Hillsdale admitted 20.74% of applicants to this year’s freshman class, similar to last year’s admissions rate, according to preliminary data, said Senior Director of Admissions Zachary Miller.
“It’s a very strong class, very similar to the one that we recruited last year,” Miller said.
Out of 381 students in the class of 2028, 189 are male and 192 female. They represent 42 states and 11 foreign countries.
The average ACT score of the incoming class is 31 and the average GPA is 3.95.
Among those admitted, 55.5% chose to enroll, in what is known as the “yield rate.” This figure fell by almost seven percentage points from last year, but the class size is still within the range sought by admissions, according to Miller.
The preliminary percentage of in-state students remains at the record low with 19% of the class coming from Michigan.
Miller said while lowering this number is not a goal, it reflects the college’s efforts to gain a national footprint. In the past 10 years, Miller said Hillsdale has doubled the number of admissions counselors and has been able to recruit students across the country and the world.
“We’re seeing a lot of the fruits of that, those relationships that we’re building with high schools and folks that are not just in the Midwestern part of the country,” Miller said.
Kyle
Murnen promoted to chief of staff to Arnn
By Moira Gleason News Editor
“I love our application process because it’s very comprehensive,” Nokelby said. “It doesn’t feel like we’re narrowing someone down to a test score or GPA or list of activities. We’re really getting to know our applicants.”
Nokelby said Hillsdale’s standards for the proper student fit have remained consistent.
Working as an on-campus counselor, Nokelby interviews about 150 students from the upper Midwest each year.
“A lot of students that I interviewed this year are very curious about very big questions,” Nokelby said. “They are unsatisfied with what the mainstream of the culture has had to say about certain life questions.”
Freshman Fara Newell said she knew she wanted to attend Hillsdale if admitted.
“One of the things that really drew me to want to come here was Hillsdale’s dedication to excellence,” Newell said. “I really believe in doing my best to maximize my potential as a person, just be the best that I can be, and use the talents God has given me in the most effective way.”
Nokelby said the incoming class is unique but also fit to cultivate the Hillsdale culture.
“This class is different in their own way, but you’re not going to be able to tell how they’re different until they’ve been on campus a couple of years,” Nokelby said. “Dr. Whalen always says all it takes is two classes to change the culture at Hillsdale. I think that the best part of this place is the culture, so that’s something we’re trying to maintain and cultivate and bring the right students into.”
During the application process, Hillsdale reviews essays, interviews, test scores, GPA, transcript, resume, and recommendations, according to Assistant Director of Admissions Brennan Nokelby ‘22.
Kyle Murnen ’09 became chief of staff to College President Larry Arnn in July, following the retirement of Michael Harner ’82.
“I have known Kyle since he was about 19 years old,” Arnn said in an email to the Collegian. “He has always been high minded, eager, and intelligent. I have watched him grow to be a father, a husband, a man. He is a fine worker and colleague, and I am glad to have him.”
As chief of staff, Murnen manages the activities of the President’s Office and coordinates instruction, outreach, and operations for the college.
Murnen said his first priority is to help Arnn in whatever way possible to advance the mission of the college.
“We have really big ambitions and dreams, but people are pulling in the same direction and really happy and excited about that,” Murnen said. “So however this position can help keep that beautiful thing that Dr. Arnn’s been able to build over those years — I’m trying to serve that as best I can.”
Murnen said he also hopes to expand college outreach and provide learning opportunities to as many people as possible.
“This fortunate group that gets to study here in Hillsdale — how can we take that learning and get it to as many people as possible?” he said. “That’s a fun challenge to work on and that involves working with a lot of people around here and also people outside the college.”
Originally from Toledo, Ohio, Murnen received a bachelor’s degree in English from Hillsdale before completing his master’s degree and doctoral program coursework in the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship.
After working as an admissions counselor for two years following graduation, Murnen served as assistant to the president from 2011-2019. Most recently, he held the role of director of online learning beginning in 2019 until taking on the chief of staff role this summer.
Murnen credits Arnn in part for his decision to continue his education and career at Hillsdale after taking Arnn’s class on Winston Churchill his senior year.
He said he has only grown in admiration for Arnn since working more closely with him on a daily basis.
“He’s the busiest man I know but is never in a rush when he feels like he has an opportunity to teach someone something,” Murnen said. “He does that nearly universally with the people he meets. He’s just extraordinarily gracious and generous with his time and always aiming to teach and help people. And I think that’s the most inspiring part of him.”
As a student, Murnen was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He said he also worked several jobs on campus, from cafeteria dish washer to research assistant in the President’s Office.
Murnen met his wife, Courtney Yeutter ’09, at Hillsdale, and the couple married in 2012. They now live in Hillsdale with their five children.
“It’s been a blessing to stay here and be able to raise our family here in this community with the college around and all the great people you have in Hillsdale,” Murnen said. “That’s been a real blessing and joy for us.”
Murnen has taken over the position from his long-time mentor Harner, who worked as chief of staff since the role’s creation in 2006. Harner previously served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy, reaching the rank of commander, before returning to Hillsdale as director of alumni relations in 2004. He will remain on campus as associate men’s golf coach. Harner said he has known Murnen since he stepped on campus for the first time.
“Kyle’s incredibly talented, incredibly smart, and you’ll never get the feeling that he thinks he’s smart,” Harner said.
“The smartest guy in the room is probably the guy who’s not talking about being the smartest guy in the room. He’s just a very bright, discerning man. He’s very prudent.”
Murnen said he was honored to work with Harner for a few months to learn the role.
“In the Navy, we talk about somebody having a ‘big rudder,’” Harner said. “It’s like a moral compass. He knows the direction he’s going to go and he’s going to steer that way.”
Hillsdale ranks no. 1 for most religious students
By Eleanor Whitaker Assistant Editor
Hillsdale College students are the most religious in the nation, according to the 2025 edition of the Princeton Review’s Best 390 Colleges report.
“While we are pleased to receive these top rankings from the Princeton Review, it’s important to note that such accolades are subjective and are not something we chase,” Provost Christopher VanOrman said. “We are confident that Hillsdale’s unique culture, rooted in a classical liberal arts education and a commitment to intellectual and spiritual
growth, offers a truly exceptional learning environment.”
Hillsdale also ranked second in friendliest students and third in most conservative students.
The Princeton Review is a tutoring, college test prep, and college admissions services company which publishes several rankings of American universities.
The report, which was released Tuesday, ranks the top 25 colleges in 50 categories based on student survey data. The list includes 390 colleges and makes up 15% of American four-year institutions.
The Princeton Review said 168,000 students took the
89-question survey, which was about 430 students per school on average.
The surveys were conducted in 2023-24 and could include the previous two academic years, according to the Princeton Review.
To rank the most religious students category, students were asked how strongly they agree or disagree with the statement “students are very religious.”
Hillsdale reached its highest rank in the most religious students category in at least the past ten years and increased from second place in the 2024 edition.
“We are committed to
studying the oldest things and the highest things. There is nothing older or higher than our God, so naturally our students gravitate towards him,” College Chaplain Adam Rick said.
Senior Noah Schmidt has been involved in the campus ministry Intervarsity since he was a freshman. He said the strong religious community at Hillsdale bolsters the faith of the students.
“We are blessed to have the vibrant faith community that we do at Hillsdale, and it makes our campus an amazing place,” Schmidt said. “The many clubs and organizations provide students with great
opportunities to grow in their faith and strengthen their relationship with Jesus. There is something for everyone to get involved in faith life here at Hillsdale.”
Hillsdale ranked in the top 25 colleges in 14 categories, including sixth in the “These Students Love Their Colleges” category, and tenth in best college newspaper.
“I’m proud of the student writers and editors of The Collegian for all their hard work last year,” said Maria Servold, assistant director of the Dow Journalism Program. “We continue to rank among the top student newspapers in the country, and that reflects the
talent and perseverance of our journalism students.”
Earlier this summer, The Hillsdale Collegian earned top awards in a state-wide college newspaper competition by the Michigan Press Association, including number one in News-Only Photo, Feature Photo, and Front Page Design. Other awards included second and third place in the best writer category, and second, third, and honorable mention in feature story. The Collegian also earned second place in front page design, honorable mention in news story, and honorable mention in non-front page design.
Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
The Hillsdale City Council approved the college’s plans to expand the Dow Conference Center and Hotel (See A4). Courtesy | Hillsdale College
Seniors Gavin Listro and Donny McArdle perform at Welcome Party. Erik Teder | Student Activities
Convocation speakers emphasize humility, joy in suffering
By Megan Li Assistant Editor
Preparation for the future comes through cultivating perseverance, senior Faith Henry told guests at Freshman Convocation Aug. 25.
The class of 2028 and their families heard from Henry as well as President Larry Arnn and senior Garrett Goolsby before taking the matriculation pledge on the East Lawn. A procession of faculty, accompanied by the notes of a bagpipe, bookended the ceremony, and the College Chamber Choir led the singing of the “Alma Mater.”
In her address to the freshman class, Henry said she was originally going to write a speech focused on suffering, but she decided it was not what freshmen needed to hear. Henry added, however, that the class of 2028 should be ready to suffer.
“The first time you go down, you’re paving an entirely new path,” Henry said, using the analogy of sledding. “More times you go down the same path, the more likely you are to follow it. So it is with character. When we cultivate the habit of perseverance in our studies and friendships, we’re actually practicing the skills that we need to face greater challenges.”
Henry summarized her advice to the incoming class with three words: courage, perseverance, and joy. She encouraged the freshmen to stand strong in the face of difficult academics and awkward situations as well as find joy in close relationships and spontaneous adventures.
“My encouragement to you is this: embrace this opportunity,” Henry said. “You don’t get these four years back. Cultivate the virtues of courage, perseverance, and joy, and remember that these virtues will help you to live a more complete life, both at Hillsdale and well beyond your college years.”
Goolsby began by describing the nature of challenge it does not take long to change a person.
“You have four years of challenge ahead,” Goolsby said. “Hillsdale will change you this place will mark you for the rest of your life.”
Goolsby advised freshmen to take a Sunday sabbath in order to cultivate humility and joy.
“As a Hillsdale student, you’ll find that this college is all about humbling you. The first time you get a paper grade back that will be especially poignant,” Goolsby said. “Remember and rest in
the fact that your worth is not in your work. It is not in your to-do list and the number of accolades you can acquire, it is instead in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.”
In the midst of the busyness of classes and the enticement of many organizations to participate in, Goolsby emphasized the importance of rest.
“It’s going to cultivate an enjoyment of the work that you have to do here,” Goolsby said. “Take time to rest, let your passion for the work that you do build.”
Goolsby ended with a reference to Colossians 3 that pointed the freshmen toward the love of God, which enables them to rest.
“We’re to work heartily as for the Lord, not for men, but the Lord also gives his beloved sleep,” Goolsby said. “So rest in God’s love for you, knowing that that rest will recharge you for the great challenge ahead of you.”
Arnn discussed the importance of the college’s values: freedom, faith, learning, and character, something that cannot ever be fully understood, but can always be pursued.
“The principles of our country are summarized in the laws of nature, and of nature’s God,” Arnn said. “That’s a mighty phrase, also mysterious, isn’t it? Where would you look up those laws? And yet, the people who signed the document that contains that in its first sentence, they staked their lives on it and everything else they had in the last sentence. It was a real and a tangible thing a thing worth dying for, and therefore worth living for.”
Arnn told the freshmen the faculty are people they will come to love and respect, but the respect of the faculty, as well as those around them, is something that must be earned.
“We have to do that because we have to work together,” Arnn said. “We’re the most independent cusses on Earth. And yet, the thing that defines us also makes us able to communicate better and in a different way than any other being on Earth.”
Arnn joked about tearyeyed parents bidding farewell to their children, and said the college will take care of the freshmen.
“Winston Churchill called himself a blubber baby,” Arnn said. “He, like we, knew that the good tears come from the sight of something beautiful, like your child marching off today to live.”
College honors alumni at White & Blue Reunion
By Caroline Kurt Opinions Editor
Hillsdale College recog -
nized alumni Kerry Cummings ’77, Michael Francisco ’04, Elizabeth Spalding ’88, and Kat Timpf ’10 for their outstanding personal and professional achievements in the 2024 Alumni Awards.
The college officially presented the awards June 30 at the 73rd Annual Alumni Awards Banquet as, a part of the White & Blue Reunion Weekend in Hillsdale.
“It was such an honor to be recognized by Hillsdale College and alongside such accomplished alumni,” Kerry Donovan Cummings said in an email to The Collegian.
Cummings received the Tower Award for outstanding service to the college. The president of her senior class at Hillsdale, Cummings now resides in the Chicago suburbs. She assumed leadership of the Hillsdale College Alumni Association in January 2020, just months before Hillsdale had to adapt to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“My hope is that our service to the college encourages others to find ways to give back to this special place,”
Cummings said.
Michael Francisco ’04 received a Distinguished Alumnus award for his outstanding professional achievement in law. An attorney for First and Fourteenth firm in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Francisco helped represent Lorie Smith of 303 Creative before the U.S. Supreme Court in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. He was also involved in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case.
“I’ve been involved in mooting and writing amicus briefs in most of the religious liberty cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court,” Francisco said in a video produced by Hillsdale College.
He described his mission as one of protecting Christians and the church from persecution in an increasingly secular world.
“Frankly, it goes to the parts of life and culture that I think are most important to what it means to be an American,” Francisco said. “To be able to worship and express yourself freely, to be able to criticize the government or others are two of the things that make this country great.”
Elizabeth Edwards Spald-
ing, Ph.D., ’88 received the Elizabeth Smith Friedman Award for Freedom: the second time the award has ever been given.
A self-described “third generation anti-communist,” Spalding is the chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and the founding director of the Victims of Communism Museum.
“Communism is based on lies,” Spalding said in a video produced by Hillsdale College. “Our country is based on ideas, and we are open to everyone. Communism is the opposite of that.”
Elizabeth Spalding’s husband, Matthew Spalding, the vice president of Washington operations for Hillsdale, commended his wife’s accomplishments.
“My better half is a great teacher, an excellent scholar, a dogged enemy of all things totalitarian, and is especially deserving of an award named for Elizabeth Smith Friedman,” Matthew Spalding said in an email to The Collegian.
Kat Timpf ’10 received a Distinguished Alumna award for her outstanding professional achievement in journalism. The Fox News analyst, comedian, and author released
a book in 2023 about the power of humor.
“Laughing and making people laugh is my favorite thing about being alive,” Timpf said in a video produced by Hillsdale College.
Executive Director of Alumni Relations Colleen McGinness guides the selection process for the Alumni Awards.
“We are always looking for candidates,” McGinness said. “Always establishing relationships and getting to know people.”
McGinness said she keeps a curated list of potential awardees. A committee within the Alumni Association selects three or four candidates every year to propose to the President’s Office. Dr. Arnn makes the final selection.
“We are really looking for alums who are representing the College in a variety of ways,” McGinness said.
McGinness also described the challenge of honoring those many alumni of the college who choose to stay home to raise their children.
“We have a lot of outstanding alumni, and not everyone finds themselves in fields, either, where they’re able to get all kinds of achievement,” she said. “I try to be very conscious of that.”
According to McGinness, this is one reason the college recently established the Elizabeth Smith Friedman Award for Freedom and the Tower Award for Service to the College.
“Those are ways we can honor people who are serving their community in different ways, serving the college in different ways,” McGinness said. “Maybe they’re not CEOs of a company, but they’re doing just as important work.”
Arnn places honor code on first line of defense against AI
By Jillian Parks Editor-In-Chief
The college may introduce comprehensive written exams for seniors as a response to the rise of artificial intelligence, President Larry Arnn told freshmen on Monday, during his talk on the honor code in Plaster Auditorium.
“You’re here to grow, right?” Arnn said, suggesting that, although technology can enable learning, it can also get in the way if computers become tools of composition.
“You have the utmost interest, not only in doing that yourself, but in helping others do it,” Arnn said. “So do not let these devices cripple you, and they will. You’ll never learn, you have to struggle.”
The two-week comprehensive written exams are presently just an idea, but
Fisk
Arnn said he will consult the faculty on how to proceed.
“A two-week written exam period does not just evade the misuse of AI; it allows the student to express from within himself or herself that sensitized moral and intellectual palate,” Jordan Wales, associate professor of theology, said. “Whether this is the right solution or not remains to be seen, but what I like about this proposal is that it doesn’t just frustrate efforts at ‘cheating’ via AI; it draws into evidence the very strength of mind that education is meant to cultivate. After those exams, the next forum for the exercise of one’s sensitized palate will be life itself.”
Arnn advised the freshmen to approach their four years as if the exam was something to expect.
“You must look forward to it because, to be able to
do that, that means you’ll never forget it,” Arnn said. “It means you’ll reach a level of mastery of it that won’t go away, although it will grow through the rest of your life.”
Chat GPT was launched nearly two years ago, when many of the freshmen were juniors in high school.
“I’ve used AI for work to summarize things, or I’ve used it as an overview tool, but I haven’t ever used it to do the work instead of me, so I don’t mind the policy,” freshman Emery Hull said. “With AI, there is no growth because something else is doing it for you.”
Freshman Kathryn Vieceli said she would look forward to a comprehensive senior exam, given her parallel experience with an ethics course she took in high school.
“We had a senior capstone project and we had to write
a reflection about what we learned from every single ethics class, and how it links to who we are and how it’s changed us,” Vieceli said. “That’s the class that affected me the most and changed me the most and made me want to come here.”
Freshman Faith Walessa said she is excited to be at an institution surrounded by peers who are devoted to protecting the human ability to create art.
“I feel like you can only push yourself so far on your own,” Walessa said. “But when you’re in a positive environment, you feel everyone around you, and everyone’s so inspired, and there’s a common goal, you realize that people actually still care about the stuff. You’re not alone. You never have been. You just weren’t in the right place.”
Museum to screen dinosaur documentary
By Zachary Chen Assistant Editor
They’re big, they’re bad, and they’re back. Dinosaurs are coming to Hillsdale’s campus with a free showing of the award-winning new Pinto Productions documentary “Why Dinosaurs?” at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 in Plaster Auditorium.
The 72-minute documentary is about dinosaurs, paleontologists, and the coming-of-age of James Pinto, son of the film’s producer Tony Pinto. According to Tony Pinto, hopes to get the next generation of students excited about science through the film.
“Our goal with the film at this point is really to inspire fu-
ture scientists,” Pinto said in an interview. “And not just paleontology, but anybody who has an interest in the STEM fields.”
The showing is part of the D. M. Fisk Museum of Natural History’s 150th anniversary celebration. The film will also be followed by a Q&A panel including Tony Pinto, Professor of Biology Anthony Swinehart, co-founder of PaleoProspectors Rob Sula, and Jim Braswell, who was involved with the discovery of one of the Fisk Museum’s dinosaurs.
Admission will be free, and viewers can digitally reserve seats at the showing at the documentary’s Eventbrite link or on the website whydinosaurs. com/watch.
“Why Dinosaurs?” has won several awards, including best feature documentary in the Wyoming International Film Festival, the South Dakota Film Festival, and the Marina Del Rey Film Festival. Additionally, it was nominated for Best Documentary and Best of Ventura County at the SIMI Film Festival and Future Wave Feature at the Seattle International Film Festival. Tony and James Pinto were also together nominated for Best Emerging Filmmaker at the SIMI Film Festival.
Swinehart said he had passed up an opportunity to see the film by himself so he could watch it with others at Hillsdale.
“Based on the trailer, it looks very informative and educational,” Swinehart said. “What I’m excited about is some of the interviews with some of the world’s top scientists who study dinosaurs and the new cutting edge technologies that are being used like molecular biology and chemistry.”
Following its screening at Hillsdale, “Why Dinosaurs?” will have a worldwide premiere on PBS. “It gives people the opportunity to see it before the rest of the world does,” Swinehart said. “And I think it’s pretty cool to have the actual producer there — the guy who actually filmed it and made it — and be able to ask him questions.”
Elizabeth Edwards Spalding ‘88, Kat Timpf ‘10, College President Larry Arnn, Kerry Donovan Cummings ‘77, and Michael Francisco ‘04 pose for a photo at the 73rd Annual Alumni Awards Banquet. COURTESY| HILLSDALE COLLEGE
Arnn addresses the Class of 2028 at Freshman Convocation. Megan Li | Collegian
Opinions
Study now, change the world later
Editor-in-Chief | Jillian Parks
Managing Editor | Isaac Green
Outreach Director | Olivia Pero Design Editor | Ally Hall Senior Editor | Michaela Estruth News Editor | Moira Gleason Opinions Editor | Caroline Kurt
News Editor | Thomas McKenna Sports Editors | 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 | Catherine Maxwell | Alessia Sandala | Zachary Chen | Eleanor Whitaker | Anna Broussard | Ellie Fromm | Ty Ruddy Ad Manager | Nathan Stanish
Editor | Matthew Tolbert
Advisers | John J. Miller | Maria Servold
607-2415 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.
By Caroline Kurt Opinions Editor
After Eden will be a twice-monthly column examining issues of work, gender, and family with nuance and hope.
As Simon Peter said, it is good that we are here.
I’m your Opinions editor, Caroline Kurt, and this is my column.
I believe in writing about what you find most interesting, and so After Eden was born. Twice a month, this column will delve into all things related to work, gender, and family: issues that don’t just matter in the grand scheme of things, but touch our lives as students and professionals.
I write this column as a young woman immersed in these issues — not just interested intellectually, but aware that the decisions I make will shape the world around me. The course of my life, like yours, is on the line. I was blessed to be raised by and around people who modeled devotion to the Good, but also weren’t afraid to challenge conventional lines of thinking. I have learned — and continue to learn — to reject ideology and wrestle with Truth.
So this column will ask: Does a healthy professional life look different for men and women? How should we act toward childless adults in the midst of a national fertility crisis? Is feminism really a wasteland of evil, or does it ask questions we have not yet resolved? And even more immediately: Must work be intellectual to be influential? How do we elevate good models of masculinity and femininity without losing sight of a healthy pluralism in gender roles or expression?
These are debates and open questions we raise at Hillsdale.
After Eden isn’t a religious column, although it draws its name from Genesis. We Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and agnostics can find common ground in the questions and conclusions After Eden proposes. The laws of good and evil have been written on all our hearts.
You may not agree with After Eden. In fact, go ahead
By Bradley Haley Collegian Freelancer
To my left, clouds of red smoke and green spray paint engulfed a statue of General Marquis de Lafayette. To my right, a chant filled the chaotic air:
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
Directly in front of me was the White House and in my hand was an invitation to join the Revolutionary Communist Progressive Labor Party.
On June 8, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors flooded Lafyette Square in Washington, D.C, demanding an end to the conflict in Gaza. A “red line” of humans stretching two miles long surrounded the White House.
That afternoon, I gained a renewed thankfulness to study at a college that does not encourage its students to “change the world,” like the protestors around me were trying to do.
Shortly after I arrived at Lafayette Square, a young woman wearing a bandanna that covered most of her face approached, handed me a piece of paper, and moved on. I looked down at an invitation to “Smash imperialism, racism and sexism with Communist red line.” An insignia in the top left cor-
and disagree — you may be right, and I’d always love to talk.
After Eden will strive to strike a tone that is provocative yet measured, always leaving room for nuance. And since people are more often well-meaning and misguided than malicious, I hope to give those I challenge the benefit of the doubt. If nothing else, After Eden should give you a reason to hope.
We live in a wild time.
Just this summer, we’ve seen an assassination attempt on a former president, a last-minute candidate swap, and even more bloodshed and chaos abroad. But even if despair is our first impulse, it shouldn’t be our conclusion. We are precisely the people who, in our everyday lives as students, siblings, friends, and employees, have the power to contribute to the growing good of the world. This isn’t naïve. We don’t need to be overly optimistic to acknowledge this — and optimism can be a form of falsehood when it fails to take into account the real darkness that inhabits our world.
Centuries’ worth of ordinary lives have carried us to this point, and centuries’ worth of ordinary lives will carry us beyond it. And we now have a chance, however small, to ask good questions and think honestly, treat one another with dignity and generosity, and most of all, carry hope within our hearts. It is good that we are here.
Caroline Kurt is a junior studying English.
ner of the flier said “Fight for Communism!” The bottom of the page displayed a QR code where one could sign up to join the Communist Progressive Labor Party. I declined all three opportunities.
Though I didn’t get to speak with her, the young woman distributing the fliers appeared close to my age. She was likely a student at a university in Washington, D.C., who had fulfilled the stereotypical nightmare of every American grandparent — going to college and turning into a communist.
Whether or not this is the life story of the communist flier girl in Lafayette Square, it is the story of many in our generation. Whether they are communists, socialists, leftists, or just plain hedonists, many of our future colleagues and neighbors are presently spending four years of their lives in preparation to radically change the world.
Meanwhile, 1,500 of us chose to study old books, old ideas, and old languages in rural southern Michigan for four years.
We are discouraged from “changing the world” and instead challenged to understand it.
While our counterparts at other universities walk out of class, pitch tent cities, and
disrupt graduation, we have pledged ourselves to diligent study and patient reflection.
No doubt, the walls of Saga have certainly heard much political scheming, and many of us spend our summers deeply involved in politics, journalism, and advocacy. Yet has anyone ever heard of a protest on campus?
Sure, the showers in Galloway Residence are unreasonably cold and the coffee in Saga tastes odd sometimes, but we don’t form a picket line. We’re too nerdy for that. We write opinion pieces instead.
Nevertheless, this Hillsdale culture shouldn’t give us a “holier than thou” mindset.
Reject the siren’s song of pride and embrace true gratitude.
We are privileged to spend our waking hours reading Shakespeare and Milton, singing Irish songs late into the night, and rehashing the Protestant Reformation as if it were November 1517.
Hillsdale is a genuinely peaceful place in spite of whatever chaos rages in the outside world. Just as the peaceful nature of our college years is not a cause for pride, it ought not be a source of restlessness either.
We all want to change the world. It’s part of being young.
Many of us will, indeed, leave a mark. I am confident that we will look back long after we have turned our tassels and realize that we walked to class with prominent lawyers, conjured up pranks alongside award-winning academics, and drove to Dutch Uncle Donuts at midnight with Fortune 500 executives. More importantly, though, the people we so desperately hope to crush at Mock Rock will go on to be faithful husbands, caring wives, loving parents, and responsible citizens — all of whom will change the world through small acts of courage and love.
If we think of the Communist flier girl in Lafayette Square at all, our thoughts ought to be of sadness that her college years are burdened by the need to change the world in some grand way. She — and thousands of others in our generation — will never know the happy buzz of Hillsdalian friendship that fills the crisp October air when we all pour out of Lane and Kendall after our 10 a.m. classes on a Friday morning.
Bradley Haley is a sophomore studying the liberal arts.
Rethinking American interventionism
By Luka Stanic Collegian Freelancer
The Serbian last name on my U.S. passport earns me a lot of attention. Given the troubled past of Serbo-American relations, my connection to both nations tends to spark conversation. In one case this summer, a customs officer on the Croatian border stopped me to explain why he believed the short-sightedness of U.S. foreign policy will eventually cause NATO’s collapse.
I split my time this summer between a research position in Istanbul and trips to family and friends in Europe, visiting 11 countries in nearly three months. I was born and raised in Chicago to a Greek mother and a Serbian father and I am a citizen of the United States and Greece.
While I visited various countries, I was constantly struck by the similarity of opinions on American foreign policy. Whether it was a Parisian computer science major, a Montenegrin customs officer, or Turkish undergrads, their opinions on U.S. foreign policy were eerily similar. A growing sense of discontent with American foreign policy unifies Europeans across ethnic and cultural divides.
It’s understandable, given how much the U.S. has involved itself in foreign affairs and the effects of that involvement on many European countries. There’s a strong sentiment among many Europeans that the United States has fallen out of touch with the rest of the world, leaning into the role of the “Global Policeman” despite lacking moral justification.
U.S. attempts at “policing” the Middle East and North Africa have been disasters, shattering whatever economy and infrastructure the regions had beforehand. Consequently, those areas have seen an increase in terrorism alongside mass emigration, exacerbating the European migrant crisis. Furthermore, the search for stability against these threats and a resistance to American
influence have brought some European states closer to China and Russia. Western headlines claiming the emerging European “far-right” is “pro-Putin” or tied to Chinese interests illustrate a wider trend of alienation. The success of China’s global infrastructure project, the “Belt and Road Initiative,” in Eastern and Southern Europe highlights a willingness to strengthen economic ties with China despite U.S. warnings.
Serbia is the most overtly anti-NATO country in the Balkans. Graffiti around Belgrade urges passersby to “Remember the Martyrs of ’99” in refer-
ism onto Serbia as a condition for trade and integration. China, on the other hand, has little interest in domestic social policy.
When Montenegro officially joined NATO in 2017, many believed it was the only option available to them. Despite the current political situation, locals still remember the NATO attacks in the ’90s.
To this day, posters and air raid notices hang in the apartment complexes in Herceg Novi, informing residents of the different EMS signal patterns for conventional, biological, or chemical bombings.
has sullied her global image. Support for the Ukrainian government, which has been persecuting Orthodox Christians for failure to submit to the state-run church, conflicts with America’s commitment to religious freedom. In Istanbul, undergrad students brought up the attempts to curtail online speech freedoms over growing anti-Israel sentiment, and named specific U.S. politicians while doing so.
Oddly enough, my friends and acquaintances throughout Europe were more aware of these domestic political concerns than most people back in the States. Many I spoke with supplemented their news intake with niche online commentators and Telegram channels, or, like the students in Istanbul, avoided partisan coverage by watching the presidential debates live.
ence to the NATO bombings. Throughout the city, advertisements by Russian state-owned oil giant Gazprom declare that the two nations are “Together for Victory,” while Russian flags fly alongside Serbian ones on major roads. While showing off his new Huawei smartphone, an uncle of mine sarcastically said the Chinese were his “brothers,” whose close economic and political relations with Serbia enabled him to buy a better phone for less.
While aware that Chinese interests are self-serving, many people in the Balkans and Eastern Europe believe American influence is the greater of two evils. To many Serbs, the American claim to moral superiority is a farce, tainted by the blood of their friends and relatives who died in the bombings.
As the attempts at economic recovery continue, the Global West forces social progressiv-
At the moment, faith in NATO seems to be at a low point. With the United Kingdom and France struggling with immigration woes, and Israel sparking international outrage over IDF conduct in Gaza, it’s not hard to understand why.
“Exercise caution and stay alert at locations publicly associated with the United States or Israel,” reads the notice from the U.S. embassy in Ankara, which raises concerns about how our continued support for Israel impacts our global image.
Popular disgust over the situation in Gaza isn’t limited to Islamic countries either. I saw demonstrations and graffiti plastered throughout Athens, Rome, and Barcelona, with activists pointing to mass civilian casualties and accusations of Israeli neo-Imperialism.
In addition to the conflict in Israel, America’s involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian war
Many Americans on both sides of the aisle have strong interventionist tendencies. The right to have that opinion is vital to our political system, but we must know the full situation before choosing interference. Taking sides in an international conflict is a serious action, one that the U.S. has made too easily in the past. As many Hillsdale students prepare to enter politics, it’s important that they carefully consider the consequences U.S. foreign policy will have.
The veteran I spoke with in Lisbon, my last stop before returning to the States, summed up the issue well. He implied that as we, the American people, continue to focus our resources and effort on problems we find with other nations, we will neglect to address our own, leading to internal collapse. Looking at the mess that is U.S. domestic politics, the migrant crisis, and rising cost of living, it’s hard for me to disagree.
Luka Stanic is a junior studying accounting.
Luka Stanic visited the Venice Grand Canal
Photo Courtesy | Luka Stanic
City News
Fink wins GOP nomination for state Supreme Court
How the Republican lawmaker from Hillsdale beat a Trump-endorsed judge
By Thomas McKenna City News Editor
Michigan Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale, won the Republican nomination for state Supreme Court in a nail-biting vote at the party convention Aug. 24.
Running to fill a seat vacated by another Hillsdale College alumnus, the ’06 graduate and state lawmaker faced a 12year Court of Appeals judge endorsed by former president Donald Trump. But in a 1051986 vote last weekend in Flint, Michigan, Fink defeated Judge Mark Boonstra and will run against Democratic nominee Kimberly Ann Thomas, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School.
Republicans could flip the state Supreme Court, currently 4-3 Democratic appointees over Republican ones, if they win both open seats this fall. Fink is running to fill a seat that will be left vacant by Judge David Viviano ’94, who announced in March he would not seek reelection. The other Republican nominee, Circuit Court Judge Patrick O’Grady, will run to unseat Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022.
Trump gave his “Complete and Total” endorsement to Boonstra in a mid-May Truth Social post, throwing his support into a state judicial race that rarely sees such high-profile intervention. Boonstra was the only candidate at Saturday’s convention with an endorsement from the former presi-
dent. But Fink kept campaigning and focused on speaking directly with delegates.
“If we had the opportunity to talk to someone one-on-one, we felt very confident that we could get that person to understand why my candidacy made more sense than my opponent’s did,” Fink said after his victory.
One advantage Fink said he had over Boonstra was his comparative youth. Boons -
tra is 67 and Fink is 39. Since a sitting justice has never lost a reelection bid, Fink said, he could effectively secure the seat on the state’s high court for decades. Boonstra, however, could not run for reelection past the age of 70, according to state law.
“My argument took a little longer to make than an argument that was based simply on electing somebody who’s
already been a judge and has a particular endorsement,” Fink said. “My argument was about the structure of our court system, the structure of our election system, and what it will take to return a majority to the Michigan Supreme Court for citizens who wish for the rule of law to prevail.”
The Michigan GOP did not release the official list of about 2,000 delegates until nine days before the Aug. 24 convention. Until then, Fink and his team crisscrossed the state speaking with Republican Party members and explaining why, if selected as delegates, they should vote for Fink over his Trump-endorsed opponent.
“I think it’s fair to say it was harder work for us,” Fink said.
Heading into Saturday’s convention, Gongwer News Service, a state politics outlet, called the contest a “coin flip.” Fink said he spent almost every moment of the day talking to delegates on the convention floor in the Dort Financial Center in Flint.
“We had an awesome group of volunteers helping us get the message across to the delegates yesterday,” Fink said. “It’s an intensely personal campaign. You can see and hear and feel everything because it’s only a couple thousand people in the room. So in that sense, it was very different from all other kinds of campaigning I have done.”
The race was “highly contested,” said Hillsdale County Republican Party Chairman Brent Leininger, who attended the convention as a delegate from Hillsdale. Fink won by
about three percentage points.
“A convention at times can be a very long and drawn out ordeal, dealing with the rules and nuances of the party,” Leininger said. “But it was great to see Rep. Fink win the nomination.”
Many delegates considered age when casting their vote, Leininger said.
“Some thought Andrew’s youth is an issue because he can run for multiple years on the court,” Leininger said.
“There are those who thought his youth would be an issue because he doesn’t have the experience as a judge.”
Although Fink is the Republican nominee, the race to fill a state Supreme Court seat is nonpartisan, so Fink will not have “Republican” next to his
“I
think it’s fair to say it was harder work for us.”
name on the ballot. Leininger said the party will focus on getting the word out that Fink is the GOP’s candidate.
State Senator Joe Bellino, a Republican whose district includes Hillsdale, said Fink, “when elected,” will be a great justice on the high court.
City Council approves college hotel expansion
The college will also fund a $1.7 million endowment for essential city services
By Olivia Pero Outreach Director
Hillsdale College plans to expand the Dow Hotel and Conference Center after an 8-0 vote and one abstention in the Hillsdale City Council meeting on Aug. 19.
The plan includes the construction of a 158-room hotel, conference center, and public fine dining restaurant, making it the largest hotel between Battle Creek and Detroit, according to the project plan. The new hotel would be north of the main campus and will require the permanent closure of a block of East Gallo-
way Drive and part of Summit Street.
The city council has been especially supportive of the idea to expand the hotel since the college was able to fund a $1.7 million endowment to be placed in the Community Foundation, Hillsdale College Associate Vice President for Administrative Affairs Tim Wells said. The city council can use the proceeds for essential city services.
Hillsdale Mayor Adam Stockford said he is grateful for the college’s decision to contribute to the city of Hillsdale’s essential service funding, something all residents rely on
and a gesture that reflects the college’s mission.
“This endowment is more than just a gift or an exchange, it’s ushering in a new age of cooperation between the city as a whole and the college, and a vote of confidence in the city’s leadership,” Stockford said. “Two million dollars is a lot of money.”
The multi-million dollar project will support economic growth in Hillsdale, creating 80 new jobs and directly benefiting the local trades, Wells said.
“There has been a need for expanded hotel space for several years now, especially as the
college has seen an expansion in both total annual events as well as the number of attendees,” Wells said.
From the project’s inception, the college has consistently sought to achieve a win-win scenario in its communication with city officials, according to Wells.
“This involved outlining both the immediate and longterm economic benefit that would arise from its addition, while also striving to look for ways in which it could be a benefit for the city directly,” Wells said.
This is where the concept of establishing the endow -
ment will pay dividends, both literally and figuratively, Wells said. It will provide additional financial resources to the city and assist in meeting the needs of essential city services.
Hillsdale City Manager David Mackie said the city thanks the college for its continued investment in its campus and the community as a whole.
“The college has been a great partner in continuing to make Hillsdale a great place to live and work,” Mackie said.
“The project will be nothing short of a game changer for the community.”
Donut shop opens in downtown Hillsdale
By Alessia Sandala Assistant Editor
A new made-to-order donut shop, Ethan’s Donut Factory, opened in May in downtown Hillsdale on the corner of North Broad Street and McCollum Street. In addition to serving donuts with names like Maple Bacon, Chocolate Bomb, and Coconut Peanut, Ethan’s will also offer coffee, baked goods, and ice cream. Each donut is prepared in front of the customer.
“The best thing about it is that we make all of our donuts fresh,” part-owner Wayne Babcock said. “So when you come in and order a Maple Bacon or a Blueberry Lemon or a Chocolate Strawberry, we actually make the donuts. We top them with fresh icing and the extra toppings right then and there. When you order you get to
watch your donut be made.”
Employee Jillian Monahan said the donuts are distinct from average donut shop options.
“I feel like my favorite donut is Blueberry Lemon,” Monahan said. “I like the Blueberry Lemon because it’s something different from a lot of places.”
In addition to donuts, the shop offers coffee from Starbucks beans and ice cream from MOO-ville Creamery.
“We were fortunate enough to get Starbucks beans,” Babcock said. “We’re not a Starbucks franchise, but we try to order the Starbucks ingredients for the coffee we serve. We also have MOO-ville ice cream from Nashville, Michigan. It’s a local dairy farm that does all of our ice cream for us.”
Ethan’s Donut Factory also offers other sweet treats on its menu.
“We have a baker that comes
in twice a week that makes fresh cookies for us,” Babcock said. “We have another baker that comes in the morning that makes extra sweets, like lemon pop muffins and oatmeal cream pies.”
Babcock said Ethan’s Donut Factory is working to add gluten-free options due to popular requests.
According to employee Cailey VanZant, Ethan’s Donut Factory provides jobs for high school and college students in the area as well.
“I started pretty much right after school ended, and I knew a few other people who did too because my friend wanted me to come work here,” VanZant said.
Monahan said working at Ethan’s Donut Factory allows her to balance her busy schedule while still holding a parttime job.
“I started working here about
a month after it opened,” Monahan said. “I love our staff and I get to work with a lot of my classmates. They’re really flexible with my hours. I’m in AP
classes and sports so they are good at working around all of that.”
According to Babcock, the busiest day for Ethan’s Donut Factory is Saturday, when the store typically sells about 1,200 donuts.
Ethan’s Donut Factory opens at 7 a.m. Tuesday to Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. It closes at 8 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday, and 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The store is closed on Mondays.
As college students return to Hillsdale, Babcock expects business to increase.
“We believe the impact will be very nice and increase our sales,” Babcock said. “We’ve already had a few activities up at Hillsdale College. People are pre-ordering our fun donuts for orientation activities and some sorority house openings.”
Fink graduated from Hillsdale in 2006 with a politics degree and served in the Marines after college as a military lawyer in the Judge Advocate General Program. After moving back to Hillsdale in 2017, he was elected as a state representative in 2020 and is currently serving his second term in Lansing.
Fink said his general election campaign will focus on affording “every citizen an equal shot at justice under law.”
“Your case should be decided based on what the law says, not based on who you are or who your friends are,” Fink said. “That’s the message that people should be hearing from us, and I expect it’s going to be successful.”
Wortz wins GOP primary And more results from August races
“His knowledge of our constitution and the law has rarely been seen in the legislature and quickly pointed out to us that he will be a great leader someday,” Bellino told The Collegian in a statement. “I will be proud to say, ‘I knew him when.’” Thomas, Fink’s opponent, is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and was appointed by Whitmer to the Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform in 2021. Before joining the faculty, she was a trial attorney in Philadelphia and currently directs the Juvenile Justice Clinic at Michigan Law.
By Jackson Casey and Joshua Mistry Collegian Reporters
Democrats and Republicans across Michigan voted in primaries on Aug. 6 to choose their nominees for November’s elections. Here are some notable results: State House District 35 Jennifer Wortz, a former Quincy school board member, won a three-way Republican primary for Michigan’s 35th State House District. Hillsdale Mayor Adam Stockford, endorsed by College President Larry Arnn, came in second. The seat, currently held by State Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale, will likely remain Republican.
County Clerk Hillsdale County Deputy Clerk Abe Dane defeated former Adams County Clerk Stephanie Scott with more than 67 percent of the vote. Scott has pleaded not guilty to multiple felonies related to alleged voter data mishandling in 2020. Dane will run unopposed to fill the position vacated by Marney Kast.
“I am simply focused on the work I have before me, which right now involves preparing for the administration of the General Election in Hillsdale County,” Dane told The Collegian. County Commissioner, 1st District Associate Professor of Politics Kevin Slack lost to incumbent County Commissioner Doug Ingles by 47 out of about 1,400 votes. Slack told The Collegian he “ran on a very basic platform of trimming the budget” and expanding the county jail. “All in all, running for office was a rewarding experience,” Slack said.
Rep. Andrew Fink represents Hillsdale in the state legislature. Courtesy | Michigan House Republicans
Meredith Bowles makes a donut.
Thomas McKenna | Collegian
Women's Tennis
Walbright returns to coaching, Zampardo as assistant
By Ellie Fromm Assistant Editor
Chargers Women’s Tennis
hired Nikki Walbright as head coach and senior Melanie Zampardo as assistant coach over the summer.
Former head coach Liam Fraboulet left the Charger’s Tennis program this summer to pursue a business opportunity in the Upper Peninsula, according to Hillsdale College Athletic Director John Tharp.
Walbright saw to the reinstatement of the women’s tennis program in 2010 after it was inactive since 2004, according to the Chargers’ Director of Athletic Communications James Gensterblum.
In 2012, she won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award. She then led the team
to two Great Midwest Athletic Conference titles in 2018 and 2019. In both those years, she received the G-MAC Coach of the Year, Walbright is looking forward to her return in the up-
coming season.
“I’m really excited to be back with the team, really looking forward to working with them again,” Walbright said. “I think we have very strong leadership with our se-
niors and our new freshmen are going to add a lot to our lineup.”
Walbright stepped down as head coach after the 2021-22 season to become Associate Athletic Director and Senior
Woman’s Administrator.
Tharp said appointing Walbright as head coach was an easy decision within his department.
“Coach Walbright is a veteran and one of the best tennis coaches around,” Tharp said. “She had taken a break from coaching because she has a young family, but Nikki has stepped up and says she is ready.”
Zampardo joins the coaching staff as a former Hillsdale College tennis player and a fifth-year student pursuing a degree in exercise science. She transferred to Hillsdale after spending her freshman year at Wayne State University in Detroit. During her time as a Charger, Zampardo achieved three second-team All-GMAC awards.
“I’m excited to put my de-
velopment and progress on the shelf and be able to help other people,” Zampardo said. “To both have that objective eye and also help them on an emotional level, because I can relate to them. I was just there last year.”
Tharp said he believes Zampardo can build strong relationships with her players as a younger coach and an accomplished athlete, and can use her position as a coach to teach younger players what it means to be a Charger.
“She’s represented us so well over the years,” Tharp said. “I think she’s incredibly competitive and understands what Hillsdale College is. She believes in what we believe in. I think she’s going to bring young energy and build relationships with our new players.
PaPlomata, Volleyball Charger chatter
Vasiliki
What was your nickname growing up?
My parents still call me “Vasilikaki,” which is a sweeter version of Vasiliki.
If you switched sports, what would you switch to?
I always wanted to be a tennis player because they look so cool.
Compiled by Moira Gleason
Did you watch any of the Olympics this year?
I watched track because we always have great athletes representing Greece.
What's your best hot take?
That fried chicken restaurant everyone is obsessed with, Chick-Fil-A, is really bad.
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
Charger Sports
Athletic department unveils Charger Champions Club
By Ty Ruddy Assistant Editor
The Athletic Department launched the Charger Champions Club in July to create a new way for donors to support and interact with athletics at the college.
“We really felt we had an opportunity to encourage unity in the athletic department, especially as our college grows in prominence,” Athletic Director John Tharp said. “A one team vision really appeals to alumni who see where the college is headed.”
Tharp met with former Hillsdale athletes over the summer in anticipation of the Charger Champions Club launch and to highlight the goal of the program.
“We are a rising force in education, probably the strongest in the country,” Tharp said. “We hope to match that with athletics.”
Bill Gray, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, said he believes a unified giving club will encourage for-
mer athletes to remain connected with Hillsdale after they leave, and to reinvest in the tradition from which they came.
Before this year, the giving strategy required that donors give to one of 16 separate varsity programs, rather than supporting athletics as a whole.
Directors of the project pursued this unification effort with the stated goal of “driving philanthropic support for all 16 of Hillsdale College’s varsity sports teams and over 400 student athletes.”
The Athletic Department also set a goal to renew a vision of true college athletics.
“Sports are so much a spectacle today that sometimes we forget their purpose. They are part of the holistic educational pursuit,” Tharp said. “We want to develop minds and improve hearts. We want to cultivate school spirit for current and past students as we cultivate our athletes.”
When the track and field team hosted its first G-MAC Championship at the new facility, Dennis Knoblock, Kim Losik, and Julie Donofrio-Kramp reached out to volunteer. Knoblock and Losik graduated as student-athletes from Hillsdale in 1976
and now serve on the alumni board. Knoblock played football and Losik played baseball. All three plan to join the Charger Champions Club.
“We are excited that they wanted to help with a sport they didn’t play,” Executive Assistant to the Athletic Di-
rector Haley Ketchum said.
“It goes to show that Coach Tharp and everyone involved in the formation of the Charger Champions Club were right — Hillsdale students want to give back.”
While on campus, Hills-
Chargers ranked fourth in G-MAC preseason poll
By Alex Deimel Collegian Reporter
After winning the final five games of the 2023 season, the football program now enters a new era under new leadership.
At the end of last season, former head coach Keith Otterbein retired after 22 seasons with the program, making room for offensive coordinator Nate Shreffler ’93 to take the reins as head coach. Shreffler worked as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator for 13 years.
“I felt like I was ready for the promotion, because I got to learn from one of the best to ever do it,” Shreffler said. “Coach Otterbein ran this program as well as anyone could, and to have a front row seat to that was a huge blessing. It feels like I got a graduate degree in coaching football from my experience with him.”
After a disappointing 1-5 start to the 2023 season, Hillsdale bounced back, finishing their season at 6-5. Star running back Michael Herzog was then drafted by the Montreal Alouettes in the 2024 Canadian Football League draft.
Despite the changes to the team roster and coaching staff, the Chargers start this season the same as they did in 2023, with a fourth place ranking in the Great Midwest Athletic
Conference coaches poll. Additionally, fifth year senior and recently-named captain Logan VanEnkevort returns to the team. He tallied 585 all-purpose yards last year.
“It’s been a really exciting start to the year so far,” VanEnkevort said. “Having Coach Shreffler in here brings a bit of new energy and it’s just exciting.”
Hillsdale also returns four of their five starting linemen, including senior twins Ben and Nick Affholter at center and right guard. Quarterbacks coach Brad Otterbein ’10 is faced with choosing between four different quarterbacks for the starting lineup, including sophomore Cole Canter, who transferred from Wayne State University at the start of the spring semester.
“I think the quarterback situation is going to be tough,” VanEnkevort said. “Coach Bo [Otterbein] is going to have a hard decision to make come gameday, and I think that’s a great problem to have when you have a quarterback room that can sling it.”
Wide receivers for the Chargers will be VanEnkevort, sophomore Shea Ruddy, and sophomore Jonathan Metzger, both of whom played in 10 games as freshmen, while junior running back Kyle Riffel
will fill the place of Herzog.
Defensively, Hillsdale returns many strong starters from last season, including sophomore linebacker Jacob Vance, who led the team in tackles last season with 54, along with two sacks. Defensive tackles Zachary Tokie and Hunter Sperling are expected to anchor the defensive line, as they combined for 55 total tackles last year.
“We gave up way too many points in the beginning of the year last season,” Tokie said.
“We are much more experienced this year since pretty much everybody is coming back on the defensive side. But we simply can’t give up as many points as we did early on.”
The Chargers will have a tough start to their schedule this year, starting their season at home against #16 Indianapolis on Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. They then head up north to face the Michigan Technological University Huskies in Houghton, Michigan, the following week.
“The players have been bought in from the beginning of camp and have responded to their coaches as well as I could have asked,” Shreffler said. “At the end of the day it’s all about getting better each and every day.”
dale athletes also have the opportunity to branch out and support athletes in other disciplines.
“Very often, athletes make friends with other athletes,” Ketchum said. “And our message encourages friends of the college to similarly become one team. By making the giving strategy one club, we expect bonds to grow.” Donors will still have the chance to donate to specific programs, and any donation will gain them admission into the Charger Champions Club for the year during which they donate. The Athletic Department has also planned various events and incorporated benefits for those who give.
“We want to think of fun and engaging ways for students to give back,” Gray said. “We want everyone who gives to see the fruit of their donation in Charger athletics.”
Running Back Connor Vermeulen is tackled by campers.
Department
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
C U L T U R E
Hillsdale students spend the summer in DC
that reputation as well, so you rise to the challenge of bearing the Hillsdale name.”
In the summer months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, 35 Hillsdale College students interned in Washington, D.C. Their internships provided both professional and personal growth within the Hillsdale community.
The 35 students, whose number has increased each year since COVID-19, showcased the appeal to working the summer leading up to the election, said Leah Whetstone, a consultant at Hillsdale’s Washington D.C. Kirby Center.
“We really strive to do our best to maintain our Hillsdale culture,” Whetstone said.
The Kirby Center held an alumni networking mixer on June 7, providing opportunities to meet graduated Hillsdale professionals.
Senior Makayla Babcock, who worked for the America First Policy Institute, said D.C. circles recognize the Hillsdale name.
“When you say you are from Hillsdale in D.C., people immediately expect more from you, especially if they have worked with other Hillsdale students in their workplace in the past,” Babcock said. “Hillsdale students can be trusted with more responsibility, so you can grow really fast professionally. You have to protect
Junior Ashley Poole interned at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation as a Public Policy Fellow (NCOSE).
Over the summer Poole worked to develop a better understanding for policies that reduce the demand for sexual exploitation, Poole said.
“From a young age I developed a passion for the anti-human trafficking movement. Throughout high school and college, I worked in a drop-in center and safe house for survivors of trafficking in Houston, the hub of trafficking in our nation.”
Poole’s internship was recommended by the faculty of Hillsdale in D.C., and through those connections she was able to represent the Hillsdale community at her internship.
“The NCOSE has never had a Hillsdale student work there and I was honored to represent Hillsdale,” Poole said.
The Hillsdale College community was evident in the D.C. area. according to Poole.
“The Hillsdale community is always around. The culture from the Michigan campus translates well in D.C. and it is refreshing,” Poole said.
Junior Lucy Minning, who interned for Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson, said the culture of Hillsdale in D.C. strongly correlated to the main campus’ en-
vironment of educational rigor.
“It prepares you well for being in an atmosphere like Hillsdale and then going to D.C. The problem is sometimes the work
ment was unconstitutional based on my previous classes.”
Senior John Schaefer said Hillsdale’s reputation and the community of students and
can feel unstimulating, unlike learning at Hillsdale,” Minning said. “But on the other hand I felt like, in a way, I was more ahead than the other interns, just because of learning in my politics classes at Hillsdale. I could recognize if an amend-
Professors’ Picks:
Mahler’s “Urlicht” is excellent, except you can’t dance to it, and I dance like Schubert’s trout. But don’t scorn the Ozark Mountain Daredevils’ trifecta: “Spaceship Orion” (it’s about drugs — I think), “Colorado Song” (special guitar tuning required), and “Country Girl” (killer harmonica). I like “Country Girl” best for two reasons: “country” and “girl.”
faculty in D.C. pushed professional growth outside the students’ individual internships.
“Hillsdale in D.C. does a lot for the students there. They provide good networking opportunities, programming for professional growth, and
events such as the 4th of July party,” Schaefer said.
He said the alumni network in D.C. connected him with opportunities outside politics alone. During his internship at the Claremont Institute Center for the American Way of Life, he said he read about different social philosophies.
“I did a lot of work in philosophy and translation using the unorthodox research skills from my music classes,” Schaefer said. “The way you learn to write at Hillsdale was very helpful.”
Each of the students said Hillsdale’s education prepared them for their internships. Additionally, the Hillsdale community in D.C. was very encouraging, particularly where they were living, Babcock said.
Minning lived in a Hillsdale-owned townhouse on Capitol Hill, colloquially known as “The Hillsdale House,” and said she had never met her roommates before living with them.
“I met people I never would have known otherwise. I had a Hillsdale community in a new city,” she said.
Babcock, who also lived in the townhouse, found it to be a good way to become acquainted with other like-minded Hillsdale students whom she had not previously met.
“Sometimes at Hillsdale, you can get absorbed into your own social group without
branching out, and you realize we all have so much in common, and we are all pursuing the same things,” she said. “You can always find a good community anywhere with Hillsdale people even if you did not know them before.”
The other Hillsdale-owned townhouse on Capitol Hill hosted students in the graduate program and other undergraduate students. The house is located in the same area and shares a similar atmosphere as the other house, Schaefer said.
“We all bonded by studying for the LSAT together and talking about the work we were doing,” Schaefer said. “It was very good to have that community.”
Babcock said she’d recommend a summer in D.C. to everyone.
“I think Hillsdale in D.C. is such a strong place of alumni networking with so many previous Hillsdale students,” Babcock said. “It is really good for your career long term.”
The personal and professional growth of interning in D.C. is not limited to certain majors, but serves to help grow students on individual levels, Minning said.
“I think everybody, if you have the means to do it, should go to a major city and be on your own at least once,” Mining said. “It was very formative for me.”
Theatre department to welcome students with annual picnic
By Colman Rowan Culture editor
Head to Sage room 142 at 5 p.m. today for this year’s annual theatre and dance department picnic.
Following the picnic, at 7 p.m., auditions will be held for this fall’s plays: “Silent Sky” written by Lauren Gunderson which will be performed in October and “Ajax” by Sophocles showing in November.
“The purpose is to just inform students about theater and dance, mostly theater, opportunities over the course of the year, introduce faculty, and just educate them about how they can be involved if they’re interested,” said Chris Matsos, chair of the department of theatre and dance.
An auditions time slot sign-up sheet will be on the
door outside of room 142.
If preferred, Matsos said a direct message to the theatre instagram account “@hc.theatre” can reserve a spot. Reading through the scripts ahead of time is the best preparation for those interested in auditioning, he said.
Matsos said the first play of the fall semester, “Silent Sky” is about the discoveries and faith journey of Henrietta Leavitt, an early 20th century astronomer.
November’s play “Ajax,” is an ancient Greek tragedy and is very powerful, he said.
Auditioning is not a prerequisite to attending the picnic, Matsos said. He encourages anyone with even a mild interest to come get pizza.
“A lot of students who have had very successful contributions to the theatre depart -
ment and Tower Players over the years were people that just wandered in to eat pizza one night as a freshman, and then it started to get involved,” Matsos said. “We think it’s just a great way to begin the year.” Emily Griffith, a senior theater major, said she went to the picnic as a freshman and now is helping run it.
“It is a great community, whether you are on stage, backstage, up in the sound booth,” Griffith said. “I highly recommend that students, especially freshmen, come even if they aren’t necessarily interested in auditioning, because you will meet some of the most warm and outgoing people. It is a great way to meet new friends.”
Jason Peters, associate professor of English
So many dark horses out there: “Wolf Solent” (Powys), “The Lyre of Orpheus” (Davies), “Life on the Run” (Bradley), “Supper of the Lamb” (Capon), “All the King’s Men” (Warren). I even liked The Bible. The ending took me totally by surprise. I’ll go with the irreverent comedian Peter DeVries, especially “The Blood of the Lamb.” Funny, then funnier, then it rips your heart out.
Haven’t seen “Casablanca” or “It’s a Wonderful Life,” so not those. I’ve memorized “Jaws” and “Butch & Sundance: The Early Years,” so I can ruin them for first-time viewers. But for yuks and satire it’s “Murder By Death.” You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Maggie Smith ask, “Where’s my Dickie?” And Peter Faulk’s gastro-urinary travails are poignant. No one can say “I gotta go to the can” like Peter Faulk — or “voice come from cow — on wall!” like Peter Sellers.
Jason Peters smokes a cigar. COURTESY | Jason Peters
“Country Girl” by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1973)
“The Blood of the Lamb” by Peter DeVries (1961)
“Murder by Death” (1976)
Lucy Minning poses in front of the Capitol.
COURTESY | Lucy Minning
Babcock worked at AFPI.
COURTESY | Makayla Babcock
Seniors Schaefer, Draven Spies in D.C.
COURTESY | John Schaefer
Members of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Public Policy Team Isabella Pastore, Megan Griffin, Ashley Poole, Noel Seo pose at a rally in front of the capitol.
COURTESY | Ashley Poole
Compiled by Colman Rowan Culture Editor
By Anna Broussard Assistant Culture editor
f e a t u r e s
No more ‘more than de minimis’: Hillsdale alumnus wins case before SCOTUS
By Isaac Green MANAGING EDITOR
Hillsdale alumnus Aaron Streett ’99 stood in front of the Supreme Court of the United States in April of 2023, arguing on behalf of his client’s right to set aside Sunday as a day of worship and rest.
The case, Groff v. Dejoy would see the highest court in the nation produce a stronger standard for protecting employees from workplace discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs, following a 9-0 decision.
“Now, not only will employees be more likely to win their cases,” Streett said, “but it’s honestly more important that employers will take their obligations under the law more seriously and will meet with employees, and they’ll work it out.”
Streett graduated summa cum laude from Hillsdale with a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science, which is what the major was called before it became “politics” in 2000.
“Hillsdale was definitely my first choice after visiting campus,” Streett said. “Just based on the small classes and the liberal arts curriculum, it just seemed like exactly what I was looking for for four years of growing and understanding and also, as it turned out, being prepared perfectly for what I ended up doing.”
Mickey Craig, professor of politics, said he is proud of his former student, but not surprised.
“I can’t remember how
many courses he took with me,” Craig said.
“Several, and I would say he always made an A, and I think he probably had the highest grade in the class every time, so hard working, smart, and a Christian gentleman.”
Growing up the son of a pastor, author, and seminary professor in Texas, Streett strengthened the principles and beliefs he already held while at Hillsdale, according to Craig.
“I just think he learned more and deepened his faith here, learned what is best about the West, best about the American political tradition, and has applied that in his professional life in a way that’s honorable,” Craig said.
After graduating from Hillsdale, Streett attended The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, where he served as the managing editor of the Texas Review of Law and Politics. Following law school, Streett clerked on the D.C. circuit for Judge David Sentelle and later for former Chief Justice William Rehnquist on the Supreme Court. He then returned to Texas, finding a job at global law firm Baker Botts where he is now a partner.
“Baker Botts was one of the few firms in Texas that sort of combined a great Texas and national appellate practice with the opportunity to do some Supreme Court work,” Streett said. “Being a good conservative traditionalist, I liked that Baker Botts had
been around since 1841 and was a great, historic Texas firm that had a hand in a lot of important events throughout Texas history.”
A few years ago, the firm got the chance to impact national history when it came across the case of plaintiff Gerald Groff.
First Liberty Institute, a public-interest law firm that focuses on religious liberty cases, introduced the case to Baker Botts after the district court in Pennsylvania ruled against Groff on his religious accommodation claim, according to Streett.
Groff was an evangelical Christian and employee of the United States Postal Service who took a mail delivery job in 2012. At the time, his position did not require him to work on Sundays, which allowed him to observe his religious beliefs regarding worship and rest on the Sabbath. But that changed after the company entered into a contract with Amazon in 2013.
Groff tried to avoid the requirement by transferring to a more rural area, but when his new work location began
9
to
5:
demanding the same Sunday shifts, Groff resigned and sued USPS under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“My colleague at the firm argued it in the 3rd Circuit Court, and we got an adverse decision,” Streett said. “But we got a nice dissent from a very well respected judge on the Third Circuit, Judge Thomas Hardiman.”
Title VII requires employers to accommodate an employee’s religious practice unless doing so would create an “undue hardship,” but Hardiman wrote in his opinion that the test for what constitutes this undue hardship has been misunderstood by the Supreme Court and lower courts for a long time.
The test courts would often use was the “more than de minimis” test that came out of the 1977 case Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison. Under this test any request for accommodations that imposed more than a trivial burden on the employer constituted an undue hardship.
But this test had come under criticism as not being a faithful interpretation of Ti-
tle VII, according to Streett.
“Hardison cannot be reduced to that one phrase,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the opinion of the court. “In describing an employer’s ‘undue hardship’ defense, Hardison referred repeatedly to ‘substantial’ burdens, and that formulation better explains the decision.”
In the end, the court decided on June 29, 2023, that the “more than de minimis” test was insufficient to constitute undue hardship and created a stricter standard under which a business must show the hardship any accommodations might cause to be “excessive” or “unjustifiable.”
Following the court’s decision, the Groff case will now go through further proceedings under the newly established judicial standard.
“The court often does not apply the law to the facts in the first instance, it leaves that to the lower courts to do,” Streett said. “What that means is we went back down to the federal district court, and both sides filed motions for summary judgment, asking the district court to rule in their favor under the new standard, and we’re waiting for the decision on that.”
The case signals a win for religious liberty in America, according to Craig, and the freedom to act reasonably according to conscience without discrimination.
“There seems to be, at least on the court, a respect for that
as the way the law is supposed to be interpreted as being impartial and protecting the individual rights of all citizens,” Craig said. “That, I think, is very important to see that affirmed in these crazy times.”
Streett said that arguing before the Supreme Court is different from arguing in lower courts because it requires longer arguments and a more complicated strategy.
“I look at it as sort of a very strategic and high-level conversation with nine very smart and very well prepared people,” Streett said. “A big difference from the lower courts is they are having to think about even more how their opinion is going to be applied to a wide range of cases across the entire country, and so they are thinking about consequences probably more than lower courts do in a typical case.” A lot of cases at the Supreme Court, and even in lower appellate courts, go back to the first principles taught at his alma mater, according to Streett.
“Having the historical background, the literary background, even the religious and philosophical background that Hillsdale provided helps inform a lot of those judgments and arguments,” Streett said. “I think the idea of liberal education and reading widely about subjects that you’re not familiar with, and diving in and inhabiting those subjects and understanding from the ground up where those ideas come from, is helpful and is sort of similar to what appellate lawyers do.”
Hillsdale students clock in for summer internship season
By Eleanor Whitaker ASSISTANT EDITOR
This past summer, students packed a suitcase and their liberal arts education to pursue internships as physicists, financial assistants, nonprofit consultants, and more. The Collegian asked three students to share their experiences, which ranged from fashion-trend forecasting to blasting molecules with lasers.
Sarah Trimbath, a senior studying international business and foreign language, worked as the global sourcing intern for the jewelry company Kendra Scott at its headquarters in Austin, Texas.
How did you find your internship?
I became a campus ambassador for Kendra Scott my sophomore year of college. In that role, the company sent me jewelry in exchange for me posting about them on my social media accounts. Over the past few years, I reached out to various people at Kendra Scott via LinkedIn to learn about what they did.
Tell me about a task or project that challenged you.
I spent a significant amount of time working on creating our July forecast report. This forecast involves pulling data from merchandising’s open to buy and actuals data in order to track units and dollars sold, breakdowns by agent and direct partners, top
styles by supplier, and country of production.
Why was the work you did this summer interesting or important to you?
I am interested in the intersection between global business and the fashion industry. My role as the global sourcing intern allowed me to learn more about both of these interests. Sourcing in particular is exciting because it is heavily impacted by the political and economic landscape of the world.
Junior and physics major Paige Lettow interned with the physics department at Kansas State University, located in Manhattan, Kansas. She worked in a lab using lasers to study how individual molecules rotate.
Why was the work you did this summer interesting or important to you?
This internship connected me with a lot of people in the physics community. It gave me a better idea of what grad school would be like. It also taught me more about physics and helped me discern what specific things I love about the field and what I want to pursue.
What was something no one would ever guess you did on your internship?
This internship was more than just the physics research. I was part of a group of students do-
ing research at the college, and we did lots of fun activities from hiking in the Konza Prairie to learning to make homemade pasta.
What is a question people always ask you about your internship?
People always ask me why it is important to know about the rotation of individual molecules. The short answer is that it helps us to grasp a deeper understanding of quantum mechanics and how the world works. Studying something as small as individual molecules and seeing the intricacies of their motion is an amazing reminder of the great care that God put into the creation of the universe.
What was your favorite memory?
One weekend, a group of us woke up early and went for a long hike in the Konza Prairie. We had taken a tour of the area earlier, but it was nice to spend more time there, look at the wildflowers, and search for fossils and get to know each other better.
Cassandra Devries, a junior and economics major, studied European economic development at the University of Oxford, New College in Oxford, England, for four weeks at the beginning of the summer. Then, she was an intern at Bearing Tree, a financial consulting firm for nonprofit organizations in downtown Chicago.
Describe your day-to-day duties.
I completed an eight-week internship working with 42 nonprofits at Bearing Tree, performing key performance analytics, developing potential improvement opportunities, and consulting on key operational issues.
Tell me about a task or project that challenged you.
I spent a really long time trying to write an excel formula to organize my data only to find out ChatGPT could write it for me in four seconds. That was slightly obnoxious, but great to know for the rest of life.
What was something no one would ever guess you did on your internship?
During the opening ceremony of the Olympics, my coworkers and I all took our laptops to the common area and ate chips and dip and had the ceremony playing on the television while we worked. They were a really great group of people.
What is a cool thing you got to do outside of work?
In Oxford, the dining hall is the Great Hall from “Harry Potter” and eating there is incredible. However, I was kicked out of my first formal dinner at a different Oxford college. Despite being in a floor length gown, I wore sneakers, and the British require heels at formal dinners. ‘Twas quite posh. My sneakers and I had to eat McDonald’s that night.
Sarah Trimbath stands in the Kendra Scott headquarters. Courtesy | Sarah Trimbath
Vinod Kumarappan, Paige Lettow, Diksha, and Lana Chaleunrath-Pham study physics at KSU. Courtesy | Paige Lettow
Cassandra Devries walks in Oxford, England. Courtesy | Cassandra Devries
Hillsdale alumnus Aaron Streett holds a press conference in front of the Supreme Court. Courtesy | John Kringas
