Collegian 4.6.2023

NOW IN OUR 22nd YEAR! Volume 751

recognized for having the biggest feet for her age group.

Frank Talk: A couple in Hillsdale have been publishing their magazine "Frank Talk" since 2001.

Charger Baseball: Charger men's baseball swept its four game series against Tiffin University this past weekend.

week! First, a little history. Over 3 business (and thousands of other busiscreeching halt. The culprit was somedon’t have to remind anybody what without much advance warning. was the travel business. It seems stopped when it came to virtually every for pleasure, but even businesses affected.

Road definitely felt the effects of we had been running 10 to 15 the trips involved significant travel over the country. Although we all there was a new illness going were only a small percentage of end up like it did. For many of us, be the same. several trips scheduled in 2020 promising. We actually were looking the year. Well, it never happened.

See A6 Courtesy | Hanna Labuschewsky

See B6 Courtesy | Frank Talk

See A10 Courtesy | Isabella Sheehan

jim@franktalkonline.com

my background and experience, I was elated. I wasn t expecting anything to come of it when they realized how old I was, but they kept having me fill out application forms and an aptitude test, etc., I will say they well organized and believable. They said they were from a world -class yacht building business called MaxineMax. I went to their website and it certainly appeared they were a reputable and very large company.

Finally, after three days of discussions back and forth, I was sent a letter congratulating me on being a finalist for the position of graphic designer. It seemed my experience actually matched the qualities they were looking for.

After a couple of hours, they sent me an email telling me that they had decided to hire me. You can only imagine how excited this old man was!,,,especially when they told me my starting salary would be over 60k per year. Pat and I were both extremely excited.

Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Hillsdale cuts ties with charter school after controversy

By Elyse Apel

Opinions Editor Hillsdale College cut ties

what the future held were reports of water outside of ports around the basically held hostage without an their homes. requires agents and companies to on buses, in restaurants, etc. with those deposits are non -refundable circumstances. When travel companies and deposits, they often rely on future travelers. The sudden stop problem for most travel agencies. most restrictions on people who stores, and come in contact with othmuch ended. One of the businesses curtail the spread of Covid would be nation. Our local hospital was one of and kudos to them. leading up to something that haptravel business and to some extent tremendously. Pat and I learned how without any supplemental income. that ain t easy! bit long in the tooth (as somebody way possible to earn money to pay survive. I applied for grants to keep started applying for jobs to try to age isn ’t supposed to be considmarket, it definitely still is. And, in all interested in taking the time to train have him/her only be able to work company seemingly interested in

with Tallahassee Classical School after a controversy surrounding the school’s art curriculum and its headmaster’s resignation.

Former Tallahassee Classical Headmaster Hope Carrasquilla resigned following backlash from three parents over teaching Michelangelo’s “David” statue in a 6th-grade classroom, but the Florida charter school said the resignation was unconnected to the conflict.

The school had a license from Hillsdale K-12 to use its curricular materials, but, according to a statement released March 29 by Hillsdale

I promptly informed our kids that we were going to be able to get back on our feet, etc. However, the elation was short-lived. Our son, Scott, is a motivational speaker and one of his subjects” has to do with Internet fraud. I had sent him a copy of the email I received and he promptly informed me that the email did not come from the company.

I subsequently called the company directly to inquire about the recruiter”…gee, surprise! He didn t exist!

classical education.”

College, that agreement will soon end.

“That license has been revoked and will expire at the end of the school year,” the statement said.

The statement emphasized Hillsdale’s view of education and the goal of its partnership with charter schools around the nation.

The bottom line is that we’re back to living on SS and hoping new trips will start to go again. Just a warning! If you happen to receive such an offer, do a lot of checking for legitimacy, and NEVER, NEVER send them things like bank account numbers, etc. (fortunately, I did not!).

Wynn said the school will continue its dedication to classical education, despite losing the curriculum license.

training from Hillsdale, but Hillsdale ended that affiliation in March 2022.

continue to use the “David” in its curriculum.

The controversy made global news as parents complained about showing 6th graders the “David” statue, which depicts the biblical figure fully nude. Tallahassee

Classical board chair Barney Bishop said in a Facebook comment that one parent found it to be “pornographic.”

Hillsdale’s statement said it wanted to “set the record straight” and that the drama over the statue at the Tallahassee Classical was “a distraction from, and a parody of, the actual aims of

The good news is that we have a great trip in June that is at the point we can actually run it! It seems that some, maybe not all, people are actually ready to travel again!

A special thanks to those of you who have patiently waited for FRANK TALK on the Road to resume trips. We are most gratified that you did. Please come along for the ride very soon!

“Hillsdale College provides a classical scope and sequence to many schools across the country as a free resource,” the statement said. “Hillsdale’s relations with those schools are founded upon a mutual understanding about the aims of education. Education is a cooperative endeavor between students, parents, and teachers. Discretion, good judgment, and prudence are essential for that endeavor to be successful.”

Finish Line Restaurant

Tallahassee Classical Interim Headmaster Cara

Great food Gr eat price! Daily specials. Senior discounts.

“We remain hopeful that this decision may be reversed,” Wynn wrote on April 3 in a statement. “There are many great schools in the country that are not affiliated with Hillsdale College and are very successful classical schools. While we are disappointed in their decision, this will not affect our ability to provide the highest quality classical education.”

Previously, Tallahassee Classical School had been a member school of the Hillsdale K-12 program, which meant it received advice and

Even after it was dropped as a member school, it remained affiliated through the curriculum agreement.

In a statement from Tallahassee Classical on March 31, the school wrote it had retained legal counsel to push back against “false and defamatory” reports that stated the school itself had characterized the statue as “pornographic.”

It also stated that Carrasquilla was not asked to resign because of the “David” incident, but because of “two additional unrelated incidents of poor job performance.”

The school said it plans to

“A false narrative has sadly spread due to inaccurate reporting,” the statement said. “At no time have we viewed that work of art as pornographic. At no time have we considered removing the David statue from our curriculum, and Michelangelo’s ‘David’ will continue to be studied as part of our curriculum next year, as it has in years past.”

Hillsdale’s curriculum will also continue to use Michelangelo’s “David” statue in the classroom, as well as other “works of art that depict the human form,” its statement said.

FRANK TALK website http://www.franktalkontheroad.info

ADVERTISING SERVICES, P.O. Box 659, Reading, MI 49274 Facebook by going to FRANK TALK Entertainment Magazine.

Campus speaks on Trump's indictment

By Jane Kitchen

Assistant Editor

Every American, regardless of their political position, should be horrified and outraged by the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump, according to Associate Professor of Economics Charles Steele.

“The persecution of President Trump by the legal system is designed to terrify anyone who considers seriously reforming it,” Steele said. “America will not recover if this stands.”

On Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on March 30, making him the first former U.S. president in history to face criminal charges.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg released a statement of facts alongside the indictment.

"The defendant Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” the statement reads.

Professor of Politics

Thomas West said the Trump indictment undermines traditional American values.

“The Trump indictment is an outrage,” West said. “The NYC prosecutor is part of the radical leftist legal network that aims to destroy the older America and its representatives, such as Trump himself.”

According to Steele, Trump is being treated differently than other politicians and government officials, including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and James Comey, who are all guilty of wrongdoing but have never faced criminal charges.

DWLLRS to headline Centralhallapalooza

By Tracy Wilson Design Editor

This year’s Centralhallapalooza music festival will feature DWLLRS as the headlining act, according to the Student Activities Board’s Monday reveal.

“I think that their music is fairly accessible and a lot of people could like it. It’s not going to be really hard rock, or country,” sophomore and SAB member John Schaefer said. “I think as a whole, people are either positive about them, or they haven’t heard about them and are open to them. I’m pretty happy with the feedback we’ve received thus far.”

DWLLRS began when then-college roommates Joey Spurgeon and Bren Eissman decided to form an alternative pop band. Now, they have over 100,000 Instagram followers and a few popular songs on TikTok, such as Blue Spirits.

“They formed in college, which is pretty cool, and so I think that they as performers

in a college setting will be pretty easy to connect with,” Schaefer said. “Hopefully they’ll be willing to talk with kids afterward.”

Senior Elizabeth Oxaal said she and her friend senior Meera Baldwin enjoy listening to DWLLRS.

“Me and my friend discovered DWLLRS through a Spotify playlist radio last year when we were just listening to random stuff,” Oxaal said.

“I’ve always known about

them but haven’t kept up with them, and was excited to see SAB was having them for CHP.”

Growing up, the band members of DWLLRS were inspired by musicians like Frank Ocean, Brockhampton, and Tame Impala, according to the Wasserman Music website.

“The duo are creating a diverse sonic palette driven by forward-thinking alternative pop,” the website says.

Campus reacts to New Yorker article

By Haley Strack Senior Reporter

A long-anticipated profile of Hillsdale College appeared in this week’s edition of The New Yorker. It called the college “a home for smart young conservatives who wish to engage seriously with the liberal arts” and “a model that communities across the country are looking to adopt,” but also criticized it because “there is no department of women’s and gender studies, no concentrations on race and ethnicity.”

“Utilizing a range of production techniques and carefully crafted songwriting, DWLLRS alchemize their diverse influences to evoke feelings of existentialism, nostalgia, and heartbreak all whilst underpinned by the perpetual hope of better days to come.”

Schaefer encouraged students to listen to DWLLRS before coming to the show.

“Listen to their music before they get here so you know their songs and can sing along,” Schaefer said. “That makes any concert more fun, and also if they can see that the crowd is singing along to their songs, that’s going to be really great for them.”

Students should listen to DWLLRS’ new song “Driving,” Schaefer said.

“I really like their newest song ‘Driving,’ which I didn’t even realize was coming out,” Oxaal said. “I’m excited to see them play and am curious how their performance will be, since most of their songs are a little slower for that kind of environment.”

Written by Emma Green, who spent several days on campus in August, the 6,600-word article was published online Monday morning and appears in the April 10 print edition. Headlined “The Christian Liberal-Arts School at the Heart of the Culture Wars,” it quickly became a major subject of conversation on campus.

“Most of the information was pretty generic in terms of the fact that students have already heard all of this before,” said senior Alexa Robbins, whose English class discussed the article on Tuesday. “I could see how it would be more inflammatory for people who aren't involved and don't know the college.”

First published in 1925, the New Yorker has a weekly circulation of more than 1.2 million. Green is a staff writer at the magazine, where she focuses on “education and academia,” according to her online biography. She was previously a managing editor and writer for The Atlantic.

Senior Jacob Carson and juniors Kevin Rybka and Merrit Pope participated in Hillsdale GOAL's annual Day of Service event this past weekend. More than 300 people from the college and the city performed service projects across the county.

Courtesy | Emma Purdy

Bren Eissman and Joey Spurgeon make up the musical duo DWLLRS Courtesy | Facebook

Student Publication Board selects editors Visiting speaker discusses religious liberty and traditional marriage

By Emma Verrigni Collegian Freelancer

The Student Publication Board selected the new editors of The Collegian, Tower Light, and Hillsdale’s Winona Yearbook for the 20232024 school year.

Junior Elizabeth Troutman will be next year’s editor-in-chief of The Collegian, Hillsdale College’s student-run newspaper.

Sophomores Kara Miller and Sophie Keller will be the Tower Light editors-in-chief, and sophomore Kenda Showalter will be editor-in-chief of the Winona yearbook.

Troutman began writing for The Collegian her freshman year, and she said writing for the paper made her want to apply for a staff position. Troutman was an assistant news editor during her sophomore year, and was news editor during fall 2022. She is currently interning for The Daily Signal in Washington, D.C., on the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program.

“I really love getting to work together with a bunch of friends to put together a paper,” Troutman said. “It's really cool because it's all student-run.”

She said her work as news editor prepared her for working with people on a team and has improved her writing, leadership, and communication skills. She said one thing that particularly prepared her for the position of editor-in-chief was Advanced Writing, a journalism class.

“The Collegian has had such a large impact on my college career,” Troutman said. “I strongly encourage anyone who's hoping to get involved on campus hoping to work on their writing skills, teamwork skills, or leadership skills to give The Collegian a try.”

Troutman said her duties as editor will include overseeing the operations of the paper and hiring and overseeing Collegian staff for the coming year.

Troutman will replace

“It is the use of the legal system to destroy perfectly legitimate political opposition,” Steele said. “There is one set of rules for people who the administrative state supports and another completely different set for its opponents.”

Associate Professor of Politics Joseph Postell said Bragg has personal reasons to bring such a high-profile case, given his position as an elected official.

“When even Slate magazine and Vox claim that there’s a very flimsy legal case for the indictment, I think that’s a clear sign that the New York defense attorney was not doing this for purely legal reasons,” Postell said.

Many people have accepted the indictment because of their personal dislike of Trump, Steele said. According to him, state attorney generals should be charging and arresting Biden cabinet officials.

“It should be personally dangerous for Washington political elites to flout our Constitutional system,” Steele said. “If it is not, they’ll dismantle it entirely and America will enter a period of unchecked tyranny.”

According to Postell, the

current editor-in-chief and graduating senior Maggie Hroncich.

“I have very big shoes to fill,” Troutman said. “I’d like to follow in her footsteps and take after her great leadership skills.”

Troutman said she particularly enjoys investigative journalism. In the future, she hopes to work for a news outlet in Washington, D.C.

Miller will serve as Tower Light’s editor-in-chief for the fall 2023 publication, while Kellar will be editor-in-chief for the spring 2024 edition.

Tower Light publishes select poems, short stories, and art by students once each semester.

Miller said duties of a Tower Light editor include collecting student submissions, selecting new editorial board members, and facilitating board discussion. Another role of the board is to provide writers with feedback on their submissions.

“Tower Light aims to give good feedback to all its writers to help them on their writing journey,” Kellar said.

“Tower Light's goal extends beyond the magazine itself to the students and helping them nurture their creative insights.”

In the future, Kellar said she hopes to write creative fantasy fiction, teach language, or work in an editorial position. Miller is interested in art, museum studies, and writing.

Showalter, new editor of Winona, became involved with Winona in the fall of 2022.

Showalter said she enjoys graphic design, and her classes in theater and English have made her a better storyteller and prepared her to be Winona editor next year.

“While the yearbook is a different medium from writing or acting, the goal of storytelling remains the same,” Showalter said.

As editor, Showalter will organize team meetings, teach staff how to use graphic design software, promote the yearbook, and review and finalize the yearbook.

indictment may help Trump in the Republican primary.

“It contributes to the view of many Republican voters that Trump is taking on the system and that the system is trying to prevent him from winning re-election to the presidency,” Postell said. “For these Republicans, those considerations are precisely why they want him to be the party’s nominee.”

Nathan Schlueter, professor of philosophy and religion and director of Hillsdale’s pre-law program, said it’s clear the indictment is politically motivated, but unclear whether it’s a strategic effort to help Trump win the Republican nomination.

“Whatever the motivation, this is a win for Trump, who likes to keep his personality at the center of attention, and a loss for those Republicans who want the disastrous policies of the Biden administration to be the center of attention,” Schlueter said. “More worrisome for all Americans, this indictment reflects a dangerous political weaponization of the legal system which puts us on the corrupt path of the Roman Empire and contemporary Latin America.”

Trump’s next in-person hearing is set for Dec. 4.

By Mark den Hollander Collegian Freelancer

Progressive secular groups have gradually restricted religious liberty through government mandates, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center Ryan Anderson said in his speech “Illiberal Liberalism: On Religious Liberty, Gay Marriage, and Gender Ideology,” on Wednesday, April 5 in Christ Chapel.

“For the past several decades, progressive, secular groups have advanced the sexual revolution through progressive government mandates,” Anderson said.

“This should be a familiar story of a movement that claims merely one personal freedom. First, it repeals laws that it claims limits their freedom. Then, it uses the government to subsidize their preferred choices. Then, it uses the government to mandate that other people subsidize those choices. And then finally, it uses the government to punish anyone who dares to disagree.”

Anderson’s talk was the inaugural speech of the lecture series from the Larry and Christine Kieft Endowment for Religious Freedom, Christian Expression, and Dialogue.

He addressed some of the concerns America faces regarding hot-topic political and societal issues such as why religious freedom matters and the current threats to freedom. Anderson discussed necessary actions needed to prevent the left from taking away religious freedom rights.

Anderson said James Madison viewed religion as a matter of conviction, not to be imposed by force.

Professor of Philosophy Nathan Schleuter said Anderson has been a key defender of traditional marriage and religious liberty.

“For over a decade Ryan Anderson has been on the front line of what I think is the most important battle of our time, that between advocates for Progressive Puritan Sexual Ideology and defenders of the truth about human

sexuality, marriage, and religious liberty,” Schleuter said. “He is a model for every Hillsdale student of how to make a principled and patriotic defense of moral truth with courage, clarity, and civility.”

Anderson said Christians need to remember religious liberty is not the only political battle that needs to be fought. He said the students who are in the public school system also need to be protected from radical ideologies.

Graduate student Josiah Lippincott said the view of the left as relativistic is false.

“There is no one more moralistic in America today than a liberal or someone on the left,” Lippincott said. "These people are not relativists when it comes to saying whether or not trans-women are women.”

Anderson said we have a generation of kids who don’t even recognize themselves as boys or girls.

“We’ve shifted conceptually from a regime in which you have to justify the

regulation, to a regime in which you have to justify for exemption from the regulation,” Anderson said. “That is a radically different form of understanding of what self-government is.”

Senior Gabriel Powell said he appreciated how Anderson handled such a large issue.

“I think it was a very great talk addressing the multi-faceted threats that Christians and public life face today,” junior Gabriel Powell said. “It's a very big issue and he was able to address a lot of the different angles.”

Anderson believes the future for religious freedom is brighter than it was ten years ago. He said he is hopeful because students are having conversations about these pertinent topics.

“Religious liberty is important because it creates a space for all of us to fulfill our duties to God,” said Anderson.

Academy for Science and Freedom to host the Broken Science Inititative, talk to cover scientific method

ByAubrey Gulick Senior Reporter

The Academy of Science and Freedom, an initiative of Hillsdale in D.C., will present on the importance of upholding the scientific method on Tuesday, April 11 in the Searle Center at 3 p.m. with a dinner to follow.

According to the Broken Science Initiative, a key aspect of the scientific method is the ability to replicate experiments and to achieve the same results.

“The Broken Science Initiative is particularly

NYer from A1

“We’ve read the piece,” said Emily Stack Davis, executive director of media outreach and public relations, in a statement. “In some ways, it offers a fair, if limited, view of the college. But that is all it offers. How much can a reporter learn about Hillsdale by being on campus for a few days?”

She added: “We were taken aback by how readily the reporter flattens and downplays some of the best things about Hillsdale College — the intelligence, friendship, and academic work of its students and faculty; the high regard for the Christian faith and spiritual growth among students; the liveliness of the discussion and debates; and how studying the Great Books forces students to engage in ongoing, intense study and debates.”

Green describes College President Larry Arnn as “the primary architect of Hillsdale’s rise to prominence” and quotes him extensively, from her own interview as well as the public record.

“I tend to like most of Dr. Arnn’s funny blurbs,” Assistant Professor of History Miles Smith said. “He says things in a kind of folksy way — I'm from the South, so I know the type of man who rhetorically comes at you pretty hard. When Southern men talk, they don’t sugarcoat things.”

Smith said the media often spins stories about Hillsdale.

“When he talks, I think people are likely, because he is from Hillsdale, to put the worst spin on things as possible,” Smith said. “I don’t think Green put the worst spin on things as possible, but I tend to think that a lot of the things Arnn says are self-evident, and they’re just also things people don’t want to talk about.”

Arnn has a history of speak-

concerned about the replicability crisis and the publish or perish environment,” said Brett Waite, manager for the Academy of Science and Freedom.

Glassman and Emily Kaplan founded BSI last year to address problematic practices in the science industry and demand adherence to a replicable and predictable approach to science.

“Consensus has replaced predictive value in academic science, definitions have become subjective, and replication is no longer a requirement,” the organization’s

ing bluntly, Smith said. It may in part be Arnn’s “uncensored style,” Green writes, that has “complicated the school’s attempt to foster a broad revival of liberal-arts education.”

“She didn't speak about Dr. Arnn’s principles, or what his vision is, enough. She found fair critiques of him, but then didn't supplement them with the direct results of his efforts and his philosophy,” junior Michael Hoggatt, who was quoted in Green’s article, said. “The negative things that she wrote, I think, are fair parts of his history. But they weren’t supplemented with fair positive things.”

Green mentioned the success of Hillsdale’s K-12 initiative, its 1776 curriculum, and its new graduate school in classical education, adding that some classical-school leaders are wary of Hillsdale’s “more distinct political identity.”

Robbins said Green’s analysis of Hillsdale’s success in the classical education world seems slanted.

“She had a beautiful narrative about graduate students reading a great poem and art for art's sake. But then she ends with, ‘The classroom felt a bit like a cathedral,’” Robbins said. “I don't know if she’s being fair or if she assumes that a modern reader is automatically going to think that there is no separation between faith and education — which is for many a bad thing. Green relies on the modern political correctness that's been assigned to words like cathedral to carry an insult.”

Green used soon-to-be Catholic convert Hoggatt as an example of the debate on campus between Protestantism and Catholicism. Hoggatt said Green asked informed questions about campus life and religion, with no tone of attack.

“She was curious about the

website says. “The Broken Science Initiative will show any person interested that it’s time for a new pantheon and a renaissance that requires predictive power in science.”

Waite said that BSI could offer interesting arguments and propose unique solutions to the issues in the scientific industry.

“Dr. Arnn first heard about The Broken Science Initiative last year and thought Greg and others there were doing interesting work,” said Waite. “So he invited them to campus to give a lecture.”

dynamics of what the demographics are on campus and then how they interact,” Hoggatt said. “The New Yorker fan base, which is New England educated elites and everyone else who subscribes, are people who might not favor the strong conservatism of Hillsdale. It seems like Green was genuinely curious about the liberal arts, and I think it's fitting in the chronology of events in America because Hillsdale is the icon or symbol of the conservative movement in education.”

The article mentions Hillsdale’s political connections, from Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is scheduled to speak on campus tonight, to former Vice President Mike Pence, who spoke in the chapel last month. It also includes many references to Hillsdale’s involvement in former President Donald Trump’s administration.

Although the article focused on the college’s political ideology, Smith said, students shouldn’t be reduced to one subject.

“What I don't think Green understood is that students are not that interested in politics. Her piece was very much trying to figure out the politics of Hillsdale,” Smith said. “And so she came away thinking, ‘maybe this place isn't as Trump as possible.’ But what she misses is our music or arts or all of the stuff that our students do. The religious life of our students is even reduced to a kind of traditionalist journey.”

Smith said the magazine’s audience might have a more favorable view of Hillsdale after reading the article.

“I think the intended audience is, I assume, for people who aren't in the Hillsdale orbit already. If that's the case, I think Green gave them what is probably a more charitable picture than what a lot of them

During the event, Greg Glassman, founder of BSI, and William M. Briggs, a writer, statistician, and scientist who previously worked with Cornell Medical School and as a cryptologist with the U.S. Air Force, will speak on scientism and the belief that science answers all questions.

“We wanted to give them a platform to present their arguments and proposed solutions in greater detail,” Waite said. “We hope that students, faculty, and the general public who attend the lecture will come with an open mind.”

think,” he said. “People have this idea that we're all knuckle dragging Republicans and that we all love Trump.”

College Democrats President and junior Avery Noel said the article described Hillsdale’s politics fairly and could have expounded on college policies he finds damaging to political discourse, such as the one that strongly discourages protesting on campus.

“Students on campus have a very limited range of beliefs that I think was captured by the piece. It also represented that there are a number of students who don't feel the need to engage politically, which I felt was accurate to my experience of the college,” Noel said. “In spite of this, the focus of the piece on the outward persona of Hillsdale as a strong conservative bulwark of education I felt was very accurate. Hillsdale has, in my opinion, become the shining star of education for the right, as a college that refuses to address gender identity or other ‘woke’ values, and I felt that was represented well in the piece.”

Some students appreciated the article for the art published with it. An illustration by Álvaro Bernis shows Ronald Reagan waving a Hillsdale banner and Margaret Thatcher wearing an oversized Hillsdale sweater.

“I really liked the picture and think the artist adequately depicted both the culture of Hillsdale as well as some of the most prominent, looked up to historical figures of many of the students,” sophomore Sarah Trimbath said.

Alumni on social media have called for stickers of the drawing. Mike Morrison ’12 wrote on Twitter that he “would not be surprised if students blow this up to poster size and hang it in their dorm rooms.”

Trump from A1

Junior Elizabeth Troutman is the next Collegian editor. Elizabeth Troutman | Collegian

Former White House official speaks on presidential transition project

By Olivia Pero Assistant Editor

A think tank aims to have fully vetted and loyal conservatives with a ruling agenda in place and prepared to work by the next Republican president’s first day in office, according to a former White House official who spoke in the Campbell Room on March 30.

Career Services and Hillsdale College Republicans co-hosted the presentation about the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project, also known as Project 2025.

Spencer Chretien, associate director of Project 2025 as well as a former special assistant to the president and associate director of presidential personnel during the Trump administration, spoke about his employment in the White House and how students might work in the executive branch after they graduate.

Chretien said the Heritage Foundation’s goal for Project 2025 is to turn conservatives into experts in government administration.

“A conservative president and his people are outmanned by the permanent bureaucracy that stays beyond one president,” Chretien said. “We're always figuring out things a little bit too late, and we lose valuable time when we do have political power because we are still learning the ropes of the federal bureaucracy.”

Chretien said the Heritage Foundation has representatives from more than 50 partner organizations that comprise the Project 2025 advisory board, including Alliance Defending Freedom, Hillsdale College, Liberty University, and Patrick Henry College.

“The goal is to make what we're doing so big that the next president cannot ignore it, and we can say to the next conservative president, ‘This is what the conservative movement has rallied behind. This is what the conservative movement expects and demands,’” Chretien said.

Project 2025 is conducting much of the next conservative president’s work ahead of time, Chretien said.

“We're going to take care of vetting these people who

are in our database ahead of time so that the day after the election, we can say to the next president, ‘Here are appropriate, approved, pre-vetted personnel recommended by our whole advisory board who want to come to Washington and work for you,’” Chretien said.

Project 2025 also includes transition plans, according to Chretien.

“We call it ‘the playbook,’” Chretien said. “This is taking the big ideas and hashing them out: what needs to happen the day before the inauguration, on the day of the inauguration, all the way out to the first six months.”

Freshman Katie Crain said Project 2025 is a great way to prepare for the presidency if conservatives win and to match the liberals’ level of planning and organization.

“If conservatives don't band together, we're just going to be pushed back more and more,” Crain said. “Right now we're behind them, and even if we don't win the election, this is still necessary.”

Executive Director of Career Services Ken Koopmans said the college has many connections, so this event is another opportunity for students for future career connections.

“This is just one more opportunity for students to learn about what's going on in the conservative movement, learn about ways to get involved, meet people from Heritage, and meet somebody

Passages to cost less for students

By Michaela Estruth Assistant Editor

Applications for the annual Passages trip to Israel with Hillsdale College are open, and the trip is worth the time and money, junior Fernando Bravo said at Explore the Holy Land Info Session on March 30.

“Israel is important to us as Christians,” Bravo said. “We love Israel.”

Assistant Professor of Religion Don Westblade shared application and price information. Bravo said Westblade is the point of contact between Hillsdale and Passages and “the source” for students interested in applying.

“It’s Passages’ mission to educate young adults,” Bravo said. “And it’s their goal to eventually have a rite of passage in the same way it is for Jewish students that live in America or other parts of the world to travel to Israel.”

This past Christmas break, Bravo traveled to Israel with Hillsdale students through the Passages program. Bravo said he planned to attend with Hillsdale in 2021, but the trip was canceled last-minute due to COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

Students’ safety is Passages’ number one priority, and they assign an Israeli guard with experience in the Israel Defense Forces to each tour bus, Bravo said.

Senior David Swegle said the tour guides for the trip are fantastic.

who worked in the Trump administration,” Koopmans said.

Sophomore Rachel Schroder said she attended the Project 2025 event to take advantage of the networking opportunities.

“I'm most passionate about the pro-life cause, and Heritage has a whole department dedicated to life, religion, and family,” Schroder said. “I'm hoping to work for them in the future.”

Chretien said those who get involved in the transition project now will be favored when it comes time to hire the next conservative administration.

“Don't be like all the people who get involved the day after the election, but get involved now,” Chretien said.

Students can sign up for the Project 2025 Presidential Administration Academy at project2025.org. Invitations to create profiles in Project 2025’s personnel database are sent to everyone who signs up for the Academy, putting students in the pool for employment consideration in the next conservative administration.

“If you've got the right values, the right loyalty, and you have the willingness to to work hard, you'll learn how to be a policy expert and how to navigate the bureaucracy,” Chretien said. “You'll learn the gears of government, but you can't learn what's in your heart.”

Professors West and Schlueter debate social contract theory

By Jacob Beckwith Collegian Reporter

Social contract theory is nothing more than a noble lie, Professor of Philosophy and Religion Nathan Schlueter said during a debate with Professor of Politics Thomas West March 30.

“The two great challenges we face in American politics today are the administrative state and expressive individualism,” Schlueter said. “I think highlighting social contract theory might exacerbate those issues.”

Social contract theory was generally defined by Schlueter as the idea that people must come together and unanimously consent to a form of government, because without political authority the state of nature is highly unstable.

West is one of the leading scholars on social contract theory. He is the author of “The Political Theory of the American Founding,” in which he makes the argument that the American founding is an example of social contract theory, according to junior Merrit Pope.

Last year, Schlueter wrote an article for the Witherspoon Institute’s journal Public Discourse, critiquing some of those views. Pope said faculty and students alike decided it was time to hear a defense of both positions.

“They completely underestimated the number of people who would show up,” freshman Adeline Kaufman said. “I was really impressed with the number of students who came.”

The event was held in a lecture hall in the basement of Lane, and just over 100 students and faculty were in attendance. Both professors were given 20 minutes for opening remarks.

Schlueter spoke first and introduced social contract theory as the establishment of a political society with clear moral rules.

Much of the argumentation centered around 17th-century British philosopher John Locke, who first introduced social contract theory.

“I think Locke is pretty clear that for the political society to be legitimate it has to be constituted by the express and unanimous consent of the persons who are part of it,” Schlueter said. “Yet we cannot identify any historical point in which people expressly and unanimously agreed to constitute a political society, and I just think that raises all kinds of very difficult questions and problems for us.”

Schlueter also made the “dead hand of the past” argument, which he defined as the inability of “one group that expressly and unanimously agrees to form a political soci-

Westblade said the 2024 trip will total $1980, a nearly $600 decrease from the $2500 cost of the 2023 trip. Applications are due by Sept. 15. Westblade encouraged students to apply because it “makes scripture come alive for you.”

“There’s just something about seeing the stuff that you’ve been reading about in the Bible up close and personal and realize that this is real,” Westblade said.

As an ambassador for Passages, Bravo promotes the program and discusses his experiences from the trip with students interested in traveling with Hillsdale in December 2023 to January 2024. Bravo organized the event to provide logistical information regarding the application and pre-trip process as well as share his experience.

Passages partners with colleges across the country to educate Christian students on their Jewish-Hebraic roots and relations through an immersive trip to Israel, Bravo said.

Before traveling to Israel, accepted students must complete a pre-trip course which includes a series of videos, short essays, and multiple choice questions discussing the history and culture of Israel and its current geopolitical state, Bravo said. Bravo and other students who attended recommended dedicating a week or more to the pre-course trip.

“It’s definitely something that you want to take seriously,” Bravo said. “It is a preparation for your walk of faith. I took it and the trip got canceled, and even then it helped me a lot to understand my Christian faith and my Jewish-Christian roots.”

Bravo said the Passages program is safe and structured. Each day is packed with various sites, speakers, and traveling because of Passages’ organization and relations in Israel. According to Bravo, before each day, Passages’ workers verify the safety of each destination. Students also visit Bethlehem which is in Palestinian territory, outside the state of Israel, Bravo said.

“These are places that not even Jewish people can go,” he said.

“These people know their stuff,” Swegle said. “They go through a program to be licensed by the State of Israel. They know all about the geology, history, and religious roots. Our tour guide was Jewish, but she knew the New Testament like she was a Christian.”

Senior Beth Potwardowski said the juxtaposition of biblical history surrounded by modern day Israel was often distracting, but the tour guide always allowed for devotion time, led by a chaplain with additional private time.

“In the Garden of Gethsemane, it was a little bit strange because there’s a lot of build up around it,” Potwardowski said. “So you know, there’s busy traffic and other stuff going on, but I think I really appreciate having those times to really sit in the significance of where you are and everything that’s happened.”

Sophomore Keara Gentry attended the information session and said she is hoping to apply.

“Listening to other students’ experiences on the Passages trip made Israel come alive,” Gentry said. “After attending the information session, I am convinced that traveling to Israel through passages would be a worthwhile effort that would impact not only my understanding of international relations, but also my reading of scripture, in particular the Gospels.”

Monastery to host student retreat

By Ashley Kaitz Senior Reporter

Students will visit St. Augustine’s House monastery in Oxford, MI next weekend, April 14-16. The annual trip is meant to be a break from the busyness of everyday life, and students are encouraged to leave their screens, homework, and other distractions at home, according to Director of Health and Wellness and clinical counselor Brock Lutz.

Lutz has been visiting the monastery for the last eight years, and began taking students along five years ago after Hillsdale College Chaplain Adam Rick suggested the idea.

than at other monasteries.”

Days at the monastery are peaceful but filled with activity, Lutz said. There are seven prayer services per day, and each one is centered around the Psalms, according to Lutz. This ample time to spend worshiping God is essential for students, Rick said.

“Our students are stretched thin, especially this time of year, and carving out times of true rest when still embedded in the rhythms and pressure of campus is just straight hard to do,” Rick said. “Getting away helps make space to connect with God possible.”

“The most important part of this retreat is the atmosphere of rest, away from campus, and in an idyllic, holy, and quietly ordered environment that promotes true sabbath rest,” Rick said.

While the retreat is at a monastery, both men and women are encouraged to attend, and each student will have a single room for a small fee.

Spending time at the monastery can be an effective reset for a struggling prayer life, Lutz said.

ety to then bind a future generation who did not expressly and unanimously agree to it.”

West said tacit or implied consent is the reason a call for a political society can truly be unanimous.

“The loyalists who decided they didn’t want to be citizens of America in the 1770s said no, and they became non-citizens, but the rest of the society unanimously consented,” West said. “If you are in the majority who decides to be in a society, then the consent will automatically be unanimous.”

Pope said the professors also varied extensively in their approach to the issue, and Schlueter took a very philosophical approach.

“Dr. West, on the other hand, would bring a lot of relevant political examples and connect them to both modern and historical politics,” Pope said.

According to Pope, there was significant common ground between the two professors.

“I think at the end of the day they agreed a lot on what social contract theory really was,” Pope said. “Schlueter also didn't craft his argument from the same grounds as his article critiquing Dr. West, which made the debate a lot less fierce than it could have been.”

“The monks there are very hospitable and welcoming,” Lutz said. “We appreciate that as guests we are able to participate more in the service

Although it’s especially difficult to take time away from schoolwork at this point in the semester, Father Rick said students never regret spending time at St. Augustine’s House – in fact, they come back refreshed.

“It’s challenging me to try to find more time for devotional life throughout the day instead of just a limited time each morning,” Lutz said. “I think the trick is to try to find how we can live a monastic type of life while still doing what each of us has been called to do outside of monasteries.”

Health Center hosts plant therapy sessions after COVID-19 hiatus

By Alexandra Hall Science and Tech Editor

Following a couple of years’ hiatus due to COVID-19 and some health challenges, Campus horticulturist Angie Girdham is back to offering regular plant therapy sessions through the Health Center.

A handful of students gathered in the back room of the new addition to the Health Center on March 29 to discuss their mental health and partake in plant-themed activities.

“We have a small but mighty group today,” Girdham said. “I need to get my following back after my hiatus.”

The March 29 project involved making tea lights from recycled jars, pressed flowers, and rice paper. Girdham told students to select the paper and flowers that they initially gravitated toward and that would look nice when light shined through the glass.

At the end, students wrote a word that inspired them — a term, an idea, or a name — on the battery-powered candle.

Cradled in sand at the bottom of the jar, when the light was turned on, students were able to see their flowers illuminated and their chosen word through the glass.

“Our objectives for the student body are typically along these lines: To enhance our students' general well-being through therapeutic plant-related activities, to cultivate intrinsic motivation and create a foundation for the growth of new interests or skills; providing an outlet for stress and/ or anxieties, to provide a safe and supportive environment for all participants, to increase self-esteem and pride, and to allow a setting for introspective thought,” Girdham said.

Girdham works closely with Hillsdale’s Director of Health and Wellness and Clinical Counselor Brock Lutz.

“Over the years, we have had Angie lead various horticulture therapy activities,” Lutz said. “We have always received really positive feedback on the events and how they provide a way for people to learn how to be active,

outside, creative, and these various activities."

Junior Mary Ruth Oster works with Girdham and is a regular attendee of her plant therapy sessions. Oster said she is planning on opening a business in plant therapy and is a fellow in the Kehoe Fellowship for Entrepreneurial Excellence program to follow this passion.

“I went to plant therapy once my freshman year and meeting Angie and going out to the Haden Park greenhouse was such a peaceful little escape from normal campus life,” Oster said. “The sessions are meaningful because Angie is very honest about hardship and makes the session a place to relax and be your authentic self.”

Upcoming sessions will be held at 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on Saturdays on the following dates: April 12, 15, and May 3. Interested students can sign up via the SAB newsletter or email Girdham at agirdham@hillsdale.edu.

Spencer Chretien is the the associate director of Project 2025. Courtesy | Hillsdale College

Opinions

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Editor at ehawkins@hillsdale.edu before Saturday at 3 p.m.

Holy Week tends to fall in the middle of Hillsdale’s busiest academic season, but students should take time to prayerfully participate in the week’s events in preparation for Easter.

Easter is the most important feast on the Christian calendar, celebrating the central foundation of the faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is important, then, to prepare for it properly, and attend -

The Collegian Weekly

The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff

Attend Holy Week services

ing Holy Week services is a great way to do just that. Though this part of the semester is riddled with exams and paper deadlines, time spent participating in and reflecting on these holy days is good for the soul.

There are many ways to participate in Holy Week in Hillsdale. At St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, there will be a Mass at 7 p.m. on Holy Thursday, followed by adoration until mid -

night. On Good Friday, the church will have a 3 p.m. service as well as stations of the cross at 7 p.m., which is a great way to reflect on the Passion of Christ. Holy Saturday at 9 p.m. is the Easter Vigil mass at which adults who have prepared for the past few months to enter the church will receive the sacraments for the first time.

At College Baptist, there will be a Maundy Thursday

service at 7 p.m. as well as a 5:30 p.m. Good Friday Service. On Easter Sunday, the church will have a sunrise service at 6:45 a.m. at Owen Park on Baw Beese Lake. Later, at 10:45 a.m., there will be a worship service at College Baptist. Your studies can wait for you to spend time with Christ in preparation for His resurrection.

Israeli factions should come together and compromise for judicial reform

By Josh Hypes

Israeli Prime Minis -

ter Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the plug on his judicial reform after months of rampant protests and union strikes, as well as rebellion from within his coalition government.

Netanyahu will need to negotiate and compromise with opposition parties if he wants to keep the country’s unelected judiciary accountable.

Netanyahu’s contentious relationship with the judiciary has complicated the odds of a successful compromise with opposition parties. The prime minister faces an ongoing criminal trial relating to corruption charges, which taints the public’s perception of the sincerity of his conviction toward meaningfully changing the judiciary system. To secure change, he will need to make the best case to check judicial overgrowth.

Reform is needed to return popular control over the appointments process and constitutionalize the Israeli Supreme Court’s jurisdiction.

Part of the issue is that Israel does not have a written constitution like America, which has left several areas of ambiguity, especially in its legal system. Courts in Israel base their decisions on British Common Law, evolving case law and judicial precedent, and the country’s basic laws, which give quasi-constitutional powers to the branches of the government.

Under this system, the elected government does not appoint judges. Instead, a nine person committee unilaterally de -

cides all judicial appointments. This committee is made up of three current supreme court justices, two members of the Israeli Bar Association, the justice minister, another minister from the government, and two members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. For all courts, except for the Supreme Court, the committee can approve applicants by a simple majority. For potential Supreme Court nominations, the committee must approve the nomination

with a super majority of seven votes, if all members are present.

Not only is this system of appointment undemocratic, if the Supreme Court Justices vote as a block they can veto any nomination that might dissent with the current ideological makeup of the court. Netanyahu and his allies have pointed out these inconsistencies as evidence of entrenched minority rule insulating itself from the popular will. The Prime Minister’s

reforms aimed to expand the judicial selection committee from nine members to eleven and increase the representation of elected members of the Knesset so that they form a majority on the committee.

Another issue with the Israeli legal system is that courts make no distinction between legal, which includes criminal and civil proceedings, and policy questions on military directives or political appointments. Additionally, parties can bring suits

against the government or other groups without standing -- or a direct personal stake in the outcome. Israel’s Supreme Court has stepped in to fill this ambiguity by basing its decisions on whatever it determines is a “reasonable” argument.

This creates odd legal situations where the Supreme Court blocked Netanyahu from closing the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Jerusalem because parliamentary elections were

scheduled months away in 1999. Meanwhile, in 2022, the court allowed Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s government to yield parts of Israel’s territorial waters to Lebanon five days before an election. Netanyahu’s judicial reform attempted to resolve these inconsistencies by allowing Parliament to overrule the Supreme Court’s decrees by a simple majority vote, which the public viewed as a power grab.

Part of the issue is that while the proposed reform would control the effects of a politicized judiciary, it fails to hit at the fundamental issue at play. To resolve this ambiguity within the Israeli legal framework, Israel needs legislation that lays out the clear boundaries of the court’s jurisdiction when answering the legal and policy questions. One possible solution is establishing a written constitution. If Netanyahu desires reform, a written constitution could build the consent in the Knesset needed to establish the clear legal limits of each political institution while enshrining the political values of a growing multicultural jewish society. That way the different political factions in the country could come together, rather than attempting to ram through unilateral change through a slim majority.

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

The dangers of ‘the pill’ outweigh the benefits

By Caroline Kurt

Many a young woman sits in her doctor’s office and hears the words, “Have you considered birth control?” Young women should look beyond conventional medical wisdom, weigh the costs of hormonal contraception, and research alternative options.

Doctors are quick to prescribe hormonal contraception, commonly referred to as “the pill,” for a wide range of reasons other than birth control. Many women use the pill to regulate their cycles, alleviate pain during their cycle, or reduce acne. However, oral contraception has become a band-aid solution for a wide range of women’s health issues.

Rather than treating the underlying condition, medical providers take the easy way out. The pill effective -

ly shuts down a woman’s menstrual cycle. This may sound convenient, but the loss of this cycle negatively impacts a woman’s health, both in the short term and over the course of her life.

Organizations that sell oral contraception but bill themselves as neutral health authorities, like Planned Parenthood, downplay the serious complications birth control may cause. Hailey Bieber, 25, made news last April for attributing the ministroke she suffered to an underlying heart condition, which had been worsened by oral contraception. She cautioned followers to talk to their doctor about possible issues before going on the pill. Many women like Hailey go on the birth control pill without knowing about preexisting health conditions they have

that could lead to serious complications.

Studies show that strokes, blood clots, mood swings, significant weight gain, and migraines are all potential effects of being

on the pill. According to a 2016 Jama Psychiatry study, women on the combined oral contraceptive pill – the most common form of the pill – are 23% more likely to be clinically depressed. A 2016 study by the University of Copenhagen found teenagers on the combined pill were 80% more likely to be prescribed antidepressants. Alarmingly, rising research suggests a tie between the pill and cancer risk. The artificially-made hormones in oral contraception may boost one’s likelihood of developing female-specific cancers. According to a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, women with a family history of breast cancer who take the pill may increase their risk of breast cancer by more than 10 times.

For all of this risk, birth control cannot claim to be totally reliable. Even Planned Parenthood acknowledges that the pill is only 93% effective against preventing pregnancy, meaning 7 out of 100 women on the pill get pregnant every year. For women who wish to avoid motherhood, the only harmless and completely effective method remains abstinence during their fertile period.

The birth control pill isn’t necessary for women who do want to avoid pregnancy. Scientific advancement in the last 50 years has made natural family planning methods, like the Creighton Model, far more reliable than both the outdated rhythm method and artificial birth control. Women can track various markers of fertility to calculate with great precision

when their fertile window- typically only about eight days per month- falls. By abstaining during that window, they can avoid pregnancy without the health risks of the birth control pill.

Despite its overwhelmingly positive reputation in the media, the birth control pill has a real cost, no matter the intention of the woman who takes it. We ought to raise awareness of the risks of contraception, and discuss a more holistic and pro-woman approach to women’s health and family planning. Young women and men both deserve the truth about this matter.

Caroline Kurt is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

2023 Israeli anti-judicial reform protests. Courtesy | WikiMedia Commons

“Studies show that strokes, blood clots, mood swings, significant weight gain, and migraines are all potential effects of being on the pill”

By Josh Barker

Former President Bill Clinton declared twice in his 1996 State of the Union address that “the era of big government is over.” The last 25 years have shown that was far from the truth.

According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, federal spending as a percentage of GDP has gone from 18% in 2000 to 31% by 2020. Even more concerning, in 2000, the federal government ran a budget surplus of $236 billion—that is, more tax money coming in than being spent. Today, our annual deficits regularly exceed $1 trillion, reaching an all-time high of $3.1 trillion during former President Donald Trump’s final year in office. Now, the total amount of money our federal government owes is more than the entire economic output of the nation. The cause is clear: it is not the debt ceiling, which will soon be debated, but rather our out-of-control spending and appropriations unmatched by tax increases.

To be concerned about government spending is not right-wing libertarian fanaticism. President Joe Biden’s Treasury Department reports that “current policy is not sustainable and must ultimately change.” Just last week, the Biden Social Security Administration announced that its trust fund will be completely drained a year earlier than expected by 2034. Once that happens, social security benefits will either face dramatic cuts or start coming out of the federal government’s general fund.

Even a great friend of the national debt, Alexander Hamilton, said that “the creation of debt

C.S. Lewis should join the Liberty Walk

By Isabella Helms

Designed to commemorate the moral visionaries who transformed the hearts and minds of others, Hillsdale’s Liberty Walk has yet to honor a religious figure in its bronze collection of historical statues.

C.S. Lewis remains the foremost Christian apologist of the 20th century to defend faith and freedom. Whether you first encountered C.S. Lewis’ work as a child in the lands of Narnia, a religious skeptic on a spiritual journey, or a Christian interested in developing a more robust understanding of the faith,

his journey from atheism to theism. Lewis’s doubts about the divinity of Jesus Christ diminished a year later when he felt a sense of “relief and weightlessness” prompting his conversion to Christianity.

Lewis’ faith was the catalyst for his reputation as a beloved literary scholar, Christian apologist, and children’s book author. After his conversion, Lewis wrote more than 30 books on the Christian faith alone.

should always be accompanied with the means of extinguishment.” Today, there is no means for extinguishment in sight.

How we got to our present situation is best highlighted by Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner in their 1977 book “Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes.” They write that “debt financing reduces the perceived price of publicly provided goods and services. In response, citizens-taxpayers increase their demands for such goods and services. Preferred budget levels will be higher, and these preferences will be sensed by politicians and translated into political outcomes.”

we need more funding for Medicare. Fifty-three percent want more funding for border security. The issue is that people do not anticipate their taxes will have to rise if they want to pay for these things. Why would they? Spending has increased, while tax rates have decreased in recent decades.

Many were strongly critical when Republicans pondered changes to Social Security and Medicare. Yet, the fact remains that both programs have shortfalls adding up to more than $100 trillion over the next 30 years and face insolvency within the next decade.

Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow and economist Brian Riedl crunches these numbers and has found that not a single tax proposal, even the radical tax hikes proposed by Democrats, would get us close to balancing social security and Medicare. He wrote in February that the suggestion “that full benefits can be paid without raising taxes for 98 percent of families has no basis in mathematical reality.”

gress has already budgeted. Policy analysts on both sides of the aisle admit the massive problem if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. We simply do not have enough funds to pay for everything. What will we do if we cannot borrow? It is the budget that must be made reasonable.

Unless we increase revenue, the debt will only increase. It’s not possible to balance the budget without raising taxes on most Americans, especially if Medicare and Social Security benefits remain constant. Non-partisan think tank, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, correctly notes that it is unlikely we will be able to balance the budget within 10 years. Nonetheless, we must work to at least reduce deficits and close the gap as much as possible.

Not only did Lewis devote himself to the defense and exposition of Christianity, but he did so in a way that inspired the imagination of man for years to come. To this day, Lewis is revered as a religious figure whose writings continue to transcend denominational divide. He has both impacted Catholic and Protestant Christians alike, young children, and stubborn atheists through his books on love and Christianity, distant planets and a magical wardrobe.

In “The Problem of Pain,” Lewis figures the primary conviction which motivated him to defend the Christian faith. According to Lewis, “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”

At a college that strives to maintain “by precept and example the immemorial teachings and practices of the Christian faith,” C.S. Lewis ought to be added to the Liberty Walk for his life’s embodiment of Christian virtue.

In a 1944 paper for Oxford Socratic Club, Lewis wrote: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Through his many books, BBC radio broadcasts, and teachings at Oxford and Cambridge universities, Lewis hoped to free those who had not yet experienced the joys of love.

By giving readers a vision of the joy set before them and an image of things to come, Lewis played a profound role in focusing readers’ minds on something other than themselves, a story greater than their own.

None of this would matter much if it weren’t for Narnia. In a land where beavers speak and a lion rules, readers are drawn to a mythical story which will help them accept the supernatural magic of the Incarnation.

Because people are not feeling the cost of all the government is providing, they keep demanding more.

This phenomenon is reflected in a March 2023 Associated Press poll.

While 60% of respondents said the government spends too much, when it came to specific line items, people thought the government needed to spend more. More than 62% of respondents said that the government should spend more on education, health care, and social security. Fifty-eight percent said

The mere program deficits can only be addressed with the largest tax hike since World War II, Riedl said, and that does not account for the rest of government spending.

The old talking points about Laffer Curve—the theory popularized in the 1980s that tax cuts could increase revenues—are simply not going to cut it. There is a point where tax cuts result in decreased revenue.

As we are currently headed for a debt ceiling debate, the fundamental issue of budgetary appropriations is obscured. The debt ceiling asks whether we will fund what Con -

The era of big tax cuts is over… or at least it should be. We are headed for a crisis unless action is taken. We are approaching the end of what Riedl has branded the era of “free lunch economics.” Americans are in for a rude awakening either of extraordinary tax increases and the disappearance of their beloved entitlement programs or the economic calamity of a government unable to pay its bills at all—or choosing hyperinflation over defaulting on loans. Stop ignoring the problem. We must get serious about reforming both tax and spending like our livelihoods depend upon it…because they very well might.

Josh Barker is a senior studying politics. He is a George Washington fellow.

In many ways, Lewis’ traumatizing life experiences should have led him to despair. As a child, he suffered the death of his mother only to endure the nightmares of boarding school and the burden of a strained relationship with his father. Later, when he served in the First World War, he saw the horrors of the battlefield and was badly wounded.

Forged in an unhappy childhood, Lewis’s atheism was fueled by earthly experiences which tried to rob him of his hope. If it weren’t for his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis would never have come to the conclusion that “Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.”

In 1933, Lewis had a conversation with Tolkien and Hugo Dyson which marked a turning point in

The only man to take a homeric approach to apologetics, Lewis gave his readers a mythology before introducing the true myth of Christianity. In order to develop his audience’s moral imagination, Lewis had readers encounter the real and concrete in stories like “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Out of The Silent Planet” before moving to the more abstract narrative arches of “The Abolition of Man” or “The Problem of Pain.”

Lewis helped readers understand that the life of the redeemed hero was better than the life of the vanquished villain, and then he presented them with the life of Christ and the harrowing of Hades.

Motivated by the effectiveness of storytelling and the power of the imagination, Lewis married the worlds of truth and fantasy in such a way that developed readers’ hearts and minds.

If Lewis is featured in Hillsdale’s Liberty Walk, he will not only represent the college’s preservation of the Western Theological Tradition, but he will also honor all denominations on campus with his presence.

Isabella Helms is a sophomore studying English and journalism.

Deposit insurance creates more bank failure than it prevents

By Catherine Maxwell

The Federal Reserve’s mixed messages following the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have left the United States financial sector on edge. After admitting that raising deposit insurance might be a good idea, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen quickly backtracked to assure Americans that the Treasury Department is not considering blanket deposit insurance. Despite these promises, Americans should view any attempt to raise deposit insurance as a horrible idea.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures the majority of deposits across the banking system up to $250,000. If a bank fails, the FDIC guarantees those deposits, but anything over that amount is lost. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Over the years, critics of the FDIC have argued that deposit insurance can create more bank failures than it prevents.

Researchers at the American Institute for Economic Research noted that while deposit insurance theoretically safeguards against bank runs, it also creates a moral hazard problem in banks, which is far more dangerous.

“Moral hazard is a situation in which one party gets involved in a risky event knowing that it is protected against the risk and the other party will incur the cost,” according to Economic Times. It’s a common problem for insurance companies because an insured party will behave in a riskier manner if they know they are protected against the cost.

In the same way, researchers have noticed that increased deposit insurance leads to increased

bank fragility. Banks are more likely to make risky investments with depositors’ money, and depositors are less likely to weigh banks based on safety if they know they’ll get their money back regardless of the outcome. The same researchers also argued that models promoting the benefits of deposit insurance are purely theoretical, and point to studies showing how countries with increased deposit insurance have a higher risk for banking crises. They also link high deposit insurance to both the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and the 2008 financial crisis.

Silicon Valley Bank failed for various reasons, but commentators note two significant ones: investments losing value and depositors hastily withdrawing funds. In theory, FDIC insurance

would have decreased the likelihood of a bank run––except 85% of accounts at SVB were uninsured because they exceeded $250,000.

Would more deposit insurance have made a difference? In the long run, no. The FDIC promised to insure all accounts at SVB, regardless of how much money depositors had. More deposit insurance could have also encouraged SVB to make even riskier investments, which was already a problem for the bank.

Different factors caused Signature Bank’s failure, the main one being the fear of contagion in the banking sector. Regulators closed the bank to prevent further panic and bank runs. However, the FDIC promised to ensure those deposits as well, even if they exceeded the limit. These bank failures, combined with previ -

ous research on deposit insurance in general, have raised troubling questions in the financial sector. Even though Yellen won’t officially commit to blanket deposit insurance, the FDIC’s recent actions leave the door open for future guarantees while also creating more chaos.

If depositors assume that the FDIC will insure all deposits from now on––whether they admit it or not––they will deposit money more haphazardly. Banks will be more likely to act in a risky manner.

If the FDIC is not providing de facto deposit insurance, how will it determine which banks to cover and which ones to let fail? Silicon Valley Bank was the 16th largest bank in the U.S. and Signature Bank was the 19th largest. Neither was considered “too big to fail,” a term that refers to businesses (often banks) that are so

ingrained in the economy that their failure would be disastrous.

Will the FDIC now provide blanket insurance for all regional banks or only some? How will it determine which banks to cover? The answers could determine the future risk of America’s financial sector.

No matter what the Treasury Department decides, the U.S. banking system is continuing toward fragility. If Yellen and the FDIC truly want to stabilize the economy, they should not provide banks any more deposit insurance than they already have.

Catherine Maxwell is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

The era of big tax cuts should be over

“Because people are not feeling the cost of all the government is providing, they keep demanding more”

City News

Council plans library board, budget vote

Josh

Hypes

Political Correspondent

The Hillsdale City Council will vote on an amendment to change the makeup of the city’s library board, as well as consider the city’s annual budget, on May 1.

The proposed amendment to the city ordinance, if passed, would remove a requirement for a member of the Hillsdale Community Schools Board of Education to serve on the library board. The council will also consider the proposed city budget for fiscal year 2023-24, which boasts a surplus of nearly $28,000.

Councilman Joshua Paladino ’18 of Ward 4 introduced the amendment on March 8, during a meeting where the council rejected the nomination of school board member Daniel LaRue to the Hillsdale Community Library board. Mayor Adam Stockford said during an April 3 council meeting the school board would not nominate another of its members for the position.

Stockford said the council had three options. It could amend the city ordinance so the council can appoint someone to the library board, reconsider LaRue’s appointment, or push the school board to reconsider its plan to nominate another board member.

Ward 3 Councilman

Bruce Sharp called on Paladino to resign from his library board position during the council meeting on April 3.

“Board members are to promote the library, but what he said at the America First meeting back in the fall was ‘We don’t need a library at all if we don’t want to. We don’t have to have books if we don’t want to,’” Sharp said.

Sharp was paraphrasing a quote from Paladino, who denied wanting to close the library.

“The Hillsdale County Democrats distorted my statement, both by willfully altering the grammar and by removing it from its context,” Paladino wrote in an email to the Collegian. “They snipped a 10-second clip and then attributed views to me that I was explicitly rejecting.” Paladino said he was describing the libertarian views of his opponent, Penny Swan, in the 2022 city council election.

“I was noting the hypocrisy,” Paladino said. “She maintained that the library must keep a selection of sexual and partisan books in the children’s section.”

Paladino said his larger point was that the library should maintain a selection of books based on their literary merit.

Sharp said he would take Paladino’s seat on the library board if it became available.

Ward 1 Councilman Greg Stuchell said the council needs to consider Paladino’s motion, putting personal disputes aside.

“I think this council needs to be focused on the merits of the amendment and not attacks on Mr. Paladino,” Stuchell said. “The attacks on Mr. Paladino are overboard. Mr. Sharp, you are the last person I would vote for on that library board because this is not a political statement, and you're the only council member here who has told everyone what your political party is.”

Mayor refuses to remove Paladino from library board

By Moira Gleason Collegian Reporter

Mayor Adam Stockford rejected a petition to remove Councilman Joshua Paladino ’18 from the library board and denied rumors that the Hillsdale Community Library may be closing in a series of Facebook posts last month.

A Change.org petition has gotten more than 270 signatures calling for the removal of Paladino from the library board, where he serves as secretary. An edited video of Paladino saying that he wanted to close the community library had been circulating, according to Stockford.

Stockford said in a March 9 Facebook post that he has no plans to remove Paladino from the library board and said a petition will have no effect on that decision.

“I will not bring forward a vote to remove Josh from the library board under any circumstance, other than for the conviction of crime related to his service on that board,” he said. “I will not do it.”

He said the council is the only one who can remove Paladino from the board, and the only way to do so would be for the mayor to propose a “reverse appointment.” Stockford said he has made it a rule not to remove board members for expressing their opinions.

“I don’t want our deliberations and committees to become so cowardly as to fear that there’s always going to be some repercussions for

expressing an opinion a good amount of people don’t agree with,” Stockford said.

According to Stockford, much of the support for the petition came from people who thought Paladino wanted to close the Hillsdale Community Library after a video was posted on social media of Paladino saying, “We don’t even have to have a library.”

Paladino clarified in an email that he did not say he wanted to close the library and that he was referencing his former city council opponent Penny Swan.

“I mentioned that my opponent had accused me of wanting to close the library, when I had simply proposed that we stop funding sexual propaganda and that we focus resources on essentials for literacy and education,” Paladino said. “I noted that she called herself a libertarian and that libertarians generally oppose public funding for education. Several bad actors then edited and circulated a video of my comments to make it sound like I wanted to close the public library.”

Stockford denied all rumors that the library may be closing.

“There is absolutely no discussion, or chance, that the community library will or would be closed,” Stockford said in a Facebook post on March 23.

Paladino sparked a controversy last year when he proposed a policy that would prevent sexually explicit material from entering the children’s section of the library, and he

has recently been under fire for proposing to remove the requirement that a school board member should sit on the library board.

The Hillsdale County Democrats, in a March 23 Facebook post, called for the community to email Stockford requesting to replace Paladino on the library board with Councilman Bruce Sharp.

Hillsdale County Democrats Chair Jeff Cooley said he thinks Paladino’s statements regarding the library have been harmful to the community.

mayor should remove Paladino.

“As mayor, Mr. Stockford is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring board appointments are fulfilling their duties in the best interest of the community,” Cooley said. “I believe that it would be in the best interest of the city and the library if Mr. Paladino was no longer on the board.”

Stockford said that people on both sides of the issue have been reacting to false information.

“I want everybody to take a step back and have a breather and realize that a lot of things that are being said are either outright lies or they’re misconstrued or the results of editing,” Stockford said.

council meetings,” Hill said. “Controversy can bring people out and make them aware of situations, but it can also divide people. I think people are pretty passionate on both sides.”

Stockford said that he will not try to stop city council members from expressing their opinions as the council continues to have discussions about the function and organization of government in the community.

“Mr. Paladino has repeatedly made statements that not only have sown division in the community but also appear to be in direct violation of his oath of office,” Cooley said. “Despite having ample time to either clarify or retract his harmful statements, Mr. Paladino has chosen not to, instead doubling down on them.”

Cooley disagreed with Stockford’s policy of not removing committee members, and said the

Jonesville plans to convert Klein Tools building into stores, apartments

According to Stockford, there is currently one open challenge in front of the library board to prevent children from checking out a particular book. As far as the library board proposal, a public hearing will be held May 1 to decide if the requirement for a school board member to sit on the library board will be removed.

“There is no discussion regarding banning books, burning books, or the like,” Stockford said.

Faith Hill, the acting president of the Hillsdale Community Library board of trustees, said the events of the past year have caused division in the community.

“I think we can see that based on the number of people coming to library board meetings and city

“I don’t think that Councilman Paladino is going to change his views that offend so many people,” Stockford said. “I think he’s committed to them and he’s committed to having those sorts of conversations. I’m not opposed to having those sorts of conversations. And I’m not going to muzzle a city council member, and I’m not going to punish a city council member for expressing views.”

Stockford said that he hopes the public controversy will die down as misunderstandings are corrected.

“I would urge the public not to respond to this emotionally,” Stockford said. “Not to call people who want to have discussions about the content of our library fascists or Nazis. And I would urge people not to call those who are concerned with the First Amendment, not to call them pedophiles. I just wish everybody would sit down, be grown-ups, and talk about this.”

Girl sets world record for largest feet in age group

By Olivia Hajicek Assistant Editor

A fourth grader from Jonesville has set the world record for the largest foot for a seven-to-nine-year old girl. Her shoe size at the time she set the record was 10.5.

Ruby Labuschewsky, who has since turned 10, received the recognition in January from the organization Kids World Records.

By Sarah Katherine Sisk Collegian Reporter

The City of Jonesville is almost done negotiating a purchase and development agreement with DH Roberts Construction to convert the vacant Klein Tools building into retail stores and apartments.

The city hopes to finish the agreement within the next two months, but the reconstruction is expected to take several years, according to Jonesville City Manager Jeffrey Gray. He said the project is estimated to cost $7 million.

“Project timing will depend on the market, but is anticipated between three and six years. The retail development would be the first phase, followed by the apartments,” he said.

Gray said the city is looking to bring more retail and residential real estate to the area.

“The City Council and Downtown Development Authority have a goal of bringing the building into productive use and adding more tax base to the downtown,” Gray said.

According to Gray, the redevelopment plan will preserve the industrial look of the retail portion of the building while adding

modern residential spaces.

“DH Roberts

Construction plans to keep the front third of the building that is closest to Chicago Street and whitebox it for tenants that would occupy it for retail, food service, etc.,” Gray said. “The back part of the building would be demolished and market-rate two and three-bedroom apartments would be built there. The plan would bring complementary retail and much-needed housing to the downtown. It is an ideal redevelopment.”

Whiteboxing the spaces, a stage of construction including exterior walls, windows, doors, roofing, and basic electrical wiring, would allow tenants more freedom to customize the space with a contractor.

President of DH Roberts Construction Victor Face said that adding residential spaces will encourage economic growth in the city.

“We feel that living space will be a big factor in allowing the surrounding businesses to grow by allowing more employees to live close to work in Jonesville,” Face said.

According to the city’s request for proposals, the building was used by Vaco Products to manufacture

hand tools from 1945 to 1986. Klein Tools purchased the building in 1986 and continued the same production until 2008.

The building boasts many other historical uses before tool manufacturing.

According to the request, the parcel which now includes the Klein building had many other uses dating back to 1884, including the Jonesville Woolen Mill, a steam printing business, and a hay rack factory.

The city’s request for proposals also said that the Klein building, which overlooks the St. Joseph River, has many factors that make it an ideal focus for the economic stimulation of the city. It is approximately 68,500 square feet, and has frontage on Chicago Street, making it a highly trafficked location in downtown, according to the request for proposals.

Gray said the development plans are still subject to change with market conditions, but the city is eager to start work.

“The city is very excited to be working with DH Roberts Construction in Jonesville to bring the building back to life,” Gray said.

Ruby’s mom, Hanna Labuschewsky, said she decided to see if she could find the world record on Google.

“We couldn’t find anything clear for 9-yearolds, but I did see one for 10-year-olds, which was 10.5,” Hanna said. “We had to submit pictures of her feet next to a tape measure at several different angles.”

Hanna said it took several weeks for Ruby’s record to be approved. Ruby holds the Kids World Record as of Jan. 8.

“I keep reminding her that haters are her biggest fans,” Hanna said.

Ruby said her friends really didn’t really care when they found out she had a world record, but she said she was excited.

While big feet run in her family, Ruby said she is the only one with a world record.

Hanna said both she and Ruby wear size 11 shoes, while Ruby’s dad wears size 13.

“She wears my shoes often,” Hanna said.

“I only wore them like twice!” Ruby said.

Hanna said she and her daughter definitely have different styles.

Outside of school, Ruby said she enjoys drawing and volleyball. Her mom added that Ruby admires actress Jenna Ortega.

“Once it was approved, she got the certificate and the medal,” Hanna said.

Ruby said while people don’t tease her much, they sometimes notice the media attention her world record has gotten.

“They’ll be like, ‘Oh, I saw you on the news,’” Ruby said. “One time I was in the hall and someone just screamed ‘Bigfoot!’”

“She is just really hoping out of all of this — her little mini celebrity status here — Jenna Ortega reaches out,” Hanna said.

Since her world record, Ruby turned 10 years old and now wears size 11 shoes, and Hanna submitted for the world record in the 10-12 age category. She said they are still waiting to hear back.

“I will not bring forward a vote to remove Josh from the library board under any circumstance.”

Ruby Labuschewsky holding her award. Courtesy | Hanna Labuschewsky

The Klein Tools land lies along Chicago Street in downtown Jonesville. Courtesy | City of Jonesville

“I keep reminding her that her haters are her biggest fans.”

Historical Society visits Dawn Theater for restoration tour

By Olivia Hajicek Assistant Editor

Members of the Hillsdale County Historical Society visited the Dawn Theater on April 1 to review the results of restoration efforts.

Mary Wolfram, the chair of the theater’s governance board, said it was a major construction project.

“We had to replace the roof. We had to get all new electrical. So we had to get bids on all of that,” Wolfram said. “Then we went through a two-year process where it happened. It was very complicated.”

Restorations ranged from structural repairs that made the building sound, to stenciled designs that recreated the original patterns in new colors. The theater is restoring its rare 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ, which provided music and sound effects for silent movies. It is one of only about a dozen still unaltered from their original factory condition. After the organ’s restoration in Chicago, it will be reinstalled in the Dawn Theater.

During renovations, artifacts of the theater’s history were discovered and put on display for the tour, including film equipment, tickets, newspaper clippings, and candy boxes. Four old movie posters were also discovered, and the theater’s operations manager, Jack

Coker ’22, had removed them from the basement walls. Coker said people had put them there for insulation.

“‘Mary Moves In’ — that’s the oldest one,” Coker said. “That’s from 1919. It is very early. That poster does not exist anywhere. I’ve asked some professionals and people in the industry and they said that it is lost media

and this is the first one they’ve ever seen.” Friends of the Dawn Theater is raising money to restore the posters. Several other posters were too fragile to remove or remained only in unidentifiable fragments.

A few guests went up to the projection room, which contains old projection equipment, some of which is

in working condition. Coker said the room was made entirely of concrete because the nitrate film used in the theater’s early days could easily catch fire, even from the heat of the projector light.

“It’s been known to just combust when it gets hot,” Coker said. “If you have old films in the attic, it gets up to 80 degrees, they’ll

Hillsdale Brewing hosts John Louis Good concert

By Maggie Wackenhut Collegian Reporter

The Hillsdale Brewing Company hosted musician John Louis Good for a solo show on April 1.

The Saturday night act included Good and his bassist Dan “Dizzo” Martell. The artists filled the restaurant with both original and cover songs with what the singer describes as a “Rockabilly, American-style feel.”

The event, which ran from 7-10 p.m., attracted locals, Brewing Company staff, and several Hillsdale College students.

“I'm not usually a rocktype music fan, but I really enjoyed this band and loved getting the exposure to a different sort of genre,” junior Avery Noel said. “I'd absolutely come back for a second performance.”

Good said he also enjoyed performing at Hillsdale Brewing Company and appreciated the space they

offered for a venue.

“Performing at Hillsdale Brewing Company is always a blast, and the crowds grow each time I come back.

I've made a few fans that are always there to see me, which is a great feeling,” he said. “I love the history of the building Hillsdale Brewing Company is in, and I appreciate that they've made it their own and kept its past alive.”

Good, from Jackson, has been performing as a soloist since 2012 and formed his band, The Rose City Troubadours, in 2015. Good later said the band performs popular music that covers the 20th century and draws on some of his favorite artists, including Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, Carl Perkins, and Hank Williams.

Good said he loves to perform solo as well as with different lineups of members of the band throughout Michigan, Indiana, and

Ohio at breweries, wineries, festivals, coffee shops, and private events.

The full band consists of six members including guitars, bass, harmonica, drums and a backing vocalist. The Rose City Troubadours' music can be streamed on all platforms including Apple

Music, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube Music. They have released in total three EPs and a single, for which there is a video that can be viewed on YouTube. Noel said after the show that he would definitely be checking out more of Good's music on Spotify.

Fink, Bellino resist Democratic majority

By Micah Hart Circulation Manager

Republican state legislators are resisting efforts by the Democratic majorities in the Michigan House and Senate to pass bills aimed at guns, gender identity, and abortion.

For the first time in the last 40 years, Democrats control the entire state legislature. State Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale, and state Sen. Joseph Bellino, R-Monroe, are pushing back.

With the Michigan State University shooting this year and the Oxford High School shooting last year, state Democrats have made restricting gun access a priority. Democrats penned an “11-bill gun safety package,” according to AP News.

Bellino said the legislation’s reach is concerning in regard to what it could do to other aspects of life.

“What industry is safe when they want to attack gun manufacturers because they manufacture guns for people like me that are responsible gun owners?”

Bellino said in an interview on WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.

Fink argued the problem

is not responsible gun owners, but the opposite.

“The overall thrust of the legislation that’s been introduced and passed out of either the House or Senate to this point does seem to me incongruent with the problem of gun violence,”

Fink said, “which is, of course, driven by illegal use of firearms and oftentimes firearms that are already in hands that are supposedly not allowed to have them.”

Bellino said he thinks the growing issue of mental health needs to be addressed in connection to gun violence.

“We have a serious problem,” Bellino said. “We are putting tons of money toward it, but it is not working.”

According to Bellino, the legislation put forth by Democrats is not going to solve the root of the problem.

“When they realize in six years that none of these bills worked because you can’t legislate hate and you can’t legislate mental illness, they are going to come back with more bills, and more bills, and more bills,” Bellino said.

Other counties share Fink and Bellino’s opposition to the new gun-control bills.

“Second

Amendment Sanctuary” resolutions, which offer protective measures against gun-control legislation, according to Bridge Michigan.

State Democrats also moved to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act through Senate Bill 4. According to a press release from Fink’s office, this extended the state’s anti-discrimination law to cover gender identity and sexual orientation. The press release said Michigan is the first state to approve this legislation.

Fink and other House Republicans pushed for changes to the bill, such as an amendment that would have grouped the civil rights expansion with the recent Michigan Religious Freedom Restoration Act, according to a press release.

Democrats voted against the amendment, and Fink said this harmed religious freedom.

“We should interpret it to mean that proponents of the legislation will also be proponents of enforcing it in such a way that puts religious groups into conflict with the law,” Fink said.

“Some religious groups, not all.”

The state’s abortion rights are expanding after

just burn. They’re insanely flammable.”

After beginning its history as a parking garage, the Dawn Theater opened in 1919 as a house for silent movies. Vaudeville performances stopped with the advent of sound movies, but the theater continued until 1996. Two years later, new owners converted it into a nightclub called The Roxy.

It was sold again in 2008, re-opened as an event venue, and closed in 2015.

The City of Hillsdale’s Tax Increment Finance Authority, which seeks to preserve Hillsdale’s historic downtown, bought the theater in 2016 and began funding the building’s renovation through a public-private partnership. Construction reached completion in 2021, followed by a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Currently, the Dawn Theater serves as a space for both private gatherings and community events.

Connie Sexton, who serves on the board of the Friends of the Dawn Theater, said she hopes to bring movies back to the theater once they have raised enough money for the necessary equipment. She said they could do Movie Mondays or events for kids in the community.

“There’s no limit to what we can do once we get all that set up,” Sexton said.

Wolfram said the theater is an important part of the community.

“Lots of people that are still alive remember going to the Dawn Theater and seeing their first movie, or they remember going on their first date there,” Wolfram said. “It’s been a part of Hillsdale’s history for the last 100 years.”

Walberg’s parental rights bill passes US House

By Joshua Mistry Collegian Freelancer

A bill promoting educational transparency, sponsored by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., passed the U.S. House of Representatives as a part of the Parental Bill of Rights March 24.

The PROTECT Kids Act will require schools that receive Department of Education funding to gain parental consent before changing a child’s pronouns, gender markers, or preferred name on a school form, according to a press release from Walberg’s office.

The bill also seeks to give parents access to school budgets and information about school violence, to protect childrens’ privacy. It’s part of the Parent’s Bill of Rights, a larger legislative package that seeks to ensure parents are provided with more information about their children’s education.

Walberg said. “Across the country, we’ve seen reports of schools attempting to conceal information on children from their own parents.”

According to Walberg, this encouraged parents to become more active in their childrens’ education.

“In other cases, parents witnessed concerning content or behavior, leading to an effort to increase parental involvement,” Walberg said. “Stemming from these concerns and effort, House Republicans promised to increase transparency and help rebuild the relationship between schools and parents.”

Five House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mike Lawler of New York, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

Proposal 3 codified the right to abortion in the state constitution. Bellino said he thinks organizations such as Helping Hands Pregnancy Resource Center in Hillsdale are under attack by the recent measures.

“They want to shut these down or they want to make them perform abortions,” Bellino said.

Bellino, however, expressed his support for these centers by putting forth his own legislation that would protect them.

“Bellino’s bill would prohibit certain state and local governmental entities from requiring pregnancy resource centers to offer abortion services or provide a referral for abortion services,” the Michigan Senate Republicans website said.

Fink and Bellino both remain optimistic.

“I always have hope. The pro-life cause is not done,” Bellino said.

Fink said the beauty of politics is that policies can change.

“The nature of politics is that a decision can only last as long as the people support it,” Fink said.

“My colleagues and I are

committed to ensuring that parents always have a seat at the table when it comes to their child’s upbringing and education,” Walberg said in the release. “Today, we kept a key promise made in the Commitment to America by passing the Parents Bill of Rights.”

The bill, Walberg said in the release, would protect parental rights by ensuring schools don’t hide information, especially about gender transitions, from parents.

The online schooling brought on by the pandemic exacerbated long-standing educational issues for many conservative parents, Walberg said to The Collegian.

“One silver lining was the transparency it brought, allowing parents unparalleled access to what exactly is happening in their child’s classroom,”

In an opinion piece for The Washington Times, Buck outlined some criticisms of the Parental Bill of Rights Act.

“While seemingly reinforcing parents’ rights, it undermines the critical principle for conservatives: federalism, the bedrock of our liberty,” Buck said “The Constitution provides a limited list of federal powers. As conservatives have rightly pointed out for decades, education is not on that list.”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C, has introduced similar legislation in the Senate. “Polling suggests an overwhelming number of Americans support efforts like the PROTECT Kids Act,” Walberg said. “So it is my hope that the Senate listens to the voice of the people and allows a vote on the legislation.”

“My colleagues and I are committed to ensuring that parents always have a seat at the table.”

Good (right) and Martell (left) performing in Hillsdale Brewing Company on April 1. Courtesy | Facebook

Jack Coker ’22 giving a tour, pointing to pictures of the Dawn. Olivia Hajicek | Collegian

Chargers sweep matches against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers 7-0

By Isabella Helms Collegian Reporter

The Hillsdale women’s tennis team won its third consecutive match April 1, defeating host Kentucky Wesleyan 7-0.

Senior Sarah Hackman and junior Melanie Zampardo started the day with a 6-0 win against their opponents at No. 1 doubles. The No. 2 doubles pair, senior Canela Luna and freshman Megan Hackman, followed this up with a victory of their own, earning a 6-0 win as well to take the doubles point.

At No. 1 singles, Hackman finished 6-0, 6-0 winning her matches in straight sets. Zampardo did the same at No. 2 singles.

Senior Ellie Chawner secured a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles. Freshman Isabella Spinazze won 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 4 spot.

Spinazze’s match on Saturday was her first for the Chargers and sophomore Libby McGivern said that the team was impressed with her performance.

Even though there were some challenges leading up to the match, the Chargers remained focused, according to Luna.

“It was an interesting time since we had a tornado pass by 5 miles from the hotel the night before the match,” Luna said.

McGivern added that it was a great weekend for the team because they were

Softball

Chargers split games, Russell takes G-MAC award

By Olivia Pero Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale softball team split games against both Cedarville University and Walsh University, with sophomore pitcher Joni Russell being named G-MAC Pitcher of the Week.

The Chargers traveled to Cedarville March 30 and hosted Walsh April 2.

“All games were pretty close. We won the first one and lost the second one in both games,” head coach Kyle Gross said. “It was a little disappointing that we split with those teams, but we’re working on getting back on track this weekend.”

Russell earned her second G-MAC Pitcher of the Week title of the season and the fourth of her career after throwing during the two winning games.

“I am so grateful for all of the support I’ve received from my family, friends, teammates and coaches,” Russell said. “Every time I pitch, I do it for them.” Hillsdale won 2-0 in the first game against Cedarville, with Russell striking out eight

Men’s Tennis

able to rest up for their doubleheader the following weekend.

“Unfortunately, the Kentucky team did not have a full line up but we went anyway and brought our best tennis,” McGivern said. “Overall we had a great weekend as a team.”

Capitalizing on the opponent’s short-handed lineup, the Chargers were still able to maintain a competitive edge on the court, according to Luna.

“Because they only had four girls, we were able to spread out the lineup a bit and give some players rest,” Luna said. “Overall, I think we played very well, though, regardless of the competition.”

Including their latest win, Hillsdale’s overall record stands at 6-7 with a 3-1 record in the G-MAC. With crucial home matches looming, the team will need to maintain their winning streak to secure a spot in the upcoming G-MAC tournament. The Chargers will host Cedarville April 7 and Ashland April 8, both of whom are close behind in the standings.

“The Kentucky match was not a super close match,” Spinazze said, “but we showed up and took care of business. It was a long ride down there but we had good spirits and won in record time.”

Sports Feature

batters, giving up three hits, and letting a total of five base runners get on base throughout the game. The Chargers lost the second game 4-2, with junior pitcher Erin Kapteyn having two strikeouts and two walks in six innings.

With a second consecutive shutout in conference from Russell, Hillsdale won the first game 2-0 against Walsh. In the second game, junior midfielder and leadoff hitter Hailey Holtman had two doubles and two walks. Junior infielder Grace Wallner drove in the only two runs that were scored as well as two outs, two strikes with two people on, and a double that scored two runs.

Gross said the team made a few key mistakes in the games they lost and did not hit well.

“It was just a couple small mistakes that happened to be at critical times that led to the losses,” Gross said.

Russell said the Chargers faced two good teams with great pitching and aggressive hitters.

“We have been struggling a bit offensively, but I feel all the work and preparation we have put in these last couple days

will pay off in our next couple games,” Russell said.

Senior first baseman Jenna Cantalupo said the pitching staff has been throwing the best she’s seen all year, with the Chargers’ record from the past two series not truly reflecting how well the team is working together.

“Cedarville and Walsh are two competitive teams that

always seem to keep our games close,” Cantalupo said. “I am hopeful that we’re on the verge of turning the switch and getting on a winning streak here in the next few series.” The Chargers will have a double header against Malone University April 8 and another against Davenport University April 10.

Hillsdale goes 1-1 despite key injuries

By Emily Schutte Collegian Reporter

The Hillsdale men’s tennis team secured a victory of 7-0 over Kentucky Wesleyan College April 1, but lost to Wayne State University 0-7 on April 4.

According to junior Brennan Cimpeanu, the Chargers are a more skilled team than Kentucky Wesleyan.

“It’s the weakest team in the conference, so we kind of expected to just roll over them,” Cimpeanu said.

Seniors Brian Hackman

and Tyler Conrad were out with injuries, changing the Saturday lineup.

“Tyler and Brian didn’t travel because they’re dealing with some injury stuff,” junior Daniel Gilbert said. “They didn’t feel like it was worth going down there to play a little bit injured and possibly make it worse.”

The doubles point was taken with three match wins. No. 1 junior Sean Barstow and Cimpeanu won 6-0, No. 2 Gilbert and freshman Aidan Pack won 6-0, and No. 3 freshmen Lennart Kober

and freshman Nik Wastcoat won 6-3.

“Even though we knew we’re gonna win, it’s a tough match to play because we don’t prepare for teams like that, or really know how to play against them,” Gilbert said. “We just had to go out there and put the ball in the court as many times as possible, and we knew we were gonna win pretty easily.”

No. 1 singles Cimpeanu won 6-0, 6-0, No. 2 Pack won 6-2, 6-0, No. 3 Barstow won 6-2, 6-0, No. 4 Gilbert won 6-0, 6-0, and No. 5 Wastcoat won 6-1, 6-2.

“They’re usually not too strong a team, so the result really wasn’t a question, but I think we played well. We did what we were supposed to do,” Barstow said.

No. 6 singles Kober had his first match of the season, taking the victory 6-1, 6-0.

“Lennart got to step into the lineup for the first time, and he did a really good job,” Gilbert said. “He was a little nervous in doubles, but they were able to get the win there and then in singles, he did fantastic for the first time playing as a varsity player.”

In the Tuesday out-of-conference match against Wayne State, the only doubles win was in the No. 3 position with Pack and Gilbert who won a

tiebreaker match 13-11. No. 1 Cimpeanu and Hackman lost 3-6, and No. 2 Conrad and Barstow lost 5-7.

No single points were gained, with each position taking a loss. No. 1 Cimpeanu lost 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, No. 2 Conrad lost 1-6, 6-7, No. 3 Pack lost 2-6, 1-6, No. 4 Hackman lost 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, No. 5 Barstow lost 2-6, 2-6, and No. 6 Gilbert lost 3-6, 3-6.

“We competed well against a very strong team,” head coach Keith Turner said. “Our doubles overall showed improvement. We need to play the big points better. Playing a strong team like Wayne State gets us ready for the remainder of our regular season and postseason play.” Hillsdale’s record is now 10-6 overall as they go on to play Cedarville University April 7 and Ashland University April 8. These are among the last of the Chargers regular season matches and will determine their seeding in the end of season G-MAC Tournament.

“It’s getting towards the end, so just a few more matches,” Barstow said. “So we gotta stay focused and hopefully we have a good conference tournament and maybe make regionals. That’s the goal.”

Sarah Wagoner finds senior year success in action shooting

By Sydney Green Collegian Reporter

Senior Sarah Wagoner remembers first shooting casually with her dad as a 6 year old.

“My dad and I used to shoot cans when I was very young,” Wagoner said. “It wasn’t anything consistent. We would just goof around a couple times a summer and occasionally throughout the year.”

Wagoner said she first heard about Hillsdale College’s varsity pistol team from one of her friends when they were on a summer trip together with the college. As a now fifth-year senior, Wagoner chose to try out for the team her first senior year.

“He mentioned it to me because the team was having formal tryouts as it was transitioning from a club to a team,” Wagoner said. “I thought it sounded like fun and something that I could get better at, so I decided to try out.”

The tryouts consisted of practice shooting stages with the coaches giving various

range commands. Wagoner said the coaches were looking for more than just a thorough knowledge of the sport and accuracy in shooting.

“They were essentially seeing if you could listen and obey range commands,” Wagoner said. “A care about learning and actually being safe was the biggest thing for them.”

Coach Adam Burlew said he thought that Wagoner would do well on the team after notic ing she was teachable.

“At tryouts she kind of started out at the bottom of the pack,” Burlew said. “But her demean or, mannerisms, and the way she handled herself showed us that she was coachable and would be a good addition to the team.”

Once on the team, Wagoner said she was met with a series of challenges, and found the mental game to be the defining factor in shooting.

“It was a lot of information and challenges, just trying to understand what was going on, how to play this game, as well as the physical aspects of learning,” Wagoner said. “But also a big part was learning how to handle the nerves, because shooting ultimately at the end of the day is very much a mental game.”

As her time on the team progressed and she began competing, Wagoner noticed the difficult part was identifying and respecting her own limits.

“Really you learn how to do the physical process pretty quickly because there’s not a lot of components to it,”

Wagoner said. “However, the pressure comes from standing in the shooting box and hearing the timer go off; fighting the urge to go fast and remembering your own limitations was a hard, but big, part of this.”

At her most recent competition in Talladega, Alabama, for Nationals, Wagoner placed first in the 1911 division and third in the centerfire division. Wagoner said it was rewarding to see her improvement.

“Compared to my first competition, my ability to control my nerves and stand up there and trust my training has gotten much better,” Wagoner said. “At some point you just have to trust yourself and the gun, because it’s going to be working with you if you are not fighting against it.”

When not competing, Wagoner commits approximately 9-10 hours a week to shooting, practicing live fire on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and dry fire on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wagoner said she greatly enjoys the practices and being with the team and coaches.

“It has been fantastic. The team is really good about supporting each other,” Wagoner said. “I enjoy the challenge of it because as soon as you get a skill down you find another thing to work on; there is always something new to be learning and working on.”

Burlew noted Wagoner’s consistency and said her work ethic is impressive.

“She is really disciplined.

I don’t think she has missed

a practice, and if she did, it was for something serious,” Burlew said. “She takes it seriously out there, puts a lot of effort in, and is super supportive of everybody.”

Senior and fellow teammate Gregory Clements said he also enjoys Wagoner’s presence on the team.

“She is a very positive and mature influence on the team that can help straighten us out when we are getting silly,” Clements said. “She is also very capable of sitting in the background and waiting for the perfect moment to strike with a joke; she is a lot of fun and we are all happy to have her on the team.”

Outside of shooting, Wagoner, an economics and history double major and German and mathematics double minor, dedicates herself to her studies. When she has free time, she can be found either reading a good book, talking with friends, playing piano, or attending a shooting match for fun.

The Hillsdale action shooting team poses after nationals. Courtesy | s arah Wagoner

Sarah Wagoner practices 9-10 hours a week. Courtesy | s arah Wagoner

Sophomore Joni Russell won her fourth career G-MAC Pitchter of the Week last week.

Courtesy | Isabella s heehan

Senior Ellie Chawner won her singles match 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets.

Courtesy | Isabella s heehan

Freshman Nik Wastcoat took the victory at No. 5 singles 6-1, 6-2.

Courtesy | Isabella s heehan

Hillsdale takes 12th in Music City Invitational

By Thomas McKenna

Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale men’s golf team placed 12th at the 36hole Music City Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee, Monday and Tuesday.

“Early on, when things didn’t go our way, we just kind of let one bad decision or one bad shot affect the next one,” head coach Matt Thompson said. “I think that’s really the only way to explain a performance like that is when you just let one bad shot turn into two, turn into three, and so on.”

Thompson said the team expected to place higher going into the tournament.

“It was a tough week,” Thompson said. “On Sunday in our practice round everybody was in pretty good form. I felt like everyone was in a pretty good spot, to be honest. We had two-out-of-three pretty

good rounds in Kentucky the week before so I felt like we were on the right track and then everything just kind of fell apart.”

Senior Darragh Monaghan shot 72-73=145, finishing oneover-par and tying for 12th with eight other players.

“I still think he’s trying to get back into the form he was at in the fall,” Thompson said. “But credit to him, he was one who was able to just grind it out and fight through some of the things that he was battling with his swing.”

Monaghan had eight birdies to finish one-over-par over the two rounds.

“He was able to put together a respectable performance,” Thompson said. “It was good to see from him.”

Sophomore Filippo Reale and senior Drew Gandy carded the same 74-79 score, shooting 153 in the tournament

Sports Opinion

and finishing tied for 47th. Senior Gerry Jones Jr. shot a 79+75=154 and finished 55th.

Jones said the team was disappointed in its performance.

“We all played pretty poorly, except Darragh – he played pretty solid the whole tournament,” Jones said. “The other four of us were pretty inconsistent with getting anything going, which is kind of a shame. We’ve typically played pretty well at this course in the past. So to play the way we did as a team, we were all pretty upset.”

Jones said he was hurt most by his long game.

“It was nothing great,” Jones said. “Definitely a lot of improvements I can make mainly off the tee with my driver. I started to figure out towards the middle of the second round what it was and I started hitting that better but my putting was pretty inconsistent. I would make some good

birdie putts, and then just give it away on the next hole with a three-putt.”

The Chargers will travel to Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Indiana, Monday and Tuesday to finish up regular season play at the Ken Partridge Invitational.

“We’ll figure things out and then go back on the road,” Thompson said. “We just have to do a better job of kind of keeping our emotions out of it.”

Jones said the course can live up to its name depending on the conditions.

“There are not many trees at all, it’s actually very wide open,” Jones said. “What makes that course pretty difficult is it can get very windy out there because there’s nothing blocking the wind. I played there in my sophomore year and it was extremely brutal. It felt like you were in purgatory.”

The MLB rule changes are good for the game

By Thomas McKenna

Assistant Editor

One week into the 2023

Major League Baseball season, we’re already seeing shorter games, more action, and more viewers. And it’s all thanks to the most significant rule changes to baseball in decades.

Despite the objections of players and old-school commentators, MLB has made three new rule changes for this season: first, larger bases to prevent injury and encourage stealing; second, a 20-second pitch clock to speed up the pace-of-play; and, last, a ban on shifts that move an infielder to the outfield grass or more than three to one side of the diamond.

The changes aren’t perfect, but most are already proving to be good for the game.

Bigger bases have brought second base four-and-a-half inches closer to first. In the first five days of last year’s season, players stole 40 bases on 57 attempts. This year, the number of stolen bases more than doubled to 84, with the number of attempts already reaching 100. According to these numbers, the stolen-base success rate has risen 14

percentage points from 70% to 84%. Baserunners are stealing more, and they’re more successful when they try. The game could use some more excitement on the basepaths, and we’re already hearing the broadcaster say “runner goes” 14% more often than last season.

Shorter basepaths have brought more action, and the new pitch clock is bringing shorter games. Pitchers must begin their motion less than 15 seconds after their last pitch if the bases are empty and 20 if there are runners on. The average nine-inning game stretched to three hours and three minutes last season. That time has already been cut down by 25 minutes thanks to the pitch clock.

Yet more important than the total time saved is the shorter pauses between pitches. With the pitch clock, MLB has shaved off 4.5 seconds between pitches compared to last season. The pitch clock is not just saving fans time, but can also better hold the attention of the viewer. That’s 4.5 seconds you won’t have to look down at your phone instead of at the action.

The stats prove as much.

MLB.TV set a new opening day record with 172 million viewership minutes compared to last year’s 121 million, 42% higher. More people tuned in for opening day than ever before, and for longer.

But the rule changes are not perfect.

The shift ban, for example, is a bailout for pull hitters — batters who tend to hit the ball to one side of the field. MLB prevented teams from loading one side of the infield or moving an infielder to the shallow outfield in an effort to increase hits and plays that show off a player’s range.

The shift is the physical manifestation of the mental game. MLB has decided to suffocate this strategic side of the game in favor of players who haven’t learned to hit it where they ain’t. Sure, the league batting average is up marginally and we probably have seen more range from the league’s best infielders. But do ball players making millions deserve an artificial advantage?

These benefits, of course, have come with trade-offs. The most visible drawbacks are the climactic moments that end with anticlimactic clock violations. In the ninth inning, with

March Madness is better than the NBA Finals

By Nathan Stanish Collegian Reporter

Americans proved they still love March Madness more than the NBA finals, as 18.1 million people tuned into the 2023 championship game, compared to the peak 16.8 million who tuned into the 2022 NBA Finals, according to SportsPro Media.

bases loaded, two outs, and a full count — the childhood dream scenario — Braves’ batter Cal Conley was called out on a pitch clock violation that cost him a strike and ended the game. Fortunately, it was only a spring training game, but nobody wants a ballgame to end that way.

Still, teams are averaging just 0.8 violations per game, according to CBS Sports, and fans should expect that number to drop as players — especially pitchers, who have received the majority — continue to acclimate to the ticking clock. Football players got used to the play clock, and basketball players did the same with the shot clock. Some tense moments will occasionally end with a violation, but those letdowns will be outweighed by the thousand other times a game will end in two-and-ahalf hours instead of three.

The naysayers will write their columns and the traditionalists will fantasize about the way the game used to be played, but this first week of baseball has shown us a glimpse of a faster and more intense game. The changes are good for baseball and worth the tradeoffs.

The reason March Madness tops the NBA finals is twofold: (1) during March Madness, fans can actively participate and invest in the tournament rather than just watch, and (2) March Madness games are unpredictable as every tournament brings major upsets.

Even the women’s NCAA tournament — whose viewership went up 42% per The Athletic — enjoyed strong numbers, including a peak of 12.6 million viewers for the final, 10 times higher than the most viewed game in WNBA history. That championship now ranks as one of the most-watched women’s sports events, with more than half the American viewership of the women’s World Cup.

The NBA Finals, while entertaining, feature long series that ensure the No.1 seed a consistent path to victory. Fans looking for the best team to win will be satisfied, but fans hoping for an upset are likely to be disappointed, considering the No.1 seed has won the NBA Finals more than 72% of the time.

Fans primarily participate by making March Madness

brackets. This year, the ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge received over 20 million brackets—all of which busted by the second day of the tournament. Those brackets make March Madness the cultural phenomenon it is. Fans do not just make brackets for March Madness, either. They invest in them. One in five adults made a bet on the 2019 NCAA men’s tournament, according to the American Gambling Association. That year, fans bet a total of $8.5 billion on different game results. However, brackets and gambling would not be as exciting without the classic March Madness upsets. The 2023 tournament had even more upsets than usual, such as when the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights became only the second No.16 seed to beat a No.1 seed after their victory over the Purdue Boilermakers. And this year’s Elite Eight was the first without a single No.1 seed.

People love the chance to share in the wins and losses of each matchup, and people love the chaos of frequent upsets enabled by a single-elimination tournament. Professional basketball may have better players, bigger stars, and larger prizes, but they do not have the chaotic magic and appeal of March Madness, which is why March Madness continues to be the greatest and most popular basketball event in the United States.

Charger Chatter

C anela l una , W omen ’ s T ennis

If you were the main character in a movie, who would you be?

Even though I wouldn’t necessarily want to be in the same situation as her, fighting for her life and almost dying, I think I would say Katniss in “The Hunger Games.”

What is your favorite SAB event?

I like President’s ball. It’s just fun with the food and the dancing and the music, and I especially liked this year when they had the art gallery.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you want to be?

I would want to be in Mexico just because most of my extended family lives there, and it’s been a couple years since I visited.

What is one of your best hot takes?

I think it’s perfectly acceptable to wear socks with sandals.

What are your go - to gas station snacks?

Gatorade and then sometimes a Reese’s cup if I’m feeling it.

UConn celebrates after winning the March Madness championship game. Courtesy | C nn

C harger S port S Chargers sweep games against Tiffin, Passinault

Baseball

By Jillian Parks Social Media Manager

The Hillsdale baseball team won all four games last Sunday and Monday against Tiffin University. Following his performance in the series, junior centerfielder Danny Passinault was named G-MAC player of the week.

After 26 games, the Chargers now have a conference record of 7-5. Across the four games last weekend they batted in 47 runs.

“It felt good to get a series sweep this weekend and put it all together,” sophomore first baseman Will Shannon said. “Our offense really came alive this weekend and it was fun to be a part of. Everyone did their job, and we found some success.”

The Chargers won both of the first doubleheader games 12-8 and 9-4. The first game had 20 hits, four homeruns, and six runs in the seventh inning alone. In the second game, the Chargers racked up five runs in the third inning, and senior pitcher Will Gifford gave up six hits with three strikeouts and one walk.

“This was a great weekend for our squad,” Passinault said. “We had a bunch of guys contribute in big ways at the plate and on

the mound. This series felt like a turning point for our season.”

In both games, senior right fielder Lewis Beals hit a home run in the bottom of the first inning during his first at bat. Beals was hit by pitches in the two at bats following his home runs.

“I don’t know if there was any intent in him hitting me,” Beals said. “Last year, the exact same ‘coincidence’ happened. I hit a home run off of the same pitcher, and he came inside the next at bat. And then this year I hit a home run and he hit me twice in my two following at bats. I can’t get in his head, so I don’t know. But it struck me a little odd, pun intended.”

In the final two games, the Chargers won 16-12 and 10-3 respectively. The second inning of the first of these games featured four home runs, two from junior outfielder Joe Hardenbergh, and eight total runs for the Chargers. The Chargers took the lead in the second inning again during the second game and solidified the win in the fourth with six more runs.

“Everything came alive for us this past weekend,” head coach Tom Vessella said.

“We pitched well when we

needed to, consistently hit all weekend, and made big plays defensively when it counted. This was a team that we should beat more often than not, but regardless of who we play, it is very hard to sweep a four-game set in our conference.”

The Chargers will play Northwood University this weekend, April 7-8, in a four game series. They will also play one game against Central Michigan University April 11.

receives conference honors From Hillsdale’s hardwood to Academy athletics

“We can’t settle and ride the high,” Beals said. “Northwood and CMU are phenomenal teams and we will need our absolute best, and that’s what we plan to bring. So far both squads have had success this year, more than Tiffin to this point, so we’ll need to come out guns blazing on both sides of the ball. All we can do is compete from the first inning to the last, every game.”

Chargers set provisional marks, Ermakov earns

G-MAC award

By Tracy Wilson Design Editor

Junior Shura Ermakov was named G-MAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after running the third-best G-MAC 400 meter hurdle time ever recorded. With a finishing time of 1:01.10, Ermakov set a personal record and set the best time in the G-MAC so far this season.

“I thought it was a very promising opener for me, because I was able to PR in the 100 hurdle and then PR in the 400 hurdles,” Ermakov said. “The track was super nice and I enjoyed getting to race on it and have good competition in the 400 hurdles.”

Ermakov ran the record time at the VertKlasse meeting in High Point, North Carolina. The meet took place March 31 and April 1.

Women’s Track Sports Feature

By Moira Gleason Collegian Reporter

The night he celebrated his decision to play basketball for Hillsdale College, high school senior Nathan Neveau opened a fortune cookie at dinner and read the words:

“Life is full of choices; today yours was a good one.”

The choice to attend Hillsdale would change the trajectory of his life as an athlete and a man, leading him to his current position as athletic director at Hillsdale Academy.

A high school football and basketball player from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Neveau was recruited for basketball by both Michigan Tech and Hillsdale College.

“The first time I watched Hillsdale College play basketball was on a recruiting trip to Michigan Tech,” the ’19 Hillsdale graduate said.

Hillsdale lost the game by about 20 points, Neveau said, and head coach John Tharp was furious with his players the whole time.

Neveau said that his mother told him after the game, “I would never let you play for a coach like the Hillsdale coach. He was crazy.”

Despite his mother’s first impression, Neveau went through recruitment with Hillsdale.

“At the end of the day, it was the conversations I had with Coach Tharp,” Neveau said, recalling a phone call with the coach the summer before his senior year of high school. “I got off the phone with him, and I thought, ‘I really like this man. I want to play for

him.’ So I called my parents and told them I was going to Hillsdale.”

Redshirted with an injury his freshman year, Neveau played five years for Hillsdale. He started at point guard for his last three years and fell just short of 1000 points for his career after a shoulder injury caused him to miss half of his final season.

think it’s important, in some ways it’s unavoidable. The questions become unavoidable.”

Neveau also met his wife at Hillsdale, Ashlyn Landherr, who was a senior on the women’s team when he was a sophomore.

Neveau graduated in May of 2019, and the couple married in June.

background and his education at Hillsdale.

“Hillsdale Academy’s stated motto is ‘virtue and wisdom,’” Neveau said. “It’s my job as the athletic director to make sure that’s occurring in the athletic teams as well. We want our coaches to be instilling lessons of character in the kids. We want to use athletics to drive or further what we’re attempting to do as a school.”

Neveau said that he wants to stay in Hillsdale as athletic director long term as he and his wife start a family with their first daughter, Nora, who just turned one.

“When I took this job, I think that was for us a way of saying that we’re really committed here,” Neveau said. “All of my friends who I went to college with are calling me a lifer.”

As an 18-year-old, Neveau chose to attend Hillsdale to play basketball and become a better athlete. At 27, he stays because the life and community he found at Hillsdale have made him a better man.

“We traveled south, tried to look into some weather because that’s the name of the game for Midwest outdoor track and field,” head coach R.P. White said. “Friday was a little bit rainy, and then Saturday ended up turning out really nice. We had some good performances, and that’s really what we’re looking for in the beginning of the outdoor season. It was mainly sprints and hurdles, field event people, and then the middle long distance kids will kick off next week.”

White said Ermakov’s event, the 400 meter hurdle, is an outdoor season event only.

“They start preparing for that in the fall with conditioning, and then outdoors, it’s an added event for us from indoor to outdoor,” White said. “She was eager to run and ran really well.”

Ermakov grabbed a provisional qualifying mark, but said it was much easier to run than it sounds.

“I didn’t think the provisional mark was honestly that fast this year,” Ermakov said. “It’s like 62.1, which is significantly slower than

my PR. In terms of going to Nationals, it’s more like top 18. It’s still a cool measuring mark of how I’m doing.”

In the javelin, junior Eden Little took first place with a throw of 43.47 meters. The throw was just under a meter short of her personal record.

“I had the best series of my life, meaning all of my throws were above my average,” Little said. “It always feels good to win, especially at a big meet like that.”

Little said she was not set to win the title for the event, but ultimately pulled ahead and finished the event on top.

“I wasn’t in the title position on my last throw, but I wanted to win,” Little said. “So on my last throw, I secured the win. I don’t think I would change anything about my performance.”

Senior Nikita Maines also did well in the shot put, earning a provisional mark with a throw of 14.03 meters.

Another standout athlete, according to White and Little, was sophomore Katie Weldy, who threw 55.19 meters in the hammer throw.

“One of my teammates that stood out to me was Katie Weldy,” Little said. “She threw every throw in the hammer above her PR, increasing her PR by 5 meters in the end. With that 55 meter throw, that puts her at 11th in the nation.”

Ermakov said another standout teammate was pole vaulter and sophomore Kaylee Jackson. Jackson cleared 3.77 meters, earning her first ever outdoor provisional mark.

Freshmen Lucy Minning and Francesca Frederici both ran personal bests, Minning in the 100 meter and 200 meter dash, and Frederici in the 400 meter dash.

The team will compete this weekend at the AllOhio Multi at Muskingum University April 6-7.

His perception of Tharp was not the only thing that changed for Neveau during his time on the team. Neveau rediscovered his faith as a student, which he credits in part to the culture of the basketball team.

“I had a teammate who became a Christian his third or fourth year here,” Neveau said.

“When you’re living, seeing every day, showering with people who all of a sudden have been profoundly changed and care to tell you about that because they believe it and

After a year of ministry with Athletes InterVarsity and two years in the masters program at the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship, Neveau took his current position as the athletic director for Hillsdale Academy last June.

As athletic director, Neveau coordinates programming with other schools, teaches classical literature in the classroom, and serves as the assistant basketball coach. Neveau said he sees his position at Hillsdale Academy as a culmination of his athletic

“I didn’t come wanting to be formed as a man and become a person that would lead a good life after college,” Neveau said. “I wanted to play sports, and I wanted to compete at a high level. But Hillsdale has an effect on people, if they allow it to have this effect on them, to shape them. And I think by the time I left here as a student I had become a slightly better man, and was becoming a better man, and had the tools to become a better man. I don’t know that that would have happened somewhere else. But it did happen here.”

Junior Danny Passinault won G-MAC player of the week for his performance last weekend. Courtesy | Isabella s heehan

Junior Shura Ermakov has

fastest

Nate Neveau played basketball for the Chargers before his job as the Hillsdale Academy athletic director. Courtesy | hI lls D ale College

Culture

Student Artist Q&A: AJ Freeland

By Olivia Pero Assistant Editor

Senior AJ Freeland is an art major and chemistry minor from Needham, Indiana.

How long have you been an artist?

I really started taking art seriously roughly six years ago. I was a band kid my first two years of high school, and eventually I stopped enjoying it as much as I used to. I had seen the art show my sophomore year, so at the end of that year I decided to try art. I started taking art classes in high school and I just really dove into it. I ended up taking AP art my senior year and that really built my portfolio.

What medium of art do you specialize in?

I’m mostly a 2D fine arts artist — and that’s mostly oil painting. In high school I focused on doing these really detailed colored pencil drawings, but that took a lot of time. So it was a similar process to oil painting. I find oil painting works best with the way that I think and my workflow. Once I started oil painting I never wanted to paint with anything else ever again.

What attracts you to art?

My mind is like always running with creative ideas and my art is a way to take whatever is happening in

here and get it out there. It’s therapeutic in a sense. I feel this impulse to always have a project going, so having developed my skill in drawing and painting is a really good way to be able to express myself creatively.

How have you been involved in art through the years?

I’ve been in studio art classes all eight semesters. I joined Alpha Rho Tao my freshman year, and I was on the officer board as the treasurer my junior year. I do theater, mostly working on the tech side in the light shop.

What art piece that you’ve made in recent years is your favorite?

The one that immediately pops to mind is my football oil painting. I went into that without a clear idea of what I wanted, and then I took a couple of photos — by a couple, I mean 300. I found that one picture, and it reminded me of a Baroque painting the way all the figures were positioned. It’s on a three foot by three foot canvas. At the beginning of last semester, I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish it — it was really big and complicated — but I just plugged away at it all last semester and I was really happy with how it turned out.

What are common subjects that you paint?

I tend to paint a lot of portraits and figures. Most of what I do is focused on humans. I don’t particularly love painting still lifes or landscapes. In a portrait there’s a lot going on even beyond the surface level of someone’s face — there’s a lot more that can be communicated. It’s a very fun challenge to try and portray who someone is just through their face, and more broadly, to a whole human figure. The human figure can tell a really interesting story just in the way it’s positioned. I think I like football painting so much because there’s a lot of human figures together communicating one story.

Are there any artists that are particularly inspiring to you?

Caravaggio and Titian, who were Italian Baroque painters, are two classics that any sort of artist who paints portraits and figures is going to look up to. There was a pop artist in the ’60s and ’70s named James Rosenquist, and he did realistic oil paintings that were very collage-like. I used to do more collage style art back in my freshman year of high school. I don’t do that as often now, but he was very influential to me for that. And I love Frida Kahlo and how much meaning is imbued into everything she painted.

What professors had the most impact on you?

Julio Suarez really challenged me. I came to Hillsdale with a certain way that I drew and painted because a lot of my habits were self taught. In high school, I didn’t get a lot of instruction on technique. I just taught myself and was able to implement it. The way Professor Suarez wanted me to draw and paint was a lot different than I was used to. I struggled with adapting to how he wanted me to do things. Eventually I got to a point where I understood, so my technique is a lot better than when I started at the beginning of my college career. And then Barbara Bushey’s bubbly personality and her welcomingness drew me to Hillsdale.

What are your plans going forward?

I’m going to take a gap year next year. I was considering art conservation graduate school as a way to combine my chemistry minor and my art major, but I decided to figure out if that is a good idea before I commit myself to three years of grad school for something that I’ve never done before. I might find a theater job doing lighting or an internship at a museum.

Freeland’s work, including his football oil painting, will be exhibited in a senior art show beginning Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m.

The great Hillsdale bake off

Students gather in the Mauck Solarium to compete in a baking competition last Tuesday afternoon

By Michaela Estruth Assistant Editor

“Ready, set, bake!”

Shuffling feet, hurried whispers, and clinking utensils echoed throughout the Mauck Solarium at the start of the SABake Off on Tuesday, April 4.

Sophomore and SAB

Creative Specialist Joy Hanes said she came up with the idea for the new event as both a creative competition and a play on “The Great British Baking Show.”

“We have ‘Chopped’ in the fall, but we don’t do that in the spring semester,” Hanes said. “We needed a replacement idea, and I thought, ‘well, “Great British Baking show” is very springtimey and fun,’ so I thought it would fit perfectly in the spring semester.”

Teams of two signed up to compete in the baking competition with no knowledge of what they would be making.

For the first challenge, competitors had 30 minutes to make two individual-sized cheesecakes.

Every team had the same list of basic ingredients with

Sophomore Abby Richardson introduced the

“They are very springy,” Surkan said. “I’ve seen videos of other people making them, so I’m going off of that.”

The execution, however, brought some harder challenges than the cheesecake had. The moist, golf ballsized chocolate and vanilla spheres did not want to rest upright in presentation. After being rolled in melted chocolate, the weight of the spheres

Sugar Mommas, had to make the cake batter three times to get the right consistency.

“The first time we tried rolling the cake in the chocolate, the whole ball just crumbled,” Trainor said, as she rolled the fourth and final cake pop ball.

She placed the cakesphere on the stick and proceeded to paint chocolate over the crumbly top.

“I’m not left-handed,

white chocolate drizzle.

“We are hoping the taste saves how misshapen these are,” Trainor said.

Three judges came to evaluate the final results—two were Metz Dining staff and the other was Penny Arnn. Arnn traveled throughout the room asking each team about their ideas and execution in true Great British Baking Show fashion.

The judges rated the two desserts in four areas: taste, presentation, decoration, and uniformity.

no quantities given. The instructions lacked detail and were intentionally vague, such as: “Make Crust. Combine ingredients. Whisk Cream. Add to mixture. Decorate.”

Each team was expected to create its own flavor ideas to accent the cheesecake. They had several options including raspberry jam, M&M candies, chocolate sauce, and citrus frostings.

At the end of 30 minutes, competitors placed their cheesecakes in the fridge to set.

second challenge–cake pops. The teams had white and chocolate cake and frosting, and had to make four uniform but unique cake pops. No instructions assisted competitors for this challenge.

The variety of creative flavors increased, including orange vanilla cake, blueberry vanilla cake, chocolate peanut cake, and raspberry chocolate cake.

Sophomore Katrin Surkan made blueberry vanilla cake and was hopeful despite never making them before.

dragged them down the thin display sticks.

Freshman Clare Trainor said she had never made cheesecake or cake pops before. She said her team, the

so we’ll see how this goes,” she said, extending her left hand and rotating her right shoulder backward to give her teammate Ashley Knight more space to finish the

The Sugar Mammas, Trainor and Knight, won the cheesecake competition with their double layered raspberry cheesecake. The Krumb Krushers, Surkin and her teammate Katherine Miller, won the cake pop competition with their blueberry vanilla cake pops.

“Overall, I think the event went so well,” Richardson said. “People were so creative and did an amazing job using all the ingredients to make unique creations. It was such a fun spring event.”

AJ Freeland specializes in oil painting.

Courtesy | AJ Freeland

Freshmen Ashley Knight and Clare Trainor competed in the bake off. Michaela Estruth | Collegian

Student creates podcast educating about chronic illness

Compiled by Alexandra Hall Science & Tech Editor

Senior Hannah Neukom is tired of people thinking arthritis is a condition that only affects older people. She grew up struggling with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which is now evolving into rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes severe inflammation in her joints. After years of medical experience, Neukom recently started a podcast, “Read the Rheum,” to spread awareness about her condition and the aspects of everyday life, especially as a woman, that the disease affects.

Are you from Michigan?

Where do you get your treatments?

I grew up in Hillsdale, actually, since my parents teach here. But I go to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which is a drive. My doctor there is one of the best pediatric rheumatologists in the world. Anytime I say her name around anyone in the nonprofit world, everyone fangirls.

The medical system can be really hard to navigate, especially with chronic illnesses, what has your experience been like?

The scary thing is there’s such a shortage of rheumatologists. Like any kind of chronic

care, you end up not being able to get in for six months or having to wait on your primary care doctor’s recommendation– it’s really stressful.

What drove you to begin your podcast?

I didn’t want to hear old doctors talking about medical stuff; they cannot help teenage girls and boys figure this out in their everyday life. I was in high school and in a wheelchair, and what was I supposed to do? I began mentoring younger girls, middle schoolers mostly, and just talking to them about things like that. School is already hard and you’re going through awkward stages with puberty. To have a disease like this on top of that–what do you do?

How was your experience growing up different from those around you?

It showed up a lot in the little things. I had to wear a knee brace and it felt like the end of the world, a big bulky brace that I just didn’t want to wear. I was so embarrassed. Now that I look back on it, it wasn’t a big deal. My friends didn’t even really notice that because no one is looking. That’s what I’m trying to get out there: it is so hard and everyone’s feelings are valid. You just have to focus on yourself because most people don’t care.

How was the transition to college?

It was stressful. I mean, it already is without having arthritis, and I just had that on top of it. I didn’t really know anyone else who struggled with it and when I met a few people, it was refreshing. You can talk about your condition with your friends, but they don’t get it the same way as talking to someone else who has it. It feels so nice to have someone who

in my own way.

Do you ever get comments about your condition from people who don’t understand?

Yes definitely, it is difficult to explain what exhaustion feels like versus just tiredness from life. I’m pre-med and I work at the hospital, so I’m drawing blood on my feet all day. And sometimes I have to call in and apologize. I’m not just calling

couldn’t do something. It felt embarrassing because if the person didn’t believe me, what was I supposed to do? You just have to learn to put your foot down and demand to be taken seriously. If people have a problem, they can call my doctor.

Do people take you seriously?

I think being a young person who is sick is challenging because I look healthy. Someone hears I have arthritis and they say they never would’ve known. Maybe I should start wearing a t-shirt that says ‘I have arthritis.’ It’s not my whole personality, it just deeply affects how I live.

You said you were premed. What are your career goals?

relates and understands what to most people is invisible. You can’t explain the fatigue and pain and swelling to people. I’ve had my doctors write notes and I began meeting with the deans very early on. I had to break it down like ‘alright here’s the deal.’ My body sometimes doesn’t work and I just won’t be in class, but I shouldn’t be penalized. I’m trying to keep up. I’m going to do well— just

Reliving Christ’s Death

By Aubrey Gulick Senior Reporter

Halfway through the Passion Song concert on Palm Sunday, there was only one thought going through my head – ‘make it sound like a herd of angry chickens.’

I was singing “Weg Weg Mit Dem,” a chorale in which a crowd calls for Christ to be taken away and crucified. My choices were either to struggle with the emotional weight of the words I was saying– “crucify him”– or to distract myself by thinking of angry chickens.

Last Sunday, Christ Chapel Choir performed selections from Johann Sebstian Bach’s “St. John Passion” during a service that alternated texts from the Old Testament with the narrative of Christ’s Passion found in St. John’s Gospel.

The performance was a chance for both the musicians and the audience to enter into the long tradition of meditation on the Passion of Christ. Not only is Bach’s St. John Passion a technically challenging piece of music, it was also an emotionally difficult piece to perform.

The idea behind the performance was to mimic the structure of Anglican evensong. The choral and solo selections were alternated with readings from the Old Testament.

“The result was a compelling juxtaposition of prophetic texts from the Old Testament which prefigure the sufferings of the Messiah with Bach’s powerful musical setting of the Passion story,” said Timothy McDonell, director of Christ Chapel Choir, in the program notes.

While the format of Passion Song was unique, the music was performed in a way that Bach would have recognized. We had the opportunity to play with musicians specializing in Baroque music, including Fiona Hughes and Three Notch’d Road– a baroque ensemble from Virginia.

There are a number of differences between the musical instruments we are familiar with and their baroque ancestors. From strings made out of sheep guts to oddly shaped bows and wooden flutes and oboes, structural differences change the color and feel of the music– the instruments had a warmer tone than standard strings and reeds.

Bach is challenging to sing.He treats his vocalists like instruments that don’t need to breathe. The opening movement’s long passages of fast notes make you feel breathless, and if you’re doing it right, your abs hurt afterward. The choral parts were meant to be musically in-

tense. The choir represented the crowd of Pharisees and their supporters.

“Bach’s purpose is for the Christian faithful to see themselves in those who persecute and, ultimately, put Christ to death,” McDonnell said.

Vocal music is especially personal; the instrument you are playing is yourself. To sing anything requires that you enter into the minds of the song’s characters– you put on the music and enter the scene.

To effectively sing the words of the blood-thristy crowd and the Pharisees, we had to put ourselves in their places. It felt wrong, even though it was only an act, because in some ways, it was real. The Crucifixion was a product of our sins, and singing the St. John Passion makes you feel that on a personal level.

In many ways, this performance was the perfect refocusing of my Lenten practices just before the climax of the season.

“One of the principal acts of Christian worship is remembrance,” wrote Adam Rick, Hillsdale College chaplain. “To remember is to be joined to God’s salvation in the here and now by his power operative in the act. To remember is to worship.”

off work for fun, I can’t get out of bed or wash my hands– they don’t want me there!

What is the most important thing for young people struggling with their health to remember?

I used to be a pushover. I would suffer through so much because I didn’t want to say I

I want to do pediatric rheumatology and nonprofit work. Something like a rheumatology clinic because I’ve just done so much research and the majority of children who have arthritis come from low socio-economic statuses and can’t afford good care. The only places you find care are huge hospital systems and they’re so expensive– like insanely expensive. Family practice can’t take care of it. So we’ve got to do something where you get paid but also we need to give care to people who can’t afford it,people who don’t have the resources. There are seven states

in the U.S. that don’t have any pediatric rheumatologists.

What are some of your episode ideas?

The one I’m working on now is about stigma and how to erase it, not only with yourself, but with others. And how to get more confidence in having a chronic illness, being yourself, and feeling okay with all that.

What is the goal of your podcast?

It started brewing in middle school because I went to a private school and didn’t know anyone else who had arthritis. I’ve always been interested in TED Talks, and I was talking to my parents around my sophomore year about how I wanted to do one and began speaking at arthritis conventions. I felt like I had something good to say, and the podcast is an extension of that. I mean, I was looking for podcasts based on arthritis, and it’s all medical stuff or old people. I don’t need information about what it’s like when your bones hurt– I’m 21. What I need is advice on what to do when I go to college, how to communicate with friends, and how to navigate classwork. People need someone who has been through it to talk to them about it because no one else knows.

Mauck Masquerade

Student club hosts regency ball in school dorm

By Isabella Zink Collegian Freelancer

The Cravats and Bluestockings Club hosted their Regency Masquerade Ball on Sunday, April 2 in the Mauck Solarium. The event featured food, punch, English country dancing, and, of course, masks.

Junior Alexandra Gess, the club’s event planner, said her goal was to provide an environment which combined learning about the history and social culture of the Regency era with the fun of dancing in a communal setting. The plan was to teach nine different dances from the era, with breaks in between to take advantage of the food and punch, as well as to chat. The club also created a dance card system, with a slight twist. Instead of gentlemen using the dance cards to reserve dances with certain partners, people could use them to record who they danced with and keep them as mementos.

The fascinating dynamic of English country dances is that they are even more

social than regular ballroom dancing; not only does one dance with their partner, they dance with the people around them too, and often trade partners in the process. The fact that everyone is learning the dances together provides an added element of community.

As Gess said, “Everyone’s kind of in it together.”

Junior Charis Linton, who attended the event, appreciated this aspect of the community, commenting that it was fun to meet multiple partners in one dance and have an opportunity to mix and mingle. Though she initially came to see people and eat food, she ended up enjoying the dancing as well.

“The dances were fun and surprisingly easier to follow than you’d imagine by watching,” Linton said.

Senior Aidan Johnston also observed the fun of learning the dances with friends.

When asked what brought him to the event, he answered quite simply, “Richie.”

He said the highlight of the evening for him was realizing how fun the dancing could be, despite having no prior experience. Though the dancing was very elegant, there was much energy, and the masks added a humorous element. That everyone was learning together added to the energy. Whether it was four dancers trying to figure out how on earth they were supposed to “star,” a girl attempting to fix her elaborate hairstyle mid-dance and eventually passing her partner her hair accessories, or simply laughing at the names of the dances while sipping punch in the corner, there was a good time to be found all around. The dances certainly had unique names, such as “Money in Both Pockets” and “Ship’s Cook.”

Gess said her favorite dance name had to be “Mr. Isaac’s Maggot,” though she admitted she still has no idea what a maggot is.

Hannah Neukom was granted an award at Walk the Cure Arthritis in 2022. Courtesy | Hannah Neukom

Christ Chapel Choir performed on Palm Sunday last week. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Marketing

Students attended the Regency Masquerade Ball last Sunday evening. Isabella Zink | Collegian

Benefits of Teaching in a Hillsdale Member School

• Continued relationship with Hillsdale College and its faculty and staff

• Hillsdale College training before first year of teaching

• Monthly remote conference calls (with Hillsdale K-12 Education staff and master teachers)

• Online curriculum and classical pedagogy library

• Annual Conference in American Classical Education in Hillsdale each June

Teaching Opportunities in Hillsdale Member Schools

k12.hillsdale.edu

The “Our Schools” page features a comprehensive list and map of Hillsdale Member and Curriculum Schools.

The “Career Opportunities” page includes a regularly updated list of available teaching and staff positions across our network of Member Schools.

An

Hillsdale’s K-12 team operates from the Stanton Foundation Center for American Classical Education on the campus of Hillsdale College. For more information about Member Schools or teaching opportunities, please contact us at k12@hillsdale.edu

(517) 607-2913

k12.hillsdale.edu

2023-2024

Science & Technology

EXCAVATING STROSACKER:

Five unique objects in Fisk Natural History Museum

By Maggie Hroncich Editor-in-Chief

Hillsdale’s Daniel M. Fisk Museum of Natural History, created by Daniel M. Fisk in 1874 and rebuilt in 2010, hosts thousands of specimens spanning several centuries. While many students cut through the museum on their way to science classes, pausing to look through the exhibits reveals an assortment of cultural and college history. Anthony Swinehart, professor of biology and curator of the museum walks through five of his favorite specimens.

Armadillo

Originally from South America, the body of an armadillo can now be found in a museum display. The body has been preserved for more than a century.

“We think the armadillo is one of the few surviving specimens from our great expedition across the Amazon from 1880-1882,” Swinehart said. “There was one distinct record of an armadillo from

that expedition.”

Swinehart said he is glad to have something tangible from the South American expedition — many of the other specimens from the trip were lost to history.

“The expedition brought back so much, and yet our allotment is lost. The Smithsonian still has its,” Swinehart said. “They publish an online record of what they have so all I have to do is look up the collector, the expedition leader’s name, and the date range between 18801882, and I can see what the Smithsonian has which gives us some idea of what we have because we split the findings pretty much equally down the middle with the Smithsonian.”

According to museum documents, armadillos are small mammals known for their leathery armor shells. Armadillo means “little armored one” in Spanish.

Gar Fish

The body of a toothy longnose gar is also on display in the museum. It was caught in Baw Beese Lake in 1882 and donated by Byron Archer.

“It’s a predator that eats fish and is very important in helping to maintain healthy

populations of bluegill and other fish,” Swinehart said. “It’s probably still present in the lake today. I’ve never personally seen one or caught one, but I don’t use the fishing methods that would attract gar.”

The longnose gar, also

known as needle nose gar, is found in shallow rivers and lakes with abundant vegetation throughout the eastern half of the U.S. according to museum documents.

Pottery

The museum has baked Native American pottery, donated by a woman whose niece was an anthropologist.

“The donor’s niece had unique access to this tribe that previously was not friendly and was even hostile to outsiders,” Swinehart said. “But she befriended them and was studying their culture and they presented her with hand painted and hand baked pottery in 1983.”

Shell collection

A collection of shells in the museum was given as a wedding gift in Tiverton, Rhode Island from the Free Will Baptist Church. The collection was donated by the estate of Rev. Franklin P. Augir, a trustee of the college, according to museum documents.

“The shells were presented as a wedding gift [by the wives] of seafaring men, and the shells were collected in the latter quarter century of the 1800s in the Indo-Pacific. It was in the collection of one of our trustees from the 1860s-1870s,” Swinehart said.

Walking stick

Though not on display, the museum holds a walking stick made from shark vertebrae and a sperm whale tooth. It was discovered in the college library a few years ago.

According to Swinehart, the walking stick likely dates back to the 1870s-1890s.

“The shaft probably has an iron or brass core and then they threaded shark vertebrae. The handle is made of a sperm whale tooth,” Swinehart said.

The museum is located in Strosacker Science Center Room 214 and is open Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m.3:45 p.m.

Beyond the Laboratory: What STEM offers students

By Sydney Green Collegian Reporter

Indecisive decision-making coupled with the incoming class registration is nothing short of a recipe for chaos. Thankfully, for those thinking about STEM, students and professors offer insight into the field to help mitigate uncertainty.

“When you study STEM at Hillsdale, you also get to study the core curriculum which enables you to understand science in the broader context of human knowledge and Western Tradi-

tion,” Associate Professor of Physics Stephanie Lauback said. “These core classes build communication skills which are essential to all scientific study.”

Kate Grimley, a sophomore studying biochemistry, said she has also enjoyed being able to continue studying STEM without having to sacrifice her other interests.

“One of the main reasons I chose Hillsdale is because I didn’t have to give up anything I enjoyed,” Grimley said. “I’m not missing any of the puzzle pieces, and I feel like I have been shown

a more complete picture of the world since I’m learning STEM and humanities in conjunction with each other, rather than learning only one or the other.”

Freshman Katrina Sumarli said she agreed with Grimley’s uncompromising attitude toward her studies.

“At Hillsdale, there is this aspect of rounding yourself out,” she said. “I like it because you don’t just learn how to master our own field, but also how to be excellent in every area.”

Some students may be drawn to a STEM-related

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT:

field because of the potential income benefits and job stability in comparison to humanities majors, but it’s more than that. As a vital component of a liberal arts education, studying STEM offers invaluable resources that are applicable beyond the laboratory, according to Lauback.

Lauback said the STEM field equips students with skills useful to any career.

“By studying STEM you grow in your problem-solving skills which are necessary for any career path you take,” Lauback said. “Diverse

SYDNEY SLEPIAN

By Emily Schutte Collegian Reporter

Can you describe to me the focus of your research?

To put it simply, there are different substances that we use in the lab, and they’re called viability reagents. They test how alive a culture of cells is. We had one that we had been using historically in the lab, but it had some problems, so Dr. Steiner wanted me to analyze a new reagent and see if it would still be effective, even if we used different antibiotics with it. Overall, I was doing antibiotic assays and comparing the previously used LIVE/DEAD Viability reagent versus the new PrestoBlue Viability reagent.

What was the process of going through that?

First of all, I had to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration or the minimum inhibitory concentration of the different antibiotics, because not every antibiotic is as potent as the other ones. For some you need to add a different amount to get the same effect, so I first determined the MIC’s have all of

the antibiotics that I would be using, and then I started making cultures of MSSA, which was my model organism for the experiment. It’s Methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, so I made cultures of the MSSA and then grew them on certain culture plates to create biofilms.

They’re of great interest to research, especially medical research. We created biofilms of the MSSA and then I applied the antibiotic to certain columns within the plate, and then incubated them for 24 hours. The plates had four rows across and six columns, so to the top two rows, I added in the LIVE/ DEAD reagent, and then the bottom two rows, I added in the PrestoBlue reagent.

Every single day I was reading plates, because I would get three replicates per plate, I would get 12 spreadsheets that I would then have to form into one and process all the information for it. The last three or so weeks of research, I was getting 12 spreadsheets a day and trying to process all that information.

Could you describe the findings of your research?

Overall, I was analyzing four different antibiotics. Those four were Rifampicin, Phosphomycin, Vancomycin, and Daptomycin. What I was trying to determine was if the biofilm growth would be inhibited by these antibiotics after the 24 hours of growth.

I found that Rifampicin and Phosphomycin were successful in preventing the growth of the biofilms whereas Daptomycin and Vancomycin were not which was an interesting finding, because Vancomycin is widely used not only in the lab, but in hospitals as well.

That tells us that maybe the strain that we’ve been using of MSSA is actually resistant to Vancomycin. That’s what I found on that side, and then for the LIVE/DEAD versus PrestoBlue for the reagents, I found that the PrestoBlue was more consistent, versatile, and cost effective than the LIVE/DEAD, so considering it’s a new reagent, it’s recommended by my research that we implement it in the lab instead of the one that we had previously been using.

How do these findings affect the common man in the dayto-day?

Well, more with the results of antibiotics, because I don’t think that many people know how antibiotics are tested or the varying concentrations at which they’re used. And biofilms, they can grow within our bodies as the bacteria attached to our substances. Biofilms are hard to eradicate compared to planktonic colonies. For this research, it was analyzed that the PrestoBlue reagent is advantageous in not only lab use, but in hospital use in determining the resistance of certain bacteria to certain drugs. It helps give them insight into which drugs to administer and also which drugs will be effective at which concentrations.

Why did you choose this topic? I knew I wanted to work with Dr. Steiner from the onset, because I had him for two classes. It was BIO 202 at the time but now it’s BIO 200, and then microbiology. I genuinely loved all of the staining techniques

communication and thinking skills are essential in any career path, and STEM can offer just that.”

But aside from learning basic skills, students say they find meaning in studying how the world works.

Joey Spoelstra, a junior studying biochemistry, said STEM offers more than just practical benefits; it introduces a new and enjoyable way of learning.

“There’s something interesting about always learning a little bit more about how the world works, and how things write each other,” he said.

Associate Professor of Mathematics David Gaebler said he seeks to emphasize the unique beauty that is found through scientific training.

“Just as Beethoven’s music sounds good to everyone, but a musician can appreciate it on a deeper level, so anyone can marvel at God’s handiwork in nature, but one with scientific training can understand nature’s beauty in a fuller way,” Gaebler said.

and everything that we were doing in the lab. Also, I started working at Hillsdale hospital in the laboratory in April. Before that, and especially through working at the hospital in the lab, I was very interested in the idea of antibiotic resistance and how certain bacteria can acquire resistance to the antibiotics that we are giving them.

Going into the research, I wanted to examine antibiotic resistance, and I was able to do that in a way because my results were indicative that the bacteria are resistant to Daptomycin, but I would love to explore more of the

actual mechanism behind antibiotic resistance.

What are your plans post-college and how does this research fit into that?

I am applying to medical school this summer, and I think my research ties into becoming a physician. It illuminates how the pathogens that we’re studying and treating are always changing, and we always have to stay one step ahead of them. The bacteria are constantly evolving, diversifying, and finding ways around our medical techniques.

Anthony Swinehart holds a preserved armadillo body in the Daniel M. Fisk Museum of Natural History. Courtesy | MAGGI e H ro NCICH

Sydney Slepian proudly poses in front of her presentation on viability reagents. Courtesy | A NG el ICA Pytel

A victory 13 years in the making

In 2010, a group of students founded the Hillsdale College Mock Trial team. This year, the program made history by earning two bids to Nationals.

By Jacob Beckwith Collegian Reporter

Robin Skye spent 10 years in prison for a crime she never committed.

She is now suing for legal malpractice, and on April 14, Hillsdale Mock Trial’s A and B teams will travel to Memphis, Tennessee to argue her case before the court.

The story of Skye is one of two fictional case packets that the American Mock Trial Association created and compiled for competitors to study and debate this season.

“There are about 700 mock trial teams competing across the country in a given year, but when it comes to the National Championship, it’s like March Madness,” said Jonathan Church, coach of Hillsdale Mock Trial. “There’s no shame in not qualifying because only the top 48 will make it.”

Hillsdale is one of only seven schools to have two teams earn spots to the 2023 National Championship. They join UCLA, University

of Chicago, Patrick Henry College, University of Florida, NYU, and Tufts University.

“We actually heard that the B team qualified before we knew the A team had made it as well,” said junior Caleb Sampson, who was on one of the two teams that competed in the Opening Round Championships in Geneva, Illinois over spring break. “There were a few nervous moments during the awards ceremony before Jonathan Woodward, President of AMTA, said to ‘make room in the van for Hillsdale A!”

The program qualified for the National Championship for the first time in school history in 2022 and has doubled their success this year.

Church said the team’s success was made possible by the hard work of past students.

“There are countless students who came so close to Nationals in years past, and our team this season has a lot to be thankful for,” Church

said. “Not to be cliché, but we are truly standing on the shoulders of the people before us.”

The students making that trip to compete at Nationals never met the six students who stood outside Kirstin Kiledal’s office in the fall of 2010, nervously waiting for their chance to petition the head of the Rhetoric and Public Address Department for a Mock Trial team.

“I remember it so clearly because they just came and found me, and they were so incredibly excited about the possibility of a team,” Kiledal said.

According to Kiledal, the school moved quickly to establish the team.

“Things just started falling into place. The students were there, the administration was interested, and a young lawyer from Jackson named Trent Harris wanted to coach,” Kiledal said.

Harris headed the program for a couple years, taking them through the growing pains. The team went

through a series of coaching changes before Jonathan and his wife Lindsey took over in 2017.

“Both Jonathan and Lindsey were students here who competed on the team, and they were just the perfect fit for the coaching role once they graduated.”

Since 2013, Hillsdale Mock Trial has consistently qualified for the Opening Round Championships, which constitutes the top 200 teams in the nation. But they had their eyes on the next milestone: earning a bid to nationals.

“Institutional knowledge is everything in this sport; to try and get good enough to make Nats requires a silly amount of leg work,” Church said.

There are 30 students on this year’s roster, and even though the majority of competitions occur in the spring, the program is in full swing throughout the school year.

“Our fall workload looks a lot like a trial advocacy class, and then, in the spring, everything is applied,” said Church.

The team meets for two hours twice a week, but senior Ethan Tong says that it’s the time the students devote outside of the meetings that really makes the difference.

“Everytime a new packet is released, there is at least a two hour meeting outside of practice for everyone on the team,” Tong said. “After those original drafting meetings, students then memorize and review on their own to make sure they are prepared.”

The program also brought on a third coach, Sophie Klomparens, to share the workload with the Churches. Tong said her addition has really enhanced the program.

“All the students have benefited, and, especially with the additional workload for Nationals, it’s been really great

at

By Elizabeth Crawford Collegian Reporter

Scholars dream of taking the same morning walks as C.S. Lewis and praying in the same churches that J.R.R. Tolkien, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Cardinal Newman attended. For alumni

Nicholas West ’22, Audrey Southgate ’16, and undergraduate student Jerry Biggerstaff, this dream is reality.

All three students are currently studying at Oxford. West is working on his master’s degree, Southgate recently finished her doctoral thesis, and Biggerstaff is attending Hillsdale’s exchange program at the University.

West is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in mathematical modeling and scientific computing.

When he decided to attend graduate school, West said that Oxford was his top choice.

“Oxford was naturally one of the schools on the top of my list because it has one of the best math programs in the world,” West said.

“On top of that, the United

Kingdom, especially Oxford, has such a rich history that I was interested in learning more about and experiencing firsthand.”

West attends Merton college, one of the oldest colleges at Oxford – which also happens to be the same school where Tolkien taught and T.S. Eliot studied.

Besides walking and praying in the footsteps of intellectual giants, West said his favorite memory so far is matriculation, the formal induction process for Oxford students.

“For matriculation, everyone in your college wears sub fusc, or academic dress, which, for men, consists of an academic gown, a bow-tie, and a dark suit,” West said. “It’s a bit surreal to wear sub fusc while you are inducted in Latin into a 1,000-year-old academic tradition underneath Streater’s 400-year-old fresco.”

Southgate recently finished her doctoral degree in English Language and Literature at Merton. “My dissertation title was ‘The Psalter in English:

Wycliffite Interpretations in Context,’” Southgate said. “To elaborate a bit, it was on what the Lollards, late 14th and early 15th- century reformists inspired by Oxford theologian John Wycliffe, did with the Psalter.”

Southgate said attending the undergraduate Oxford

sources for studying biblical translation into English. Both Wycliffe’s Bible and the King James Bible were produced here to the best of our knowledge,” Southgate said.

After a long day of writing and researching, Southgate said she enjoys sharing a meal with friends.

to have a third coach,” Tong said.

Every team that qualifies for the National Championship receives a brand new case packet, and must scramble to write new arguments and practice new witnesses in the four weeks leading up to the final tournament.

Hillsdale will compete in four preliminary rounds in Memphis. After that, Church said that the two best records left will meet in the final round.

“Our team motto is ‘always in it, never have enough.’ We’re good, but we are never cocky,” Church said.

Kiledal was also quick to highlight the culture behind the program as a factor of their success.

“These kids are more than a team; they are a family, and the coaches are such a huge part of that,” Kiledal said.

program, in addition to the support from various Hillsdale professors, helped her decide to pursue graduate work at Oxford.

“Oxford was an obvious choice as a medievalist,” Southgate said. “The manuscripts are here, literally 15 minutes from my front door. It has especially strong re-

“Each college has a dining hall which will often have formal dinners where everyone wears black-tie,” Southgate said.

Junior Jerry Biggerstaff, a current Hillsdale student studying British Ideology and Nationalism, said Oriel college also hosts regular formal dinners for 7.5 pounds.

“They begin the meal with all students rising as the High Table – consisting of faculty, clergy, and the provost –enters and says Latin grace,” Biggerstaff said. “After that, they close the hall doors and forbid anyone to exit. They then serve a three course meal at which the use of phones is strictly forbidden.”

Besides attending formal dinners, Biggerstaff said his favorite memory at Oxford has been toasting Scottish nationalism with one of his tutorial professors.

“After 4 to 8 one-on-one sessions, you really develop a relationship with your tutors, and those final tutorials are especially entertaining because you both understand each other,” Biggerstaff said.

If he could give any advice to undergraduates interested in attending the Oxford program, Biggerstaff said he would advise them to spend an hour a day researching the topic they would like to study.

“While they are excellent at introducing students to a topic, you will gain so much if you are already familiar

with the topic and have specific questions in mind,” Biggerstaff said. “That being said, if you do not know too many details about your prospective tutorial topic, do not let that discourage you! There is nowhere else in the world that can introduce you to a topic so fast and in so much depth as Oxford.”

All three students agreed that their studies at Hillsdale prepared them well for the academic rigor of Oxford.

“Oxford is a very natural next step for Hillsdale students because they’re well-prepared intellectually, because they tend to be Anglophiles, and because it is built around small communities where intellectual friendships are cultivated,” Southgate said.

But just like Hillsdale, Southgate said, Oxford’s community is what makes the academic workload worthwhile.

“I’ve found a great continuity in the intellectual communities. In both places, people just love learning,” Southgate said. “It’s the people that make the place.”

The Hillsdale Mock Trial team celebrates their win at a regional tournament in Feburary. COURTESY | Mock Trial Instagram

‘It’s a bit surreal’: Studying

Oxford

“There is nowhere else is the world that can introduce you to a topic so fast and in so much depth as Oxford”

Two alumni and one student share their experince studying among Oxford’s rich history