pull up one day and there’s a bunch of new items on the tree.” Wollet said many of the people who give or take from the tree remain anonymous, but she said this was

part of the design. “I wanted it to be a nice way of getting things out to people without them having to ask for it or stand in line someplace for it,” she said. “I believe that you should do good deeds that are just done for the grace of it, not for the public to know what’s being done.” Karen Roth, a friend of Wollet’s, brings in bags of mittens and hats her sisterin-law Liz Roth crochets.

Liz has high-functioning special needs, and she quilts, crochets, and grows a beautiful garden, Roth said. “She’s always giving all of her stuff away because she just does it for a stress relief for herself,” Roth said. “She had asked me if I knew of any place that she could donate all of her mittens and hats and everything to, and I remembered the tree that Michelle had.” Roth, who is a social worker, said she has gotten to see the fruit of her sister-

“Nothing makes us happier than seeing our tree empty. If we fill it and it’s empty, then it’s going to the right people.”

in-law’s labor. “There was a lady at Kroger, and she was checking out, and she dropped her glove. My client that I had with me picked it up and handed it to her, and she said, ‘Oh, I got these downtown. If I lose these, I don’t know what I would do — they’re my favorite pair,’” Roth said. Roth asked the woman if she had gotten them from the Giving Tree. “She said, yes, she did,” Roth said. “I told her, ‘Those are probably some mittens that my sister-in-law made. She donates them to the tree.” Michelle Wollet refills the tree a couple times a week. Joe Wollet said they load it during the day and sometimes return the next

morning to find it nearly empty. “Nothing makes us happier than seeing our tree empty,” he said. “If we fill it and it’s empty, then it’s going to the right people.” The tree has included T-shirts and toiletries during the summer, as well as coats and snowsuits for children in the winter. He said these are some of the first things to go. “Especially through the cold season it was just nice that they had their own set of gloves, their matching hat, possibly a scarf and things — something that they could call their own — and it was of good quality, and it was theirs,” he said. The generosity of people in the community has al-

See Tree B3