Don Brubacher retires after 15 years as athletic director

By Olivia Pero Assistant Editor

Hillsdale Director of Athletics Don Brubacher will retire June 30, 2023 after 15 years in the role.

“He has made great hires in the different sports, shown in the success many of our sports have had in recent years,” said Chris Gravel, volleyball head coach. “He has also been a great advocate for the advancement of our facilities, hence the many projects that are currently underway in the athletic department.”

Brubacher said he is retiring because it is time to do something different.

“It remains to be seen what I will do next,” Brubacher said. “I would be interested in some other kind of work, probably not in this particular field. I've done this for a long time.”

Brubacher said he will likely move to Kansas to be closer to his three sons and seven grandchildren. Before coming to Hillsdale, Brubacher worked at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, for 31 years, including eight as its athletic director.

“Men's basketball was one of my primary responsibilities at Tabor,” Brubacher said. “I also coached men's and women's soccer and taught a lot in the classroom as an associate professor.”

Brubacher said he is particularly proud of three accomplishments at Hillsdale: restructuring the physical education academic program, the growth in recreational sports, and the growth in varsity sports.

“It was obvious when I arrived here that the physical education program was seriously outdated,” Brubacher said. “With the help of many people around campus, we rebuilt the program. The sports studies department, the exercise science major, the sports management major, and the sports psychology major came out of the restructuring of the physical education department.”

Brubacher said there were no club sport programs when he arrived at Hillsdale.

“That was added in my first year. We created an opportunity for students to register club sports, which are then supported by the college,” Brubacher said.

“Now we have over 20 registered club sports.”

See Brubacher A9

Butters named new free-market chair

By Elizabeth Troutman News

Editor

Associate Professor of Economics Roger Butters is the new Walter E. Williams Chair in Free Market Economics, College President Larry Arnn said at a Center for Constructive Alternatives luncheon on Monday. “Economic freedom has done more to create wealth for the masses than any other idea ever conceived,” Butters said. “It has the power to eliminate poverty and deliver human dignity. Walter Williams was one of the greatest champions of economic freedom the world has ever known. Establishing a chair in his name helps ensure that his ideas and legacy are not forgotten.”

Endowed by the McBroom family, the chair honors Walter Williams, a conservative economist, commentator, and academic, who died in December 2020. Williams was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist, author, and a substitute host for the “Rush Limbaugh Show.”

“He was a free man, and he freed himself by his mind and his character,” Arnn said. “He was a thinker, a teacher, a husband, and a father, and there are no higher stations.”

Arnn said Williams, who was African American, faced discrimination for his race during his life.

Williams opposed the use of force, Arnn said, advocating for free-market economics. He spoke against the welfare state, socialism, and socialized medicine.

“The undeniable truth is that neither slavery nor Jim Crow nor the harshest racism has decimated the black family the way the welfare state has,” Williams wrote in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in 2017.

Williams’ daughter, Devon, said teaching was her father’s gift and passion.

“He was an educator, specifically an economics professor, but broadly, a teacher,” Devon said. “That's who he was, and he loved being a teacher. In fact, many years ago at the dinner table he told me ‘On the day I die, I'd like to have taught a class,’ and he did just exactly that. He taught his final Ph.D. course and then passed away in his car.”

Devon said Williams considered all of his platforms “his big classroom.”

“He completed his undergraduate and master's degrees, plus his Ph.D. by going to school for 10 years straight, summers included,” Devon said. “In his lifetime he wrote 10 books, hundreds of articles, book reviews, scholarly journal articles, and more than 1,000 weekly columns. He also gave hundreds of talks around the world. You can also find him on TV and radio.”

Williams had a gift for breaking down complex economic ideas and making them digestible for any audience, Devon said. She said she learned a number of practical lessons from her father, including how to drive, the importance of hard work, planning for the future, fixing broken appliances, and prioritizing family.

Butters said he is honored to receive the chair position.

“Hillsdale College is one of the remaining champions of free market economics in the academic world,” Butters said. “This chair is both a recognition of and a further commitment to those ideals. I look forward to advocating for freedom and hope to do justice to Walter William’s memory.”

Butters encouraged students to study Williams.

“Walter Williams was an extraordinary man who deserves your attention,” Butters said. “If you have not discovered Williams or his good friend Thomas Sowell, it’s time you got to know them. You should feel urgency around getting to know these men and their ideas.”

Even though Williams has died, his lessons live on, according to Devon.

“Because of Mr. McBroom and his generous endowment of this chair, my dad’s passion for teaching and commitment to his students and economic principles will also endure,” Devon said.

Schools seek Hillsdale hires, O'Toole said

By Olivia Pero

Assistant editor

Hillsdale students are in high demand to teach at classical schools across the country, according to Assistant Provost for K-12 Education at Hillsdale College Kathleen O’Toole.

In a talk hosted by the 1844 Society on Nov. 9, O’Toole advised students interested in teaching, leading, or founding classical schools. O’Toole runs the college’s K-12 education office, which works with people across the country to set up classical charter and private schools.

“Our goal is to restore excellence to American education, both public and private,” O’Toole said. “It's a really urgent thing that we're doing that’s at the top of everyone's minds at the moment.”

More than 200 schools want to attend the classical school job fair each year because they want to hire Hillsdale College graduates, according to O’Toole.

“They’ve learned that this mission is impossible to execute unless you have teachers who know what they’re doing,” O’Toole said.

O’Toole said teachers must know the curriculum and have studied things in a deep and serious way. They also must know how to conduct themselves in a classroom, lead students of various ages, and be organized.

Midterms from A1

“We have a lot of seats that we should have won,” Harmon said. “In the past three elections, we have lost ground with suburban voters, who used to be a reliable demographic.”

Carrington said he attributes Republican losses in Michigan to the “weakness of the GOP.”

“I think Whitmer was primed to lose,” Carrington said. “She did not govern well during

Second CCA of the year 'Parallel Economies' seeks alternative institutions in America

By Anna MacPhee Collegian Freelancer

Americans must seek parallel sources for news, currency, technology, agriculture, and business, speakers at this week’s Center for Constructive Alternatives said.

From Sunday to Wednesday, CCA speakers discussed how to build alternative institutions in various industries that are independent from the larger economic framework.

Part of the education department’s job is to help prepare Hillsdale students to work in classical schools, O’Toole said. Apprenticeships and teacher observations at Hillsdale Academy help students determine if teaching is for them.

Being a teacher requires enjoying being around children, according to O’Toole.

“Maybe you believe in this mission, but you're not a kid person,” O’Toole said.

“We really need people in classical education who know some nuts and bolts things like lawyers, CEOs, and marketing people.”

Classical schools face great opposition, according to O’Toole.

“Sometimes what's needed is a marketing campaign, a bunch of fundraising, a lawsuit, or a political campaign,” O’Toole said. “That's kind of fun.”

The K-12 education office takes the vetting process seriously when determining if groups who want to start a classical charter or private school are a good fit.

“The last thing we want to be doing is attaching Hillsdale College’s name or sending Hillsdale College graduates to a school that isn’t going to be successful,” O’Toole said. “We want to help make sure that Hillsdale College students don’t end up in a school that isn’t going to take care of them and equip them to have a happy, successful career in teaching.”

COVID. She had very few accomplishments legislatively.”

According to Carrington, states should reform their voting laws to resemble Florida’s, which Carrington called “the gold standard.”

Carrington and Grant agreed Republicans should revisit their messaging and strategies heading into 2024.

Grant said he favors Trump’s focus on law and order, immigration restrictions, and non-inter-

Shaping human lives is what education is all about, O’Toole said.

“Education is a beautiful field to work in because you can do a lot of good,” O’Toole said. “It’s just fascinating to see all of the people that are out there and try to take the situation that you’re given and create some good out of it whether you do it as a teacher or in another way.”

Senior Anna Swartz said she attended the talk because she is interested in teaching and wants to learn more about working at a classical school. Swartz said she knows O’Toole because she attended the classical school in Texas that O’Toole helped open in 2014.

“This series is about different employees who talk about their departments,” Swartz said. “Dr. O’Toole works for the K-12 initiative, which is all about classical schools and the liberal arts and what I'm interested in doing, so I thought I'd just come and learn more about it.”

Junior Juliana Undseth said she came to the talk to get a clearer idea of a career in classical education.

“Dr. O’Toole gave me some clarity on what it looks like to be connected with the K-12 office,” Undseth said. “Although I'm not necessarily planning on starting a classical school myself, it gave me a better idea of what it looks like to work in one.” ventionist foreign policy. Republicans would do better on a national level if they focused on these issues rather than social ones, Grant said. “I don’t think at the national level the Republicans can win fighting the so-called ‘culture wars,’” Grant said. “At the local and state level, you can address these issues on the basis of popularity. The president, or a national campaign, can’t do much on these social issues.”

Michael Rectenwald, scholar and author of 11 books, gave the first lecture on the rise of corporate fascism. According to Rectenwald, shareholder, or “woke” capitalism, is a dangerous system in which governments and businesses collaborate against the interests of the American people.

“Woke capitalism puts the interests of the vast majority under a woke agenda that dictates what is produced, how it is produced, and thus what can be purchased and by whom,” Rectenwald said. “Non-woke individuals are canceled from public life, and the spoils are left to the woke.”

According to Rectenwald, the recent alliances between corporate and government powers are dangerous to American freedom.

“Corporations play a large role in setting policies, assuming governmental power,” Rectenwald said. “We’re seeing a state-corporate hybrid development. This is the very definition of fascism.”

John Solomon, founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Just the News, lectured on the need for parallel news sources. According to Solomon, the Democratic party orchestrated a very specific plan to control the U.S. over the past 20 years.

“They had a strategic plan 30 layers deep: infiltrate the media, infiltrate bureaucracies, own the language, own the narrative, change the rules of election,” Solomon said.

New York Times bestselling novelist C.J. Box offered to allow the top bidder to name a character in a forthcoming book.

“We try very hard to get viable auction items,” Worms said. “That's something we pride ourselves on, in getting nice things that people will want. But yet all of the excitement from the evening is from the derby itself.”

Solomon said conservatives must present facts without editorializing so young people can reach conclusions for themselves.

“I believe that there is a significant population of America that is ready to be given the facts and make up their own minds,” Solomon said. “They’re ready to be free again.”

Junior Louisa Klaserner said Solomon’s lecture was her favorite of the CCA.

“I really liked what he had to say,” Klaserner said. “I thought his talk was really inspiring and empowering, especially for the younger generation. He wanted us to take more action in our conversations with people.”

On Monday, William J. Luther, director of the Sound Money Project at the American Institute for Economic Research, discussed cryptocurrency.

Luther said cryptocurrency has potential to stimulate the economy.

“When they are used, they tend to reduce transaction costs and promote economic growth,” Luther said. “And when they are available, they offer an alternative to government monies.”

Luther said governments often attempt to produce federal cryptocurrencies, which could deprive Americans of their right to privacy.

Walter Kirn, author and journalist, said dependence on big tech is a threat to freedom. According to Kirn, cell phones not only can track users but also can affect how a person thinks.

“People are willing to consider the notion that they’re being watched and that they’re creating a permanent record of their activities, interests, and so on,” Kirn said. “But, I think that they still hesitate to concede that they may be programmed, influenced, directed from afar. There may be, already or at least coming, such a thing as a remote controlled human being.”

According to Kirn, the best solution to this danger is for young people to educate themselves in

Attendance was lower than expected, according to Worms, as the derby date coincided with hunting season.

“Our goal was $100,000 for gross intake, but we did not achieve that,” Worms said. “We had higher costs this year, so our profits are not going to be what we've had in the past.” technology.

Junior Mary Ann Powers receives a scholarship funded by the Women Commissioners. She said the money has relieved her of a great financial burden.

“We face a very powerful enemy in technology,” he said. “One that I think should be met not by abandonment of these devices and these platforms but by full scale confrontation.”

On Tuesday, Joel Salatin, author and owner of Polyface Farms, spoke on local food as potential parallel agriculture.

According to Salatin, local farm food is better than food from large processing plants. Salatin said large-scale production and shipment of food has degraded the quality of food in America, while smaller, localized farms could be more efficient and produce higher quality food.

“People think we could not have fed the world without chemical fertilizer, pesticides and hybridization,” Salatin said. “Not only would we have fed the world, we would have done it without three-legged salamanders and infertile frogs.”

Matthew Peterson, co-founder and general partner at venture firm New Founding, lectured on refounding America. He said conservative Americans must work together to form intentionally conservative companies to rival those which are hostile to freedom.

“The real way to take on woke capital is through competition. Right now, millions of Americans want to stop supporting companies that hate them,” Peterson said. “If we could meet this increasingly ravenous demand, it would be the single business opportunity of our lifetime.”

The CCA concluded with a faculty roundtable. Ivan Pongracic, professor of economics, said parallel economics are crucial for defending American liberty.

“This is not just a matter of political disagreement,” Pungracic said. “These are fundamentally evil, demonic attacks on liberty. This is a fight for liberty and civilization.”

“It's allowed me to focus more on my studies and my involvement in various activities,” Powers said. Powers said she helped set up for the event as a gesture of gratitude to the Women Commissioners.

“It was an opportunity to meet the women who work so hard to raise the money for our scholarship funds, take the time to listen to our stories, and help us out in whatever capacity they're able to,” Powers said. “They imparted so much wisdom and knowledge on us.”