02.06.2025

CCA III discusses future of AI Hillsdale Academy ranks top 5 on CLT

By Tayte Christensen, Megan Li, and Malia Thibado Assistant Editors and Collegian Reporter

More than 1,000 people attended this week’s CCA lecture series on artificial intelligence — the largest number ever to attend a wintertime CCA, according to Executive Director of Programs Matt Bell.

Guests gathered in Hillsdale’s Plaster Auditorium and overflow seating in the Searle Center to attend the four-day CCA lecture series, which explored the consequences of human interaction with artificial intelligence.

Speakers in the lecture series discussed the decision humans have to make between responsibly using a tool or embracing AI as either an alternative or enhancement to human nature.

Mattias Desmet, professor of psychology at the University of Ghent, spoke about the importance of keeping a religious view of man and connection instead of the “mechanist-ra tionalists” who trust only in reason.

“The mechanist-rationalist worldview in which the entire universe is considered to be a rational machine, a view in which this large machine can be understood completely in a rational way,” Desmet said. “The guiding principle in our society is no longer an ethical principle. It’s considered to be rational knowledge.”

Desmet said the rationalist worldview views reason as the only truth, as long as the truth leads to survival. AI, he said, is a purely rational machine.

“We are on the verge of the final stage of the enlightenment culture, the final stage of the machinist culture where we will expect the machine to speak the truth, where we will ask ChatGPT or AI to tell us what is right,” Desmet said. Desmet warned against losing interpersonal connections, as that is what keeps individuals from the solitude that leads to overreliance on materialistic ideas.

have to re-ask what it means for a human being to speak the truth.”

In a talk titled “Transhumanism and AI,” Aaron Kheriaty, director of bioethics and American democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, spoke about transhumanism’s attempt to incorporate a fully material view of man, in which the content of the mind is reduced to data in a massive computing system.

“We will have no use of our body. We’ll find the technological means to live forever,” Kheriaty said. “Transhumanism taps into unfulfilled aspirations and longings. It’s a substitution for our secular age.”

Kheriaty said those who control AI will control what it means to be human through its incorporation of big data, AI, robotics, and nanotechnology into political, economic, and medical institutions.

“Elites may gain the power to engineer the power of life

billion years ago.”

William Gertz, author of “Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China’s Drive for Global Supremacy,” spoke about how China is already using AI to control its own citizens.

“It’s not designed to make life better for the nation,” Gertz said. “It’s solely to maintain an iron grip on power in the CCP.”

With the help of AI, the Chinese government is already conducting mass surveillance, suppression of opposition, and its social credit system, Gertz said. Chinese citizens can no longer speak against the party.

“The Great Firewall is to both block information from coming into China and from going out,” Gertz said. “AI is able to do this in a much more rapid way. This technology can scan the entire internet than these censures.”

According to Robert Epstein, researcher at American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, artificial in-

Radio students named award finalists

By Grace Novak Collegian Reporter

Fourteen Hillsdale student radio productions are finalists in nine different categories of the 2025 Michigan Association of Broadcasting awards.

“It’s an exciting day when MAB reveals its finalists,” Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM General Manager Scot Bertram said. “Our students are driven to create high-quality audio content, and it is rewarding to see others recognize what we’re accomplishing at WRFH.”

Bertram said he is proud of his students for receiving these nominations and is looking forward to seeing the final results at the MAB awards ceremony in March.

According to Bertram, WRFH nominated different student projects for consideration, including podcasts, social media work, newscasts, and stand-alone episodes.

“These entries have been judged to be among the top three submissions in the respective category,” Bertram said. “From here, we find out first, second, and third place in March.”

Several categories have multiple of the top three nominations filled with Hillsdale submissions. Junior Evan Mick’s sports interview episodes were nominated for all three different spots in the Sports Feature category, guaranteeing him first, second, and third place.

“It’s kind of funny,” Mick said. “I didn’t really think it was gonna happen because I had first and second last year. It’s nice because you know you won first place. There’s no stress about what place you came in.”

Radio Free Hillsdale has won the MAB College Audio Station of the year for the last two years. It also won in 2019. Many of the students have won

individual awards for their projects in past years.

“That speaks to the kind of work we’re doing at the radio station that we can compete against schools like Michigan State University and others,” junior Carissa Nisly said.

Nisly was nominated with senior Bella Dix in the category of social media use. Nisly said the nomination came as a pleasant surprise.

“PR reached out to us and said, ‘Can we have the name of your hometown and permission to contact them telling them that you’ve been nominated for this award?’” Nisly said. “So I guess it’s kind of a big deal. But I don’t see it as a big deal.”

With 14 nominations in nine different categories, students said they are excited about their chances.

“We might win,” said Nisly. “I’m proud of everyone else who’s gotten nominated and

is putting up work that they’ve done podcast-wise and radio-wise.”

The real focus was not on winning awards, but on producing something that they cared about and were proud of, according to senior Matthew Karten, whose podcast was nominated for Best Sportscast. Karten co-hosts the Bleacher Boys podcast where he discussed college sports with his now-graduated student colleagues, George Accola and Paul Marchitti.

“It’s pretty awesome that we were nominated. I didn’t know how prestigious it was. I’m still kind of in shock a little bit,” Karten said. “All I know is I had fun doing it.”

Nisly, Karten, and Mick said it is easy to get involved in radio at Hillsdale, even for students with no experience.

By Ty Ruddy Assistant Editor

Hillsdale Academy finished top five in the nation for two categories of the 2024 Classical Learning Test.

The current junior class placed first in the average national CLT10 scores by school after taking the test in the spring of 2024. The class of current freshmen at Hillsdale Academy had the 4th highest average test score by school in the nation.

“We use the CLT as a benchmark that tells our faculty where we’re doing well and where we can improve,” said Mike Roberts, headmaster at Hillsdale Academy. “What we try to stay away from is centering the education on testing, so we appreciate that the CLT does not innovate for innovation’s sake.”

CEO Jeremy Tate created the CLT as an alternative to the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the American College Testing (ACT) exams when he fielded requests from concerned parents as a college admissions counselor.

“Our goal with the CLT is to work with classical education, not against it, because the root of true education is virtuous young people who love God, country, and family,” Tate said. “Classical education should see students explore their moral imagination and grow in virtue. The CLT supports that.”

According to Soren Schwab ’12, Vice President of Partnerships at CLT, the CLT is on the

same page as those classical schools across the country which prioritize curriculum over testing.

“No longer a niche movement, classical — and classical Christian — education is the fastest growing movement in the United States,” Schwab told The Collegian in an email. “Hundreds of top performing classical students now utilize the Classic Learning Test. The Academy is successful on the CLT, not because they spent countless hours on test prep, but rather because of their outstanding mission, vision, curriculum, and pedagogy.” Roberts called standardized testing a helpful tool but spoke emphatically about the mission of Hillsdale Academy as it relates to the education of the whole person.

“The CLT is definitely a piece of what we do here at the Academy, but it’s not the end,” Roberts said. “Sometimes we think GPA or test scores are the goal of education, but a full education also takes seriously the questions concerning who students will become and how they will serve.”

Roberts said he thinks the CLT understands the true goal of classical education, but testing serves the curriculum, not the other way around.

“Hillsdale Academy will never change course for higher test scores because our goal is the classical education of our students,” Roberts said. “Luckily, I don’t see that being an issue as long as we partner with the CLT.”

Left to right: Sophomores Meg Johnston, Sophia Miller, and Claire Pipher attended the Curate summit Feb. 2 (see B1). Courtesy | Sophia Rome

Alumnus talks AI and warfare China is the US’s biggest threat

By Sarah Katherine Sisk Senior Reporter

America’s military has lost its edge, and solutions must come from the private sector, according to Erik Prince ’92.

The founder of the private security firm Blackwater addressed CCA attendees Feb. 2 about artificial intelligence in warfare, asserting that only the level of innovation fostered by the free market can restore military effectiveness.

Prince, who studied economics at Hillsdale, described how the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War has been a “black swan event,” accelerating military innovation, particularly in drone warfare and AI-enabled weapons systems.

Prince highlighted how commercial drones and AI are transforming modern combat, particularly in Ukraine. He described how Ukrainians are taking “hobbyist drones” and modifying them with 3D-printed canisters to create highly cost-effective anti-tank weapons.

“Imagine the democratization of precision strike that enables,” Prince said. “And it’s cheap. You take a $500-800 drone, you lobotomize — you put some different software in it, and 3-D print a canister. Now you have a very potent anti-tank, anti-personnel weapon, which cost you probably three grand versus $150,000 for a Javelin missile from Raytheon with a $200,000 launcher.”

The former Navy SEAL criticized current U.S. military readiness, pointing to the 2020 USS Bonhomme Richard fire in San Diego. “It took the Navy and the crew an hour-and-a-half to get water on that fire,” Prince said. “The ship burned up at the dock because of the incompetence of the crew and the responding fire services. That’s a billion- to a billion-and-a-half dollar write-off.”

Prince highlighted cost inefficiencies in recent Red Sea operations, where Irani -

an-backed Houthis have been attacking ships with drones and missiles.

“The U.S. Navy acknowledges that they have fired a billion dollars worth of U.S. missiles at those incoming devices,” Prince said. “That’s a false number. It’s more like four or five billion because the Navy accounts for what they bought it for back in 1995.”

He said the cost disparity between U.S. defensive measures and enemy weapons systems is particularly con -

“You have a huge asymmetry. Iranians, through the Houthis, are shooting a $20,000 drone at our billion-dollar warship, and the Navy is shooting that drone down with not one, but two $1 million Standard Missiles,” Prince said. “It really speaks to the value of some new leadership in the Pentagon, because we are really on the wrong path in terms of procurement, mentality, and discipline.”

Prince argued that solutions would come from outside traditional military channels.

“This level of innovation speed is only going to come from the private sector,” he said. “It’s not going to come from big government labs. It’s going to come from smart people in America operating from garages with a dream. I really hope that the Trump team is able to change procurement to allow for the purchase and innovation that the private sector can do.”

The former military contractor revealed that, although he “did not apply for a DoD job,” he has volunteered to oversee all 42 Pentagon oversight boards to help refocus military priorities on what he termed “lethality and merit” rather than diversity initiatives.

Junior Nathan Rastovac, who attended the lecture, commented on Prince’s military and private sector background.

“Erik Prince is unique when it comes to the battlefield aspect since he served as a Navy SEAL officer and then founded one of the most successful private military groups in the United States,” Rastovac said. “Blackwater Security was very successful in utilizing modern equipment and strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan while also operating with lower expenses than the U.S. military.”

Senior Jadon Camero also said Prince was “very qualified to talk about the future battlefield because of his background in warfare and private military.”

Rastovac highlighted Prince’s warnings about emerging conflict zones.

“He mentioned Burma, South Africa, and Venezuela,” Rastovac said. “He said to focus on these countries in the coming months to years because the use of new technology and AI has started to shift the tides for groups in conflict.”

Prince characterized the current global situation as a “competition for governance” between Western democratic systems and authoritarian state control. He pointed to recent policy shifts in China under Xi Jinping, such as their Anti-Corruption Campaign, as problematic for their continued development.

“You either have a Western republic like the United States, which actually values individual liberty, choice, free speech, private property, or something where you’re completely subjugated to an all-powerful state,” Prince said.

State rep to talk American farming

By Luke Miller Collegian Freelancer

Hillsdale College Republicans will host Pennsylvania state Rep. Barb Gleim to talk about American farming Feb. 11 at 8 p.m.

The lecture, titled “American Farmers Under Attack: Fake Meat, Raw Milk, and Foreign Ownership,” will be held in the Heritage Room in Mossey Library and will focus on the importance of supporting American agriculture.

“Barb Gleim has a lot of experience in the farming industry, and she’s just all about getting down to what the truth is about what we’re putting into

In his speech, titled “AI as a Tool of Manipulating Public Opinion,” Epstein said AI is as powerful as it has ever been before. Epstein said AI was used to influence voters during the 2024 election.

“We could find out whether Google was showing people unbiased search results or whether they were biased toward one candidate or another,” Epstein said. “Ninety-five percent of donations went to Democrats. A big tech company — a private company — was messing with our elections.”

While some people dismiss the idea of AI being an imminent danger, Epstein warned the situation is more dire.

our bodies and how that is affecting us,” said freshman Kathryn Vieceli, Hillsdale College Republicans communications chairwoman. “With only 1% of Americans as farmers nowadays, we need to support the people who are actually getting us the real food we need to live.”

Sophomore Josiah Jones, president of Hillsdale College Republicans, said he has worked with Gleim a few times since 2022 and believes her experience in both farming and politics will give her a unique perspective to share. Gleim represents Cumberland County, which borders Harrisburg.

“She has modeled to me what a real legislator who fights

for their constituents should do,” Jones said. “She’s also really passionate about some of the agricultural issues. This topic is something she has actually written plenty of bills about.”

Jones said Gleim has sponsored agriculture bills in Pennsylvania like water quality, manure regulation, and a foreign farmland ownership ban that she will speak to at the event.

Jones said he believes the nutrition issues Gleim will speak to are significant for national health.

“When we have government really restricting what the small farmers can do and big corporations coming in and modifying things like meat, there’s less

real protein out there in our food,” Jones said. “It’s a public health issue.”

Vieceli encouraged all Hillsdale students to take advantage of the opportunity to hear from a congresswoman who is coming from a different state to speak at this event.

“It’s really a big deal when you have representatives who want to come to Hillsdale and speak to us,” Vieceli said.

“When those opportunities arise, seize those opportunities to hear from those people who we can learn and grow from. So don’t pass on the chance to come join us next week and hear what she has to say.”

Q&A with Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz

By Catherine Maxwell News Editor

Bill Gertz is the national security correspondent for the Washington Times and a New York Times bestselling author. His latest book is “Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China’s Drive for Global Supremacy.” At the recent CCA Feb. 3, he lectured on “AI as a Means of Totalitarian Control in China.”

What do you think is the biggest threat China poses to the U.S. right now?

It is the number one existential threat to the United States. In my view, everything else is a sideshow: Russia, Ukraine, Middle East, Latin America, whatever. I view China as the ultimate threat because they have, after 40 years of engagement with the United States, after the Cultural Revolution, the policy under Deng Xiaoping was to bide their time and hide their capabilities. Then in 2012, Xi Jinping came to power, and he is a true believer in Marxism, Leninism. They have a little bit of a different interpretation of it, but he’s driving the train into making China the next superpower. In order for China to do that, it has to diminish, weaken, and ultimately destroy the United States, in order for China to achieve its position as the sole superpower. We’re challenged by this massive reality across the spectrum — political, military, intelligence, cyber — all domains are being threatened by China. Through my reporting, I’ve been trying to awaken people to that fact.

What can the U.S. do about it?

It’s Cold War 2.0, and we learned from the first Cold War that as long as there’s this expansionist, nuclear-armed dictatorship in China, we need to address that threat the way we address the threat from the Soviet Union, which was ideologically. It’s going to take a restatement or a reassertion of American values and democracy. We have to lead from the top. We’ve got to ultimately defeat the Chinese Communist Party ideologically.

What should the average person understand about China?

Understanding the danger from China is understanding the role of Marxism and Leninism within the Chinese system. Even some within the second Trump administration, they don’t fully comprehend what we’re up against in terms of that we’re dealing with an ideologically motivated adversary that is not going to be amenable to transactional kinds of relations with the United States. It’s going to require a much greater understanding that these are people who have a vision, and that vision is based on an 18th-century ideology of Marxism, which says that, first, there’s no God, it’s atheistic, and that leads to massive human rights violations. And second, it has a historical vision that history is moving from a feudal society up until an ideal worker’s paradise that will never be reached, and in the interim, they’ve applied totalitarian controls, and that the reason they’re doing this is not because it’s a nationalistic Chinese thing. It’s a Marxist, Leninist motivation that is driving them, and the main obstacle to them achieving their Marxist, Leninist goal is the United States as a free, open and democratic system, and that is the biggest threat to China, and that’s why we need to better understand the nature of the China threat.

How did you get into national security reporting?

I’m an old Cold Warrior, and I covered the Cold War going back to the ’80s. I had some experience working for a publication and a group called the Freedom Leadership Foundation, which basically looked at human rights in the Soviet Union. We supported dissidents, and we battled the Soviet Union back in the day, and then it collapsed. I was hired in 1985 by the Washington Times, and they had just brought on a new editor who was a former Newsweek correspondent, and he put me on the foreign desk, and that’s where I started.

Epstein said the best remedy for this issue is to expose it.

“Some day, historians are going to look back on this period in time and say ‘these humans were fools because they built these monsters and never built in any protections,’” Epstein said.

In his speech “Why Computers Can’t Think the Same Way We Do,” computer scientist and author Erik Larson said humans are not in danger of AI outsmarting and subverting them.

“AI has invested first in deduction, now in induction. Those are not the powerful forms of inference that we have available to us as human beings,” Larson said.

Larson said the constraints of AI’s own system forces it to invent facts in an effort to make the user happy.

“There’s no greater proof

“AI has crossed the line,” Epstein said. “I don’t care whether it thinks like humans or not. It’s extremely powerful right now. AIs are pretty much running all the software.”

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that there’s still a gap between minds and machines,” Larson said.

“We’re at this inflection point in history where we can see that we have a really powerful AI and yet it has no mind.”

Larson proposed a positive approach to AI innovation.

“Nobody ever constructs an artifact without a specific purpose,” Larson said. “Eventually, we’re going to have a new way to look at these problems. We’re not going to be bound by heavenly AI and fearsome AI — we’re going to be able to look at our culture and ask what we want from AI.”

Larson said as an artifact, AI is ultimately a static entity, only moved when acted upon.

“The systems have very limited utility,” Larson said. “There’s constantly things in the physical world that eclipse a model that thinks the world is just a collection of words.”

Attendees said they appreciated the lecturers’ perspectives.

“As usual, it was excellent,” guest Anita Parrot said.

“There were great speakers who gave a lot of information. It would help a lot of people make up their minds about AI.”

Freshman Masha Logvin said she attended the CCA out of curiosity.

“It seemed like a relevant topic in the modern sphere of things,” Logvin said. “The technologization of the present and how everything is being introduced in the mainstream seemed fascinating.”

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Radio from A1

“It’s really cool as a creative outlet,” Nisly said. “It has a little bit of a learning curve to it, but once you get it, I feel like it’s pretty easy. There’s so much creative freedom.You can talk about whatever you want for however long you want. And Mr. Bertram is just the kindest man and is willing to work with you.”

Hillsdale has been putting out quality content that enables them to compete against larger state schools on a level playing field, according to the students.

“At the end of the day, we’re just people and we have equipment to do podcasts,” Karten said. “It’s just pretty cool to be recognized for something that you care about.”

“You can see how far we’ve come in a very short amount of time,” Bertram said. “That’s a testament to the work put in by our students and the culture we’ve developed here in which juniors and seniors are involved in helping freshmen and sophomores get involved.” The students are looking forward to the trip to the award’s ceremony, where they will get to spend time with their fellow radio students and see which specific awards their hard work has earned, according to Nisly.

“Our student journalists are committed to creating quality content that informs and entertains,” Bertram said. “I’m very proud of our students for this well-deserved recognition and can’t wait to see how many first-place awards we take home.”

The strong list of nominations for the Michigan Broadcasters Association awards is a reflection of how the Hillsdale radio program continues to grow and expand, according to Bertram.

receive weekly issues of Hillsdale College’s student newspaper, please contact Lauren Bixler at lbixler@hillsdale.edu. How to: Join The Collegian To find out more about how to contribute to The Collegian through writing, photography, or videography, please contact Jillian Parks at jparks@hillsdale.edu.

CCA from A1

Erik Prince ’92 lectured on military innovation. Courtesy | Jack Cote

Hillsdale students see groundhog’s shadow

By Lewis Thune Collegian Reporter

Five Hillsdale students watched as Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter Feb. 2. Junior Jonathan Williams, sophomores Alex Buehrer and Andrew Hawken, and freshmen Rylan Conley and Charlie Taylor were in the front rows at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania when the pronouncement was made.

“It was the most incredible and dumbest thing you’ll ever witness. But it’s a must-see,” Conley said. “It’s one of those things where you didn’t know it was a bucket list item until you went there to see it.”

To secure their spot among 40,000 attendees, the five Simpson residents piled into their cars for a six-hour drive to western Pennsylvania on Saturday night. Williams and Buehrer, who are roommates, had previously

made the trip to Punxsutawney for Groundhog Day last year and were determined to get closer to the action.

“Jonathan and I knew the deal this time,” Buehrer said. “We were able to get a much better spot to view the festivities.”

“We got to Gobbler’s Knob at 2:30 a.m., and the gates opened at 3 a.m. We were the first ones in — right up front, just behind the VIPs,” Hawken said.

Their placement made the four hours between the beginning of festivities and the wakening of the groundhog an exciting wait, as they conversed with the “Inner Circle,” the mysterious delegation of Punxsutawney locals who put on the event.

“It was a great spot. We got to meet the Vice President of the Inner Circle, ‘Moonshine,’ as well as members ‘Big Chill’ and ‘Thunder Conductor,’” Williams said.

In addition, the Hillsdale group was featured numerous times on the event’s big screen during the pre-sunrise live entertainment, even making it onto a Fox News montage of the Groundhog Day celebration, Buehrer said.

“They remixed a bunch of popular songs, made them about Punxsutawney, and performed them live. It was hilarious,” Conley said.

Unlike last year’s Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from Gobbler’s Knob and saw his shadow, which, according to legend, signifies six more weeks of winter.

“The Inner Circle president spoke to Phil in Groundhogese, who indicated the proper scroll, foretelling either

winter or spring, which was then read aloud,” Conley said.

The group’s videos show the uproarious reaction to the pronouncement, punctuated by fireworks and applause.

“It was a spectacular atmosphere,” Taylor said.

But Hawken said the announcement that spring would not be arriving early wasn’t as well received among the Hillsdale students.

“We were pretty bummed, but it wasn’t much of a surprise,” Hawken said. “We’d been waiting out there for four hours in about 18-degree weather, so we were all thinking there’d be more winter, and I heard it snowed back here on Sunday morning, so that goes to show you that Punxsutawney Phil is never wrong.”

Despite the forecast of a prolonged winter, Buehrer and Williams said they were delighted with the trip as a whole.

“It lacked a little bit of that freshness and new magic that the first year offered,” Williams said. “But being able to see it through the eyes of other newcomers was a joy. It almost felt like watching little kids on Christmas morning.”

Buehrer and Williams said they hope Groundhog Day will remain a tradition among Simpson residents.

“Last year, we crossed it off the bucket list. This year, we created a legacy,” Buehrer said. “It was really great to be able to introduce more people to Punxy.”

Williams said he sees the humorous holiday as something more.

“Getting so excited and passionate about a weather-predicting groundhog is obviously pretty absurd, but it’s helped me form great friendships with my fellow fans of Phil,” he said. “It truly encapsulates the silly energy of Simpson in a positive and holistic way.”

The entire company returned to Simpson on Sunday night with free souvenirs to remember Punxsutawney by, among which was a groundhog puppet in a Sam Adams shirt.

“That’s what I mean when I say it’s the most amazing and dumbest thing ever,” Conley said. “I can now say for the next 60 years of my life — God willing — that I went there and have something to show for it.”

Panel discusses future of DOE President’s Ball features James Bond theme

By Austin Gergens Collegian Freelancer

The future of the U.S. Department of Education likely spells some changes, said Heritage Foundation fellows during a panel hosted by The Federalist Society Feb. 30.

To a room of more than 70 attendees in the Elizabeth Hoynak Archive Center, Charles Stimson, deputy director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, said the president does not have the authority to abolish the Department of Education on his own.

“The challenge to the administrative state, and in particular, dissolving a department like the Department of Education, is one that people in the conservative movement have talked about for a long time,” Stimson said.

Stimson reminded the audience that the DOE began in 1979 during President Jimmy Carter’s administration, growing out of a former department called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. This was subsequently split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, according to Stimson.

“The Department of Education began its operations in 1980, but HEW was crafted in 1953 and that predecessor agency was the federal security agency from 1939,” Stimson said. “Eliminating a federal department is a big task, and I can’t think of many that have ever happened in my lifetime.”

Paul Ray ’08, a Harvard Law school graduate and former clerk for Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, addressed the president’s power over the rulemaking process and agencies issuing regulations.

“In effect, it is to say they look like laws and operate like laws. They have the force of laws,” Ray said. “Many agencies have regulatory power.”

Ray said the president has authority over the regulatory process in his ability to appoint leadership over the agencies, the use of executive orders, and the Office of Management and Budget, but also warned about the pros and cons of EOs.

“The presidents face a lot of pressure from their supporters to use their powers to the max rather than compromise with congress,” Ray said.

Stimson questioned whether the DOE would remain in its current form or a different form, by the end of Trump’s second administration.

GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, and current student at the Hillsdale Van Andel Graduate School of Government in D.C., shared Ray’s view that it would look different.

“I don’t think it’ll be eliminated,” Canaparo said. “My question is what sort of form are we talking about. Will its structure, organization, departments, and authorities still exist?”

Canaparo said the Department of Education may reduce its own power “to regulate schools” by increasing “competition among accreditors,” citing the American Bar Association as an example.

“Law schools have one accreditor and it’s the ABA, and it keeps trying successfully to force schools to use racial quotas,” Canaparo said. “To increase the competition among the accreditors means that the accreditors will be forced to compete on actual value added.”

Canaparo said funding may be another way of controlling the DOE.

“Grants to whom it gives its grants can really reshape the broader economy and education,” Canaparo said.

Stimson suggested students examine The Heritage Foundation’s Federal Budget in Pictures website, which shows how federal government’s mandatory spending is on the rise.

“You will see that the big three entitlement programs are eating more and more of the federal government and the pie of discretionary spending is getting smaller and smaller,” Stimson said. “Right now we’re paying more interest on the debt than we’re funding the Department of Defense.

That’s a threshold that was just crossed in the last year — it’s disgusting.”

By Sophia Bryant Collegian Freelancer

An evening of blackjack and poker will bring “Casino Royale” to the Student Activities Board’s annual President’s Ball Feb. 8.

The event, based on the 2006 James Bond movie of the same name, will take place in the Searle Center from 9 p.m. to midnight.

“I think it’s going to be very extravagant,” SAB Creative Team member and junior Gray Turner said. “We’ll have black and red and white color themes

going on and there will be game tables.”

Games will include poker and blackjack, but Turner said no gambling will be involved.

“It’s going to be really fun to have both the opportunity to dance and also play games,” Turner said.

Turner said the menu for the night includes chicken tenders and fries, catered by Metz, along with a mocktail bar.

Across campus, students said they are looking forward to the event as a night to spend time with friends.

“I’m excited for President’s Ball mostly because it’s going to be such a great time getting all dressed up and ready together with the other Olds girls,” freshman Grace Novak said. “Many of us didn’t have huge formal dances in high school, so having that experience now in college will be a blast.”

The Jerry Ross Band will perform that night, with doors opening early at 8:30 p.m. for swing dancing.

“It has been a good opportunity to reconnect with people I don’t see frequently on

campus,” senior Noah Schmidt said. Turner said she has attended the event in previous years and it is an opportunity for students to come together as a community.

“President’s Ball is a really unique event,” Turner said. “It allows students to have an opportunity to go and do something that’s a little more special, to get more dressed up, but also to do that in community.”

Creative writing competition seeks submissions

By Jayden Jelso Collegian reporter

The English department is accepting entries for its annual creative writing competition until Feb. 11.

“Writing is essentially an act of bringing something from your soul out into external form so that it can be shared with other humans,”

Associate Professor of English Kelly Franklin said. “It is also a discovery process: we come to better understand what is in our souls as we struggle to give it form in language. It is a form of communion, a way of being known and understood,

a way of building a bridge or a connection to a person you’ve never even met.”

Students may submit a maximum of one poem and one work of prose to the competition. All materials should be submitted to the box outside Franklin’s office, Delp 205.

Three awards are available for poetry, all of which are open to undergraduate students: the Ambler Literary Award, the Barnes Award for Metered Poetry, and the Margaret Weymouth Jackson Award. For prose, two awards are open: the Dana and Elinor Kies Rose Award, and the

Carlotta and Alvin Ewing English Award. The former is open to all undergrads and the latter only to women who are declared English majors.

Sophomore Adam Robbins said he plans to enter both categories of the competition.

“I like to think about how language functions,” Robbins said. “There are certain things that cannot be expressed in words, like when you cry or laugh. I think poetry strikes at that mystery, and so do most forms of art.”

Students must submit three copies of their entries, identified by a pseudonym and paired with a sealed envelope

containing their real name, according to flyers posted by the English department. Those who fail to adhere to this will be disqualified. “I hope students get the joy and fulfillment from writing,” Franklin said. “I hope they are able to access whatever is in their soul that needs utterance and give it form so that it can be shared and read by others. I also hope students learn the basic practice of writing and submitting for a deadline — something that writers have to be able to do.”

By Isaac Green Managing Editor

Hillsdale’s leadership honorary will collect phones and other electronic devices before a lecture by an undisclosed speaker at its next senior-exclusive event Feb. 12 from 6-8 p.m. in the Hoynak Room.

Members of Omicron Delta Kappa will impose the Chatham House Rule, which means while students may discuss information they learn from the meeting, they may not attribute it to any specific individual.

The keynote speaker will offer the upcoming class of graduates his thoughts on the college and its role in education and culture, according to Omicron Delta Kappa Presi-

dent Josiah Jagoda. Students will also have the opportunity to ask the speaker any questions they may have about the college after the lecture.

“I think there are pentup questions and potential frustrations that students can have during their time at Hillsdale, questions with the college’s methodology or its marketing,” Jagoda said. “We thought it would be a really cool idea if the seniors who have done their time got a chance to have an open discussion about those questions, so long as it’s a respectful, genuine inquiry and not, ‘I just want to voice my frustration.’”

In making the event closed-door, Omicron Delta Kappa hopes to create an open environment where stu-

dents can approach a senior member of the faculty with their opinions on the school and have a genuine conversation, according to Jagoda.

Assistant Professor of History Jason Gehrke, who advises the honorary, said this year’s members chose “the leadership of Hillsdale College” as their theme for organizing activities.

“The event expresses that mission,” Gehrke said. “It is an opportunity to come together with one of the college’s most esteemed and senior faculty to reflect upon Hillsdale College, what it has done in the lives of students and what it does or might mean for the larger world.”

But beyond giving students a chance to reflect, the event is an opportunity for seniors

to “gather in friendship” and speak openly, according to Gehrke.

“Bring all of your thoughts and questions and stay for the conversation,” Gehrke said. Seniors hoping to attend can look for an RSVP form in the Student Activities Office newsletter. It is a formal event with a cocktail attire dress code.

“A lot of people have questions that are a little bit like, ‘I don’t know if I’m allowed to ask that, I don’t want to question the authority of the college,’ but we should talk about those things,” Jagoda said. “I think those are questions that need to be answered so that students can go out into the world and represent Hillsdale in an authentic way.”

Left to right: Alex Buehrer, Andrew Hawken, Jonathan Williams, Rylan Conley, and Charlie Taylor watched the groundhog predict six more weeks of winter.

Courtesy | Jonathan Williams

Opinions

The Collegian Weekly

The opinion of the Collegian editorial staff

(517) 607-2415

Online : www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Editor-in-Chief | Jillian Parks

Managing Editor | Isaac Green

Senior Editor | Michaela Estruth

Outreach Director | Olivia Pero

Design Editor | Ally Hall

News Editor | Catherine Maxwell

Opinions Editor | Caroline Kurt

City News Editor | Thomas McKenna

Sports Editor | Jacob Beckwith

Culture Editor | Colman Rowan

Features Editor | Kamden Mulder

Social Media Assistant | Sam Otting

Circulation Manager | Lauren Bixler

Assistant Editors | Megan Li | Tayte Christensen | Christina Lewis | Alessia Sandala | Zachary Chen | Eleanor Whitaker | Anna Broussard | Ellie Fromm | Ty Ruddy

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Illustrator | Maggie O’Connor

Faculty Advisers | John J. Miller | Maria Servold

The editors welcome Letters to the Editor but reserve the right to edit submissions for clarity, length, and style. Letters should be 450 words or less and include your name and number. Send submissions to the Opinions Editor at ckurt@hillsdale.edu before Saturday at 3 p.m.

Dear Collegian, Keep it clean, Great Books

We’re all adults here, so we need to have a frank talk about Dante.

I’ve been in Great Books I for a few weeks now, and it’s been fantastic so far. That is, until my prof started reading Dante’s “Inferno” through some twisted, dirty-minded lens.

He took the story of Paolo and Francesca — a sweet, touching story of the love of literature — and turned it into a hideous monstrosity of what I can only describe as “going on a date before marriage.”

I couldn’t believe it. Dante would never have written about anything more racy than premarital eye contact — he was a good Christian. My professor’s talk of “courtly love” (his thinly veiled disguise for impropriety), “days of dalliance” (filth… pure filth), and “leisurely conjunction” (I threw up after class) was disappointing, to put it mildly.

We need to hold our English department to higher standards.

Now to be clear, I’m not arguing for bowdlerizing. I don’t think we should expunge the foundational books of the Western Tradition. After all, there’s nothing in the classics to be censored — otherwise, they wouldn’t be classics.

What I do think, however, is that we need to ensure that our English department reads responsibly.

I know the arguments against me: Plato’s “Symposium” mentions kissing in a couple of places, so do you want to ban that? How about the story of Lancelot and Guenevere, which talks about holding hands? What of the “Odyssey,” in which Odysseus and Circe share a bed, but probably stay far enough apart so that they don’t touch? What about Shakespeare, who makes a joke about the consummation of a marriage somewhere in one of his plays?

Do I want to get rid of all these excellent stories just because they obliquely reference that natural human impulse which is finally fulfilled in a good solid side-hug? No, of course not. I just think that we should read these properly — as the allegories, philosophical treatises, or pure-minded, edifying stories that they are.

The “Thousand and One Nights” is a gorgeous reflection

Build relationships like trump's cabinet

President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks prove it’s possible to find common ground in a politically divided America.

As of Feb. 5, the U.S. Senate has confirmed all of Trump’s nominees — most recently former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general.

Trump is excelling at some-

thing rarely tried in today’s partisan political climate: finding commonalities across party lines.

His administration includes Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a former financial manager for George Soros, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida. He nominated

Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., both former Democrats who — while breaking from their party — are far from MAGA Republicans.

At Hillsdale, sharing interests, goals, and opinions may be common, but it’s a skill worth practicing. The Roman Catholic and the Calvinist can bond over a love for medieval Europe. The English major and the biochemistry major can enjoy Club Soccer. The Republican and the Libertarian can play strategy board games together. Finding commonalities now will enrich your life at Hillsdale and will only help you when you leave the conservative, Christian bubble.

Defending truth protects churches

By Luke Miller Collegian Freelancer

President Donald Trump’s new executive order declaring that there are only two genders does much more than restore objective truth to government policy. It protects every church, college, and charity that defends this truth.

On Jan. 20, one of the very first actions of Trump’s second term was to make it federal policy that the government is only to consider biological sex — not gender identity — in everything from passports to public bathrooms to prison placement.

on the potential of narrative. The “Song of Songs” is only about Christ and the Church. And “Moby Dick” is just a whale.

Hillsdale English would have us believe that Paolo and Francesca are in the Inferno because they were a little closer than just really good friends in the Lord. This is a rotten lie — as everybody knows, Dante, Shakespeare, and Aristophanes would never have written about yucky things like kissing.

You see, they were ancients. Their minds weren’t contaminated, as ours are, by the pervasive grossness of modern life. They only wrote about G-rated subjects, which is why I plan to read “Gawain and the Green Knight” to my children. Those authors of old were not just literary geniuses: Their work was profound, thought-provoking, and, most importantly, completely clean.

Mentioning marital relations would have been as shocking to them as it would have been to the author of, say, Deuteronomy.

That’s why we need to encourage our English department not to read stuff into these books, even if they’ve been corrupted by going to graduate school in English.

“To the pure, all things are pure.” Somebody smart once said that, and it means that, as Christians, we have a responsibility to only read clean, high-souled literature like Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” or Catullus 16. Anything else would be almost as silly as reading Milton’s “Paradise Lost” instead of just reading the inspired version.

It’s not hard. But if we seriously need an overhaul of our literature, may I recommend an author whom no one ever dared read as mentioning “days of dalliance”? He’s a classic — a literary giant — a real humdinger of an author. I refer, of course, to Aristotle. Get your minds out of the gutter, English.

Joseph P. Oldsboy is a freshman. He wanted to major in English until he got grossed out. Now, he hopes to major in Olds with a concentration in Lower Right.

This piece was edited by Zack Chen.

While most Republicans are celebrating that this mandate keeps boys out of girls’ restrooms and limits the number of genders listed on federal IDs, most commenters miss something just as important.

The executive order changes the federal government’s policy for application of the 2020 Supreme Court case, Bostock v. Clayton County. The court ruled that, under Title VII of

the Civil Rights Act, private employers must allow people into single-sex spaces that align with their gender identity.

The Civil Rights Act makes no mention of gender identity, but the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII’s prohibition of sex-based discrimination applies to gender. Trump has clarified that government agencies are not to include any subjective gender-based ideology in their enforcement of the law.

Now the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the anti-discrimination laws in the private sector, cannot punish employers for normal policies like sex-specific bathrooms that the EEOC could label as discrimination.

This matters most when it applies to churches, religious schools, and charities.

Currently, the government labels all of these as “charitable institutions,” which gives them 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. However, they might not stay that way forever.

In 2019, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said at a town hall in Los Angeles, California, that any college, church, or charity that opposes same-sex marriage should lose its tax-exempt status. He was met with thundering applause, and other candidates like Senator Cory Booker echoed similar sentiments.

All it would take to treat every church and religious school in America like any other business is to remove their status as a charitable institution on the basis of “discriminatory action,” which the Supreme Court has ruled is legal. Not only would

many of those institutions be bankrupted by having to pay taxes without making profit, under the 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County case, the EEOC could also sue any and every Christian institution in America that teaches that the gender-identity ideology is wrong under the Civil Rights Act.

This is the real importance of Trump’s executive order.

To specify that the actual government policy does not consider gender-identity addresses the ambiguity that the Supreme Court saw under sexbased discrimination in the Civil Rights Act. Since the court’s job is to interpret the law, not to make it, the precedent from the Bostock v. Clayton County case is essentially overturned.

Furthermore, the executive order lays out a plan to put the definitions of “sex,” “man,” “woman,” “female,” and “male,” as well as the way federal agencies are to use them, into a bill that is to be presented before Congress. Trump is using the Republican majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives to give this policy the best possible chance at becoming a permanent law.

The reason a bill would be important is that executive orders can simply be overturned by the next administration. While this executive order is a great start, the job is not finished yet.

Passing that piece of legislation would be one of the best things the Trump administration could do for the Christians who voted for him. The real long-term threat to religious freedom in the United States is

that a misinterpretation of the Civil Rights Act could prevent religious institutions from following their religion.

Some people may say the government would never come after American churches and religious schools, but only five years ago, a Democratic presidential candidate campaigned on that policy and garnered some support for it. While that support was not enough to win then, it could be in the future. It sounds outrageous now, when public sentiment in America is opposed to the gender ideology that has been so prevalent and powerful in the last decade. That will not last forever. Eventually, the pendulum will swing back. The more protections for religious freedom that the Trump administration can put in place now, the better.

Luke Miller is a sophomore studying political economy.

Illustrated by Maggie O'Connor.

Trust requires transparency

By Charlotte Knobloch Collegian Freelancer

Since President Donald Trump’s executive order instructing the CIA to declassify the John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy assassination documents, common citizens and conspiracy theorists alike have been anticipating the files’ reveal.

Trump has given acting Director of National Intelligence Lora Shiao until Feb. 7 to create a plan to declassify the JFK files, and March 9 for the RFK and MLK Jr. documents. The release of all classified files relating to these major assassinations is long overdue. Full disclosure will keep the government accountable for its inaction during these assassinations and repair trust with the public.

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 set this executive order in motion three decades ago. Congress passed this during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. Whitehouse.gov states that the act required all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy to be disclosed in full by Oct. 26, 2017.

Yet the government held back thousands of files on and after the 25-year deadline. According to Politico, “The National Archives reports that, as of last year, about 3,600 [JFK] documents remain at least partially sealed, most from the files of the CIA.”

Even though more were released during the former Trump and Biden administrations, we are still missing critical information. The government was wrong to delay declassification. Trump may finally make this right.

Many Americans chiefly doubt the convictions of both Kennedy brothers’ assassins. Lee Harvey Oswald, the man posthumously convicted of shooting JFK, was shot while in federal custody before getting a hearing. Some have claimed that RFK’s killer, Sirhan Sirhan, worked with a second shooter or even the CIA. Additionally, James Earl Ray initially pled guilty to murdering MLK Jr., but later recanted his claim. For years conspiracy theorists have wondered: Was something more sinister behind these deaths?

The unsolved mysteries surrounding each case have caused

the decree to gain attention, sparking speculation from news corporations. The remaining JFK files may shed light on Oswald’s 1963 trip to Mexico and subsequent meeting with the Cuban embassy.

The public may also discover why some RFK files have been kept secret. RFK’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said there is great evidence the CIA had a hand in his father’s death. Details on the thoroughness of the assassination investigations may put some conspiracy theories to rest.

A 1979 report of the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations found that JFK “was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.” Although the extent of the conspiracy was unidentifiable at the time, it suggests there is something more to the situation. The new documents could pinpoint what that is.

The CIA may pressure Trump into omitting some files. Considering no president has followed through with completely declassifying the assassination records, this could occur. Even Trump’s bold, black Sharpie may fall short of its promises.

The government destroyed documents over the decades, so some potentially incriminating evidence may never be released. Also, according to a Jan. 23 Associated Press article, “Around 500 documents, including tax returns, weren’t subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement.” Since the COVID-19 pandemic, distrust of the government has grown. Trump is taking this positive step to restore citizen's trust in the government. Declassifying the assassination details of these three Americans is a valuable move. It has been too long. Many citizens alive during the assassinations have now died. Those people will never get answers. The government owes the rest of us transparency. In the following months, we can anticipate more answers, and likely more questions. Trump has promised to make more information available to the public. Now we have to see if he follows through.

Charlotte Knobloch is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

Hillbilly elegist should speak at commencement

By John Schaefer Collegian freelancer

There is no better example of the “American self-made man” than Vice President J.D. Vance. Hillsdale’s bright and diverse studentry deserves an inspiring commencement speaker in 2025, and Vance would more than excel.

He grew up in Middleton, Ohio, a rust-belt town less than four hours south of Hillsdale. His grandparents were his primary caregivers because his mother was addicted to opioids and his father was absent. After leaving home, Vance enlisted with the Marines, the branch Hillsdale alumni most frequently join. He went on to study political science and philosophy at Ohio State University before attending Yale Law School. He then married the love of

his life, worked for a Silicon Valley tech company, wrote a best-selling memoir, won a U.S. Senate election, sold his memoir to Netflix for a film adaptation, fathered three children, and was elected vice president of the United States — all in the span of 10 years. He overcame unbelievable odds to become the second-most powerful elected official at 40 years old.

Many people met Vance through his 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which topped the New York Times Best Seller list twice. The book was acclaimed for its account of the hardships Vance overcame and the insights it provided into impoverished white communities in Appalachia. One line from his book encapsulates the message Vance would communicate to Hillsdale students: “What separates the

successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives.”

His exhortation that people take personal responsibility never falters throughout “Hillbilly Elegy.” He places this idea in opposition to “‘learned helplessness when a person believes, as I did during my youth, that the choices I made had no effect on the outcomes in my life.” The young Vance had every reason to blame exterior circumstances for his struggles. At one point his mother threatened to crash a car he was in. He was almost placed in foster care because of it. Butler County, Ohio, the county he grew up in, has an annual median income below the poverty line and more annual deaths from opioid overdoses than natural causes.

Once Vance left home and entered new circles, he became

aware that peoples’ environments do not determine their outcomes. Vance says the key to overcoming “learned helplessness” is asking ourselves “what we can do to make things better.” This mindset fueled his unlikely success. Hillsdale students should adopt a similar mentality.

Hillsdale’s commencement speech acts as a capstone to students’ time here. The Western theological tradition is integral to the education students receive, so the ability to speak about faith would enhance that speech. Vance experienced many forms of western religion. He grew up in a non-denominational Christian household. He writes in his memoir that his grandmother Mamaw “always had two gods: Jesus Christ and the United States of America. I was no different, and neither

The 'god-king' boots Cooper

By Gemma Flores Collegian Reporter

The Daily Wire has been a pillar of conservative media since its founding in 2015. Recent events, however, have plunged the company and its CEO, Jeremy Boreing, into a well-deserved firestorm of media controversy.

In the world of middle-aged men sporting beards and outdated references, “The Comments Section with Brett Cooper” podcast was a breath of fresh air in the conservative commentary space.

Cooper seemed on a fast track to stardom. During her two-year run at The Daily Wire, Cooper amassed the second-largest following of The Daily Wire hosts with more than four million subscribers and nearly four billion views. That was, until the voice of conservative Gen-Zers everywhere made a shocking announcement in mid-December.

“Some of you have heard the rumors online, and the rumors are mostly true,” Cooper said in her final video with “The Comments Section.” “Today, Dec. 10, will be my last day hosting ‘The Comments Section’ and working for The Daily Wire.”

Immediately following Cooper’s announcement, the video cut to a clip of Boreing delivering a stilted message thanking her for her time at The Daily

Wire and congratulating her on this new chapter in life.

After two years of breakout success, The Daily Wire’s starlet left without a clear explanation, and the CEO of the company only sends in a highly corporate video. Why not have an entire episode set aside to explain? Why dedicate two minutes of a celebrity drama update to breaking the news?

Something just didn’t feel right.

The real trouble began, however, when Cooper’s replacement was announced: former producer Reagan Conrad. Conrad had been a close friend of Cooper’s for years. She was even the maid of honor at Cooper’s 2024 wedding. Immediately after Conrad took over the show, however, Cooper unfollowed her on Instagram and removed all posts with Conrad in them. Paired with Cooper’s strained behavior during her final video, the whole episode reeks of betrayal.

Since Cooper’s departure, “The Comments Section” has been hemorrhaging viewers. In the past three months, the channel has lost nearly 500,000. While Cooper’s videos averaged around half a million views, Reagan only gets about 50,000 views per video. By all accounts, the channel is headed toward a slow and painful death.

The villain here is Boreing, the company’s self-proclaimed

“god-king.” Once lauded for his pugnacious attitude toward opponents, he now comes across as an egomaniac whose only interest is saving himself and his company.

Cooper has remained silent about the whole affair, prompting Boreing to state Cooper has personally offended him by not coming to Reagan’s defense. Many fans of the show and The Daily Wire found this disconcerting. Boreing went out of his way to shame a beloved former employee by insulting her in such a public and personal way.

This is especially jarring when considering the company’s strict NDA policy when it loses a creator. Cooper is legally barred from being able to discuss her time at and departure from The Daily Wire.

Viewers may never know what really happened between Cooper and The Daily Wire. As of now, most everything we know about the situation is conjecture.

The Daily Wire has withstood public scandals before, but this time seems different. Viewers are watching “The Comments Section” fail in real time. Meanwhile, Cooper’s new YouTube channel has amassed more than a million subscribers with only two videos.

Cooper has a star quality about her that draws listeners in. People want her opinions on everything from public policy

to lifestyle hacks to internet drama. Rather than a hatred for liberal ideology, Brett Cooper brought a balanced perspective intermingled with levity and compassion. Viewers walked away from her videos with a sense of hope for the future of America that isn’t common within conservative commentary.

A conservative media outlet such as The Daily Wire should be held to a higher standard than simply not being “woke”. Conservatives deserve better, more nuanced messaging, as well as greater variety among their commentators. President Trump’s push to allow independent content creators and influencers in the White House press room demonstrates the revolution that’s happening in journalism: Legacy media is out, independent content creators and journalists are in. Brett Cooper is an example of this revolution. The Daily Wire succeeded only in betraying their audience’s trust. They blindly assumed viewers would accept whatever The Daily Wire saw fit to give them. Young conservatives of America are speaking up, and it’s time for overly bureaucratic and tired conservative organizations to start listening.

Gemma Flores is a sophomore studying the liberal arts.

Melania: more than meets the eye

By Tayte Christensen Assistant Editor

Class is back in the White House and it’s as badass as ever. Since taking the presidency for the second time, President Donald Trump has delivered on several campaign promises, signing 51 executive orders, eight proclamations, and 16 memoranda. It might be the most productive first two weeks in presidential history. But first lady Melania Trump has made headlines of her own with her fashion choices at the Inauguration and in the following days. And frankly, it’s nice to have style back. The first lady is as close as the U.S. will ever get to having royalty, and the American people deserve to have one with as much class as Melania.

Melania’s bold fashion statements indicate the domestic and international shift in American politics this year. No longer is the United States to be the laughingstock of the world, led by a puppeteer and her puppet president. Instead, America is entering her “Golden Era” with the Trumps at the helm.

Last week, the White House released the 54-year-old’s second official first lady portrait. It’s stunning. The photo taken in the White House’s Yellow Oval

Room features the former supermodel dressed in a black Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo, complete with a cumberbund and white blouse with its top two buttons undone. The Washington Monument looms in the background as Melania gently leans forward, smiling slightly. Her portrait is unlike any other first lady’s portrait in recent history. While most first ladies have historically had their portraits painted, both of Melania’s portraits have been photographs. This year, however, Melania opted for black and white — a jarring style choice that makes the image that much more intense. The portrait, coupled with her Inauguration Day fit — a navy blue coat and skirt, paired with a matching wide-brimmed hat with a cream stripe — have set the tone for Melania’s second term as first lady. Melania’s moody color choice comes as a departure from the historical-

ly-colorful ensembles of previous first ladies, from Jill Biden’s 2021 light blue dress and overcoat to Michelle Obama’s yellow-cream ensemble in 2009. Melania’s solemn Inauguration wardrobe this time around was void of color: starkly different from her own powder-blue Ralph Lauren dress from 2017.

Melania’s taking a no-nonsense approach to this term.

And after the hell the Left has put her family through over the last nine years, who can blame her?

Aside from one semi-standout moment at last year’s D-Day remembrance dinner, White House fashion critics have been unemployed with Jill Biden as first lady. Melania’s style as first lady, however, reflects the sentiment of the second Trump administration as a whole. After four years of an incompetent administration focused on DEI, “trans rights,” and other issues

was anyone else I knew.” Ohio State and Yale exposed Vance to the “New Atheism” movement that pervaded academia in the early 2000s. He spent years reading atheist philosophers like Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris and arguing against the fundamentalist Christian beliefs he grew up with. In a 2020 reflection written for The Lamp he admitted that he attacked such beliefs in effort to gain social acceptance among the elite. But Vance continued to wrestle with his faith. An article by the philosopher Basil Mitchell, St. Augustine’s “City of God,” and a chance meeting with the venture capitalist Peter Thiel influenced his eventual conversion to Roman Catholicism in 2019.

Vance’s struggles with religion and pursuit of truth

mirrors a common Hillsdale experience. Every year, many students come to Hillsdale at their parents’ behest, practicing their childhood religion. While here, their faith must deepen or change as challenges from classmates, exposure to new ideas, and a lack of parental oversight force students to defend their beliefs. Every student at Hillsdale can relate to a stage of Vance’s faith journey, and he could speak directly to graduates as they reflect on the ways their faith lives have matured.

Vance’s amazing life story and faith journey make him the ideal candidate to deliver Hillsdale’s 173rd commencement speech on May 10.

John Schaefer is a senior studying philosophy.

Patients must be proactive

By Ally Hall Design Editor

The key to reaping the benefits of American healthcare while being bludgeoned by its oversights is to not let on that you’ve self-diagnosed on Reddit.

I knew what was wrong with me before I arrived at the Rochester Mayo Clinic campus last July, but I needed the golden seal of approval to validate my suspicions. Seeking treatment for chronic health conditions is a game: appear ignorant enough to stroke the doctor’s ego and competent enough that they’ll provide quality treatment.

Amid a viscous rhetorical landscape surrounding diet, lifestyle, and health at large, it can be tricky to be a conscious patient. I had to embrace the fact that, though I wasn’t an expert in any field of medical study, I was the most intimately acquainted with my condition.

This is a truth easily forgotten when you’re desperate for relief.

Strewn out in hospital beds and specialized clinics like a trust-fund junkie, it’s easy to accept any treatment given to you without a second thought. It’s just as easy to reject options as futile attempts at fixing the unfixable. Both mindsets offer only a trap of misery.

it’s the only treatment that has ever worked for me and granted me any quality of life. But I came to the Mayo Clinic to get to the bottom of my condition and learn to treat it sustainably — not to slap more Band-Aids on gaping wounds. After months of a downward spiral and bimonthly hospital visits, cervical dystonic episodes which locked my neck sideways, and daily pain at a level never previously felt, all the doctors at the premier American medical center could give me was a “Sorry, kid. You’re screwed.”

Here is where I had a choice to make: believe the man experienced in treating my very condition at a top hospital, or push for more — cordially accept what felt like a death sentence, or risk being perceived as difficult.

I pushed the neurologist for a referral to see a spine specialist and managed to escape his dimly-lit office with my golden ticket. I’d only have to wait until October, the neurologist said.

I called the spine clinic every hour for two days until they let me see someone whose schedule magically opened up. Call it fate, call it persistence, but I got an appointment on the last day I had scheduled to be in Rochester.

that have only driven the nation to near-damnation, the Trump team is ready to get to work, Melania included.

During her first term as first lady, Melania told the press she wished “people would focus on what I do, not what I wear.” But her recent fashion statements are refreshing and deserve attention, especially after enduring years of “Dr. Jill” Biden’s drab apparel choices.

While many online complained her Inauguration Day hat concealed too much of her face, it sent exactly the message it seems she intended. With no way of seeing her eyes, the hat gave the first lady an air of sophistication and separation. On the day when all cameras would be on her, Melania’s classy look channeled the words of Clark Gable in “Gone with the Wind,” signifying to the media she “doesn’t give a damn.”

A humorous scene from the Inauguration came when Trump leaned in to give Melania a kiss on the cheek but was hindered by the hat. She is untouchable, even by her own husband.

Tayte Christensen is a junior studying history.

The first Mayo Clinic neurologist asked me why I was so “resistant to medication” as his fingers rested on my heap of medical records. Before confirming that there were no cameras in the corners of the room to reveal I was on a 2000s prank show, I quickly explained that I was a compliant patient, but years of my life had been sacrificed to medications that hurt me in the end.

The neurologist laughed at my hypothesis that my invasive Botox treatments had adverse effects on my underlying spinal condition. After speaking with a neurosurgeon, an emergency room doctor, and a handful of people on Reddit who looked over my MRI, I’d theorized that if my muscles were not strong enough to hold my head up properly, it would increase pressure on critical discs in my neck.

But of course, the doctor scoffed at me. Botox, my neurologist told me, had been used for “decades” to treat pain like mine.

Except for the fact that Botox was approved for migraines only in 2010. Long-standing studies about efficacy over time and comorbid disorders have not been done. I wasn’t arguing that the treatment didn’t work. In fact,

I explained my hypothesis to the second specialist. After a physical exam and a review of my tests, he confirmed that my invasive treatments were actually having adverse effects on my underlying spinal condition.

So Reddit and my plethora of random opinions from various practitioners were right.

I’ve spent nearly a decade of my life in chronic pain, have structured my whole life around my condition, and I still believe in doctors. I still believe in the hope of modern medicine, the promise of new treatments, and the recent research being done to improve the quality of life for thousands of patients like me.

The road to relief is paved by egregious mistakes, a lesson you don’t have to be incredibly sick to learn. The medical profession is a faulty one, as all human industries are, but one we still need. I needed the Mayo Clinic to give me the tools to navigate things I knew to be true. Being an advocate for yourself as a patient is just as important as instilling trust in the systems set up to aid us will propel you miles ahead.

Illustrated by Maggie O'Connor.

Ally Hall is a senior studying Rhetoric and Media.

City News

Hillsdale grad announces bid for governor

Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt ’01 is the first Republican to enter the contest

By Thomas McKenna City News Editor

The first Republican to jump into the 2026 race for Michigan governor heard about Hillsdale College while doing farm chores in eighth grade.

“I was out brush chopping the vineyards,” Michigan Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt told The Collegian in an interview last week.

The 45-year-old state senator representing part of southwest Michigan grew up on a sixth-generation dairy and grape farm, where he would listen to the radio during work. After tuning in to National Public Radio in the early morning, Nesbitt would switch to talk radio.

“At the time, the president of Hillsdale was on G. Gordon Liddy’s show, and I thought it sounded like a pretty neat institution — very independent, free-market thinking, individualistic,” Nesbitt said. “So I wondered where the heck Hillsdale was, and they said it was in Michigan.”

When Nesbitt returned home for lunch, he pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a glass of milk, and a map.

“It was just 90 miles away from our farm,” Nesbitt said. “So I always kept it in the back of my mind when I was looking at schools, and it ended up being

the college I picked.”

Nesbitt majored in economics and graduated from Hillsdale in December 2001 — a semester early to “save a good $5,000 in debt.” Twenty-four years later, on Jan. 14, Nesbitt announced his candidacy for governor of Michigan.

“I think President Trump showed a pathway, along with Speaker Matt Hall last year, on how to build a coalition to win the state,” Nesbitt said. “And so I’ve brought out a ‘Michigan First’ agenda.”

That policy agenda echoes one of Trump’s national slogans while focusing on state issues. Nesbitt breaks it into three parts. He said he would “put Michigan families first” by bringing down costs and preventing “woke government.” He also promised to put “Michigan students first” by expanding school choice and put “Michigan workers first” by ending business subsidies that he calls “corporate welfare.”

“I think Michiganders expect so much better than what they‘re getting out of Lansing right now,” Nesbitt said.

Trump’s ability to reach different types of voters helps explain why he won the state in November of last year, according to Nesbitt, and why he announced his candidacy nearly two years before Michiganders head to the polls in 2026.

“If I was going to engage with the number of unique communities around the state and build a coalition, I needed to start early,” Nesbitt said.

A Trump endorsement, if he offers it, could be the golden ticket to the Republican nomination. But Nesbitt endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the presidential primary two years ago. Nesbitt said he helped campaign for the president early last year.

“I was wrong, and my wife reminds me of that a little too often,” Nesbitt said. “She’s always been a big supporter of President Trump’s, and my daughter now, after meeting him in August, reminds me that I was wrong.”

The field will likely expand as the election approaches. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cannot run for a third term.

That means Nesbitt will face a non-incumbent, and a handful of other candidates have already started or revved their engines.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced an independent candidacy last month, and another Republican — former Attorney General Mike Cox — has formed a campaign committee but has not announced officially, the Detroit News reported.

Nesbitt was previously in the state House for three terms that ended in 2017 before moving to the Senate in 2019, where he is serving his second term. Between his time in the House and Senate, Nesbitt served as the state’s lottery commissioner under former Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican.

The college gave Nesbitt the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award in 2017 for his work in the state legislature on ener-

gy, tax, and telecommunications policy.

“I was very humbled by being recognized for my leadership in politics for being a conservative reformer,” Nesbitt said. “It was a great honor — not just from my alma mater, but from Hillsdale itself.”

Many of Nesbitt’s old professors still teach at the college. He said he took a class on writer J.R.R. Tolkien and an independent study on monetary history with Professor of History Brad Birzer.

“I remember Aric very well and very fondly. He was an excellent student, a brilliant and wholesome person,” Birzer said.

“He was one of those students who made everyone around him better. He and I have stayed friends through social media, and I’ve been very proud to see him grow as a father and as a

statesman. He would make a wonderful governor.” Nesbitt said one of his first classes was Political Economy with Professor of Economics and Public Policy Gary Wolfram. “I remember him holding up National Geographic books and saying that you don‘t have to live like a refugee,” Nesbitt said. He also recalls taking classes with Professor of Politics Mikkey Craig, Professor of History Dave Stewart, and Professor of Economics Ivan Pongracic. State Rep. Jennifer Wortz, R-Quincy, told The Collegian she was excited to see Nesbitt announce his run for governor.

“It‘s great to know that someone who has a connection to Hillsdale and has a background in agriculture is running for Governor,” Wortz said.

Local Civil Air Patrol cadets earn national awards

By Alessia Sandala Assistant Editor

Two local teenagers earned the Amelia Earhart Award and promotion to Cadet Captain in the Civil Air Patrol at a ceremony Friday.

Delilah McKimmy, 17, and Henry Rorick, 14, joined the Hillsdale CAP Composite Squadron when they were 12 years old. McKimmy is currently a junior at Jackson Preparatory and Early College and Rorick attends Hillsdale Academy.

Rorick said they have been working toward this achievement that only 3% of all CAP cadets earn.

Hillsdale CAP Squadron Commander Heather Tritchka said the award is the next step in their CAP career and will also help them if they choose to attend a military academy or join the military after high school.

“If they go on to a military career they get promoted automatically, up to an E3,” Tritchka said. “They also have special consideration for any of the

military academies. If they go to college and then go into the military, they will be promoted from a second lieutenant to a first lieutenant.”

The Amelia Earhart Award is a promotional award that requires cadets to pass leadership, aerospace, drill, and physical exams.

“You have to wait eight weeks in between each promotion,” Rorick said. “What I’ve been doing is promoting every eight weeks, the minimal amount of time allowed, and that‘s allowed

me to progress a lot further on the CAP journey in a shorter amount of time. That’s how I’ve been able to reach this award only as a 14 year old.”

Deputy Commander of Hillsdale’s CAP unit Cassie Hambleton said they ensure cadets have the necessary knowledge and training to pass each exam. Hillsdale’s CAP partners with the Hillsdale College Military Mentorship GOAL program to help cadets prepare.

“Our weekly meetings focus on being a place to practice the

skills they are learning through the program curriculum,” Hambleton said. “We also provide sessions on character development, aerospace practicals, and fitness. At this level both cadets participate in planning and leading those sessions.”

McKimmy, who plans to attend Western Michigan University and be in Air Force ROTC, said the award was what she had been working toward since she joined the program 5 years ago.

According to Rorick, he was thrilled when he found out he earned the award and intends to continue working toward the next award, the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award.

“For me, it was more of gratitude, and really everyone who was around me who helped me reach this goal and this important milestone in my career,” Rorick said. “It’s really the accumulation of all the efforts and the hard work coming together, and it‘s a very satisfying feeling that you don‘t get a lot. There‘s still other awards that I’m still reaching for and this is just one of the steps on the way.”

Hambleton said she and Tritchka are incredibly proud of both of the cadets’ hard work over the years.

According to Tritchka, McKimmy was one of the first kids to join Hillsdale’s CAP unit

when she first started it in 2018.

“She was the student who would come in and sit in the back with her hair hanging over her face and just kind of listen quietly and shyly,” Tritchka said. “I think I noticed her when I would ask questions and she would raise her hand and answer things, and I thought, ‘Oh, wow, she’s really listening.’ Then she would start doing research on her own. I’ve just seen her find her voice and really develop some great leadership skills, from going from the shy kid in the back to standing in front of the squadron and telling everyone to line up. And some of the cadets even say that she’s a little bit scary sometimes.”

Rorick said he first joined CAP to find a hobby.

“I was interested in aviation, but I didn’t really have a good way of going into aviation,” Rorick said. “I was unsure about what to do and where to go. And then one of my friends introduced me to CAP. So I went to one of the meetings from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesdays at Biermann and it was life changing. It was a thing that I always wanted, but I couldn’t find. It gave me an opportunity. It allowed me to take a flight that year, just a month later. It was life changing.”

Ava-Marie Papillon illustrated the City News header.

Nesbitt received the college’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award in 2017.

Courtesy | Douglas Coon

Delilah McKimmy and Henry Rorick (left to right) receive their promotions. Courtesy | Cassie Hambleton

Nesbitt graduated from the college in 2001. Courtesy | Douglas Coon

County weighs how to help lost dogs when contract expires

By Olivia Pero Outreach Director

Hillsdale County will have to manage its own lost and stray dogs in two years, when a contract with Branch County comes to an end, according to Branch County Animal Control Officer Ernest Baker.

When the old Branch County Animal Control shelter burned down in 2015, Baker said Branch County was about $100,000 short to finish the building, so it contracted with Hillsdale County for 10 years to house their stray dogs.

“We bring the animals that are not claimed by their owners [in Hillsdale County] over to them [Branch County Animal Control] after a 24-hour holding period here at the sheriff’s office,” said Makenzie James, animal control officer for the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office.

Baker said some of the issues he has with the contract are that the people in charge of the Hillsdale County Animal Control keep changing, and all the Hillsdale dogs coming to Branch County burden his people and

the Humane Society of Branch County.

“Basically, through these eight years my people have done all the work,” Baker said. “It’s time to go back, and allow them [Hillsdale County] to do this themselves.”

The number of lost and stray dogs Hillsdale brings to Branch County Animal Control has decreased over the past eight years.

When Hillsdale County first began bringing its lost and stray dogs to Branch County Animal Control in 2007, it brought in 346 dogs in the first year, with

16% of those dogs getting returned to their owners.

Hillsdale County brought in a total of 112 dogs to Branch County in 2024, with 23% of those dogs being returned to their owners.

James said she and Hillsdale County Sheriff Scott B. Hodshire are still working on a plan for when the contract ends.

“We are in the process of weighing our options and making a plan for the future, but as of right now we do not have any definite things to mention to the public specifically,” James said.

When the contract ends, Baker said he will have more time and resources to help the dogs in his county.

“We have two more years left on that contract and then it’s gonna be Hillsdale’s problem,” Baker said. “We can’t keep doing this because it’s too much strain over here.”

Branch County Animal Control works closely with the Humane Society of Branch County.

Jan Nageldinger, shelter manager of the Branch County Humane Society said she and Baker have worked well together.

“Anytime I’ve asked him to go check out something, he always does,” Nageldinger said.

For example, Nageldinger said there was a situation when she and Baker worked together to save 53 dogs.

“It was about a guy who lived in a very dangerous place,” she said. “There’s all these trashy trailers, and they have a compound in there with an armed guard. The only way out is the same way you come in.”

Nageldinger said somebody had called her to help because the dogs were chained to trees, didn’t have shelter, food, and water, and some were dying.

“I talked to him [Baker], and I said, ‘Either you’re going to go there or I’m going to go there, but I can’t sleep at night knowing

dogs are dying out there,’” Nageldinger said.

According to Nageldinger, Baker went to the location and busted the man for not having dog licenses among other things.

“Because we worked together on that, we were able to get all of the dogs out,” Nageldinger said. “So it’s really important to work with the police.”

The Dog Law of 1919 partly brought the job of animal control into existence, Baker said. There was a big problem with rabies and livestock damages at the time.

“We created the dog license so that shows when dogs have a rabies shot,” he said.

Animal control officers now fear there are too many dogs because people just keep breeding them, Baker said.

Besides getting their dogs spayed and neutered, James said dog owners should also get their dog a microchip and keep the information on it updated.

A microchip is a device that’s implanted in the animal’s neck between the shoulder blades and has a file in it, James said. She can scan it to get informa-

tion regarding the owner of the animal, such as a phone number and an address.

“If more animals have microchips, then we would be able to directly link to where they belong to, and that would be a great help,” James said. Another issue is when animals have microchips, but they’ve been rehomed and the information is not updated, according to James.

“So if you get an animal as a rescue or as a rehome from somebody else and it has a microchip, then we strongly suggest that you update the microchip’s information,” James said. “So if your dog does get lost and is running at large, then we can properly place it back into its home.”

James said dog owners interested in getting services regarding microchips or low cost spay and neuter programs can call the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office at 517-437-7317 and ask for James.

“We do try our best to help people in the community access those resources that are available,” James said.

College alumnus advises Hillsdale’s new state representative

By Emma Verrigni Collegian Freelancer

Jonathan Meckel ’21 said Hillsdale’s challenging coursework and a strong sense of community prepared him for his career in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Meckel began his new job as a legislative director for State Rep. Jennifer Wortz, a Republican who represents Hillsdale and Branch counties, after Wortz assumed office in January.

Meckel previously worked as a high school teacher, then as a legislative aide for State Rep. Mike Harris, R-Waterford.

“Having worked the last few years for Harris gives him a good understanding of the legislative process here and has helped me hit the ground running in Lansing,” Wortz said.

Meckel said he would like to see improved conditions for teachers in Michigan. One change he supports is rolling

back Michigan’s Blaine Amendment, which prevents government funding to non-public schools, like private and parochial schools.

“I loved being in education, but the legal system is a huge roadblock,” Meckel said. “In Michigan, vouchers are against the law because of our Blaine Amendment — one of the most restrictive in the country. I’d love to see that change, or to find some other ways of freeing up the industry more. It’s such an intrinsically rewarding job.”

Meckel said he decided to attend Hillsdale because he wanted to receive a liberal arts education and did not want to avoid pursuing a highly specialized education. He graduated with a double-major in English and mathematics.

“I knew I didn’t want to go to a career factory,” Meckel said. “I wanted to develop spiritually, intellectually, and socially. Hillsdale was the place. My two older sisters both came

here too, so I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into.”

Meckel said Professor of English, Justin Jackson, had a profound impact on his time at Hillsdale.

“I came into college thinking reading literature was all about looking for the author’s intention, and once you find that it’s game over,” Meckel said. “He really helped me realize how boring that was.”

Meckel said he took four more classes with Jackson after his first Great Books class.

“He’s become a great friend and mentor for me,” Meckel said. “He helped me read and write a lot better in college, and he’s given me a lot of great advice.”

According to Meckel, Jackson’s Existentialism and Literature class taught him to abandon his expectation and look at things from a different perspective.

“He told us on the first day of class that we’d have to take off

our Aristotelian hats and look at things differently,” Meckel said. “Looking back, I don’t know if this was by design, but I think feeling unmoored actually worked pretty well, because we had that in common with most of the authors on the syllabus. Plus, we read both ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ and ‘The Little Prince.’ Doesn’t get much better than that.”

Jackson said he got along well with Meckel.

“If he had questions about my critique of a certain portion of his analysis, we could just break it down into a syllogism; I learned quite a few things from him here,” Jackson said. “We smoked cigars, had some bourbon, talked literature and theology, and shared a ton of laughs. I also loved his wife, Allison, 100 times more than I loved Jonathan.”

Meckel said his Real Analysis class with Professor of Mathematics David Murphy also left a lasting impact on him.

“He showed us Russell’s paradox on the first or second day of class, and I was immediately hooked,” Meckel said. “I pulled a lot of all-nighters trying to finish the homework.

Something clicked after seeing the proof for the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem. Working through that the first time really felt like magic. That’s probably one of the only theorems from college I could still prove for you at the chalkboard today.”

bought into that,” Meckel said. “I also don’t buy into the idea that it’s just a snake pit to stay away from. That’s just a self-fulfilling prophecy. Politics is an important aspect of life. We need honorable, capable people to help fix it.

Meckel said he grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and received a homeschool education.

Meckel said the friendships he made through his dormitory at Hillsdale prepared him for the social networking aspect of his career.

“I lived in Simpson for four years, and tried my best to be outgoing and get to know different people,” Meckel said. “I made a lot of random friends by osmosis, some of whom I had seemingly nothing in common with, and many of whom have stuck with me.”

Meckel said he found out about his current job through a close friend from Hillsdale, who was working for Wortz’s predecessor.

“I knew I wanted to work for my home district though, so when the opportunity arose with Representative Wortz coming in, I went for it,” Meckel said.

Meckel always had an interest in politics, but he believes one should not be too heavily infatuated with it.

“I’ve talked to people in government who treat the legislative process like it’s the center of everything, I’ve never

“It’s a wonderful area,” Meckel said. “Lots of corn, football, and tornadoes. I live in Hillsdale now with my wife and daughter.” According to Wortz, Meckel’s background in agriculture gives him an edge as a legislative director.

“I am appreciative of the fact that he lives in the 35th district and understands Hillsdale,” Wortz said. “Jonathan graduated from Hillsdale College, moved away for a few years, but then he and his wife chose to return to Hillsdale to put down roots and start a family here. He understands the challenges that face young families and realizes that many policies in Michigan have not been pro-family, pro-agriculture, or pro-small business.”

Wortz said Meckel has been a strong asset as legislative director.

“Jonathan is an excellent writer,” Wortz said. “He has been very helpful in helping me craft bills that will help pull back government bureaucracies and policies that will make it more affordable to live and work here in Michigan.”

A dog at the Humane Society of Branch County waits to be adopted.

Olivia Pero | Collegian

A dog at the Humane Society of Branch County. Olivia Pero | Collegian

Jonathan Meckel and his wife, Allison, both graduated from Hillsdale College.

Courtesy | Natalie Meckel

Jonathan Meckel in 2020. Courtesy | Andrew Baran

Club Sports

Pan-Olympic Panel founded by clubs

By Grace Brennan Collegian Freelancer

A new committee that seeks to raise funds for intercollegiate club sports teams met for the first time on Jan 31. The committee, known as the Pan-Olympic Panel, will be meeting every other week to plan fundraising events that will better support the club sports teams.

At these meetings all intercollegiate club sports teams will be represented: men’s and women’s soccer, rugby, equestrian, sailing, spikeball, ultimate frisbee, wrestling, swimming, cycling, and tennis. The sailing club, equestrian club, and the rugby club are the founders of the committee.

During the Student Leadership Workshop hosted by Doctor Kiledal, Jan. 4-9, junior Alya MacManaway, president of the sailing club; junior Sarah Morris, president the equestrian club; and junior Paden Hughes, president of the rugby club collaborated with Ryan Perkins ’22 Director of Club Sports and of the committee, to create the

Games

Difficulty:

There are four ships of length

Each of the first five rows and columns contain one each of 1–6 in their six squares. (In the sixth row and sixth column, a number from that range may appear multiple times or not at all.) The sixth row is an anagram of the sixth column, and the sum of the five values therein is given in the bottom-right triangle.

Alphabet

Difficulty:

Each row and column contains 2 each of A, B, and C. The numbers around the border indicate the number of "pairs" of consecutive identical letters that appear in the row or column.

Hint: For a row or column with two pairs, the letter in the second position is always part of a pair.

Pan-Olympic Panel.

“The original idea for the Club Sports Committee, also known as the Pan-Olympic Panel, came out of the Student Leadership Workshop this winter. With some ideas for the committee, Alya MacManaway, Sarah Morris, and I worked with Ryan Perkins to help make the idea come to fruition,” Hughes said.

The committee plans to fundraise and pool money for the various clubs involved. According to freshman Cruz Reichert, president of the men’s soccer club and delegate to the committee, it is difficult for clubs to get funds on their own, but united it is easier to get more immediate support from students, parents, and donors.

According to Hughes, the committee will greatly change the communication among intercollegiate clubs, as well as the way they receive funding.

“I believe that this council can be the greatest change for club sports that this campus has seen,” Hughes said. “It is a way for all the intercollegiate club sports to come into com-

munication with each other and pool resources. It will allow us to raise awareness between all of the intercollegiate club sports as well as on campus.”

According to the committee’s mission statement, its goal is to better the students on club sports, as well as the clubs as a whole.

The committee plans to get most of its support through fundraisers during the time of parents weekend, and during the Center for Constructive Alternatives lecture series when it can get the attention of donors and parents.

Sophomore Luke Jones, member of the rugby team and delegate to the committee, attended the committee’s first meeting on Jan. 31 in which future plans for fundraising were discussed.

“We talked about a few things regarding fundraising, whether mostly just tabling, but maybe some smaller events like raffles, or events where we can sort of generate profit over homecoming next year, both of the fall CCAs next year, and then parents

weekend next year; just because those are when most of the donors and parents are around,” Jones said.

One of the unique fundraising ideas proposed by the committee included a raffle that would take place at the homecoming game.

“That sounds quite promising in terms of the money it could raise,” Jones said.

According to Hughes, the goals of the committee, such as fundraising and cheering on fellow clubs during their games, will not only give club sports a better foundation, but will strengthen the relationship between club sport and the campus as a whole.

“Odds are that every student on campus personally knows someone on an intercollegiate club sports team, and we want to use our connections with each other and campus for everyone’s benefit,” Hughes said.

According to Hughes, there are many students who play on club sports teams, and they all put a lot of time and effort into their sport and want to be acknowledged in some way for

that.

“Club sports are special because none of us are receiving scholarships. We are regular students who choose to devote a lot of time every week to a sport that encourages physical discipline and hard work.”

Hughes said.

Even club sports which have not yet made it on the committee are enthusiastic about the future the committee brings. Smaller clubs such as lacrosse, founded last April by junior Marc Ayers, president of the Lacrosse Club, are eager to see how the council better organizes communication among the club sports.

“Having that circle of communication makes everything so much easier, especially with field times, it’s so difficult to get good field space and coordinate with everybody. We have practice here, but then the lights go off, and so having that ability to talk to everyone is super helpful,” Ayers said.

Club lacrosse looks forward to eventually joining the committee as they officially become intercollegiate.

According to Ayers, club

Women's Basketball

lacrosse is excited to be a part of something bigger, and will have much to offer the committee.

“We would love to do things like coordinate fundraising events and general mixers, so people from different teams can get to know each other, and just kind of build that camaraderie,” Ayers said. “We would be totally down to work with all these other clubs. We hope to kind of be a driving force in that.”

As the Pan-Olympic Panel gains traction, the delegates to the committee and the presidents of each individual club will make more effort to support each other in everyday activities and games.

“To some extent there are rivalries between the clubs because everyone thinks their sport is the best,” Jones said. “I’m hoping that it’ll be less of us against each other, and more of going out to support each other.”

Undefeated weekend lifts Chargers to third in G-MAC

By Cassandra DeVries Collegian Reporter

The Chargers defeated the University of Cedarville 6951 on Jan. 30 and Kentucky Wesleyan College 77-44 on Feb. 1. Senior Caitlin Splain also scored her 1,000th point for the Chargers in the game against Cedarville, the 21st Charger to do so.

In their game against Kentucky Wesleyan, Splain said the Chargers made it their goal to have four strong quarters of basketball.

“I wasn’t expecting to win by 30, but we started off really strong with an 11 point lead,” senior Lauren McDonald said.

Brennan said the team needed to adjust their strategy after the Cedarville game.

“We had one day after our Cedarville game to really focus and harp on some defensive stuff and to prioritize the things that we need to tighten up,” Brennan said. “The girls really focused and locked into that and executed that game plan.”

Bruce played posts for the Chargers and both scored 12 points. Senior Kendall McCormick had 11 rebounds as one of Hillsdale’s starting guards, senior Lauren McDonald had eight assists, and sophomore Annalise Pietrzyk made 100% of her 11 shots.

In their Thursday game against Cedarville, the Chargers started with almost a 20-point lead but then lost most of their lead in the

to reach it.

“I knew how many points I was away going into the game, and I was definitely counting down in my head,” Splain said. “My whole team knew what was happening, and when I hit my three they were screaming at me.”

Splain said the marketing team also distributed papers that said 1,000 to the crowd, who waved the papers when Splain made her shot. Splain was recruited late her senior year of high school and walked onto the Hillsdale basketball team.

third quarter.

The Chargers excelled at rebounding, beating Kentucky on rebounds 57-33.

“We are a strong team and well-rounded team,” Brennan said.

Brennan said the entire team worked together and each contributed to the victory.

Sophomore Savannah Smith and freshman Ellie

“We had a very solid first half defensively, and then unfortunately, the third quarter came unhinged a little bit. We were able to maintain the lead, but barely. They went on a very impressive run,” Brennan said.

They regained their closeto-20-point lead in the final quarter.

During the Cedarville game, Splain hit her 1,000th point for the Chargers.

She began her senior season roughly 200 points away from the 1,000 point mark and said she made it a goal

“She did not have any scholarship offers, but she really wanted to come to Hillsdale, so we let her walk on knowing she was going to work hard, but not really knowing if she was going to excel at this level,” Brennan said. “And she sure did excel. It’s a really special story.” Splain explained her decision to play basketball for Hillsdale.

“They told me that I would get the same chances as everyone else. And I said ‘okay’ and I'm very thankful for that,” Splain said.

The Chargers are 11-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and in third place. They are 14-6 overall and will next play Thomas More University away on Feb. 6.

Redshirt sophomore Sydney Pnacek in the game against the Panthers on Saturday. COURTESY | EMMA PURDY

Freshman of the Year explains why she is here

By Zachary Chen Assistant Editor

Ané Dannhauser closes her laptop and looks up from where she sits doing homework at a table in Penny’s before tennis practice.

“The accent [on Ané] goes to the right,” she said, brushing blond bangs aside. “Many people don’t even know there is an accent, though.”

Dannhauser is from Johannesburg, South Africa. She’s a sophomore pursuing an accounting major with a math minor — she grew up speaking Afrikaans, so she refuses to take another language in college — and her favorite TV show at the moment is the police drama “White Collar.”

According to women’s tennis head coach Nikki Walbright, she’s also been killing it on the court for the Hillsdale women’s tennis team since she got here last year.

“Ané is a true competitor,” Walbright said in an email. “Her tennis talent is supported by her high tennis IQ, she understands what it takes to win hard matches, and I really appreciate her drive to win for the team.”

Dannhauser came to America to play college tennis after an accolade-studded high school career, which included — among a litany of other accomplishments — competing in the finals of South Africa’s Junior Masters Tournament.

At Hillsdale, she was the only freshman to play on the singles lineup last year, finishing the year as a member of the 2023-24 All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference First Team and as the 2024 G-MAC Freshman of the Year — after breaking her ankle just before the season started.

“I went with a friend over winter break, and I managed to fall down stairs and break my ankle,” Dannhauser said.

“It was really hard because I came back and had to miss

the first match or two, and then I just had to jump in.”

Dannhauser has been playing tennis since the age of 8. She found out about Hillsdale when a former Hillsdale tennis coach came across her recruitment video and reached out to tell her about the school.

“I knew I wanted to play college tennis in America, because if I were to go to university down in South Africa, I would have had to stop playing tennis, and I just wasn’t ready for that,” Dannhauser said. “I did my own research, and Hillsdale just kind of felt right. And here we are.”

Dannhauser said she likes being at Hillsdale.

“The shift from Johannesburg to small-town, rural southern Michigan hasn’t been so hard,” Dannhauser said. “Though it feels strange that everything is so small.”

Playing tennis as a junior athlete in South Africa was lonely.

“There’s family, of course,” Dannhauser said. “But you do everything on your own. Here at Hillsdale, we have the nicest team you’ll ever meet — everyone is friends with one another.”

“It’s so nice to have our support system. If we have a hard lift, everyone is sore the next day, and everyone can relate to that,” Dannhauser said. “And when we’re playing away games, for example, you always know that your teammates are cheering you on and supporting you, which you don’t have throughout playing junior tennis.”

According to Isabella Spinazze, one of Dannhauser’s teammates, Ané constantly focuses on the team’s success.

“Ané is a great teammate because she is constantly trying to improve for the team,” Spinazze said in an email. “She is always putting in the extra work on and off the court to make herself better for the sake of the team.”

Women's Tennis

Ané’s tennis career at Hillsdale has been more than setting up winners from the baseline — sometimes, it’s the small things that stand out. According to Walbright, Ané’s favorite animal is a frog.

“She gets really excited about them,” Walbright said. “One day at practice, we found the cutest, little real live frog inside the Biermann heading to her court. We like to think he was her good luck charm cheering her on. It was memorable because of how it made her day and I loved seeing how happy she was about it.”

herself coaching after college.

“It’s always an option to fall back on if I absolutely need to,” Dannhauser said. “But I don’t see myself doing it willingly.”

Dannhauser has unique pre-match rituals, according to Spinazze.

“Ané plays the South African National anthem for everyone in the locker room and then has a certain way she adjusts her visor in the mirror,” Spinazze said. “She says it brings her good luck and allows her to never forget where she came from.”

Ané pushes her teammates to work their hardest and encourages the team to never stop pursuing excellence, according to Spinazze. It’s not just diligent endurance, however: Ané also brings fun to the team.

“Ané is a fierce competitor on the court, but is anything but fierce off the court,” Spinazze said. “She is goofy, kind, and one of the most thoughtful people I know. She also is an accounting wizard and certified rizzler.”

After her college career, she might join a tennis club — maybe. Ané doesn’t want to go pro, and she doesn’t see

Instead, Dannhauser hopes to earn her CPA and potentially work in America for a few years before heading back home to South Africa.

Though she does not plan to pursue tennis as a professional career, Ané remains drawn to the constancy of the sport.

“It’s the repetition of it,” Dannhauser said. “It can be very boring, but it’s very empowering at the same time. You never know what’s going to happen — it’s that moment when you find what works, and you hit that perfect shot which lands just where you want it…it’s that. That just keeps me coming back.”

Ané looked thoughtful for a moment, then opened her laptop again and returned to her homework. Practice wouldn’t start for another hour.

Track & Field

Chargers compete at Akron and SVSU

By Joshua Mistry Collegian Reporter

Senior Ben Haas soared to second in the nation for DII while setting a Hillsdale record for the indoor shot put in the Akron Invitational on Friday Jan. 31, while other Chargers competed in the Jets Pizza Invite at Saginaw Valley State University Friday and Saturday.

Haas won the shot put with a personal record throw of 18.67 meters. He also won the weight throw with a mark of 21.45 meters.

"Training has been going great these last few weeks. I am happy to see it starting to pay off with a huge PR in the shot put. I am excited to go to nationals for shot put for the first time in my college career," Haas said.

At the University of Akron in the field, junior Tara Townsend won the pole vault with a personal best mark of 4.03 meters, and an NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark. Senior Katie Sayles took second in the weight throw with a mark of 18.37 meters, another provisional qualifying mark for the Chargers. Senior Mackenzie Morrison took third in the shot put with a mark of 12.48 meters. Freshman Baelyn Zitzmann placed third in the high jump with a mark of 1.55 meters. Freshman Olivia Newsome took third in the weight throw with a personal best throw of 18.24 meters, also a provisional qualifying mark.

"The last week or so has been focusing on coming off heavy in-season training and focusing on getting ready to throw far. Being very intentional in practice has been extremely important, making sure I make every throw count and work on what I need to technique wise," Newsome said.

On the track at SVSU, se-

nior Richie Johnston finished second in the 3,000-meter run with a provisional qualifying mark and personal best time of 8:14.14. Junior Lucy Minning finished third in the 60-meter dash and won the 200-meter with times of 7.73 and 24.88 seconds respectively. In the 800-meter run, seniors Reese Dragovich and Nicole Marshall took first and second with times of 2:12.21 and 2:15.41 each. Sophomore Savannah Fraley won the 3,000-meter run with a personal best time of 10:14.15.

Junior Nathaniel Osborne took third in the 5,000-meter run with a personal best time of 15:09.60.

"My training has been going very well," Osborne said. "The tight turns on the indoor track have taken a toll on my ankles, but our trainers have been a lot of help, and I think I’ll be able to make it to outdoors without any injuries."

In the field at SVSU, senior Reagan Dahlquist placed second in the high jump with a mark of 1.57 meters.

"The team is very excited for the rest of the season. All the PRs are encouraging, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm building as we get closer to championship," Osborne said.

The Chargers will compete next in the Jude Logan Light Giver Invitational at Ashland University in a preview to the G-MAC Championships which will be held at Ashland at the end of February.

Chargers fall short in season opener against Michigan Tech

By Bella Doer Collegian Reporter

The women’s tennis team fell 4-3 in its spring season opener against Michigan Technological University on Feb. 1 at home.

“We got as close as we could have gotten against Tech on Saturday,” senior Courtney Rittel said. “It’s al -

ways heartbreaking to fight so hard and come up short. Everyone played well but just lacked the ability to close out some key matches.”

The Chargers started strong in doubles, with sophomore Ané Dannhauser and Rittel securing a 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles. The Michigan Tech Huskies, however, claimed victories at No. 2

and No. 3 doubles.

“Doubles was definitely a highlight and I loved playing with Courtney,” Dannhauser said.

In singles, Dannhauser led the Chargers at the No. 1 position with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Huskies. McGivern followed suit at No. 2 singles, claiming a 6-3, 6-4 win against her opponent as well.

Freshman Julia Zlateva went on to add another point for the Chargers with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 5 singles.

While Rees pushed her match at No. 3 singles to a deciding set, she ultimately fell 2-6, 7-5, 5-7. Rittel, competing at No. 4, won the first set before dropping the next two, 6-1, 2-6, 5-7. Additionally, Spinazze lost 2-6, 1-6 at

No. 6 singles, securing the win for Michigan Tech.

“I’m super sad that we lost so closely but we fought hard and this just proves that we can compete with everyone we play,” Dannhauser said. “I’m really happy with the singles and know what to work on this week.”

The Chargers will look to bounce back on Feb. 8 when

they travel to face the Northwood University Timberwolves.

“Our first home match was as close as it could have been,” Hackman said. “We definitely wish we could have come out on top, but this just gets us ready for our double header this weekend.”

Jianna Coppola, aCtion Shooting Charger chatter

What is an expression you use that others don’t?

I had to consult my father on this one. He lovingly said “random turkey noises.” Some others I use when excited are “fricker-fracker” and “mamma-jammer” (iykyk).

What conspiracy theory do you believe to be true?

Compiled by Sydney Green

What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten?

Rattlesnake sausage, but I also make a lot of macaroni and cheese with hot sauce and chives.

What is your best joke?

I don’t tell many original jokes, but I have been known to steal a line or two from Key & Peele and The Office. “Sch’wack.”

Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Dannhauser plays a match at home. COURTESY | Ane Dannhauser

Charger Sports

McWhinnie's magical moment seals victory

By Kirsten Lopez Collegian Freelancer

The Chargers held off the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers in an exciting overtime finish on Feb. 1 93-89.

Hillsdale seemed to pull away early, taking a ninepoint lead at the end of the first half, but struggled in the second, allowing the Panthers to take the lead and letting them shoot 60% from the field.

The Chargers fought their way back with timely threes, lockdown defense, and unselfish ball movement to stay in the game and force overtime, according to redshirt freshman Logan Beaston.

Beaston led the team in threes, shooting 4-8 from deep with 14 points.

“We just stayed composed and kept making enough

Baseball

plays to win the game,” Beaston said. “We made clutch shots, and got stops, and grabbed rebounds to come out with the win.”

Senior Joe Reuter led the team with a strong allaround performance, with 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

With only 15 seconds left in the second half and the Panthers up by two, the Chargers called a timeout to draw a play up. This led to a game tying layup from Reuter to force overtime.

With 41 seconds left in overtime, Reuter came up big again, blocking a tying layup attempt by the Panthers to keep the lead and hold off a late Kentucky Wesleyan comeback.

“I thought we got enough stops down the stretch and we made some plays on of -

fense that were key in coming away with the victory,” Reuter said. “We had faith

ry even when it seemed farfetched.”

Redshirt junior Cole

“When Cole McWhinnie hit that clutch three late in overtime, everyone rose to their feet and started screaming. He proved he had ice in his veins with that shot.”

in ourselves and we just kept trusting each other and it ultimately led to the victo-

McWhinnie played crucial minutes coming off the bench and shot 3-4 from

First Pitch Dinner recognizes seniors

By Elaine Kutas Collegian Reporter

Hillsdale Chargers men’s baseball team hosted its 12th annual First Pitch Dinner on Jan. 25 at the Searle Center. This opening event for the baseball team featured speaker Jensen Lewis, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians and baseball analyst, and senior Drew Erdei, who was awarded the Tom House Leadership and Coaching Award for his ability to influence younger teammates through leading by example.

Head coach Tom Vessella said the dinner is a great way to kick off the season.

“It is a way to get our parents, friends of the program, and alumni together and spend a nice evening with the team and staff,” Vessella said.

The Tom House Award was instituted after Tom

House spoke at the First Pitch Dinner three years ago. According to Vessella, senior Drew Erdei, the recipient this season, is a model player for this award because of his team spirit.

“Our team doesn’t always choose a team captain or leader, but while I was growing up I learned that the best way to be a good leader is by being a good follower,” Erdei said. “I think the past three years, getting to see and experience great older people in front of me and learn from them, while simultaneously working hard and doing everything that I’m supposed to do and holding myself accountable, it kinda gives you the ability for people to respect you.”

Erdei said he tries to bring good energy to every practice as a reminder to his teammates that they are all work-

ing toward the same goal.

“We always say nobody cares whenever a teammate complains about something,” Erdei said. “Calling people out this way brings the energy up and makes everyone realize that we are all in this together.”

Fellow senior John Hunter gave a speech on behalf of the team and expressed his goals for his senior season.

“My goal for this team is to win the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship,” Hunter said. “But no matter what the outcome of the season, this is the best team I’ve gotten to play with because all of us guys are close with each other.”

According to Hunter, the time off the field with his teammates are some of the most memorable and shaping moments.

“Last year, I had a heart

problem, so I missed the whole season, which sucks to miss the games but also the bus rides down there and hanging out with my teammates outside of the game,” Hunter said. “I thought my relationship with my teammates could only be developed on the baseball field when, in reality, 90 to 95 percent of the team building comes from time spent together in the dorms or the classroom.”

Hunter also thanked the team’s donors and those who made the event possible in his speech. In the past, families would also be recognized in this speech, but this year, the team created a video of interviews where each player could thank his parents and uniquely talk about them. Erdei said the video was an especially fun way to thank the families.

“For the first time this year, the seniors made a video to thank our families instead of each of us giving a speech,” Erdei said. “The video was really cool because it allowed us to share some stories, and there were funny videos that went along with what we were saying.”

The Chargers have their first game Saturday, Feb. 8, at Lee University in Tennessee. Opening day at home is March 12 against Saginaw Valley State University.

deep, scoring 13 points total.

McWhinnie was pivotal to the Chargers overtime win, hitting a game-icing three from deep with 12 seconds left in the game to secure a four point go-ahead lead.

“When we got down, we knew that all it would take was for us to make a run and we all believed that we would make it happen,” McWhinnie said. “We’re a resilient group and have been in similar situations this season and you just have to stay with it and keep playing your game and good things will eventually start to happen.”

junior Chris Chavey, a devoted Charger basketball fan, expressed his excitement for the game as it went late into overtime.

“The energy was palpable, and the environment was electric. It was one of the

Men's Tennis

greatest games I’ve ever seen at Hillsdale,” Chavey said. “When Cole McWhinnie hit that clutch three late in overtime, everyone rose to their feet and started screaming. He proved he had ice in his veins with that shot.”

The Chargers sit second in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, only one win behind the Findlay University Oilers, with a 16-5 record, and 10-3 in conference play.

The Chargers will play the Thomas More University Saints away on Feb. 6 before a rematch with the Kentucky Wesleyan University Panthers in Owensboro, Kentucky on Feb. 8.

Chargers suffer first loss of 2025

By Jamie Parsons Collegian Reporter

The men’s tennis team started the 2025 spring season at home with a 5-2 loss against Michigan Technological University Feb. 1.

Heading into the match, the Chargers had not lost to Michigan Tech since the college restarted men’s tennis as a varsity sport in 2015.

The Chargers lost the doubles point and four of five matches in singles play.

“They had a solid team last year, and they basically have the same team this year,” head coach Keith Turner said. “We need to work on our doubles, and learn how to finish off sets and matches.”

In doubles play, the Chargers won one of three matches, with freshmen Alejandro Cordero-Lopez and Ryan Papazov securing a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles.

The Chargers put up a fight in singles play, with Cordero-Lopez at No. 3 singles and sophomore Henry Hammond at No. 5 singles taking their opponents to the third set to win their matches.

Turner said he thought Lopez and Hammond showed resilience on Saturday, specifically Hammond during his singles play.

“Henry did a good job of improving his singles play

throughout the match to earn the win,” Turner said. Hammond lost the first set 6-3 in singles play, but won the second set 6-3 to move the match into a third set. He finished the third set 1-0, earning the second and last point for the Chargers.

“Going down a set was unforeseen and realistically should not have happened,” Hammond said. “So I just stayed calm after going down and just got the job done.”

Freshman Rintaro Goda said one thing he took away from the match was to always enjoy the sport even if things aren’t going well.

“Having that positive mindset and embracing what the sport has to offer allows you to become a better player mentally,” Goda said.

The Chargers are scheduled to host Lake Superior State University at the Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center on Feb. 8, as they hope to secure their first win of the season.

“There is a lot to learn from Saturday,” Hammond said. “Having such a young team is going to be tough when new scenarios come up, but as we play through the season we will get better and reach our true standard in those matches.”

Baseball seniors speak at the First Pitch Dinner. Courtesy | Emma Purdy

C U L T U R

Women’s annual Curate conference expands horizons

By Christina Lewis Assistant Editor

Hillsdale College women were encouraged to broaden their horizons and take control of their stories at Curate’s sixth annual conference Feb.1 in the Searle Center.

“Your story isn’t just happening to you,” Dean of Women Rebekah Bollen said in a keynote speech. “Your decisions, your opportunities have already and will continue to shape who you are.”

Doors opened at 9 a.m.,

and women were greeted with book giveaways, art prints, and breakfast treats. Attendees had the opportunity to do leather stamping and create dried flower arrangements.

The day was filled with sessions on topics covering women’s health, dating, and hospitality — giving students the opportunity to hear from women who once walked in their shoes.

In her speech, Bollen recalled a piece of advice her dad gave her in college.

“He said that the college years are a great gift, because it’s one of the few times in our life, perhaps the only time where your calling and work is to focus primarily on yourself, your intellectual, social, moral, emotional growth,” Bollen said.

She warned that this gift can also be a problem.

“It can distort our view of reality,” Bollen said. “We can become so self-absorbed, focused on our

journey and our own needs, that it can start to crowd out our responsibility and respect for others. We can begin to believe that the world orbits around our own desires, preferences, and dreams.”

Gillian Ruch ’24 created a watercolor print that she thought best fit the theme of this year’s Curate con ference. She said her painting was in spired by her time in Scotland.

“I love to walk in fields and just let my thoughts ramble,” Ruch said.

“When I see a horizon line, where the sky touches the rolling hills, my inner and outer vision changes and I see things with a new perspec tive.”

my own little painted fields, I wanted to capture that feeling of expansiveness I’ve experienced after cresting a hill on my hikes.”

In the panel, “How to Not Be a Man Hater,” panelists Hadiah Mabry ’20, Jennifer Lutz ’98, and Reagan Pierce ’22 emphasized the need for understanding what it means to be a woman.

Living in the Chicago suburbs doesn’t allow for many opportunities to let your eyes look off into the distance because buildings fill the horizon, according to Ruch.

“Unfortunately, we’re not all shepherdesses in Scotland gazing out over green pastures and getting perspective on our life all the time,” she said. “In

“I think that the biggest problem with hating men is often coming from a place of not knowing what it means to be a woman,” Mabry said.

Lutz, a college marketing and public relations assistant, said women must understand who they are in Christ and place their identity in him instead of placing their identity in men.

“There’s no human being on this earth that can fulfill all of your needs,” she said.

In another session, “The World Awaits: Self-Confidence, Self-Discover, & Vocation,” Assistant Professor

of History Anna Vincenzi encouraged women to stay open to the unexpected ways God may be calling them to pursue their horizons.

“Going back to self confidence, I think that this is where in my life a healthier confidence comes from: the awareness that we’re fundamentally made to receive God’s love and to love him back,” Vincenzi said. “And, within that, we’re also all in the business of trying to figure out how we can best love him and serve him, and in the awareness that no one totally knows what that is.”

Sophomore Eden Ryan appreciated the restful atmosphere when she walked into the Searle Center.

“They did a really good job with the atmosphere,” Ryan said. “I felt very calm and rested even just walking in, so that was awesome.”

Ryan said her favorite

talk was academic counselor Stephanie Maxwell’s “A Fresh Look at Dating.” In the talk, Maxwell said that Christians and non-Christians often use the same criteria to find a spouse: infatuation, sexual chemistry, and compatibility. According to Maxwell, however, these three categories alone are not enough for making a decision on who your lifelong partner should be. Other factors, such as seeing how he handles conflict and anger are a lot more telling.

“I really appreciated that she used a lot of scripture and used a lot of experience from her own life to model what she meant,” Ryan said. “It was a lot of new things I hadn’t heard before, but they were all sound, and you can just tell because they’re rooted in Scripture.”

Students to perform senior composition

By Ty Ruddy Assistant Editor

This month senior Emiliya Smyk will conduct a performance held in honor of the victims of the Holodomor, a controlled famine in Ukraine under the Soviet Union.

The concert will premiere Feb. 15 at 6 p.m.

“I love my concerts to have purpose, I love that music can be imbued with meaning,” Smyk said. “I want to use myself to preserve the culture that has given me so much.” Smyk descends from Ukrainian immigrants who fled the Soviet Union for America in the 1950s. Her grandparents eventually found their way to Detroit, where they started a church. Smyk said she traces Ukraine’s influence on her life to a time before she can remember.

“It’s all I’ve ever really known,” she said. “I am super proud to be Ukrainian, and I want to carry on the culture that my grandparents risked their lives to preserve.”

Her passion for music budded as she grew in the Ukrainian tradition. Every summer, she would attend a Ukrainian summer camp founded by her grandparents.

Every day, she said, she looked forward to one hour: “spiv,” or singing.

“All the kids hated it, of course, they’d be tired or bored. But I loved it so much I took a songbook and memorized it all,” Symk said. In middle school, she picked up double bass, and at 16 she composed a commemorative recital for the Battle of Kruty, a 1918 battle in which Ukrainians fought for control of the city Kyiv. She listened to the piece on repeat, picking out individual notes and transcribing herself. She recruited all the instrumentalists and found a way to perform it. That was the first time she really saw her passion show through in that way, she said.

“When I get attached to something, I get attached,” Smyk said.

taking, but worth her devotion.

“It was tedious. It was a ton of hours, and literally sleepless nights tapping notes into a computer, so I was really hoping it would turn out fine,” she said. “At the first full ensemble

cathartic.”

Smyk has experience conducting at Hillsdale. In 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, she held a concert to honor her heritage. James Holleman, professor of music, has been

“I want to give the best commemoration possible.”

In the fall Smyk first proposed the forthcoming tribute. She said the process was pains-

rehearsal I was stunned. It was just me and a computer for so long, but now it was in the air. You could feel it. That was very

conducting mentor since she was a sophomore at

“She is one of the very few

students who I’ve let take a piece for choir or chamber choir, choose the music and prepare it from the very first rehearsal to their performance. She did a really nice job,” Holleman said. “This time around, she wanted to give a senior conducting project.”

Smyk wrote the tribute in three acts. The first act, “Lito,” meaning summer, tells a jovial story about the early days of Ukraine under the Bolsheviks, a time of supposed promise. The second act, “Winter,” reveals the dark reality under Soviet oppression. The final act is “Vesna,” meaning spring: a time for remembering those who lost their lives in famine. Smyk has written into the final act various prayers and funeral rights in honor of the victims.

“This genocide represents the whole history of Ukrainian persecution,” she said. “So the tribute is for all of Ukraine told through the lens of Holodomor.”

Smyk’s passion for the project has generated enthusiasm among her ensemble, including senior vocalist Caitlin Fillep, who will sing a solo during the final act in the final act of the upcoming concert.

“We’ve worked together musically for almost four years now, so when she reached out to musicians asking if anyone wanted to do the concert, I was super excited to get involved,” Fillep said.

Senior Stephen Berntson said Smyk’s passion attracts talented musicians to work with her.

“Having a friend as a conductor is a unique and fun experience,” Berntson said. “I really enjoy being a part of something that means so much to her. It’s like taking a professor’s favorite class to teach.”

As Smyk applies to graduate schools for classical voice and opera, she said conducting is a good reminder that she loves music for more than the spotlight. “There’s a part of conducting that allows you to bring others into the piece,” she said. “I love appreciating people, and I’m able to do that with these ensembles.”

Free books and art prints at Curate. Courtesy | Sophia Rome

Smyk’s

Hillsdale.

Watercolor landscape painted by Ruch. Courtesy | Gillian Ruch

Senior Laura Luke and freshman Ashley Luke Courtesy | Sophia Rome

Smyk works on her composition. Courtesy | Emiliya Smyk

‘Shall We’ film explores interdenominational dating

By Faith Senne Collegian Freelancer

Can Protestants and Catholics date? That’s the question a new short film will ask at a pair of showings on Valentine’s Day.

“Shall We,” directed by junior Charlie Cheng, tells the romance of a Catholic and a Protestant at Hillsdale, starring sophomores Nate Shackelford and Maggie Saffian.

The Film and Production Club will screen the film in Plaster Auditorium Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. and at 8 p.m. with a Q&A session in between. The club will show the film again on Feb. 21 in the TV Lounge of the Grewcock Student Union.

Cheng said his idea for a Catholic and Protestant romance film began with an observation of students’ hesitation to date people from a different Christian denomination.

“There’s a silent warning that pushes people away from pursuing somebody of

opposite denominations. I started asking myself, ‘Is it possible for Protestants to date a Catholic?’” Cheng said. “That’s what inspired me to write this prompt. I was talking to Maggie about this issue, because, in reality, she’s dating a Protestant as a Catholic. So then we exchanged some ideas, and eventually I wrote the script.”

According to Cheng, “Shall We” has been a year in the making, having begun shooting in March 2024. The Film and Production Club began shooting in March 2024, paused for summer break, and returned to production in the fall.

with friends since they shot on Friday evenings and during the day on Saturdays.

Shackelford said that Cheng had wanted him for the part for a while.

Shackelford said that the film required sacrifices from homework and spending time

“It was five hours per shooting session. Some shooting sessions were a little shorter, but most of them took five hours. But I managed to gain a lot of great friendships because of ‘Shall We.’”

“He had auditions, but I didn’t show up,” he said, “I received an email since I didn’t show up. I sprinted to the theater building, and gave my audition. I hope people don’t take it too seriously,” Shackle-

ford added. “It definitely had some more tensions that I felt because I’m a Protestant. In almost every circumstance, it is not a good move as a Protestant to date a Catholic.”

Shackelford said he wanted to thank the entire crew for their efforts.

“I would like to give a huge shoutout to all the people who helped with the production: Charlie, Joshua Burnett, Grace, the cast, and the crew. On camera, you only see five or six characters, and ensemble, but there is so much that has to happen for one shoot. The crew has to help set up,

the music has to be created for each scene, and the shots have to be shot from different angles.”

Sophomore Stephanie Surmacz said she is excited to see what the club has in store for viewers.

“I know a couple people who are in it and who were involved in making it, so I’m just really excited to see what they put together,” Surmacz stated. “And then I also am just interested in stories about interdenominational relationships. I think it’s definitely a relatable experience for some people here, and it’ll be really interesting to see their take on that.”

Cheng said he does not want the film to create more divides.

“I don’t want people to view it as a theological discussion,” Cheng said. “Instead, I want people to remember it is a romance about two freshmen students in Hillsdale who genuinely love each other. I think that’s the most important message.”

Brett Cooper’s new show breaks the internet

By Tayte Christensen Assistant Editor

Conservative commentator

Brett Cooper released the first episodes of her new independent show, “The Brett Cooper Show,” this week and it’s been a smashing success, with her first episode receiving 3.4 million views since its premiere.

Cooper, a 23-year-old University of California, Los Angeles graduate and self-proclaimed “professional yapper, aspiring farmer,” rose to fame after signing with The Daily Wire and producing the YouTube show “The Comments Section” from March 2022 to December 2024. The account amassed a following of more than 4.5 million YouTube subscribers at its peak, and within that time, Cooper produced an average of three 7-14 minute videos daily, all focused on recent internet trends, social or political events, and people’s reactions via the comments section.

Cooper announced her departure from The Daily Wire

in December, and while she never gave an exact reason for leaving, she assured fans the company had not fired her and it was her own decision to leave. Details concerning Cooper’s exit are still scarce, but fans online have speculated that Cooper’s former producer, Reagan Conrad, had a role in pushing Cooper out the door.

Conrad, who was the maid of honor in Cooper’s March 2024 wedding, had been hosting occasional episodes of “The Comments Section” as early as October and in Cooper’s video announcing her departure, she revealed Conrad would take over the show.

Some fans speculated The Daily Wire offered Conrad a lucrative deal to replace Cooper, but the company has not addressed these claims.

For her part, Cooper hasn’t publicly discussed any of these claims, but shortly before her exit, Cooper unfollowed Conrad on Instagram and deleted most posts with Conrad, leading fans to believe there had

been a rift between Cooper and Conrad.

Cooper, however, was able to carry over a large number of fans to her new channel after her split with The Daily Wire. The new account, which had minimal subscribers when the channel launched in December, currently has 1.29 million subscribers — nearly double the amount since she posted her first video last week.

In her new show, Cooper continues to address current events, but relies less on the comments to dictate the path of each video and focuses on providing more thought-provoking responses.

“My goal with this show is to foster understanding, to go deeper and extract substance in the stories and issues that matter most to us, the issues that impact us on a daily, personal basis,” Cooper said in the video.

With her new show, Cooper said she hopes to take a slower pace, which she said means the show will not chase the news cycle as much and will pro -

duce less-frequent but longer videos, something she hopes will benefit her audience.

“I want to make sure that every single video I put out leaves you feeling more confident or empowered or smarter or more inquisitive about the world,” Cooper said.

Junior Anna Teply said she thinks Cooper’s approach to the new show will be beneficial to her audience and, as a result, will continue to grow in popularity.

“The longer format is great because it allows her to dive in depth on topics, especially topics that have more nuance and detail than she was able to previously cover in her shorter 10-15 minute videos,” Teply said. “Similarly, I think the slightly slower pace of updates will also allow her to provide a fuller sense of the picture on the topics that she covers.”

Teply said she is excited for Cooper’s return and to see her further delve into cultural and political topics.

“Brett’s personality is one of the main draws for her audi-

ence,” Teply said. “I think that this show allows her to show off her personality even more with the complete creative control that she has over it.”

In her pilot episode, Cooper discussed the toxic cancel culture on the Right, and the frustration those of the right erroneously expressed toward people formerly of the Left who have crossed over to the other side.

“Isn’t the goal to change people’s minds and bring them over to the other side and show them the light?” Cooper asked. “That is what my goal is.”

Cooper discussed brands like Bud Light and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, as well as politicians including Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who have all embraced ideas of the Left at one point, but have made reforms.

Even President Donald Trump, Cooper noted, is a former Democrat and made many mistakes in his first term as president, especially surrounding COVID-19, Cooper said. Yet Cooper said people have “gotten over” many of the mistakes Trump made in his first time in office and are optimistic about his second term.

Cooper’s transition into “The Brett Cooper Show” appears to be a coming-of-age milestone for Cooper. Known for wearing headphones in every episode of “The Comments Section,” Cooper went headphoneless for both new

episodes, and it’s a look that suits her well. It’s less juvenile and more in line with the sleek yet classy vibes to which Cooper’s new show aspires. Cooper’s new studio has a homey feel to it — perhaps because it is recorded in a room in her house — and it feels more mature than her previous set. Cooper recognizes she’s not a college-aged woman any longer, and as such, she has made branding and design decisions to reflect that, which will allow her to reach a broader audience.

The second episode of “The Brett Cooper Show” released on Monday had 2.3 million views as of Wednesday, despite its 44-minute run-time. In it, Cooper argued why she thought actress Blake Lively ruined her career in accusing co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and running a public smear campaign. Cooper hosted Jared Sharpransky, founder of the marketing and strategy group The Movement Lab, to discuss his take on the situation as well as the social media response to the scandal.

Teply said she thinks the added element of hosting guests, as Cooper did on her second episode, is an example of how Cooper’s longer episodes and shorter turnaround time will benefit her audience. For now, Cooper’s fanbase is growing rapidly and she is stepping out as an independent journalist with a captive audience.

Professors’ Picks: Cameron Moore, visiting assistant professor of English

“I Ride an Old Paint/ Leavin’ Cheyenne” by Colter Wall (2020)

The song, like the whole album, revisits folk and cowboy tunes to praise Wall’s native Saskatchewan and the Great Plains in general. Growing up myself on the edge of the prairie in Kansas, I resonate with the landscape and characters that fill the album. Plus, the harmonica on this song is haunting.

It’s the story of a man trying to remain wide awake to the miracle of his own life. It is uproariously funny and consistently convincing. I have read and taught “Manalive” countless times, and I’m still learning from it. For a novel, it’s relatively short and -easy to read over a weekend. I highly recommend it; it can change your life. Perhaps I’m cheating here by picking a miniseries, but this is the best 11 hours of TV I know of. It’s a slow, faithful, decadent adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel of the same title. It has Oxford, wealthy aristocrats, World War II, a young Jeremy Irons, and the grace of God relentlessly pursuing characters despite their furious efforts to evade Him. What’s not to love?

“Manalive” by G.K. Chesterton (1912) “Brideshead Revisited” (1981)

Compiled by Malia Thibado Collegian Reporter

Moore beekeeps. COURTESY | Cameron Moore

Grace Bryant snaps a clapperboard with actors Maggie Saffian and Nate Shackelford. Courtesy | Charlie Cheng

The Brett Cooper show banner. Courtesy | YouTube

F E A T U R E S

AV team: the unsung heroes of Hillsdale’s events

From President’s Ball to Mock Rock Hillsdale’s AV team works dilligently to execute everything behind-the-scenes

By Michaela Estruth SENIOR EDITOR

When the men of Simpson Residence are anxiously waiting to perform their meticulously rehearsed Mock Rock routine at the end of Homecoming week, two essential elements of the performance may not ever cross their minds: lights and sound.

But up in the crow’s nest, high above the basketball court in the George Roche Sports Complex, audio visual student workers, such as senior Joshua Burnett and junior Isabella Krob, ensure everything runs smoothly.

“Mock Rock is our most sophisticated lighting event of the year,” Krob said. “I’m always sad when it’s over, even if it’s also one of our longest days. I think this year it was 11 hours.”

Krob, who specializes in lighting with the AV team, said she plans, programs, and directs light production for mock rock each year.

Burnett, the camera operator, said this past year he shot video of Mock Rock to play live on screens for alumni sitting far from the court.

e AV team includes ve adult and 10 student workers,

according to Manager of AV Services Katie Blonde.

“ e main responsibility of the AV department would be servicing live Hillsdale College events,” Blonde said. “ is can range from small events put on by various student groups to something as large as Commencement — along with everything else in between.”

In addition to large speaker events, many of the students work the Student Activities Board’s events, Blonde said. AV includes everything from set up to tear down.

hind a large tech board with red, green, and yellow buttons and various key levels.

Krub said she enjoys working the SAB events because each year pairs new opportunities with familiarity.

“No two events are exactly alike,” Krob said. “It provides a refreshing challenge to a comfortable problem. ‘Will we be inside or outside?’ ‘How much

co-worker, junior Bella Welch, who was stepped on, pushed against a wall, and had a drink spilled on her at last year’s President’s Ball.

Besides these hectic moments, Krob said she can enjoy events or choose to do other class work while working behind the scenes.

“You can tune in or tune out because you’re behind

that we convert to newer media.”

Recently, Burnett filmed College President Larry Arnn for a Fox News broadcast.

“Cameras are my favorite thing to do,” he said.

e average person likely never thinks about AV production, until something goes wrong, according to Burnett. He said these moments are high stress and high adrenaline.

“Mock Rock is our most sophisticated lighting event of the year. I’m always sad when it’s over, even if it’s also one of our longest days. I think this year it was 11 hours.”

Krob said she has been involved in technical lighting and sound work since middle school. She began working for AV her freshman year.

“When I got to Hillsdale, I knew I wanted an on-campus job, and seeing the ‘event assistant’ position on Handshake was a dream come true,” Krob said. “I’d been doing this stu for years without realizing I could be paid for it.”

Krob, who assisted at the recent Curate Summit, sat be-

power will we have?’ ‘How much creative influence do we have?’ ese are questions we have to ask for each event, and depending on the answers, it drastically changes our approach.”

Krob said one of the most di cult events to work is President’s Ball.

“It’s dark and crowded,” she said. “We have to watch the oor lights and everyone knocks them over.”

Krob told a story about her

By Malia ibado COLLEGIAN REPORTER

Susan Putnam, head preschool teacher at Mary Randall Preschool, talks Michigan, Diet Coke geysers, and basketball.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Playing card games with my family, especially my grandparents. People talk and laugh easily while playing cards. Our game of choice is Euchre, and I started playing at 7 years old. So many great times have been spent holding cards.

Where are you from?

I am a Michigan native. I may sound like a “Pure Michigan” promo, but you are never more than six miles from a natural water source, 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes, and can bike, hike, or ride on more than 13,000 miles of trails. If you love the outdoors, you’ll love Michigan!

What inspires you to teach?

Mary Randall Preschool.

Teaching at a laboratory preschool allows me to be “the first” teacher for some and “the last” teacher for others. The preschoolers are an easy audience because they have just begun learning and want to be taught. The college-age students are a more challenging audience because they don’t want to be taught — they want to be inspired to learn.

the curtain,” Krob said in reference to the Curate lecture she was operating. “You’re still there, and in some ways more involved by being on AV.”

Besides working events, Burnett said AV workers also help with media archives. Donors often request CCA lectures or sports games from years ago, Burnett said.

“We have a football game from 1949, which is a very dusty film reel,” he said. “ ere’s a lot of older formats

“I was working for the K-12 Classical Education conference, and this laptop did not want to talk to the projectors,” Burnett said. “So, we’re scrambling trying to gure out what exactly is the technical problem. You plan everything out. But when things go wrong, you’re panicking, sitting there for 15 minutes frantically trying to gure out a solution while the entire audience is looking around. ere’s de nitely a level of high stress sometimes.”

Junior Sarah Gonzalez said she experienced a simi-

lar technical issue during her rst solo event.

“I was super nervous. e podium mic was broken, and they couldn’t get the projector to work with the PowerPoint,” Gonzalez said. “Everyone else on AV was working an event, and my boss Katie couldn’t answer her phone. So she’s texting me. ‘Did you unplug it?’ I’m like “Yes!’ It finally started working about three minutes before the event started and all the people were in there.”

Burnett said working live events brings both the adrenaline of real-time results and the risk of unanticipated hiccups.

“I love trying to make sure everything is as smooth as possible,” Burnett said. “I don’t mind working on the y, but I don’t enjoy it when a bunch of people are breathing down my neck watching.” Krob said she enjoys bringing any speaker, presentation, or event to life.

“It’s nice to build a final product with such a great group of people, without the stress of homework or exams,” Krob said. “I frequently joke that AV is my favorite class.”

with Susan Putnam

What is an unpopular opinion that you have?

Please stop saying you read an audiobook. . You listened to a book — no, it is not the same thing.

What is your favorite memory inside the classroom?

Making a Diet Coke geyser.

The first time I did this experiment, the preschoolers were pretty close to the splash zone and loved it! It has now become a favorite science experiment at Mary Randall Preschool.

What are your hobbies?

Bike riding, kayaking, supping, jigsaw puzzling, tromp-

ing in the woods, home renovating, trivia, and reading.

What is your favorite song/ musical piece?

“I Get to Love You” by Ruelle. I highly recommend a listen if you are looking for a wedding song. It was a perfect day!

Dogs, cats, or fish?

Dogs. They are the pleasers of the animal kingdom.

Favorite book character?

Hermione Granger. I enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series with my kids.

What is your favorite part of the day?

The second cup of coffee. The first cup is necessary, but the second cup always feels indulgent.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

Hillsdale College was my first employer out of college, but it was in athletics, not academia. I spent over 10 seasons on the women’s basketball coaching staff.

What is the best piece of advice you received?

“Go outside and play!” It is advice we should all aspire to follow regardless of our age.

THE AV TEAM USES A CONTROL BOARD. MICHAELA ESTRUTH | COLLEGIAN

ISABELLA KROB (LEFT) AND SARAH GONZALEZ (RIGHT) ARE ON THE AV TEAM. MICHAELA ESTRUTH | COLLEGIAN

Susan Putnam works at the Mary Randall Preschool. COURTESY | SUSAN PUTNAM

F EA T U R E S

Hannah Wong wins student concerto competition

By Megan Li ASSISTANT EDITOR

When junior Hannah Wong sat down on the piano bench for the annual student concerto and aria competition Jan. 26, she appeared to be an unassuming gure in black. She leaned over the piano for a moment, her eyes closed, as her accompanist and teacher of collaborative piano, Daniel Kuehler, and the silent audience of McNamara Rehearsal Hall looked on.

“She is quiet, humble, and always hidden,” said junior Charlie Cheng, one of Wong’s friends. “But inside, she’s full of talent and energy.”

Kuehler started the piece, Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, with a so accompanying melody, but when Wong’s ngers touched the keys, ripping into the movement’s electric, aggressive opening, her entire countenance changed.

“It was like I was seeing a warrior,” Cheng said. “ e energy that she exerted from playing that piece was unexpected, given her smaller size.”

Wong has been playing the piano for more than a decade, and she said music is one of the biggest ways she has seen God work.

“My parents couldn’t a ord lessons, and they never paid for them,” Wong said. “But God brought people and opportunities to be able to give me lessons anyway.”

Junior Stephen Zhu said Wong has a methodical, rather than intuitive, way of learning a piece, which tracks with her direct, matter-of-fact, hardworking personality. She doesn’t “connect” to the piece or hear it “speaking” to her.

“It’d be more like having knowledge and musical techniques and other things,” Zhu said.

According to her friend junior Ellia He, Wong said “musical phrasing” had been drilled into her practices as a younger student, and by default, she has picked up on “musicality.”

“Hannah comes alive under pressure and gets a wealth of musical ideas and phrasing decisions, o en quite last minute, that makes her performances incredibly fresh, alive, and ‘musical’, but she tends not to view these as narrative or emotional decisions,” He said.

According to Zhu, Wong said she was better at piano during elementary school, for she had practiced more o en then.

“I was like, ‘you’re pretty

good right now, so if you’re that good in elementary school, I think that counts as being a prodigy,’” Zhu said.

“It’s just a big privilege to be able to listen to that and to know that she is bringing a lot of joy to people through what she plays.”

According to Zhu, Wong had played a part in getting him involved with piano again. Before he got a spot in piano lessons with Kuehler, she gave him drills and tips.

“I appreciated that a lot, because it’s just a lot easier to learn and just having someone point out your mistakes so that you don’t keep on making them, and build bad habits, because you don’t realize what you’re doing,” Zhu said.

In the weeks leading up to the concerto competition, Wong would often practice with Zhu and junior Ellia He, another musician friend, present.

“ ey’re both good at listening to music. I’m not as good at listening to music. And I play for them and ask for comments,” Wong said.

Zhu said Wong is constantly relying on her friends’ suggestions to further shape the piece into a coherent whole.

“She has the technical skill

to execute any of that stu . But with a lot of things, the hard part is o en coming up with creative ideas in the rst place — just using other people as a source for that to help you see things you don’t see on your own,” Zhu said.

Kuehler, Wong’s piano teacher, said Hannah’s strong technical foundation enables her to further explore music’s essence and character.

“She possesses a refined touch, a keen ear, and an artistry well beyond her years,” Kuehler said in an email. “She’s playing this concerto at a very high level, and her performance promises to be both powerful and thrilling.”

Wong said having her friends in the audience was something that could make or break her performance. Seeing them there, together, made her realize just how many had come.

“When I was sitting down, it’s like, ‘I’m gonna play this well, because I want them to enjoy it, and they’re all here,’” Wong said.

Wong said the satisfaction of her performance came from seeing the enjoyment of the audience.

“A er that, I was just very grateful to God,” Wong said.

Ellia He said Wong holds all things in connection to her faith.

“I can most clearly say when looking at her life that God and everything is not worth one cent more to her than God and nothing,” He said. “She is aiming at a di erent goal which gives a levity and freedom that is not concerned about winning or job placement or career or an all-consuming passion, but the joyful, de ned service of a thoughtful, tree-climbing child.”

Wong’s piece lasted 10 minutes and nine seconds. Zhu said Wong went above and beyond the practice session he had watched the night before.

“ ere was nothing wrong with it, and it was good, but it was just really good on the day of the recital itself,” Zhu said.

Wong gave her piece an eight out of 10 in terms of both how di cult it was and how much she enjoyed playing it.

“It’s pretty epic,” Wong said. “I’d say the most di cult part was the second section. ere was just this part with running sixteenths and there’s a trill in the middle of that.”

Wong said the piece’s middle, lyrical section was her favorite part.

“ at tends to be my favor-

ite part of most pieces. I’ve been told that those sections are the sections I’m particularly good at,” Wong said. “It’s not as technically ashy, but it’s just a very good expression and melody.” Wong will perform the same piece with the Hillsdale College Orchestra on Feb. 22.

Juniors Sophia LaBonte, an alto singer, and Samuel Jarzab, a clarinet player, were the other two winners, and they will play at the orchestra concert on May 9. Cheng said he correctly predicted that Wong would be one of the competition winners.

“I put my money on Hannah right a er she nished,” Cheng said. “I’m proud because I’m right.”

Hannah is double majoring in English and music, and she hopes to teach music or play piano for worship a er graduation. She said music has taught her the value of con dence and perseverance, not stemming from her own e orts, but from opportunities and people that God has put into her life.

“I don’t believe in music for music’s sake, I don’t believe in music for my sake, I don’t feel compulsion to do music, per se, but I do have this gi that God has given me, and I play it for other people’s sakes,” Wong said.

Hannah Wong plays the piano. COURTESY | HANNAH WONG