Collegian 3.23.2023

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Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Radio Free Hillsdale named college audio station of the year

By Jane Kitchen

Assistant Editor

WRFH Radio Free Hills-

dale 101.7 FM won Station of the Year in the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’ College Audio competition, and The Collegian placed third for Michigan Press Association’ College Newspaper of the Year.

Fourteen journalism students received awards and three honorable mentions for their work in broadcast and print journalism during the 2021-22 school year.

Eight students received honors from MAB, including first place awards in three categories; six students received honors from MPA, including first place awards in two categories. Both competitions accept submissions from colleges across Michigan and announced results over Hillsdale’s spring break.

Scot Bertram, lecturer in journalism and general manager of WRFH, said the level of effort students devote to WRFH distinguishes it from other college stations and contributed to its win at the MAB awards.

“We have a dedicated group of students who are committed to producing the best content possible and who are determined to improve over time,” Bertram said. “I'm lucky to work with broadcasters and journalists who are willing to learn, listen to suggestions, and respond to constructive criticism about their shows and features and newscasts.”

First-place MAB winners include senior Josh Barker in the current events story category for "The Policy Corner: Michigan Affordable Housing and Property Taxes,”

sophomore Megan Pidcock, junior Lauren Scott, and junior Maddy Welsh in the daily newscast/news feature category for “Collegian Week In Review;" and alumna Elena Lanning ’22 in the on-air personality or team category for “Elena Naborowski: Five Minute Myths.”

Barker, program director for WRFH, said he was thrilled about the station’s win and happy to see MAB recognized the quality of the station’s content. He said there’s something unique about Hillsdale students that makes WRFH stand out from other stations.

“Hillsdale students know how to communicate. It’s not just logic and rhetoric, but something deeper in the way we think and talk to each other in classes or on campus,” Baker said. “This is extremely conducive to what we do on the radio.”

Second place MAB winners include sophomore Lauren Smyth in the daily newscast/news feature category; Barker and sophomore Garrett Goolsby in the promotional announcement category; and alumna Rachel Kookogey in the talk show category. Barker, Goolsby, Kookogy, and Smyth also received honorable mentions.

Smyth received honors for two of her WRFH shows: a 5-minute weekly newscast called “Lauren Smyth News” and a shorter biweekly program called “Grammar Minute.”

Smyth said she’s been involved with WRFH since her first week on campus, and despite initial trepidation, she’s found the experience invaluable.

See Awards A2

Landmark saved: After The Collegian reported a local landmark would be torn down, the Hillsdale Historical Society will preserve part of it.

Mock Trial teams earn historic two bids to nationals

By Megan Williams Culture Editor

The Hillsdale College Mock

Trial team earned two bids to the National tournament, advancing to the competition for the second year in a row.

On March 10-12, teams 1076 and 1077 competed at the Opening Round Championship Series in Geneva, Illinois. Senior Allison Dillow and freshman Patrick McDonald earned All-National witness and attorney awards for their performances that weekend.

“Everyone on the team really wanted a bid to Nationals last year, especially because we had seniors who had been working towards this goal for the last four years,” Dillow said. “This year was similar, but it didn’t have the same kind of stress because we realized it was something we were capable of.”

Team 1077 received the first of Hillsdale’s two bids, guar-

anteeing the program’s status as one of the top 50 teams in America for the second year in a row. With a record of 5-1-2, and a combined strength score of 17, team 1077 placed 5th.

“We were ballot blind going into the awards ceremony, meaning we didn’t know how many rounds we won or lost,” junior Justin Lee said. “When they announced that the last two teams had a record of 6-2, I just saw our coach’s face go completely white because we didn’t know what our combined strength score was.”

Placing sixth, and earning the tournament’s final bid to Nationals, team 1076 finished 6-2 with a combined strength score of 14.

“I just wish I had a better way to describe how it felt once we knew we had gotten two bids,” Lee said. “It was just fantastic. It made all of the extensions on papers and midterms that we had gotten feel worth it.”

Before the ORCS, the American Mock Trial Association releases case changes where it edited, added, and removed the information within the packet teams use to write their material. McDonald said the teams had to schedule extra practices and meetings to prepare during the two weeks before the competition.

“In the eight days before the tournament, we had four scrimmages that each incorporated various aspects of the new cases so that we could become familiar with them before the tournament,” McDonald said. “The scrimmages are supposed to take around two hours, but we often have a bit too much fun, so they all lasted about three hours.”

After all the extra practices, plus the midterms and papers due before spring break, McDonald said the team was pretty tired going into the tournament, but hadn’t lost their motivation.

Allen couple celebrates 80 years of marriage

George and Norma Carpenter are the tenth longest living married couple in the world

By Josh Newhook

Digital Editor

George and Norma Carpenter of Allen, Michigan, have been married for 80 years. The Carpenters are among the oldest couples alive today.

George is 99 and Norma is 98. George says he still works five hours a day at Carpenter’s Greenhouse & Produce, owned by his son Dwight, in Allen.

“We are pretty healthy,” said Norma, who worked at the greenhouse until recently. “God has given us grace and blessed us with long life.”

George said he has gained a new appreciation for his wife through doing more of the household chores, like cooking and washing the dishes, which she did all the years he was working. Norma said she appreciates this.

“I need her and she needs me,” George said. “We were too busy early on, but we spend a lot of time together now.”

A couple in North Car-

olina owns the Guinness World Record for the longest marriage, at 86 years and 290 days. While the list of longest marriages is often disputed, the Carpenters are at 46th of all-time and 10th active in the world, according to Wikipedia’s verified marriages. In another year, they could move up to 32nd of all time, and 23rd of all time in the U.S. Rep. Tim Wahlberg, R-MI, who knows the couple personally, honored their 80th anniversary on Feb. 2 in Congress.

“With over 100 descendants, the Carpenters have left a tremendous mark on the community and beyond,” Wahlberg said. “I would like to recognize this remarkable couple and congratulate them as they celebrate their extraordinary milestone.”

George and Norma met at church in Wayne, Michigan, in 1942 when George was a senior and Norma was a junior in high school.

“She was sitting behind

me and she got a hold of my arm. I had been dating another girl who I didn’t really care for,” George said. “Norma here worked out pretty good for me.”

Norma laughed.

“After 80 years, what else could he say?” she said.

After dating for about a year, George was drafted by the military and had three weeks until he had to report for service. This is when George and Norma, 18 and 17 respectively, decided they should get married in February 1943.

“We eloped,” George said. “I talked her into running away with me.”

George and Norma went to Indiana because the laws allowed them to apply for a license and get married on the same day, whereas Michigan required a three-day waiting period. George got his aunt and uncle to stand in as mother and father for them on a Saturday.

See Marriage A7

“The team morale is always very, very good, even when we aren’t feeling super great,” McDonald said. “On the drive there, a lot of us were sleeping and catching up on rest, but as soon as we arrived, we were ready to compete.”

Dillow described how impressed she was with the performance of the freshmen on these teams, especially since they had not competed at a tournament of this caliber throughout the season.

“The freshmen really showed up, and I think it’s because they’re so new to this that they don’t have that unhealthy, built-in fear of the bigger tournaments,” Dillow said. “They don’t have a fear of highly ranked competitors; they’re friendly and outgoing with everyone. They were there to have a good time and do their best, and I think that’s what they did.”

See Mock Trial A2

DeSantis to visit campus

By Maggie Hroncich Editor-in-Chief

Florida Gov. and potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis will visit campus Thursday, April 6.

The event, held in Hillsdale College’s Searle Center, is at full capacity and will begin with a panel discussion at 4 p.m. on K-12 education. A reception, dinner and conversation between College President Larry Arnn and DeSantis will follow.

Sophomore and Winston Churchill Fellow Charlie Birt said he is excited to attend the event.

“I believe that Ron DeSantis is an amalgamation of traditional conservative values and the energetic movement that has emerged within the past several election cycles,” Birt said. “He has the populist power of someone like Trump alongside the ability to appeal to key demographics that are essential to Republican victories.”

Norma and George Carpenter met in 1942. Josh Newhook | Collegian

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen propels himself across the basketball court with toilet plungers during a relay race at Campus Rec's Student Faculty Face-Off event Wednesday. Collegian | Jack Cote

Student lobbies for Christian, conservative values at United Nations conference on women’s issues

By Michael Bachmann Assistant Editor

Despite the opposition, conservative voices need to be heard at the United Nations, said sophomore Mark Den Hollander who attended the U.N.’s annual Commission on the Status of Women last week.

The Commission on the Status of Women was established in 1949 and is the largest intergovernmental body dedicated to gender equality, according to the U.N.’s website. Since its founding, the commision has hosted a two-week session every year.

Den Hollander lobbied with the Christian Council International, a global nonprofit, at the conference, hosted at the U.N. Headquarters in New York City from March 6 to 17. The conference discussed education in the digital age for achieving gender equality.

“It was my first time at the U.N.,” Den Hollander said, who has worked with CCI since 2021. “I was lobbying, but I was also trying to get a better understanding of how the U.N. works.”

The CCI is an international nonprofit that promotes a Christian worldview among global organizations such as the U.N. and European Union. It was founded in 2013 by Henk Van Schothorts and has attended the Commision of the Status of Women since 2017.

“Our goal at the conference is to try to achieve a favored position of the natural family and to prevent all kinds of progressive language such as gender identity and comprehensive sexual education,” Schothorts said.

During the conference, CCI focused on fighting the ECP/ EU, a proposed agreement between the EU and Caribbean, African, and Pacific nations. Among other things, the agree-

ment is attempting to codify abortion as an international, fundamental right, according to Schothoths.

Den Hollander said the agreement is a form of cultural imperialism.

“It's a 20-year bidding contract between the European Union and African countries,” Den Hollander said. “Specifically, our organization is trying to fight against the cultural imperialism that Europe is trying to foist on these countries as they enforce their standard of cohesive sex education, abortion, and other things on these countries.”

During the conference, Den Hollander said he noticed a divide between European and non-European countries as they approached women’s issues. While Western countries largely focused on social issues, he said non-Western countries often fight for more serious issues such as access to basic healthcare. He cited a side conference hosted by the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an example.

“They highlighted how recently there is a lack of equality for women because of ongoing violence in the region,” Den Hollander said. “In order to improve the lives of women, they need to first establish

peace. Part of the reason why there isn’t peace is that different countries, especially France, have been destabilizing the region by sending weapons in.”

According to Craig-Austin Rose, associate director of governmental relations at the Center for Family and Human Rights, each U.N. conference ends with an agreed conclusion: a contract that U.N. agencies are bound to execute and promote.

This year's agreed conclusion includes 89 clauses that reaffirm many of the U.N.’s past resolutions such as the Uni-

Documentary students to premiere film on Hillsdale’s independence

resolutions.

“The language seems innocuous to the public,” Austin said. “Things may not explicitly mention abortion, but it doesn’t have to because bureaucracies know exactly what it means. The language makes it more palatable and opens it up to greater interpretation. It even allows it to get around the law in some countries.”

Den Hollander said while the U.N. is hostile to conservative perspectives, he still felt the conference was a success.

“As an organization, when we walk into a conference, it is really our goal to develop connections and build a network,” Den Hollander said.

As well as meeting with representatives from the Center for Family and Human Rights and the Christian Embassy, Den Hallander also got breakfast with a South Korean and Indian Diplomat.

According to Rose, the greatest advantage of these conferences is using them to remind countries of their sovereignty. Even if U.N. agencies are bound to follow resolutions, countries are not, he said.

By Lauren Scott Assistant Editor

Eight students will present their documentary on how Hillsdale College secured its right to refuse federal aid at 7 p.m. on April 19 in Plaster Auditorium.

Hillsdale College started opposing government funding in the 1960s. The documentary is this semester’s project for the documentary filmmaking course, taught by adjunct instructor Buddy Moorehouse.

Many people believe it was a simple decision not to accept federal aid, but the case went to the United States Supreme Court, Moorehouse said.

“I doubt it will surprise most of the audience that Hillsdale chose the path that it did,” said sophomore Sarah Katherine Sisk, a student in the filmmaking class. “But I think they will be interested to learn more about why Hillsdale succeeded in legally maintaining its freedom, while other institutions did not.”

Georgetown University Law Center and remembers the case well.

“In the 1960s, Hillsdale was borrowing money from a local pharmacist just to make payroll,” Moorehouse said. “That's right around the same time that the federal government decided they were going to start giving money to colleges and universities.”

Moorehouse said when the government started offering colleges loans and grants, universities were subject to federal rules and regulations.

“There was a really heated debate that took place among the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees as to whether or not they should take this free money that the government was offering, or whether they should stick to their principles and remain free,” Moorehouse said.

Along with Facciola, the students will interview Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn and several alumni who were students during the time of the lawsuits, Sisk said.

versal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The resolution contains language that Rose termed “U.N. speak.”

“The language is very hifalutin but ultimately very shallow,” Rose said. “For example, the resolution condemns all forms of violence, including sexual and gender based. But what exactly is gender based violence? It is a very vague term.”

Rose said vague language such as “gender based violence” is used to condemn pro-life laws and opposition to gender ideology. He also said U.N. agencies can use vague language to allow for more progressive interpretations of their

Q&A: Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan

By Thomas McKenna Assistant Editor

Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan

serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He visited Hillsdale College on March 2 to speak on a Federalist Society panel with attorney Marc Ayers. On March 9, Duncan traveled to Stanford University’s Law School to speak on “Covid, Guns, and Twitter.” His speech was interrupted by protestors and Stanford’s associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Tirien Steinbach, delivered remarks criticizing Duncan. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

You were in Hillsdale just a few days before your lecture at Stanford. How did those compare? It's not difficult to contrast the experiences. First of all, Hillsdale is a wonderful place where my oldest son is a freshman, and we are delighted with the education and the formation he's receiving there. I was happy to come and speak along with a lawyer and friend of mine, Marc Ayers.

We just had a conversation with the students. It was great, and I thought that the students’ questions were really incisive and well-informed, especially for people who are not in law school.

I was planning to go to Stanford the week after that.

I thought, well, this is a good warm up for that because at that point, I was still trying to figure out what exactly I might address with Stanford.

What happened at Stanford law school a week later?

I was invited to speak by the student chapter of the Federalist Society on some current jurisprudence from our court. I've spoken to countless law schools over the past several years, and I've spoken at Stanford within the last few

years with no protests. I was informed a couple days ahead of time that there would be a protest by one or two student groups, and I tried to inform myself about what the protests might look like. I couldn't really figure out what they would do. I reached out to the administration through a professor there who I know and the administration assured him that there would be no disruptions because that would be against school policy. When I got there, though, it was a different story. There was a loud rally outside the classroom and lots of posters of me and the students who invited me. It seemed the purpose here was to intimidate me or the students.

When I went into the classroom, the protesters came in and began heckling the student president of the Federalist Society, and then continued by heckling me during my speech. It was, obviously, very unpleasant. I was not told that there were administrators present, but evidently, there were. After a few minutes, I stopped speaking because it was really impossible to continue under those circumstances. An associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion came up to the front and had a prepared speech to give, which I found confusing, since I wasn't told ahead of time that this would happen and I didn't know what to expect. The associate dean criticized me, criticized my rulings, criticized my views on various matters, and empathized with the students’ pain that my visit was causing.

It went on for several minutes and then she welcomed me to speak and invited students to leave if they wanted to. Of course, they didn't have to come in the first place, but she invited them to leave. Under those circumstances, I didn't think it was wise to

really continue speaking. The vast majority of people there outnumbered the students who invited me like 10-to1 and were obviously there to criticize and heckle me and, I guess, shame me. So I opened it up to Q&A, to, as you might expect, very hostile questions. I tried to engage with some of the students but I was disturbed and annoyed by the whole spectacle, which I thought was totally contrary to any sense of free expression, any sense of civility.

It was a disturbing, unfortunate event, unlike anything that's ever happened to me and my fairly lengthy legal career, both as a lawyer and a judge.

A Stanford memo reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon this week states the school will not discipline any of the students who disrupted Duncan’s speech. Any comment?

My first reaction is gratitude, because at least the letter seems to recognize that what happened during my talk is inconsistent with the university's policies. I'm grateful that some measures are evidently being taken to reinforce the university's judgement that this was not an appropriate response to my presence on campus. I’m grateful that the university appears to be taking this very seriously which they should and that they recognize that they need to do better.

The incident has earned you lots of positive and negative media coverage. What has that been like?

It's distracting, because judges do not communicate with the public in this way. We communicate through our opinions in a very careful and structured way. What goes on in court, of course, is nothing like what went on in that law school, even though we have sort of very spirited arguments in court. Nothing even

“Our best hope, which is quite good, is to constantly remind delegates that they have national sovereignty,” Rose said. “That they should not be pushed around by these agencies or powerful western donor countries.”

Den Hollander said he was also hopeful after hearing diplomats and lobbyists from around the world who supported CCI’s mission.

“I went to an event sponsored by Brazil and they shared with me that they do not have access to abortion,” Den Hollander said. “It was refreshing to talk with other people who supported family rights and seeing that there are people with similar beliefs all around the world.”

remotely approaches that kind of disdain and disrespect and hostility that was experienced there.

I did feel an obligation to speak about this because I was at the center of it, even though I have no plans to be, and I'm sorry to be the center of this. Hopefully, everyone can draw the right conclusions about what this means for legal education for civil discourse.

You've received some criticism in the media for how you responded to the protestors. Do you regret anything about how you reacted?

No, because although other judges may have reacted differently, I reacted with what I thought was a reasonable amount of anger and disdain for what was happening because it was obviously directed personally at me. I was relentlessly shouted down, hounded, jeered at, and mocked. Did it hurt my feelings? Not really. I was just outraged at the whole spectacle of it. It's totally unbecoming of any law school. Nobody should treat an invited guest on the campus that way.

I was particularly upset about the way that the students who invited me were being treated, which is reprehensible. I cannot imagine trying to put myself in the position of those students.

I thought it was despicable. So yeah, that made me angry and no, I don't regret how I reacted to it.

Do you expect similar protests at your upcoming talks?

I don't expect it. I sure hope not. I thought it was completely inappropriate. People are free to protest. People are free to have signs and say “Down with Duncan” or whatever. People can do that, but there's a time and a place and a way of doing that that is consistent with free society and with a respect for other people, even those you disagree with, and public order. Free speech does not mean mob action.

Moorehouse said the documentary is called “The Price of Independence: How Hillsdale College Chose Freedom From Federal Control.”

A generous donation will allow the students to travel to Washington, D.C., to collect footage for the film and interview the attorney who represented Hillsdale’s case, John Facciola. Moorehouse said Facciola is a professor at

Awards from A1

“I was sure I wasn't going to like it, because I am by no means an extrovert, but I was hooked the first time I saw the studio – I love having the freedom to hear something in my head and then turn it into a recording that other people can enjoy, too,” Smyth said.

Smyth said her work in radio has improved her concision and writing in storytelling.

“I also appreciate the challenge of telling a complete, immersive story with no pictures, nothing tangible, and nothing written. Learning to cram a full story into 60 seconds, like I do with ‘Grammar Minute,’ has been one of the best things I've done at Hillsdale to improve my writing,” she said.

First place MPA winners include sophomore Carly Moran in the feature category for “This is not a partisan issue” and senior Hannah Cote in the non-front page design category for the March 31 culture page. Moran said her article explored how the war in Ukraine affected everyday citizens regardless of nationality, and she thought this approach contributed to the quality of her piece.

“I was admittedly shocked

The documentary showing is free and open to the community. “It is a privilege that the eight of us have the opportunity to tell this story,” Sisk said. “We will do everything in our power to tell it well.”

Moorehouse said anyone who loves Hillsdale College will love the film.

about the win, especially since I did not offer a specific opinion on the war in Ukraine. In hindsight, maybe that is why I won,” Moran said. “I think that journalism should be less about giving my opinion, but instead offering the ability for the public to formulate their own thoughts.”

Second place winners include senior Josh Newhook in the front-page design category and senior Tracy Wilson in the non-front page design category. Third place winners include junior Ryan Bagley in the column/review/blog category, Cote in the nonfront page design category, Newhook in the front-page design category, and senior Haley Strack in the editorial category. Cote also won fourth place in the non-front page design category.

“The accolades the Collegian is increasingly receiving are evidence of the efforts and talent of its staff," said Ben Wilson ’22 who served as The Collegian’s editor-in-chief last year. "It was an honor to witness each member's dedication to producing an excellent newspaper. With that in-depth look, I am unsurprised the Michigan Press Association is recognizing the team's achievements."

As the students look forward to the National Tournament, McDonald said they were excited to have two teams competing for practical reasons as well.

“We’ll be able to debate each other, we can bounce ideas off of each other, and once we get to the actual tournament, anything that we do well is going to inadvertently help the other team,” McDonald said. The National Tournament will take place April 14-17 in

Knoxville, Tennessee.

Lee explained how the success of the debate program over the last two seasons is helping everyone to improve their skills and get better. As the program continues to attend the National tournament, they are invited to higher-quality invitationals in the fall season, and the students are consistently competing at a higher level.

“We have six or seven freshmen going to Nationals, which is crazy,” Lee said. “This just helps the program have experienced members, which only makes us better.”

Mock Trial from A1

Sophomore Mark Den Hollander spent his spring break lobbying at the United Nations. Mark Den Hollander | Collegian

Radio students pose with the Station of the Year award. Josh Newhook | Collegian

Alumni relations to debut Elizebeth Friedman Award

By Tayte Christensen Collegian Freelancer

After appeals from many alumni and friends of the college to recognize college alumni Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the college will introduce the Elizebeth Smith Friedman Freedom Award. The award, named after the 1915 Hillsdale alumna, will honor alumni who have promoted freedom in their careers.

Doug Goodnough, director of alumni marketing, and Colleen McGinness, executive director of alumni relations, created the award.

“The award will be honoring those people who have spent their life protecting, defending, and promoting the cause of individual freedom, which Friedman did,” McGinness said.

McGinness said the ideal candidates for this award include those in various kinds of service such as public or military service who aren’t seeking recognition.

“Anyone can nominate alumni, anyone can submit their names, and we will take those nominations and listen to their stories of freedom and service,” McGinness said. Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the award’s namesake, worked as an editor at the Collegian and graduated from Hillsdale in 1915 with a degree in English. Shortly after, she began working for the United States military in decoding enemies’ radio signals. She broke codes in both World Wars leading

to the United State’s victories, according to Buddy Moorehouse, adjunct instructor in documentary filmmaking.

“Her story is so compelling,” Moorehouse said. “She was literally one of the people who helped end World War II by intercepting and decoding Nazi radio signals, preventing them from taking over South America, which would have been disastrous.”

Friedman was the subject of a documentary film made by students in Moorehouse’s journalism course last semester. “Hillsdale Student, American Hero” is available for viewing on YouTube.

“What she did helped the Allies win two world wars and prevented some really bad things from happening,” Goodnough said.“So anything we can do to draw attention to her and to claim her as a Hillsdale graduate is just fantastic.”

Much of Friedman’s code breaking was classified until 2008, obscuring her service and preventing proper recognition.

“The government classified a lot of her work until recently, but now that it’s come to light, we see the contribution she’s made to not only the freedom of America but to the freedom of the entire world,” Goodnough said.

Moorehouse said Hillsdale owes Friedman praise and recognition as one of its own to share the impact she had on American history.

“She was a trailblazer in so many respects, and really

Health center to offer plant therapy

By Alexandra Hall Science And Tech Editor

one’s own wellbeing.”

embodied the ideals of the college,” Moorehouse said. “Her story was lost to history for so long, so anything that the school can do to honor her legacy is great.”

This year, the award will be given to Friedman as a way to honor her legacy. She died in 1980.

“Since it’s her name on the award, we’re going to honor her initially,” Goodnough said, “and then it will be given to fellow alums who display a lot of the same traits that Elizebeth did.”

In the future, Goodnough and McGinness hope to continue honoring Friedman through the award itself and through featuring her story in award ceremonies to come.

“This year will look a little different since she’s the first recipient of the award, so we’ll focus it entirely on her,” McGinness said.“But I imagine in the future it will be always using her name and coming up every year, so continuing her legacy and making sure that she is known is the biggest reason for this award.”

While the award honors the alumni who have promoted freedom, it also serves as a way to honor Friedman’s work, said Goodnough.

“She is arguably one of the most important graduates in our history, and for so many years she was unknown, and that was one of the primary reasons to create this award–to cement her legacy, not just at Hillsdale College, but in America.”

Ward speaks on contraception and the Church

By Elizabeth Crawford Collegian Reporter

The turmoil surrounding sexuality and sexual ethics can be traced to the widespread acceptance of contraception, said the Rev. Michael Ward, Catholic priest and associate professor of religion and theology at the University of Oxford.

On March 20, the Catholic Society hosted Ward to discuss “The Elephant in the Bedroom: C.S. Lewis on Contraception.”

“When we speak of an elephant in the room, of course we mean an important and obvious subject that everyone ignores out of existence,” Ward said. “Contraception is one such subject.”

If society does not acknowledge the elephant in the bedroom, then our sexual ethics will decline even more, Ward said.

“Contraception raises to the forefront of our attention the importance of self-con-

trol in the ethical life, and all of us need to exercise the virtue of self-control, whether we are married or not,” Ward said. “Self-control is not an end in itself, but a means to growth in charity.”

Although Lewis was not a Catholic, Ward highlighted the similarities between Lewis’ views and the Catholic Church’s stance on contraception.

“The fact that he held a view on contraception that was similar to but not identical with that taught by the Catholic Church makes him a very useful person to study for anybody who wishes to uphold Catholic teaching on contraception, whether they be Catholic or no,” he said.

Ward attributes Lewis’ near silence on contraception as a testament to his prudence, and references other material when he speaks neutrally on it.

“I am not aware that he ever speaks well of contraception,” Ward. “He speaks of

it neutrally or indifferently, only in those four instances I’ve just mentioned.”

Senior Emma Purdy, vice president of Catholic Society, said the talk addressed an ongoing theme for the complementarity of the sexes.

“It must be the Holy Spirit leading us, we haven’t necessarily planned this theme, so this feeds into the topics of how men and women relate to each other, how do we do that well, and how contraception plays into that,” Purdy said.

Senior Noah Hoonhout, president of Catholic Society, said Ward had reached out to Benedict Whalen, associate professor of English, to give the talk since he didn’t have the contact information for Catholic Society.

“It was such a great topic, so it was pretty obvious that we wanted to sponsor it,” Hoonhout said. “I really liked that it was applicable to Catholics and non-Catholics.”

International club to host cultural fair

By Michaela Estruth Assistant Editor

The International Club is hosting its annual Cultural Fair in the Grewcock Student Union March 26 from 1 p.m to 3 p.m.

“Cultural Fair is International Club's annual event that celebrates the countries and cultures represented on campus through an open booth student union fair where students from different countries have posterboard presentations, snacks, and games from their home cultures,” said Charis Linton, president of the International Club. Anyone is welcome to stop by the fair to learn more about various countries.

“The event is generally a fun way for international students and those who have traveled abroad or have a connection to other countries to share information, their experiences, and sometimes snacks or dishes from the countries they represent with the rest of campus,” said Julia Epstein, marketing manager of the International Club.

Linton said Cultural Fair will be set up similar to the Source for students to visit different booths. Anyone can

sign up or dress in cultural clothes to shape the atmosphere, Linton said. Those interested in participating in the Cultural Fair should contact Tulip Bitange.

“Visitors will typically visit the tables, try different snacks, talk to students about their experiences and connections abroad, and ask them questions about the countries,” Epstein said. “There is also a photo area with props for taking pictures with family and friends! Often, students will dress up in traditional clothing as well.”

According to Epstein, Cultural Fair is the most important event the International Club organizes.

“At Hillsdale College, most students aren't exposed to many other countries or cultures and the things that are going on in these places today,” Epstein said. “The International Club seeks to remedy this, and Cultural Fair is a fun and interactive way for people to learn about other cultures and countries and connect with students from different backgrounds.”

Besides Cultural Fair, the International Club promotes cultures and connects international students with the rest of

The Health Center will be hosting plant therapy sessions, according to horticultural therapist Angie Girdham at the Amber Health Center. Girdham will host hour-long sessions of gardening and plant-related activities to connect students with the natural world and relieve stress.

“Humans and nature are fundamentally connected,” Girdham said. “The research that supports this is overwhelming. Horticultural therapy is working with clients and their healthcare team to achieve measurable goals and objectives using plants or plant-related activities. Like music, pet, or art therapy –HT complements traditional therapy methods and encourages active participation in

Girdham's first semester running the plant therapy program was fall 2018, and after some health challenges that set the program back, she said she’s excited to offer the sessions again.

“Typically a session involves us working on a nature inspired craft type activity while talking about an underlining theme,” Girdham said.

“Sometimes it is a very meaningful discussion, at other times it is more light-hearted. No matter what though we enjoy each other’s company, the students can put the stresses of studies out of their minds for an hour, perhaps they learn a new skill or expand a potential interest, and everyone gets a final project to enjoy or gift.”

Hillsdale’s Director of Health and Wellness and

Clinical Counselor Brock Lutz works with Girdham to offer these sessions for students.

“She often parallels work activities with some kind of reflective exercise,” Lutz said.

“For instance, pulling weeds can be symbolic of things you would like to remove from your life in planting or restoring. Something can reflect an additive desire that you have. Our aim has always been to provide as many varied opportunities for people to experience overall wellness.”

Upcoming sessions will be held at 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on Saturdays on the following dates: March 29, April 1, 12, 15, and May 3. Students who are interested can sign up via the SAB newsletter or email Girdham at agirdham@hillsdale.edu.

Debate team members advance to final tournament rounds

By Elizabeth Crawford Collegian Reporter

Hillsdale College’s debate

team members made it to the final rounds in both the National Parliamentary Debate Association and International Public Debate Association competitions at the Bowling Green State University debate tournament.

On Feb. 25 and 26, the debate team competed against 43 other schools, including Texas A&M and University of California-Davis, according to debate coach and Visiting Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Blake Faulkner.

According to Faulkner, a third of students left town during the power outage. The students who chose to stay were still able to compete in the competition.

Despite the weather complications, juniors Jonah Apel and Victoria Kelly were still able to

enter the NPDA tournament as a team.

“Luckily, the power came back on either Thursday evening or Friday morning, and we competed on Saturday and Sunday,” Apel said.

Kelly and Apel debated resolutions from a variety of topics.

“The resolutions varied from policy resolutions asserting that our federal government should revise the relevant regulations after the train disaster in East Palestine, to arguing over whether Johnny Depp should return to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise, which fit in with the tournament’s pirate theme,” Kelly said.

Apel and his team partner, junior Victoria Kelly, debated in the NPDA rounds. They advanced to the semi-finals on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.

“Since Jonah and I advanced both days, I would say we’re doing consistently well,” Kelly

said. “I know that a couple of my speeches within rounds were among the better ones I’ve done.”

Apel said he was also pleased with the results of the tournament.

“My partner, Victoria, did a great job and I'm grateful we were able to do the tournament together,” he said.

Freshman Patrick MacDonald took second place in the IPDA tournament, according to Faulkner.

The team is looking forward to nationals at the end of March, Faulkner said.

“We’ll have more to report after March is over, because we will go to a national tournament,” he said. “ We are also planning on going to a highschool tournament and having our team members act as judges. It’s a good way for students to learn debate from a different perspective.”

Federalist Society hosts former Alito clerk to speak on abortion after Dobbs

By Ashley Kaitz Senior Reporter

Sherif Girgis, an associate professor of law at the University of Notre Dame and former law clerk to Associate Justice Samuel Alito, will speak on “Abortion and the Law After Dobbs” in Plaster Auditorium tonight at 7 p.m. Curtis Herbert, president of the Federalist Society, said Girgis’ talk will focus on the impact that Dobbs v. Jackson has and will have on state abortion laws.

“Some companies will likely pay for their employees to travel for abortions,” Herbert said. “States may try to prohibit this, and those laws would also be challenged.”

Vice President of the Federalist Society Caleb Sampson said Dobbs v. Jackson fundamentally changed how abortion litigation works in America.

have the exact same substantive due process arguments students are used to,” Herbert said. “Instead, cases may depend on the existence of the right to travel or the dormant commerce clause. Students should attend to learn about these legal issues and how they could influence the future of abortion and the law.”

campus.

“The International Club's primary mission is to help international students adapt smoothly to life at Hillsdale College and connect with other students,” Epstein said. International Club hosts smaller events throughout the semester including Parents’ Weekend dinners, professor and student presentations, and has partnered with Bon Appetite and Metz Catering for Octoberfest, Epstein said.

“International Club is a social club of international and American students on campus who simply enjoy sharing and exploring their own and other cultures,” Linton said.

“We help new international students get accustomed to America and smoothly transition to Hillsdale College, and we help American students experience a bit of life abroad with international movie nights, international feasts, charity fundraisers, lectures, and displays such as Cultural Fair.”

This year, International Club has T-shirts for sale, according to Epstein. Linton said those interested in study abroad or other countries and cultures are welcome to attend any International Club event.

“Abortion litigation won't just disappear from the courts now that Dobbs has been decided,” he said. “Now that Roe is gone, the extent to which abortion is curtailed varies widely among the states.”

Inter-state travel for abortions will probably be an issue, according to Herbert.

“It's important to understand Dobbs not only as a decision, but as a milestone in the court’s abortion jurisprudence with a significant impact on American life and law,” Sampson said.

This issue is important for students to understand, since they now have the ability to influence abortion laws in their own states, Herbert said.

“Litigation over abortion won't vanish, but it won't

Sampson said attending the lecture will be an excellent way for students interested in law to learn about a landmark case from an expert in the field.

“Professor Girgis’ wisdom and professional expertise will be informative for anyone wanting to learn more about arguing abortion cases,” he said.

Student fed approves funding for Spanish honorary Delta Sigma Pi's trivia event

By Elyse Apel Opinions Editor

The Student Federation approved a funding request by Sigma Delta Pi, the Spanish Honorary, at its March 9 meeting.

The honorary requested $317 for an upcoming trivia night the honorary is planning on March 23 at 7:00 p.m.

“We were happy to fund the event for the Spanish honorary Sigma Delta Pi,” said junior Victoria Kelly, a federation representative. “I was impressed with their plan for trivia night to promote Spanish learning while keeping it accessible to all of campus, and I’d encourage anyone interested to attend

this or another of their events.”

The trivia night is open to all of campus.

“The trivia night will include teams of four people,” said senior Tatiana Bunge, representative of the Spanish Honorary.

Only one member of each team needs to be able to speak Spanish and the top three teams will receive prize money.

“There will be questions on Spanish history, geography, and culture,” Bunge said.

The honorary requested funding for snacks, prizes, and other supplies needed for the event.

“We are hoping to support a lot of the local busi-

nesses with these purchases,” Bunge said. The finance committee recommended full funding for the honorary’s proposal, and the federation passed it unanimously.

A Catholic Society representative was not present, so their funding proposal was moved to the next meeting.

According to the federation treasurer and junior Emma De Nooy, the federation still has approximately $44,000 on hand to spend this semester.

The next Student Federation meeting is at 7 p.m. on March 30 in the Formal Lounge and is open to the student body to attend.

Opinions

Online : www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Editor-in-Chief | Maggie Hroncich

Associate Editor | Christian Peck-Dimit

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Outreach Director | Hannah Cote

News Editor | Maddy Welsh

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Culture Editor | Megan Williams

Features Editor | Meghan Schultz

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Circulation Managers | Micah Hart and Victoria Wagner

Assistant Editors | Linnea Shively | Michaela Estruth | Lauren Scott

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The editors welcome Letters to the Editor but reserve the right to edit submissions for clarity, length, and style. Send submissions to the Opinions

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

The Collegian Weekly

The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff

Keep asking questions about the power outage

Hearings about state power infrastructure began Monday, after ice storms left more than 700,000 Michigan residents without power last month. The hearings, held by the Michigan Public Service Commission, are an opportunity for residents to speak out about how they were affected by the outages and ask questions. We all should be paying attention.

Legitimate questions remain about why the outage was so severe in the first place – as well as questions about the costs of overtime pay and replacing power lines and transformers.

When an ice storm hit Hillsdale County the night of Feb. 22, it caused widespread blackouts the same day cell service had returned after a day-long outage.

The city planned to spend around $500,000 on recovery efforts, and the Board of Public Utilities restored power to most residents by Feb. 26.

Michigan doesn’t use below-ground power lines, according to Fox 2. DTE Energy said this is because below-ground wires are still subject to damage, but Tervol said she saw above-ground lines causing chaos during the ice storm.

“I drove through Jackson, I drove through Hillsdale, and I drove through Lenawee County, and the tree damage,” she said, “Why are they not burying the lines?”

Residents complained to commissioners about utility companies’ handling of the outages, saying they were inaccessible and offered inaccurate information.

According to The Detroit News, Democratic Representatives Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib attended another MPSC meeting in Dearborn on March 13. Lawmakers also questioned Consumers Energy and DTE

during a March 15 hearing in Lansing, according to Fox 2. DTE, a state-protected monopoly, is seeking to increase rates by $619 million. According to Michigan Capitol Confidential, only 20% of the funds will help with operating expenses.

When utilities demand more money, customers should hold them to higher standards. As state leaders consider ways to improve the power grid, residents should continue to pose questions about the blackouts.

Lack

of

gun control

did not lead to MSU shooting

By Carly Moran

The Democrats who control Michigan’s state senate passed several gun-control bills last week in response to the deadly shooting at Michigan State University, but none of this legislation could have prevented any of the killings in East Lansing. What they tout as a promise to save lives is really a means of reintroducing failed legislation.

The 11-bill package includes bills on storage (SB 79-82), background checks (SB 76-78) and due process (SB 83-86). The MSU shooter obtained his firearms legally, despite multiple warnings in the past, meaning that even universal background checks could not have prevented the tragedy. In reality, the legislation is not about safety but taking advantage of a democrat majority in the legislature and governor seat. With Democrats holding a three-seat majority in the Michigan state house, the gun control wish list is bound to pass.

“The time for only thoughts and prayers is over,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a tweet last month. “We are in a unique position to take action and save lives. And that’s exactly what we are going to do in the weeks ahead.”

What Whitmer fails to address is that it was a plea deal, not stringent gun laws, that caused the deaths of three young students. The

alleged shooter, Anthony Dwayne McRae, was charged in 2019 for illegally carrying a concealed weapon, which would normally be considered a two-year felony. A police officer on patrol had found and arrested McRae after discovering a loaded Ruger .380 in his pocket.

“The charge to which McRae pled is a felony punishable by two years,”

Jeff Williams, Kalamazoo assistant prosecutor said. “A 2014 amendment to the Felon in Possession of Firearm statute says a conviction must be punishable by four years, or more, to make a person ineligible to possess a firearm.”

After pleading guilty, however, McRae was sentenced to one year of parole. With the charge dropped, he could lawfully possess firearms, even if there had been universal background checks at the time.

“We would all hope that a prosecutor would uphold the law as it’s written,”

Lansing Police Department Chief Sosebee said in a public statement. “There’s always room for some type of discretion, however, that one will be scrutinized for a long time, I’m sure.”

Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman confirmed at a news conference DATE that McRae purchased the two 9 mm handguns used at MSU legally. Background checks would have done nothing.

It was later reported by

multiple sources, his family included, that McRae was acting antisocial, up to the point of violence. No direct action was taken to combat this behavior, which began after the death of his mother, Linda McRae. With the lack of action by local courts and family, it is unlikely that red flag laws would have done much to prevent the shooting.

“He got mad if I tried to get him help,” his father, Micahel McRae, said in an interview with CNN on February 14. “I was trying to help him. He’d close the door. He stayed in his room a lot.” Michael McRae said he didn’t talk to anyone officially. “I didn’t want to start trouble– he’d get mad at me.”

With lax court sentencing, increased gun control only makes possession more difficult for law abiding citizens. Background checks and red flag laws have no lasting effect, and instead just slow the process. It is likely that McRae would have still acted violently upon MSU, even with the passage of the recent gun control package.

The legislation would have been ineffective at saving the three lives lost. It is nothing more than using a few thousand votes to diminish the Second Amendment.

Carly Moran is a sophomore studying politics and journalism. She is an assistant editor at the Collegian.

Mandating mental competency tests is politically unwise

By Chance Cook

In the March 2 issue of the Collegian, Eleanor Whitaker argued to, “establish mental capacity tests for politicians over the age of 75.” She delivered a timely argument in favor of amending the Constitution to require politicians 75 and older to pass a mental competency test before taking office. Her editorial pointed out that numerous politicians are within the age range where concerns arise about cognitive disorders. According to Whitaker, requiring older politicians to pass a mental competency test would prove that they are mentally fit to perform their jobs.

Though I believe that Whitaker is well intentioned, ultimately her proposal is contrary to the principles upon which America was founded, as well as politically unwise.

Core to the principles of the Founding is political equality amongst naturally unequal individuals, which necessitates a consent-based political system. One facet of this was the elimination of institutional barriers in government which may lead to the rise of artificial aristocracies, such as hereditary aristocracies or oligarchic aristocracies. The goal was

to allow the people to vote for whichever candidate they believed was best for the office.

The mental competency of politicians was not something that slipped the Founders’ minds. Though they never doubted that unfit politicians would fill some of these offices, they hoped that certain mechanisms and structures of the government would reduce the number of unfit politicians while enabling the election of the greatest possible number of fit ones. Ultimately the Founders rested their faith on the American people to elect fit individuals.

So, why did the Founders not create institutional barriers to guarantee that mentally competent individuals are elected? Partly because they recognized that it is difficult to know for certain what someone else’s mental competency is. Primarily, though, it was because they believed in political equality, and the principle of consent means that the system has to be as democratic as prudence allows. The citizens need to have their choice of representatives, regardless of whether those individuals are truly competent for the job or not.

Mental competency tests would violate these principles by erecting a barrier

that would unduly prevent people from voting for their preferred candidate. Further, mandating these tests to older politicians creates a discriminatory barrier which younger politicians running for the same offices would not face.

Moving to more practical matters, mental competency tests would be politically unwise because they would be another area of partisan dispute over candidates, rather than providing faith in a candidate’s mental competency, as Whitaker suggests. One or both parties would undoubtedly dispute the test results of opposing candidates. Further, just because the politician took the test at the beginning of his term in office, does not mean that he will continue to be mentally competent throughout his term. Rather than relying upon mental competency tests, the American people need to rely on themselves to make the decisions about the mental competency of candidates for political offices. No other means is compatible with American principles and today’s political realities.

Chance Cook is a graduate student at the Hillsdale College Van Andel School of Statesmanship.

Play wargames to improve your strategic thinking

By Josh Hypes

North Korea recently came within an inch of completing a nuclear program and dominating the Korean peninsula. At least that’s what happened in the wargame I played last summer.

Wargames are simulated military conflicts used by foreign policy experts to test the effectiveness of different strategies and tactics. They also provide invaluable insight into how well people think under pressure and cooperate with others. There’s also an opportunity to participate in one this Saturday from 1 to 6 PM in Lane 125.

Wargames are an essential tool to formulating a deeper understanding of statecraft and strategy in a fun, hands-on environment. There’s also an opportunity to experience a wargame for yourself on Saturday during a simulation of the Chinese Civil War hosted by the Alexander Hamilton Society.

Over the summer, I played the game “Hegemony,” a wargame where two teams compete for political prestige through military and diplomatic operations in various regions of the world. There are six countries and organizations: The United States, NATO, China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. Of those six, the United States and NATO are on the blue team, and the rest are on the red. While one might assume the red team can quickly gang up against the U.S. and NATO, different win conditions make cooperation difficult.

The creators of “Hegemony” intended to use the game to teach United States Department of Defense officials how different strategies impact trade, technological development, arms procurement, and force management. Yet it also provides an invaluable tool for personal development by exposing an individual’s preconceptions before the game even begins.

How someone approaches conflict and negotiation with others ultimately will determine how successful they will be in achieving their objectives. Through my personal observations, I also discovered that how the game is set up influenced how I strategized.

When the game began, my partner and I quickly realized the deck was stacked against North Korea. We started with minimal industry to make new weaponry and almost no research capacity to improve our nuclear program. Meanwhile, our enemies (the U.S. and NATO) possessed large amounts of resources that enabled them to counter any aggressive maneuver we mustered.

In the face of these odds, our fellow red team comrades vowed unity, urging us to take erratic and provocative actions against the decadent westerners to slow down their modernization. Yet there was little cohesion in this alliance. Our so-called “ally,” China,

would automatically lose if we achieved our victory conditions, so we discounted any assistance from them. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran never followed through on any aggressive military operations on their part.

On the other hand, the blue team organized an effective alliance based on clear divisions of responsibility and achievable objectives. NATO mainly constrained itself to counter Russian incursions in Europe while modernizing its intelligence capabilities and equipment to support the U.S. in global endeavors. Meanwhile, the U.S. mobilized its forces to counter the aggressive actions made by the “rogue” dictatorships of Iran and North Korea while balancing a strategic competition for prestige points against China.

China proved to be the West’s greatest asset. China was uniquely positioned among the red team because it could win

by pursuing an economic victory. It was in China’s interest to reign in its red team allies to get the U.S. to the bargaining table to win extra prestige points during negotiations.

This strategy proved to be foolish for the red team.

As China sought a peaceful solution, the rest of the red team faced a fully modernized Western alliance. This meant the U.S. and NATO pounded the red team relentlessly and destroyed its capacity to mobilize any troops. As a result, the West was close to victory.

Abandoned by our allies, we sought our own solution. Rather than fight the unwinnable battle of unifying the Korean peninsula, we used diplomacy to bolster our position while simultaneously developing our nuclear program to push us over the threshold to victory. We managed to get the U.S. to agree to several diplomatic conferences, pushing us to within one point of victory.

Our final challenge was

getting that last point. China and the West tried everything within their power to oppose us. We arranged diplomatic conferences with Iran that failed, tested missiles that failed, and even attempted to hack the U.S. stock exchange, which failed. In the end, the West resoundingly defeated us. Wargames are a glimpse into how we as individuals address conflict. Do we approach it hubristically and with malice? Or do we cooperate with others and pursue a common objective? As much as the simulated tanks and units slide across the board, Wargames are really about understanding the mindset of how specific policymakers rationalize the decisions they make. Make war, and sign up for this Saturday.

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

We must demand answers about COVID

Hillsdale students must practice hospitality

By Caroline Kurt

I came to Hillsdale having learned the art of hospitality from my mother and grandmother, but with no idea how to translate it into my college life.

To me, hospitality conjures images of candlelit dinner parties and sunny living rooms: a far cry from the constrictions of the small, spare dorm rooms occupied by many Hillsdale students.

will be a sacrifice, but have fulfilling results.

By Michaela Estruth

After three years of various theories dominating the nation, the Department of Energy, which oversees all national labs in the U.S., released on Feb. 26 its conclusion that the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese lab in Wuhan.

Not only this, but evidence suggests that many leaders in government and health industries knew these origins and hid them from the nation.

We cannot excuse our own government’s deceit, lest it becomes habitual in lying to its people. We must hold those responsible accountable–specifically immunologist Anthony Fauci–- by removing them from their position of influence.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was studying the virus for gain of function research—research that tests theories and treatments of diseases. The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, directed by Anthony Fauci, helped fund this research. Samples of the genetically altered virus leaked from the lab in the fall of 2019, with the world’s first COVID-19 case appearing in December.

The Chinese Communist Party denied a lab leak, saying the virus emerged from a particular

species of bat in a Chinese wet market.

“No way this virus came from us” top researcher at Wuhan Institute of Virology Yuan Zhiming said in April of 2020 when under investigation. In April 2020, Cotton published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.. He was mocked and labeled as a conspiracy theorist.

Cotton said the bat species that China blamed for the origin could not be found within 100 miles of the market. In February of 2020, the Chinese government ordered the destruction of all samples of the genetic code sequences, according to Cotton. It also shut down the laboratory which first published the virus’s original genome.

After the Department of Energy announced its findings, the FBI reported it concluded the same theory in 2021.

“The Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here—the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody,”

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News in an interview on Feb. 28.

While China’s lies and

cover up are wrong, it is not unexpected.

“This is a country that has no problem coming out and lying to the world,” Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska said in an interview with NBC. “We just saw that with this Chinese spy balloon. It’s the nature of a communist dictatorship to lie to their own people, to lie to the world. But I think that we need to make sure every country knows that and then look at what the consequences could be.”

What is more unnerving is our government acted in the same way.

Fauci was funding the gain-of-function research. How could he not know about the cover up?

Sen. Josh Hawley demanded the White House provide more information about what the intelligence community knows regarding the pandemic origins.

“The American people deserve the full truth about COVID-19 origins. No more whitewash,” Hawley said on Twitter Feb. 26. “I will again introduce legislation to make the U.S. government’s intelligence reports on COVID-19 open to the people.”

Currently, we are unsure how many knew the truth and why it was hidden—perhaps there is a greater scandal still unknown.

“I’ve said for months that Tony Fauci should be fired, now it’s clear he lied to Congress,” Cotton said. “He should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He’s been lying not just to Congress but to the American people about his role in funding very reckless research at a Chinese Communist lab that unleashed this pandemic on the world. It is a disgrace and it’s time for Tony Fauci to be held accountable.”

The Senate unanimously passed a bill March 1, proposed by Hawley and Sen Mike Braun, which would require the Biden administration to declassify all information relating to COVID-19 and The Wuhan Institute of Virology. Clearly, representatives of the people are demanding answers as well.

If we ignore these suspicious actions and do not hold our leadership and government accountable, they will escape with this cover up. Power and control will increase little by little, until, one day–in fulfillment of George Orwell’s “1984,” we hear the clocks striking 13.

Michaela Estruth is a sophomore studing history and journalism. She is an assistant editor at the Collegian.

It was easy for me and my friends to dream of the gatherings we would host once we lived off campus, but much harder to see what could be done in the present. We have tight budgets and even tighter schedules. Yet all it has taken is several pots of good coffee and a willingness to open our small space to others to create a vibrant practice of hospitality as underclassmen. These days, our room is home to homework sessions, late-night shenanigans, unrestrained laughter, and an endless succession of coffee cups.

Our social media-saturated culture colors our imaginations with perfectly staged photos of every kind of event, making us forget the immaterial core of hospitality. The physical setting contributes to a good gathering, but the generous spirit of the host is most important. Believing that hospitality is an unreachable and magazine cover ideal, we lose out on the surprising beauty to be found in genuine communion with others.

Hospitality requires an investment of time, effort, and money. Experienced hosts know, though, that beautiful gatherings can spring out of the tightest circumstances. For instance, many of us were generously hosted during the power outage by friends with electricity and water. Far more important than monetary investment is simple intentionality: whether that looks like making your friends their favorite meal or giving them a space to unwind and watch sports after a stressful week. Furnishing your space with snacks to share with friends or giving up a couple hours on a busy night for a much-needed conversation

Sometimes, we cite our busy schedules and less-than-perfect spaces as excuses not to be hospitable. Don’t let “busyness” constantly outweigh your calling to be a generous friend. While midterms week might not be the best time to put together a dinner party, you can certainly carve out small pockets of time to be hospitable even in the busiest seasons. And rest assured: your guests won’t spend their time criticizing the setting if they see the warmth and intentionality you’ve invested in the gathering.

Hospitality is a way of honoring the friends you already love by tangibly communicating their dignity and value to you, and of deepening new bonds. Think of how special you’ve felt as the guest of a particularly amazing host. Perhaps they played your favorite music, or asked you with great interest about your favorite hobbies. Thoughtful hospitality is immensely dignifying to both host and guest. We need every opportunity to slow down and live out our human relationality, especially amidst the busyness of our student lives. To my fellow Christians, contemplate the way Jesus practiced hospitality in the Gospels. Though a poor traveler, He gathered friends and newcomers with care, whether to cook a fish breakfast on the beach or share a final Passover meal. In the familiar episode of Martha and Mary, He teaches that hospitality derives greater value from Mary’s example of warm thoughtfulness and openness than Martha’s anxious material preparation. Jesus set a perfect example of infusing hospitality with the divine. All Hillsdale students should embrace hospitality in their everyday lives. Have a dinner party with close friends, organize a movie night, or celebrate a friend’s birthday with gusto. You won’t regret the investment, and you’ll be living out your Christian mission of friendship.

Caroline Kurt is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

Jury should have slow-walked the Murdaugh verdict

By Ethan Rohrbach

Alex Murdaugh is almost certainly a guilty man. But we can never be too certain whether he is guilty beyond the determination of the jury, which spent less than three hours deliberating his sentence.

Murdaugh, a wealthy lawyer from South Carolina, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering his wife and son on March 3.

He never had a strong case. There was no other person with the means, the motive, or the proximity to kill his wife or son. The alibi that he was staying at his parents’ house was false, which he admitted. For an experienced lawyer, his excuse for this faux alibi was a confusing combination of opioid dependency and trepidation over becoming an early suspect.

According to a member of law enforcement on the podium, when presented with a picture of the deceased, Murdaugh said of his son, “I did him so bad.” The backdrop? Scores of lawsuits for financial embezzlement, an abusive son, a suicide plot, and two mysterious deaths—one a slip-and-fall by his housekeeper, another man left dead with a head wound near Murdaugh’s estate.

But the prosecution’s main evidence was a bunch of 1’s and 0’s. The human element is missing. Ev-

idently, this had no real bearing on the minds of the jurors and the reliability of the verdict itself, but the jury should have realized this shortcoming. Less than three hours of deliberations is not enough time to do so. Murdaugh’s alibi was deconstructed with the help

of cell phone data. According to his own phone, immediately after his wife and son were killed, Murdaugh took flight, recording 283 steps in four minutes. An Alex Murdaugh-like voice was heard on a video taken on his son’s phone right before the murder. How often do we hear a friend

or relative say something when they never said anything at all? Our minds can play games with us, and so can our phones. General Motors revealed GPS tracking data from Murdaugh’s Chevy. He reached speeds of 74 mph on the open road shortly after the time of death, so

he was in a hurry. After he returned to his estate an hour later, he took approximately 19 seconds between parking and calling 911. The prosecution hammered this point home: is it possible to leave the car, walk to the scene, examine the bodies, recover from shock, and call 911 in such

little time? It is not often, however, that a GPS system becomes the leading witness in a murder trial. Can we expect it to swear on the Bible?

Controversial criminal cases that secure a national spotlight seem endowed with their own kind of pomp and ceremony. For

Derek Chauvin, it was bodycam footage replayed ad nauseum, national riots, and suspicions of jury intimidation. For Kyle Rittenhouse, it was the trauma of re-lived self-defense and the prosecution’s mishandling of an exhibit firearm. Given the lack of physical evidence, Murdaugh’s case needed more pencil-chewing and more nail-biting. Extra drama can be unhealthy to our national fabric.

This is no personal complaint that one of another disgraced country lawyer’s mishaps didn’t turn into a “12 Angry Men” reprise. Nonetheless, the fact of the matter remains: should computer data, a pinch of common sense, and endless equivocations by the prosecution be enough to engineer a life sentence in less than three hours? We cannot put too much faith in technology to drive our passions home.

Ethan Rohrbach is a sophmore studying the liberal arts.

Murdaugh heard his guilty sentance on March 3. Courtesy | facebook

The Wuhan Institute of Virology. Courtesy | WikiMedia Commons

City News

City Council considers vote on library position

By Thomas McKenna Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale City Council may vote on a proposal to remove the requirement for a school board seat on the library board as soon as April 3, according to Councilman Greg Stuchell, who represents Ward 1.

The council’s Operations and Governance Committee met Wednesday and unanimously sent the proposal back to the council.

“We’ll probably put it on the agenda for the next meeting,” Stuchell said. “The turnout tonight was a lot of people. For a subcommittee, this was over the top.”

Councilman Joshua Paladino ’18 proposed an amendment at the March 6 council meeting to remove the city charter’s requirement that the library board’s fifth seat be filled by a member of the school board.

“The ordinance proposal upholds the authority and responsibility of the mayor’s office,” Paladino said. “It defends the principle of no taxation without representation for the city’s tax-paying citizens, and it protects the city as an independent and selfgoverning political body.”

In the same meeting, the council voted 4-3 to reject the nomination of Hillsdale Community Schools board member Daniel LaRue to the library board. LaRue said he was fine with sending the amendment back to the council.

“I think it’s completely fine and acceptable to go to the full council for the bill,” LaRue said. “This way, all the city residents can reach

out to their councilmen to share their views that way.”

About 43 members of the public attended the committee meeting Wednesday, most of whom spoke during public comment.

Jim Bowen, who works as a technical support analyst at Hillsdale College, said the amendment was not in the community’s best interest.

“I think it’s important to

Pregnancy group plans second fundraiser gala

By Tracy Wilson Digital Editor

The Early Pregnancy Loss Association will host its second gala on March 25 to raise money for care kits, which offer physical necessities and comfort items for women who have suffered a miscarriage.

“Our logo of our organization is a purple tulip, and so there is this idea of hope, of more children to come, even if you have loss,” EPLA Board President Maria Servold said. “We thought we’d do a spring event that focuses on that idea of springtime, blooming, and hope.”

The gala will take place at Venue 8 in downtown Hillsdale. It will feature hot hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, and live music. Tickets to the gala will be available until Friday for $50 each.

alone, EPLA supported women in need by giving out 1,100 care kits.

“Education and sanitary and comfort items are our big things,” Carrington said. “We also have a blog and a podcast where we raise awareness as well as give people an outlet to share their stories. We think that’s a very important part of the healing process.”

Helping Hands Executive Director Bryce Asberg attended EPLA’s 2021 fundraiser gala and said he supports EPLA’s mission.

“My wife and I were pleased to be able to attend the last fundraiser, which was a wonderful time with community leaders committed to affirming the value of every life,” Asberg said. “We are thrilled to be supporters of EPLA, a much-needed organization with a precious goal, that no one suffers miscarriage alone. We look forward to supporting EPLA for years to come and watching them grow to meet serious needs in our community and beyond.”

have a liaison there so that the school district is abreast of what’s going on with the library,” Bowen said.

“If the library board wants more information from the district, they have an easy way to get it.”

Professor of Philosophy and Religion Nathan Schlueter said he thinks the amendment would expand the chance for community members to sit on the library

board.

“I see that this ordinance simply does not exclude anyone,” Schlueter said. “It simply expands eligibility to include someone like me or others that I know. There’s no reason why they could not still choose someone from the school board.”

Mayor Adam Stockford said the school board’s seat is the swing vote on the library board.

“I’ve tried to appoint a diverse cast of characters to committees because I thought that was fair to have a representation of all sorts of people that live in the community,” Stockford said at the March 20 council meeting. “But that representation should also be a representation of what this community is, which is about 75% of the conservative way of thinking.”

Paladino, who serves as secretary of the library board, drew fire last year when he attempted to relocate books he said contained sexually explicit and LGBTQ content from the children’s section of the library. The library board president, Scott Cress, resigned following the conflict in June 2022.

Councilman Bruce Sharp, who represents Ward 3 and sits on the Operations and Governance Committee, said he thinks Paladino should not be serving on the library board.

“The council member who serves on the library board should not be on there from what he has said on tape,” Sharp said.

Sharp said he would be willing to serve on the library board if Paladino steps down.

“I am a Democrat — oh, God, help us,” Sharp said. “I also vote Republican, too. It’s not always about politics, it’s about what they stand for.”

Stuchell said he thinks it is important to focus on policy, rather than political drama.

“We’re just people like everybody else, and the emotions come through,” Stuchell said.

Mayor offers apologies after council rejects library nominee

Josh Hypes Political Correspondent

Hillsdale Mayor Adam Stockford said he regrets his absence during a city council vote on a library board nomination earlier this month.

Stockford, in Monday’s council meeting, apologized for his absence at the March 6 meeting. He said he would have delayed the vote on library board nominee Daniel LaRue, a member of the Hillsdale Community Schools board, had he known the division it would sow in the community.

“Had I been at the meeting last Monday, having a gut feeling on how the appointment process would go, I would have just pulled the appointment off the table rather than putting the whole community through another controversy,” Stockford said.

Nonprofit offers annual college scholarships

By Mark den Hollander Collegian Freelancer

The Hillsdale County Community Foundation will soon release its annual scholarships, which totaled more than $242,000 last year.

Melinda Eggleston, the director of the program, said the scholarships are open to all high school students and often go to those in Hillsdale County.

“Millions of dollars have been poured into the community over the past 30 years in the form of grants, scholarships and donor-designated funding,” the foundation's website said.

Foundation staff will visit local high schools to announce this year’s winners between May 17 and June 4.

“Applications are available online usually around Dec. 1 and due March 1 by 4 p.m. every year,” Eggleston said.

The foundation extended this year’s scholarship application deadline to March 3 due to statewide power outages that started Feb. 22, according to a Feb. 28 Facebook post.

The application process includes submitting a student aid report, a onepage essay about personal and educational goals, two letters of recommendation, and a cumulative high school transcript.

“We are really looking forward to coming together and supporting the organization,” Executive Director Emily Carrington said. “It will be a really lovely evening.”

Servold said EPLA hopes the fundraiser gala will bring in more sponsors for their care kits, which they give out to women who have experienced an early pregnancy loss. In 2022

Anyone interested in purchasing a ticket or sponsoring someone else’s ticket can email Emily Carrington at miscarriagecare@gmail. com.

“The need to support women suffering miscarriage is always present,” Servold said.

“By coming to this event and supporting our organization, it enables you to help give needed, specific, physical support to women when they need it the most.”

The fifth seat on the library board is vacant, and must be filled by a member of the school board, according to the city charter. Councilman Joshua Paladino ’18 challenged this provision with an amendment to the city charter during the March 6 council meeting. The amendment was referred to the Operations and Governance Committee for further consideration.

Stockford said he originally planned to appoint another school board member, Pat Flannery, to the library board. Hillsdale Community Schools

Superintendent Shawn Vondra, however, told him in an email that the school board had its own selection process for the library board.

“I said ‘I’m sorry Shawn, I was not aware of that. The city charter does not speak to the process. It just said that a member had to be a school board member,’” Stockford said.

prompted him to not act on the school board’s nomination for several months.

“I will say, I understand the apprehensions that Mr. LaRue was the chair of the Democratic Party, I don’t know if that should matter so much or not,” Stockford said. “This community is 75% Republican, and, let’s be frank, this is the swing seat on the library board.”

The council also approved on Monday bids to buy three 2023 GMC Sierra trucks from Hillsdale GMC for the Board of Public Utilities’ Water and Sewer Departments and the Department of Public Services. The city purchased the trucks for around $41,000 each and expects them to be delivered in about 10 weeks, according to city documents.

City Manager David Mackie said it was difficult to find fleet vehicles available for purchase with a low wait time for delivery.

Last year’s scholarship winners include Hillsdale College freshmen Anna Roberts, Carson Loader, Curtis Knapp, and MaryEllen Petersen, according to Eggleston. Scholarships awarded can be up to $3,000. Some of the scholarships are offered as a one-time deal, while others are available to be renewed on a yearly basis.

“Awards are sent directly to the school the student is attending, usually in July or August,” Eggleston said.

2023 marks 30 years since local residents met to establish the foundation.

Stockford said he told Vondra he hoped the process of selecting the next library board member would be a collaborative process between the school board and the city council. He said he didn’t hear anything back from the school board until its nomination of LaRue.

Stockford said concerned residents sent him letters about LaRue’s political advocacy during the November election and prior chairmanship of the Hillsdale County Democratic Party, which

“Hillsdale Board of Public Utilities wanted to give Hillsdale GMC a shot at the lowest bid since we had not used them before,” Mackie said. “So they gave the bid, and the dealership could get us the vehicles within a reasonable timeframe.”

The council also approved the purchase of a new police cruiser from Berger Chevrolet in Grand Rapids. The new cruiser will be the department’s first Chevrolet Tahoe, according to Police Chief Scott Hephner.

Over that time, HCCF has provided $3,531,270 in scholarships to students through 330 funds which help students attain their higher education goals, according to the website.

“But we know our work is not about the dollars and numbers,” the website said. “It’s about the impact it is having on our community.”

More information about the scholarships is available at https:// abouthccf.org/ scholarships/.

“We know our work is not about the dollars and numbers,” the website said.

“It’s about the impact.”

“I would have just pulled the appointment off the table rather than putting the whole community through another controversy.”

“It will be a really lovely evening.”

The proposal would remove the requirement for a school board seat on the library board

City CouncilmanJoshua Paladino ’18 offers comment, as his former opponent for office Penny Swan records the meeting.

Thomas McKenna | Collegian

Meijer plans to preserve Mail Pouch barn wall

By Lauren Scott Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale County Historical Society is preserving the historic Mail Pouch Tobacco advertisement from the barn on Meijer’s property.

“Meijer was all too happy to hear that we wanted to preserve a historical feature and volunteered to let us have it, and even take it down and transport it for us to a safe location,” said Kathy Fowler, a historical society board member.

Meijer plans to open near the intersection of W. Carleton Road and Beck Road in spring 2024.

Hillsdale Planning and Zoning Administrator Alan Beeker previously said the city received plans that showed Meijer demolishing the barn for construction.

Meijer Director of Corporate Communications Frank Guglielmi also said the

company had been planning to remove the barn.

But Meijer will begin disassembling the barn on March 27. Workers will carefully remove the wood with the advertisement, stack it, and shrink wrap it, according to Morgan Morrison ’21, a historical society board member. It should be ready for transport to the historical society

property by April 5.

Once the historical society receives the wood, members will re-assemble the barn wall with the advertisement.

The society will display the advertisement either in its Barn Museum or in its old barn on the Will Carleton Poorhouse property, Morrison said.

According to Morrison, the historical society will

Landlords scramble for renters

display the advertisement under lighting so viewers can see the advertisement’s fading paint better.

Morrison said while many have called to restore the barn, the project is unrealistic and would cost tens of thousands of dollars. This is a way to preserve the advertisement without spending much money, he said.

The Mail Pouch barns are a fascinating example of commercial folk art, Morrison said. The owners of Mail Pouch Tobacco realized this was a good marketing idea since farmers needed paint for their barns to keep them from falling apart.

“According to a Mail Pouch organization, there may only be around 40 to 50 barns still in existence in Michigan, with most being in horrible repair and even unreadable,” Fowler said. “The barn in Hillsdale is one of the better-preserved advertisements in existence.”

New technology businesses open

By Emma Verrigni Collegian Reporter

The city of Hillsdale welcomed Quality PC Repair and Service, Printer Source Plus, and Willis Information Technologies in a ribboncutting ceremony on Feb. 22.

All three businesses are located on 37 Waldron St. near downtown Hillsdale.

Quality PC Repair focuses on repairing electronics, according to the company’s website. PSP sells affordable and environmentally friendly printing supplies.

WIT provides customers with information technology systems, network infrastructure, and cybersecurity services.

New owners Tim and Kimberly Lindley bought Quality PC Repair in November from former owner Larry Burger.

Tim Lindley, a four-year employee of WIT, decided he wanted to work for the company from the Hillsdale area. He came to an agreement with the owners of WIT that would allow

Marriage from A1

“My uncle lived in Ohio, and I had bought a couple of pigs at an auction a couple of weeks earlier. I told everyone we were going down to pick up those butchered pigs,” George said. “It was a lie and an excuse.”

“But God blessed us anyway, as you can see,” Norma added.

They then spent a week in Atlanta for their honeymoon and called home once they were there, Norma said.

George and Norma said they didn’t want to have a big wedding.

“We didn’t agree with that,” she said.

Norma spent the next two years moving around with George, who trained to be a pilot that would take fly-by pictures of the bomb damage in Japan during the final days of World War II.

Since George had experience as a rivet repairman on airplanes after high school, the government put him in the Air Force, moving him from basic training in Clearwater, Florida, to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. He finally began flight training with Stinson planes in Santa Ana, California, he said.

Meanwhile, Norma worked at Ford Motor Company with her dad in Ypsilanti, helping to build airplanes and cars for military use. Later, she helped wash planes for the military in California, where she reunited with George.

The couple said these were good times.

“We were so busy that we weren’t worried about the

him to continue working for the company. WIT would own Quality PC Repair, and Tim and Kimberly Lindley would own and operate the store in Hillsdale. While WIT remains on Spring Arbor Road in Jackson, Lindley continues to serve the same clients as before, while developing Quality PC Repair in Hillsdale.

Quality PC Repair joined the Hillsdale Business Association to promote its

battles,” Norma said.

But George’s entry into battle was constantly delayed due to health issues and extending his training to dual-engine aircraft. George said this was God’s work in

name in the Hillsdale area.

The business also partners with the Hillsdale Area Career Center to offer training as part of a work-

By Alex Deimel Collegian Reporter

Landlords are struggling to find renters after Hillsdale College granted fewer students off-campus permission for next year.

“It is very difficult because I have a list of people who really want to sign a lease but simply can’t because they haven’t been approved yet,” said sophomore Maliq Brock, whose family owns a house they rent to students.

alumni within our family so we respect and honor the school’s process for off-campus housing and how they go about their business,” Kendzicky said. “It has just been another technicality added that we have to navigate.”

Kendzicky said athletes usually rented the family’s houses in the past, as each house offers a different sports theme.

protecting him.

“That was the act of the Lord,” he said. “He didn’t want me to get into the battle.”

On their way to the last stage of training in South Dakota, the couple found a surprise in Kansas City.

“The place was just loaded with people. The guys were throwing their girlfriends up in the air and celebrating. We didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “We got off the train, and they said the war was over.”

After George and Norma visited the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Air Force sent George to Illinois to

study program, according to a City of Hillsdale press release. As a part of the program, interns attend class and spend three days every week gaining practical onsite experience in computer repair, installing networks, and cybersecurity.

“We are hoping to raise up local IT talent,” Kimberly

decommission him.

Once he was out of the military, George opted out of college and bought a 217-acre farm for $8,000 in Ohio, not far from his father’s farm.

Lindley said.

Joe Sharpe, owner of PSP, said the business offers affordable, environmentally friendly ink and toner cartridges and printers.

“We want to help the Hillsdale community become more earthfriendly,” Sharpe said.

Sustainable technology cuts electricity consumption by up to 85%, according to Sharpe. He said 65% less waste from these printers and cartridges ends up in landfills.

“We are excited to bring this technology to the area as we see sustainability is as important to Hillsdale as it is to us,” Sharpe said.

Lindley said PSP’s printers offer significant cost savings compared to most other printers currently on the market. Unlike laser printers that require heat, she said these ink-jet printers use cold ink, which saves energy and money.

“We want to provide the area with effective IT services and printing supplies,” Lindley said.

job, but Norma was kind.

“She was so busy she didn’t have time to get mad at me,” he said. She raised the kids at home and worked part-time in a kitchen as well.

After the college bought four houses on E. Fayette Street from Vice President and General Counsel Bob Norton, and as construction on a new women’s dormitory continued, the college decided to allow 110 fewer students off-campus permission than last year.

According to Roo Kendzicky, a local landlord and Hillsdale alumnus, many students signed leases before they got off-campus permission. He said two of his houses already filled before the college’s offcampus process started.

“The school’s decision to permit mainly seniors this year to be selected did unfortunately force us to turn away an entire group of guys who were planning to live at one of our houses and has left another group a little uneasy on whether their group will get permission,” Kendzicky said. “But we were blessed to find another group of guys to fill our first house and we’re staying positive that the second group will be able to keep everyone together.”

The Kendzicky family owns four houses in Hillsdale. Their father built the first one in 2016.

“We love Hillsdale and have plenty of proud

becoming a deacon at their local church and Norma teaching Sunday school.

“It’s the number one thing in our life,” George said. “You got to set an example; you can’t send

“It’s been a success for us and our renters to match sports players with their respective sport’s house so we usually base our selection off that criteria,” he said. “With this off-campus permission situation, we’ve just had to incorporate that as a higher priority in our selection process for athletes.”

Landlord Benjamin LeCompte said he has had difficulty finding renters for one of his three houses in Hillsdale.

“I almost always get at least a couple calls for my properties each year, but this year it’s been nothing,” LeCompte said. “I have two houses rented for next year, but one of them I have received no calls for.”

According to Kendzicky, the decision’s timing has been the main challenge.

“With the school acquiring more oncampus housing and not permitting as many students off, we were beginning to wonder if the school was heading toward not letting students get off campus entirely,” he said. “But after talking to the school, we realized the circumstances this year were unique and don’t see this as a foreseeable issue in the years to come.”

Norma’s lives.

“When I think of the Carpenters, I think of Psalm 136, which says, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,’” Stewart said. “They give thanks in all circumstances, they pray faithfully, and their heart is to see others come to know the Lord Jesus.”

Stewart said it is a gift to have them as a part of the church and his family’s life.

“The Lord has truly blessed them to be able to be a witness to and taste of the goodness of how their life together has impacted the generations who have come after them,” he said.

The Carpenters’ son Dwight said there is only one answer to the secret of such a long marriage: that both of them are living for Christ.

“In those days they gave land away,” he said.

George discovered he wasn’t good at farming, which he called the hardest part of his life. He couldn’t make a living, so he got two milk routes to help support his growing family, which now included five of the couple’s six children. In 1953, George moved back to Michigan and eventually worked his way into a position for Ford as a foreman of machine repair, where he remained until he retired at 55 years old with early retirement pay in 1980.

George said it was hard adjusting to a good-paying

George and Norma agreed that consulting before buying things has been important to their happiness.

“We talked to each other before we bought things,” he said. “We’ve had very little trouble getting along.”

Norma said they raised their children to be wise with their finances too.

“We taught them to be very frugal,” Norma said. “When they bought something, it would have to be on sale. We would never be able to buy a farm if we didn’t save.”

They also taught them to keep their faith, with George

them. You have to live the way you want them to.”

In 1980, George purchased a farm in Allen, Michigan, as an investment for one of his sons. He said U.S. 12 is much busier nowadays than it was when he first moved to the area.

“It was nice and quiet at the time we came out here 40 years ago,” he said. “It’s changed. A lot of trucks go by here instead of using I-94.”

Pastor Rob Stewart of Countryside Bible Church in Jonesville, where the Carpenters have attended since 1982, said praising the Lord defines George’s and

“They have such a deep love for Jesus and want to serve him. In doing so, they put him on the throne instead of themselves,” he said. “When they did that, they were able to forgive each other. It was not that they didn’t do things wrong, but they were willing to put the other person first instead of themselves.”

Dwight said their committed faith has been fruitful as all of their children are born-again Christians who serve the Lord.

“I’m quite sure that we would not be as well-off and steady in the Christian faith,” he said, “if it hadn’t been for their testimony and witness.”

The City of Hillsdale’s economic development team holds a ribbon cutting for the new businesses. Courtesy | Facebook

The Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn standing on the land where Meijer will build its Hillsdale location.

Courtesy | Facebook

The Carpenter family in the late 1950s. Josh Newhook | Collegian

George Carpenter, who served in the Air Force, holds a replica bomber. Josh Newhook | Collegian

“I almost always get at least a couple calls for my properties each year, but this year it’s been nothing.”

Men’s Tennis

Chargers go 0-3 over spring break, began in-conference play on Sunday

By Emily Schutte Collegian Reporter

The Chargers lost three days of matches to Rollins College, St. Leo University, and Findlay University on the road last week.

Two weekends ago they faced two Florida teams before making the return trip, playing an in-conference opponent on the way last weekend. With losses of 6-1, 7-0, and 4-3, the Chargers have fallen to an 8-5 overall win-loss record.

Despite the challenge of top-ranked teams and indoor and outdoor differences the Chargers competed well against the country’s No. 1 team.

“We played two tough teams,” junior Brennan Cimpeanu said. “On paper, we were expected to lose just because we’re playing a really, really good team outdoors in the heat and in the sun that we weren’t used to. But overall, I think we just competed really well.”

In the Sunday match versus Rollins, the doubles point went to Hillsdale’s opponent.

No. 1 team, Cimpeanu and senior Brian Hackman, lost 3-6, No. 2 team, junior Sean Barstow and Junior Tyler Conrad, lost 3-7, and No. 3 team, freshman Aidan Pack and junior Daniel Gilbert lost 3-6. Gilbert said it was a challenge to play on, and adjust to, outdoor courts.

“The bounce is higher, the ball moves a lot slower, people hit with a lot more topspin,” Gilbert said. “We’ve been playing indoors, we’re in Michigan all season, we’re already at a pretty big disadvantage against those teams that have just been playing outside all year round.”

No. 5 singles, Barstow, won the only point that day for the Chargers in a 6-2, 6-2 match. No. 1 Cimpeanu’s sets were 6-2, 1-6, 2-6, No. 2 Pack’s 0-6, 2-6, No. 3 Hackman’s 0-6, 0-6, and No. 6 Gilbert’s 4-6, 4-6.

“I think in Florida again, just the heat got to me my first match,” Cimpeanu said. “The second match, I played No. 3

Men’s Track

in the nation, who is just an excellent player. And although it doesn’t seem close on paper, just the score was quite bad, the points were very close.”

No. 4 Conrad lost 2-6, 4-6 in his singles match after injuring his right wrist in his doubles match.

“I was at the net in doubles, and the guy hit a shot,” Conrad said. “He just whipped it at me as hard as he could, and it caught the frame of my racket, and my wrist just hyperextended the wrong way. It was a very minor sprain, fortunately, but it was enough to keep me out for a couple of matches.”

Monday’s match versus St. Leo saw a doubles loss for the Chargers as well. No. 1 Cimpeanu and Barstow at 2-6, No. 2 Hackman and Wastcoat at 2-5, and No. 3 Pack and Gilbert at 2-6.

“It’s always fun just to play them,” Conrad said. “We didn’t get any wins, we lost 7-0. It was just a cool experience playing the best in the country.”

In singles No. 1 Cimpeanu lost 2-6, 0-6, No. 2 Pack 0-6, 3-6, and No. 3 Hackman 1-6, 3-6. No. 4 Barstow lost 3-6, 2-6, and Gilbert lost 1-6, 6-3, 0-10.

“That was a good challenge for us to go down there,” Gilbert said. “We were able to compete pretty well in a couple of spots, and I think it was good to play those better opponents to kind of see how we stack up to the best teams in the nation.”

Wastcoat filled the No. 6 spot for the injured Conrad and lost 5-7, 3-6.

“Against St. Leo we brought in Nik Wastcoat, and he played a good match against St. Leo’s No. 6,” Conrad said. “He came in and did as well as we could have expected.”

The Saturday match versus Tiffin was canceled due to poor court conditions.

“We decided not to play, simply because the courts that we were forced to play on were just unsafe,” Cimpeanu said. “We decided it’d just be better not to play, wait until conference, the championship and then play them there.”

The Sunday match against Findlay also did not provide Hillsdale with a doubles win.

“Findlay does a lot of stacking with their lineup, putting probably their number six guy up at number two and pushing everyone else down,” Conrad said. “It’s just very difficult to compete against that. Everyone played their hardest. Everyone fought, and we just didn’t come out on top and sometimes that happens, but we feel pretty confident that we’re going to beat them at the conference tournament, especially once we’re outside.”

Player stacking, stacking matches by extensively flipping the lineup, is frowned upon, and it presented the Chargers with a problem.

“It is technically illegal to put your six at two and then your three at six, to just give a huge flip in your lineup,” Cimpeanu said. “But it’s something that the whole conference has to call out the team for. So our team is trying to call it out, but we need someone to back us up.”

No. 1 Cimpeanu and Hackman lost 4-6, No. 2 Barstow and Conrad won 7-4, and No. 3 Pack and Gilbert lost 3-6.

“We were back inside, so it was definitely a tough adjustment going inside to outside

Women's Tennis

Chargers drop three matches over Spring Break

By Isabella Helms Collegian Reporter

The Hillsdale women’s tennis team dropped three matches over spring break, falling to Palm Beach Atlantic, Nova Southeastern, and Findlay, as senior Sarah Hackman took G-MAC Player of the Week.

Despite the Charger’s losses over the past two weekends, Hackman’s undefeated performance against Palm Beach Atlantic earned her recognition as the G-MAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week.

Hackman, Hillsdale’s No. 1 singles and doubles player, has been named to the All-GMAC team three times, won first-team honors twice, and was the 2022 G-MAC Player of the Year.

and back to inside because we’re back on faster courts, but I think the team generally handled it pretty well,” Gilbert said. “It definitely took a little bit, maybe a set, to get used to the court conditions, but I think we overall played pretty well. It was a match we really wanted to win, but came up just short. But we’ll be able to bounce back.”

The singles brought three wins at the No. 1, 2, and 5 spots: Cimpeanu 7-5, 6-3, Pack 6-0, 6-4, and Barstow 6-2, 6-2. No. 3 Hackman took a loss of 4-6, 4-6, and No. 4 Conrad went to a tie-break after losing 3-6 and winning 6-4, but lost the final set 4-6. No. 6 Gilbert also reached a tie-break after two sets 2-6, 6-4, but lost it with a score of 3-6. The team is back home next weekend to play Walsh University on Sunday, March 26.

“I think we just need to focus really hard against Walsh,” Gilbert said. “It’s a big match, especially because we weren’t able to come up with the win yesterday. We just really need to focus on that match, have a good week of practice, get our doubles down a little better, and I think we’ll be okay.”

Men’s Basketball

Sarah won 6-3 with junior partner Melanie Zampardo at No. 1 doubles, then rolled in straight sets at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Palm Beach Atlantic to earn two victories for the Chargers.

After a first-set defeat in No. 2 singles, Zampardo secured the win with 6-2, 10-8 performances in sets two and three. Senior Canela Luna also rallied against the Sailfish, winning a straightset 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles.

Hillsdale’s second match against third-ranked Nova Southeastern proved to be a tough challenge as well, according to Luna. With a final

score of 7-0, the Sharks won all nine contested matches in straight sets. Hard-fought performances from sophomore Courtney Rittel and senior Ellie Chawner were the highlight of the match with Rittel narrowly losing at No. 5 singles, 7-5, 6-4, and Chawner keeping the second set at No. 4 singles tight.

“I think we played well given the circumstances,” Luna said. “It’s tough transitioning from indoors to outdoors and especially tough when conditions are not ideal. Overall, I’m proud of us and am excited for conference.”

In their Sunday match against Findlay, the Chargers fell short, losing 5-0. While Hackman and Zampardo managed to secure a 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles, the Oilers gained a 6-2, 6-4 advantage at No. 2 and 3 doubles respectively. In the end, Findlay clinched the match by winning all four singles matches.

Although Hillsdale was unable to score a point, several close singles matches could have changed the final score with Zampardo pushing the Oilers to a first-set tiebreak before falling 7-6 (4), 6-4 at No. 2 singles. Luna also put up a fight, losing 7-5, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.

The Chargers now have a season record of 3-7 and will travel to Ursuline for their next match March 24.

Chargers upset in round of 64

By Christian Peck-Dimit Associate Editor

After a historic season, the Hillsdale men’s basketball season came to an end in a last-second, 86-81, upset from the Northern Michigan Wildcats.

The team ended its program-record sixth straight year with at least 19 wins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Mar 11 in a shootout against Northern. Despite cutting their deficit to one possession in the game’s final minute, a deep three from Wildcat guard Max Bjorklund with 11 seconds left effectively ended the game.

“There’s always going to be regrets at the end of a season, always moments you want to have back and things you wish you would have done differently,” fifth-year center Peter Kalthoff said. “Personally I have some of those and I’m sure as a team we feel certain ways, but it was a tough game, I thought we battled well.”

The team was down as many as 12 points with under six minutes to play, but used a 18-9 run to pull itself back into the game. Gohlke scored nine of the team’s points on the run, while Kalthoff and senior guard Kyle Goessler combined for the remaining nine.

giving it our all and there’s a sense of real fun, of real joy, in that,” Kalthoff said “It didn’t end the way we expected it to of course, but that’s just the way the sport goes, and it teaches you life lessons sometimes, and some of those are hard to swallow.”

In the wake of his fifth year with the program, guard Jack Gohlke announced he has entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer, while Kalthoff said he is mulling options for his final year of eligibility.

Both Kalthoff and Gohlke redshirted their first year with the program, allowing them to fifth-year, and each has another year due to the NCAA’s response to COVID-19.

“I’ve really loved my career here and I’m not ready to give up basketball unfortunately,” Gohlke said. “I’ve had a lot of great memories throughout my whole life playing basketball and I want to keep playing, and I’m lucky enough to have a free year of eligibility from the whole COVID fiasco.”

Kalthoff echoed a similar sentiment, saying he isn’t ready to give up basketball yet, and that he feels healthy despite breaking his hand during last season.

Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

“There were a couple moments on the court when Jack and I were yelling at each other ‘we’re not going home like this,’ we were

“I think there may be some good opportunities for me to play another year somewhere, or head overseas, I’ve had some people tell me they think I could have success in that area,” Kalthoff said. “I’m definitely exploring

my opportunities, and not throwing all my chips in one pond yet.”

Regardless of their decisions, they will be joined by seniors Noah Applegate, Jacob Ngobi, Cole Nau, and Goessler in an anticipated graduation in May, and have all likely played their last game in a Charger uniform.

“I told them that I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people, when you try to put a team together if you’re the head coach, you kind of dream to have these types of kids in your program,” Tharp said “We’ve had a lot of great players and great teams, these six guys have won a lot of basketball games, and it’s been just a joy to be around them on a day-to-day basis.”

The graduating Chargers wrap up their careers with a third season in a row with more than 21 wins, the program’s longest such streak since a four-year run from 1977-81.

After a 23-8 finish last season, the team lost three key players to graduation, including first-team all-american Patrick Cartier. Despite the losses, the Chargers finished with the same in-conference record as last year, and a better overall winning percentage.

“These 16 guys, especially our veteran players, deserve so much credit,” Tharp said.

“A year ago is when Pat decided to transfer and those guys had something that they wanted to prove, that the program wasn’t just about

one particular guy, and I’m so proud of those veterans, they were so connected and had such a collective effort, we had so many different guys step up for us this year.”

All six Chargers will graduate having made the first NCAA Sweet Sixteen and, a year later, Elite Eight in program history. Multiple individual Chargers left their mark on the record books as well.

Gohlke knocked down 98 triples this season, the second most in any single season in Charger history, while his 184 career made threes are good for eighth most all time.

Additionally, Goessler’s 84.4 career percentage at the free-throw line sits at the sixth best in program history.

Despite their accomplishments on the floor, both Kalthoff and Gohlke said interactions with their teammates and coaches off the court will be missed the most.

“It’s one of those things that I’m sure everyone’s experienced in their life where you look back on some sort of period of time and it’s gone extremely fast but also, it feels like it’s been forever since you got to that stage,” Gohlke said. “Every year was amazing but especially those tourney runs are so much fun because those are the biggest games and if you can find a way to win them, it’s just extra time you get to enjoy with your teammates.”

Freshman Ben HAAs earned all American honors with a third-place finish in the weight throw at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships.

Junior Sean Barstow won the team’s only point against Rollins College. Courtesy | Isabella s heehan

Senior Sarah Hackman won G-MAC Player of the Week last week.

Courtesy | Isabella s heehan

Golf

Golf fends off regional rivals, takes 12th of 21 in Kentucky

By Thomas McKenna Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale men’s golf team bested regional rivals last weekend at the SVSU Spring Intercollegiate in Lexington, Kentucky, placing above four of their five G-MAC opponents.

“Beating these teams is important rankings-wise,” said sophomore Filippo Reale. “If you want to make regionals, it’s important to beat these teams.”

Chargers open conference play 1-3, drop home opener

By Jillian Parks Social Media Manager

In the opening weekend of the conference play for the Charger baseball team went 1-3 in its games against the Trevecca Nazarene University Trojans March 15-16.

After 17 games, the Chargers now have an overall record of 6-12. They are sitting at number one in fielding standings and having the most at bats in a conference game so far during their Tuesday doubleheader.

“Our games over spring break didn’t go as we had hoped, unfortunately,” senior shortstop Aidan Brewer said. “The first three games were pretty tough losses but we were able to turn it around in game four and get a win.”

The Chargers lost the first doubleheader and the first game of the second doubleheader. The team was able to close the deficit a bit with 11 runs scored across the three games but not enough to take home those three wins.

“We struggled both on the mound and at the plate this last week,” junior outfielder Lewis Beals said. “We need to execute pitches better on the mound, and make adjustments quicker at the plate. Overall, we just need to have a more aggressive and competitive mentality. We are all chomping at the bit to get going and get the bad taste of last week out of our mouth.”

In the final game, the Chargers took the lead in the third with five runs in the inning, including two home runs. In the bottom of the fourth, the team took a six-run lead, concluding the game 10-1. Zane Barnhart, the team’s top closer, pitched six innings with seven strikeouts, three walks, and only one earned run. Barnhart was named G-MAC Pitcher of The Week.

“Zane Barnhart was a highlight for us this weekend,” head coach Tom Vessella said.

“He pitched a very strong 6 innings for us and set the tone for the game. We were in a hole after losing the first three games and needed someone to step up and take control of the situation. It was a last-minute decision, and it ended up working out for us.”

The Chargers also played Grand Valley State University Lakers, losing 11-3. Sophomore first baseman Will Shannon opened the game with a homerun and 1-0 lead, but the Lakers pulled ahead for good at top of the fourth. Eight different pitchers appeared on the mound with sophomore pitcher Drew Erdei taking the loss.

The Chargers will play Kentucky Wesleyan University this weekend, March 25-26, in a four game series. “Now all we can do is turn the page, and get ready for the rest of G-MAC play,” Vessella said.

Reale and Senior Darragh Monaghan both shot a 151, tying for 36th with eight other golfers and bringing the Chargers to a mid-pack finish, tied for 12th place out of 21 teams. Monaghan carded a 75-76, while Reale shot a 77-74.

“It was a pretty solid weekend for Filippo,” head coach Matt Thompson said. “He battled that first day and then came out and played a really solid round on Sunday and probably could have easily been two to four shots better. He’s in good form.”

Reale said he was particularly happy with the team’s victory over Tiffin.

“I think it’s something that goes back,” Reale said. “I remember being pretty evenly matched and getting the better of them on the second round by just carding the shots was very good. I was happy with that.”

In his final round, Reale put together a birdie and an eagle back-to-back to bring his score down from 8 over par to 5 over par.

“I had a double a couple of holes earlier,” Reale said. “I just got rattled at the fact that I got double so I kind of flipped the switch in my head and said ‘okay, no more games time. Time to get serious.’ That helped.”

Reale said the players were challenged by the cold and windy conditions they faced.

“It never really got above 35 degrees on the first day,” Reale said. “It was really, really windy. In the moment, it was

Football Feature

really tough, but looking back at it, I was able to play in those conditions and battle my way through. The whole team battled through that. No one really crumbled.”

Senior Carson Stohler, although not in the team lineup, competed individually and carded another 151 along with Monaghan and Reale.

“The final round I played was the perfect example of meshing the strong mindset, persevering through the conditions, not becoming flustered, sticking to my plan, trusting my plan to attack the golf course, and hitting my spots,” Stohler said. “That’s what really created a very solid round of golf on the final round for me.”

While Stohler’s score did not count toward the team’s performance, his second-round score of 73 was the lowest single-round score in his collegiate golf career and the lowest of any Charger at the tournament.

Freshman Max Burns carded

a 77-75=152, one stroke off his teammates. Senior Gerry Jones Jr. was a stroke behind Burns with 77-76=153, followed by senior Drew Gandy with 8379=162.

“We see flashes — when everybody can play well — of what the team is capable of,” Thompson said. “We’re just trying to put it all together at the same time.”

The G-MAC Championships are fast approaching, scheduled for April 24-26 in Lexington, Kentucky. Although every G-MAC team will compete in the first three rounds of the conference tournament, the conference champion will be crowned in a championship match, one round of golf between the top two teams.

“I think we are certainly capable,” Thompson said. “If we can go out there and play how we’re playing, I fully expect to see us in that championship match.”

Football players give back to the community

By Olivia Hajicek Assistant Editor

On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, Charger football players have morning workouts during the offseason. Every few weeks, some of the players spend their free Wednesday mentoring boys at a local elementary school.

“Guys with Ties” is just one way Hillsdale’s football team is giving back to the community.

The program meets at Gier Elementary School once or twice a month. Junior Luke Costantino said each player is paired with the same group of students at every meeting.

“It starts off every single meeting with having them tie their ties,” Constantino said.

“After that we’ll go through good sportsmanship or setting the table at dinner or brainstorming ideas of how to talk, you know, what you can do around the school to really stand out and be above the rest. Look good, feel good, do good — that’s the motto of it.”

Besides Guys with Ties, the football team is involved in National Reading Month,

Victory Day, an annual youth camp, and, for the first time this year, Wreaths Across America.

For National Reading Month in March, some of the players read to Reynolds Elementary School students.

“We’ll wear the jerseys and then we’ll just read to a class of kids,” Costantino said.

Senior Garrit Aissen said this is one of his favorite ways to serve the community. He said the kids’ eyes light up when they see the players.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re the starter, it doesn’t matter if you barely play. It’s just, ‘You’re a football player!’” Aissen said. Costantino said when he was younger he loved to go out and see even high school football players.

“Just being in the position we are to have an impact on them is huge,” he said.

Sophomore Ty Williams said one of his favorite outreach activities is Lilli’s Victory Day, an annual event for people in the community who have disabilities.

“They get to come out, and for about an hour we have

them on the football field. We show them around to our facilities, and then we run through different drills with them and allow them to kind of experience what life is like as a college football player,” Williams said. “You take it for granted how awesome it is to be a college football player, and it’s a great way to allow these other people to experience that.”

Another annual community event is the youth camp the team puts on every summer just before school starts. The camp takes place on a Sunday in the Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium about a week before most of the students come back to campus.

Senior Evan McGee, a running back for the team, said they get to talk with the kids for a while before taking them out on the field to try the different positions.

“They get a chance to meet with us one-on-one, play catch, talk to us about football, talk to us about school, what it’s like to grow up around Hillsdale, and we can talk to them about where we’re from,” McGee

said. “They’re always interested in that.”

Before spring break, the team helped pick up wreaths that had been placed on veterans’ graves as part of the Wreaths Across America program.

Head coach Keith Otterbein said helping the community is a way the players live out the team’s core values of tradition, character, and service.

“We try to create as many situations as we can as a football program for our players to understand the blessings that they have in their life and the opportunities to give back,” Otterbein said.

Aissen said giving back to the community helps them focus on something much more important than football: their relationships with people in the community around them.

“They do a lot for us,” Aissen said. “I mean, they go to every single one of our games. They always support us. So if we can give back to those who give to us, it’s super important. And it’s also humbling in a way. You realize there’s so much more to life than just football.”

Charger Chatter A id A n B rewer , B A se BA ll

What’s your proudest moment as an athlete?

My proudest moment was hitting a home run against Findlay during my sophomore year to send us to the conference tournament.

What is a fun fact about you?

I’ve had more than 30 stitches in my face from various dumb activities as a kid What do you enjoy doing in your spare time.

Do you have any superstitious habits or routines while playing?

I run out to the field to write my grandpa’s favorite number and my other grandpa’s nick name in the dirt for some good luck.

My family and I went to Spain for a friend’s wedding and getting to be in Barcelona and on the coast was pretty in credible.

Hillsdale lost its first home game of the season, 11-3, to GVSU. Courtesy | r egan Monnin

C harger S port S

Action Shooting

Chargers win SASP Nationals for second straight year

By Carly Moran Assistant Editor

Hillsdale’s action shooting

team won first place in Centerfire Pistol for the second time at the Scholastic Action Shooting Program National Championship.

The event was held in Talladega, Alabama, March 10-13. The team’s second year of winning also marked its second year of being an official team, meaning it has won nationally since its founding. Hillsdale defeated military academies such as Westpoint and Texas A&M’s Corp of Cadets Marksmanship Unit.

“We beat Texas A&M by 10 or 15 seconds,” senior Zac Ailes said. “That’s a solid lead. We took their big centerfire handgun trophy. The really competitive programs require military service, and we’re just some kids who wanted to shoot. It’s cool that we’ve been able to come this far under our own steam.”

Besides winning first in the centerfire division, the team also won second in the 1911 pistol division. Senior Greg Clement took first place for men’s overall, and junior Zech Steiger placed second. In the women’s division, senior Sarah Wagoner won first place in the 1911 division, and third in the centerfire division.

For the centerfire pistol competition, the athletes shot sponsored Springfield Armory

Swim

XDM Elite 5.25” 9mm pistols. In the 1911 division, they used Springfield Armory Emissary 9mm 1911s.

“Leading up to nationals I was focused on preparing my mind and body for the task,” Clement said. “I was focused on staying hydrated, eating well, and visualizing the perfect match as many times, and in as much detail, as possible.

I was aiming to put down a consistent match, not necessarily my fastest match. A bad stage hurts you far more than a good one helps.”

According to Ailes, the team has come a long way. Last season, the team was not authorized to shoot at the John Halter Shooting Sports Education Center, so they had to practice at Lost Nation Shooting Range in Pittsford, Michigan.

“This team was my baby for a long time, so in my final year to be on the team that won the trophy, is a great way to leave the program,” Ailes said. “From not even being allowed to practice at Halter to being one of Hillsdale’s most successful teams and winning the nationals, that was a big deal.”

As one of the founding athletes, Ailes attributes the win to not only the athletes. Head coach Adam Burlew has taught the team from the beginning, and Ladies for Liberty coordinator Gena Grant initiated the sponsor-

Swim makes history, two Chargers finish as all-Americans

By Maddy Welsh News Editor

For the first time in program history, two Charger swimmers earned All-American honors in the same season at the 2023 NCAA Division II championship meet March 8-11.

Sophomores Elise Mason and Megan Clifford traveled to Indianapolis for this year’s championship meet. Mason, who was Hillsdale’s sole representative at nationals last year, swam the 500 yard, 1000 yard, and 1650 yard freestyle events. This year she was joined by Clifford who qualified to race the 200 yard butterfly.

“The meet itself can be kind of a stressful environment just for me, because you get there and there are big teams there and you’re the only one on your team, especially right away when Megan wasn’t there yet,” Mason said. “It was really helpful having Megan come and have a really good race herself. Having another teammate there really was helpful too, because it wasn’t just me trying to squeeze in somewhere on the bleachers. We had more of a team there.”

Both athletes hit lifetime bests in one event each and earned All-American status by placing within the top 16 in their best events.

On day three of the meet, Clifford beat her own best time by about a second in the preliminary heat and moved from the number 16 seed to number 8 for the final. In the final, she beat out one more athlete to place seventh overall with a time of 2:01.81, becoming the fifth All-American Charger swimmer in history and the first since 2019.

“I was very surprised by my performance, but I am very proud of how I did,” Clifford said. “Becoming an All-American was a goal I

ship between the college and Springfield Armory.

“I give credit to Adam, and Gena as well,” Ailes said. “She has done a lot. She facilitated the relationship with Springfield. The guy who ran the team before me from the student side, Elias McConnell, did a lot of the initial legwork to get the program up and running. I think a lot of it has been Adam’s very serious attitude. He will get mad at you if you miss practice. That kind of thing goes a long way. We’ve taken the program very seriously and that reflects in the scores.”

Burlew also said discipline was key to the team’s performance.

“I’m very picky as to who I have on the team because I know what it takes to shoot at the level that I’m asking them to perform,” Burlew said. “Most people could shoot much better than they do but won’t put the time in. On our team, ‘fast’ is also known as the ‘F-word.’ Anytime anyone wants to go fast, they forsake the process and only care about the outcome. This almost always results in a lot of misses and a terrible score. It’s because they got greedy.”

The college won by 17 seconds against Texas A&M in the centerfire division, and earned second place in the 1911 competition by only 5 seconds.

“It was nerve racking for a

bit there after we competed, because we could see Texas A&M’s scores,” Ailes said, who competed in both divisions. “We could hear their cadences and we knew that whatever it was going to be, it was going to be very close.”

Senior Will Galsterer, one of the four Hillsdale men from the winning A squad, emphasized the importance of a team mentality.

“Focusing on individuality is fine during practice as being very self aware of your own

Women’s Track

had for before I graduated and I was surprised but very excited that I was able to achieve it this season.”

This swim broke not only her own personal record but also the G-MAC record and an 11-year-old Hillsdale College record.

“I experienced one of the best swims by a swimmer of mine in my 32 years of college coaching,” he said. “Last year, she just wasn’t able to figure it out in terms of swimming at that high level against those guys. She got really nervous. But a combination of controlling her nerves and just swimming it the right way and keeping with her pace allowed her to really break through.”

On the final day of the meet, Mason swam the 1650, her top event. Going in, she was seeded number 25 with a time of 11:17.51. She improved upon this time by about 12 seconds, finishing in 16:59.27 and improving upon her seed to take eleventh place.

“It’s pretty extraordinary for someone to drop that much time,” Kirner said.

“When you get to that level, that’s quite a bit. She’s always been doing really good things. She didn’t have the storied career that some of the kids do coming out of high school and such and she kind of was ready to take off when she got to college. I feel kinda lucky in that way.”

Mason had already held the Hillsdale record in the race, so her improved time made her the first Charger to break 17 minutes in the 1650 yard freestyle and the sixth All-American Charger swimmer in history.

“Both of these athletes are at a point where they haven’t perfected this by any means, they both have more to do, so this was just a really great meet for both of them,” Kirner said.

flaws is vital to your effectiveness on the range. When it comes time to compete as a squad, and as an extension of the whole team, it is very important to compete at a consistent and controlled pace,” Galsterer said. “We don’t go into competitions with the goal of setting personal records, that is done in practice.”

As five athletes graduate this spring, the action shooting team is looking for new pistol shooters for the fall. Spring

tryouts may be announced soon.

“I’m looking for shooters who want to shoot better and are willing to break habits and acquire new ones,” Burlew said. “In terms of an individual versus team sport, I don’t see it as being all that different from other sports. If every player on a team wants to get better as an individual, then the team benefits from that.”

Nine Chargers compete at Nationals, Wamsley earns all-American honors

By Tracy Wilson Design Editor

Sophomore Liz Wamsley took home All-American honors in the 5000m run, as the women’s track and field team sent nine athletes to the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach March 10 and 11.

“The championships are always a whirl of emotions,” head coach R.P. White said. “We had some very good performances, and other things we wish would have panned out in our favor. I’m very proud of the large crew of athletes we had in attendance.”

Wamsley earned an All-American title after she finished seventh in the 5000 meter

Softball

run on Friday with a time of 16:29.77.

Juniors Meg Scheske and Gwynne Riley competed in the mile run. Scheske took sixth place in the mile run on Friday with a finishing time of 4:58, while Riley finished 13th with a time of 4:50.48.

Sophomore Averi Parker threw 13.25 meters in the shot put, earning her 14th place in the event. Sophomore weight thrower Katie Sayles took 12th with a throw of 18.04 meters in the women’s weight throw.

In the distance medley relay, the Chargers took 9th with a time of 11:36. Scheske and Riley, along with sophomores Shura Ermakov and Reese Dragovich competed in the event.

The 4x400 relay runners

took 14th place with a time of 3:49. The team consisted of sophomore Shura Ermakov, sophomore Reese Dragovich, freshman Francesca Frederici, and senior Dakota Stamm.

Ermakov said although the team’s final ranking was not ideal, she was still proud of its efforts.

“I think overall the team performed well, even if the way we finished wasn’t what we wanted,” Ermakov said. “In the two relays I competed in, the DMR improved its predicted standing by one place. One thing I wish I had done better was be more aggressive at trying to pass on the last 200m of the DMR.” Ermakov said she felt a lot of excitement leading up

to the DMR race, but handled it well.

“My favorite moment was warming up with my teammate Reese before the DMR, because we were both really excited to compete,” Ermakov said. “I think I did really well at managing my nerves and excitement at this nationals meet as compared to previous years.” The track and field team will jump right back into action this upcoming weekend, competing at the Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open at Cedarville University on March 25. The following weekend, the team will compete at the VertKlasse Meeting at High Point University on March 31.

Kapteyn throws no-hitter, softball goes 8-4 on Florida trip

By Olivia Pero Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale softball team left Florida above .500 after going 8-4, and junior pitcher Erin Kapteyn was named G-MAC softball pitcher of the week after throwing her first career no-hitter.

“We came back against Embry-Riddle — which was probably one of the tougher teams we faced — and won 4-3,” head coach Kyle Gross said. “That was the first time we beat them in school history.”

Kapteyn threw the no-hitter against the Queens College Knights in the first game as well as two shutouts later in the week.

Sophomore pitcher Joni Russell said the second game against Florida Southern was close, with freshman outfielder Emma Sather being a key player in the game.

“There was a hit out to

center field and she made a perfect throw to get the out at home plate, preventing a run from scoring,” Russell said.

“She also was a speedster on the bases — as usual — and scored on a hit to the first baseman, who couldn’t field it because it had so much spin. That extra run was great with it being such a close game.”

Other key plays include Emma Vis’ home run and Taylor Lewis’ RBIs to score critical runs in multiple games, freshman utility player Maggie Olaveson said.

According to Gross, there were a couple of additional games the team could have won.

“We lost to Le Moyne in eight innings, and maybe should have won that one,” Gross said. “We also played down to some competition a couple of times.”

The teams in Florida were competitive and well matched, freshman utility

player Taylor Lewis said.

“Some of the teams were stronger than others, but overall we played good competition,” Lewis said.

Due to injuries, the roster is down, so those on the field got a significant amount of playing time, Gross said.

“Overall we got great experience and came away with a winning record,” Gross said.

Lewis said the team needs to continue to rely on one another and play for one another moving forward.

“This mindset motivates us and reminds us to play for the girl next to us,” Lewis said. “When we are playing for one another, our energy is higher and we are all having more fun.”

The Chargers’ record moves up to 13-12 on the season. They begin conference play at home this weekend, March 25-26, against Ashland University and Tiffin University.

The action shooting team won the centerfire pistol division by 17 seconds. Courtesy |

Junior Erin Kapteyn threw a no-hitter against Queens College Courtesy | James Gensterblum

Culture

Demonstrating faith: Students give their time to better community

By Isaac Green Sports Editor

Freshman Rebekah Preston stepped into a house just outside of Hillsdale and was immediately met by a shocking odor. Looking down she located the source of the smell — dog feces and urine on the floor. As she moved farther inside, furniture and other clutter in the walkway wrapped around her. Dirt and debris were everywhere. The house was one of many projects Preston worked on while on the Hillsdale College spring break mission trip March 10-16. A variety of students and organizations on campus came together for the trip to serve communities in Hillsdale and other areas in Michigan.

Among other things, students helped Crossroads Farm youth ministry clean up after the recent ice storm, served at the Helping Hands Pregnancy Resource Center, and spent time showing love to the elderly members of the community.

“The biggest idea that I took away from that, that I think I’d forgotten was possible and I just hadn’t experienced in a long time, was being knit together in the body of Christ,” sophomore Caitlin Filep said. “Literally striving side by side for the work of the Gospel.”

It was an opportunity to help others but also to bond with peers according to junior Elizabeth Sible.

“The community that was created was a genuine Christian community where people were encouraged to be vulnerable and get to know the random people that they were put into groups with,” Sible said. “It was definitely a very beautiful experience for me personally.”

Getting to know each other meant sharing unique experiences. Filep recalled

helping at Crossroads, where the temperature sat in the 30s as she and her group donned coats and shoveled rocks for a few hours.

“The physical exercise kept us warm, but also by the end we could barely feel our ears or our faces,” Filep said.

But even in the tough conditions, Filep enjoyed the community and knowledge that they were helping those who needed it.

“I didn’t expect to enjoy manual labor that much,” Filep said. “The people in my small group who I was working with made it great because we kind of just lifted each other up but also there was a lot of joy in doing a work that was totally dedicated to God.”

The work went to help people who are close in proximity to the students, though most students don’t interact with them regularly.

“I think it is a great way for college students to serve and love people who live right down the street from their dorms and classrooms,” said Brock Lutz, director of health services. “Short term missions trips are great, but it is potentially more impactful to serve locally in an ongoing manner.”

On a typical day students would wake up around 7 a.m. at the Hillsdale Free Methodist Church where Adam Rick, Hillsdale College’s chaplain, would lead the group in morning devotion and hymns around 8:30 a.m.

Afterwards, groups would head to their first projects, return for lunch at the church, and then head back out for more projects.

In the evenings, local churches hosted participants for dinners, devotions, and worship.

“They were very gracious to provide us a meal and a devotion from a member

of their congregation or the pastor,” Sible said. “We did a worship session and then ended it out kind of in small groups, debriefing the day and what we experienced, and then played games, went to bed, and did it all again.”

Though the trip is now over, some students are trying to keep their efforts going by continuing to work in the communities they visited on the mission — St. Paul’s Ability Resource Center, for example, which supports individuals with developmental disabilities.

“I have heard of some of the students planning on doing mall evangelism, visiting the jail, and also SPARC,” Lutz said. “Let me say, there are many churches in the community who have amazing opportunities to serve our local community. Students should take advantage of those things.”

These kinds of opportunities benefit the community, but they can also greatly influence those who are providing the assistance, according to Preston.

For her, the spring break mission trip and community it created helped her learn to have a heart for service even when it is difficult.

The old house that she struggled to want to work in, she now remembers for the opportunity it was to make a difference in someone’s life, changing her own heart when looking at those situations, she said.

“It’s having a heart to serve people who you don’t necessarily want to serve and you’re definitely not excited to serve but you need to be excited to help them as people,” Preston said. “It was definitely a big heart change there.”

Dress to impress: Look stylish & professional

Students create magazine to inform peers how to showcase their fashion sense while dressing for work

By Mark DenHollander Collegian Freelancer

In an effort to raise interest and offer practical guidance about business fashion, sophomore Carlie Steele and junior Adam Gaddy are developing a digital and printed publication called “Fashion in Business” in coordination with Career Services.

Steele and Gaddy are looking to provide students with practical advice on how to feel more comfortable about clothing choices. This guide will provide recommendations on different outfit options for men and women.

“Every career coach in the Career Services office is responsible for planning and executing an impact project each year they work in the office,” Gaddy said. “In short, impact projects are meant to either improve upon some current process within the career services office or create an entirely new resource for students and staff members to use. This year, Carlie and I wanted to create a resource to help Hillsdale students learn how to best present themselves when they begin

off-campus employment.

This fashion resource will complement some of the other culture awareness training that career services currently provide including “Pathway to Professionalism” and “Dining Etiquette.” Appropriate dress and fashion advice for the business environment are not addressed in detail in these trainings, so this will provide further guidance.

Junior Merrit Pope took part in the photoshoot for this publication. He shared that his experience with modeling for this project was both novel and enjoyable.

“I think modern fashion, especially in its day-to-day expression, is on a steady and pitiful decline,” Pope said. “Trends like athleisure and fast fashion are incredibly damaging to the contemporary conception of dressing well, and the mainstream sartorial taste in menswear is especially bad.”

Steele described how young adults can create a work-appropriate closet for when they go out into the job place.

“Having a formula for your wardrobe makes the process less intimidating,”

Steele said. “This includes having the basics: classic shirts, pants, and shoes. Once the staple clothing items are acquired, then you can move on to different clothing items that are more creative.”

Steele explained how fashion is one of the basic skills that every employee must adhere to, no matter what career they’re pursuing.

“A lot of the time, we have a lot of very ambitious students at this school that have a lot of lofty career goals, which is awesome,” Steele said. “But in order to achieve these career goals we need to get some of the basics of fashion down. I’m hoping this will help it become a less daunting task.”

Resources explaining how and where to shop will be provided, along with links to helpful websites and coupon

suggestions. According to Gaddy, the publication is particularly aimed at sophomores and juniors who are starting their first internships and seniors who are getting ready to start their first full-time job.

“I’d encourage everyone to look through it when it’s released and I’d also urge men to stop wearing sneakers with dress pants—wear real shoes made with leather, and no rubber soles,” Pope said.

Steele said that many college students do not have a lot of money to spend on clothes. This should not keep them from building a business wardrobe. She explained that thrift shopping is a great way to find vintage pieces and name brands for a fraction of the price.

Steele also said that students need to be aware that there are many different types of work cultures. She recommends that students do research about their intended field of work to make sure that they do not make wrong fashion choices.

Thinking ahead about fashion is a good thing to do while in college because you can start preparing for the workplace. Pope explained

how he thinks this publication will help students to start thinking ahead.

“I think this publication offers a starting point for people to discern a general standard for business casual in an objectively elegant manner,” Pope said.

A great way to start research for any specific field of work is to make observations in different internships and work experiences. Seeing what people wear, and what they do not wear, will provide you with a general idea of what type of clothing culture you can expect looking down the road.

“We want students to feel more confident when entering the workforce for the first time,” Gaddy said. “I remember preparing for my first internship, and there are plenty of stresses that come along with it apart from figuring out what to wear on your first day to make a good impression. It’s our hope that the fashion magazine, and the other professionalism guidelines getting published alongside it, will help students enter their first job confident in their professional abilities.”

Twenty Hillsdale College students spent their spring break serving the local community.

Courtesy | Rebekah Preston

Sophia Widmer, Merrit Pope, Molly Williams, and Cara Miller modeled business attire. Courtesy | Carly Steele

Backwoods to the big city

Amid their studies, Hillsdale students travel across the Midwest to see their favorite artists perform live

By Sarah Katherine Sisk Collegian Reporter

Despite major shifts in the way many listeners discover and stream their music, the live show reigns supreme as the lifeblood of the music industry.

Despite popular belief, Hillsdale’s remote location, secluded from major cities, doesn’t inhibit passionate students from seeing their favorite artists perform their craft live.

The concert experience plays a key role in the music appreciation sphere.

Junior Alexandra Hall grew up attending concerts. Her work running a music blog and working for a music label gave her no shortage of reasons to buy tickets.

“For about 8 years I’ve gone to at least one show a month,” Hall said. “Since coming to Hillsdale, that has gone down, so I average probably three shows a semester.”

According to Hall, Hillsdale isn’t the most convenient place

to live for avid concertgoers.

“I think especially as a young woman, there are a few hurdles to navigate when trying to go out,” Hall said. “If students don’t have cars, the money for gas or tickets, or a group to go to these shows with, it’s a way different experience than showing up to a venue that’s 20 minutes away from your house.”

Despite the various logistical challenges that Hillsdale’s location creates in attending concerts, Hall makes enjoying live music a priority.

“Because of what I do, a lot of people tell me that they’ve never been to shows or they want to go to more,” Hall said. “Music is so integral to many people’s lives, and experiencing these artists live is powerful, and by extension, important.”

Hillsdale’s distance from big cities has not inhibited freshman Rachel Downey from seeing her favorite artists.

“Living in Hillsdale has not stopped me from going

to concerts, as I own a car and drive to Chicago or Detroit, which are popular locations for artists to go,” Downey said.

Hall challenges the notion that one must purchase expensive tickets or compete with other fans to see live music.

“You don’t have to pay $800 or camp outside for three nights,” Hall said. “In fact, that sounds miserable. You can use social media, streaming platforms, blogs, etcetera to find tiny bands who would kill to have people care about their music. There is so much beauty in the concert-going experience, from historic venues to trashy bathrooms to strangers who share the same connection to the music that you do.”

Sophomore Abigail Fleming, who attends two to three concerts a year, believes fans expanded their music taste during the lockdowns, driving interest for new artists, particularly those who gained fame via social media during the pandemic.

Spotify update uses A.I. to curate music

By Alexandra Hall Science & Tech Editor

If video killed the radio star, then Spotify’s newest DJ update resurrected him. In late February, Spotify released an update of their platform which includes a DJ feature. The feature is still in its beta phase and only available on the mobile app, but it has already revealed a continued desire for curation.

In the age of chronic individualization in nearly every facet of modern life, the return to wanting a third party to choose your music strikes a familiar chord.

What used to be the roles of radio hosts, record store clerks, media outlets, and older siblings with vinyl collections has now evolved (or devolved) into an automatic DJ.

Last year Spotify acquired Sonatic, an AI voice platform that creates realistic voices from text. The AI DJ is Spotify’s first move in integrating the platform into the infrastructure of the

streaming platform. The DJ’s voice is modeled after the Head of Cultural Partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan, who served as a host of “The Get Up,” Spotify’s first morning show.

The choice to model the DJ’s voice after a beloved member of the company is another detail of this launch that exemplifies the still present desire for personality within engagement. Although the voice isn’t a real person, the DJ model strives

Fleming also noticed how the use of technology during live performances has had a negative effect on the concert experience, especially during Taylor Swift’s Eras tour that Fleming attended over spring break.

“It’s great to take pictures and videos to commemorate the experience, but there’s definitely a balance between taking them to remember the experience versus being overly worried about getting the perfect photo or video,” Fleming said. “For the Taylor Swift concert, there were so many tiktoks of the performances that I saw before the show, which got me really excited to see it live, but also made me feel like I was getting the show ‘spoiled’ before I even saw it, since so much of it was filmed and put online, which also seems unfair to the artist.”

Evaluating the net benefits and costs of technology use at concerts isn’t necessarily black and white, according to Hall.

Her website relies heavily on content captured at

concerts, and looking back at these documented moments can prompt joy when she is going through a hard time. That being said, the use of technology at live shows has its own set of unintended consequences.

“I think going to concerts has become nearly predatory in how disengaged the audience can be. TikTok has created a disheartening phenomenon. We no longer have ‘one hit wonders,’ we have ‘seven second wonders,’” Hall said.

Hall reflected on a Leon Bridges concert she attended last year where the majority of attendees only knew the songs that had gone viral on TikTok.

“The crowd was almost silent for most of the show until he sang ‘River,’ and that is crazy to think about because he is an incredibly successful musician who sold out an arena,” Hall said. “It’s strange to notice how commodified music has become when so many fans are not even engaged with the actual content.”

Downey is an avid concert goer, already having 6 concerts lined up for this year alone. She enjoys attending shows at large arenas such as United Center and Madison Square Garden, as well as local venues.

Downey grew up attending country concerts, but has since begun attending shows of bigger pop artists. Her favorite show to date has been Harry Styles.

“His concerts make you feel welcome and accepted,” Downey said. “His performances are always one of a kind, and I have been to three in the past year.”

According to Fleming, Swift plays a good combination of new and old music, which is nostalgic for many of her older listeners.

“Since I’ve grown up listening to her, hearing songs that I’ve loved since I was so young played live feels so nostalgic,” Fleming said. “Her concerts are also fun in their entirety, as a lot of fans dress up, so it’s really easy to bond and talk to other attendees.”

New movie bear-ly misses

By Jillian Parks Social Media Manager

to personalize the listening experience of users.

Spotify uses the listening data from the user to mix new releases and old favorites together, which allows people with extensive music libraries to revisit forgotten tracks and artists. Users can select a different vibe or genre and the DJ will use that to fine-tune the song selections.

The AI DJ may be a spark that propels people to engage with those third parties again and personalize their taste further. For younger generations who grew up with streaming platforms, the AI DJ introduces a third-party role that they’ve been unfamiliar with thus far. It can help create space for future curators and media outlets moving forward and is a spark of hope in building a more detail-oriented and customizable music experience.

Some people find AI to be spooky, but it’s no longer a hazy figure of the future. It’s here— and it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.

“Cocaine Bear” was almost a good movie. The dissonance created by realistic shots of human insides alongside dry one-liners with a 50 percent land rate can only succeed in a movie that knows what it is. This needed to be a “bad movie” with cheesy CGI, self-aware jokes, and unconvincing special effects– not an R-rated movie with unreliable humor and surprisingly nauseating shots interspersed throughout.

I wouldn’t recommend the movie by itself, however, sitting in the physical theater with an equally anticipatory and curious audience made it a worthwhile experience.

The premise of the movie is simple: 70 pounds of cocaine gets dropped off in a forest after a botched delivery, and a bear finds it. Even with a simple premise, the movie follows way too many storylines. Two kids looking for a waterfall, a mom looking for the kids, a drug dealer looking for cocaine, a detective looking for the drug dealers, delinquent teenagers looking for trouble, and a woman looking for love (I think) all find themselves face to face with this cracked out bear.

I struggled to figure out what the movie wanted to say. Once I realized this was not an anti-drug campaign after a strangely moving scene between the cocaine bear and her cubs, I decided this movie was about family. Eric, a former drug dealer who retired from working for his drug lord father, mourns the death of his wife and serves as the movie’s voice of reason in order to protect his son. Even Eric’s father proclaims that he is doing all of this for the safety of Eric and his son.

It’s a weirdly heavy undercurrent for a movie called “Cocaine Bear.”

I also had trouble placing the genre. It was not a straight comedy for the reasons just explained, but it was not a tragedy either because almost every death was followed up with some poorly delivered one-liner.

The movie also had some surprisingly beautiful shots. There was an ambulance scene that was excellently shot. There was truly compelling tension created with a heartbeat and a stethoscope. The climactic final battle-esque scene was really cool because of the setting, but I don’t think there are any real places that look like that, which is sad.

The problem is the movie needed to pick. Is this a beautiful movie about family? Is this a stupid movie about a cocaine bear? It had the potential to be really good with the latter, but with pieces of the former it just became a confusing viewing experience.

It wasn’t well-written enough to be quite selfaware, either. Sometimes I actively cringed at the screenwriting, and sometimes I genuinely laughed. Frankly, the movie could have invested the 30 million dollar budget in a better, more consistent writer and allowed the effects to be bad. Laughably bad.

All this to say, this is a movie that is worth seeing simply by virtue of it being confusing. This is an easy movie to engage with, to laugh with, to laugh at, and to cover your face when a bear starts eating someone’s intestines. This would not make a good streaming experience, so see it in theaters while it is out, even just to say that you saw it. I don’t anticipate this becoming a cult classic or critically acclaimed, but it’s the kind of thing I would trade for seven dollars and 95 minutes of my life.

“If video killed the radio star, then Spotify’s newest DJ update resurrected him.”

Rachel Downey poses at a Harry Styles concert.

Courtesy | Rachel Downey

Alexandra Hall attended a Ruby Waters concert in Detroit. Alexandra Hall | Collegian

Rapper Carter Ace and Alexandra Hall smile after his concert. Alexandra Hall | Collegian

Projected

Science & Technology

Entertainment or espionage: Campus reacts to potential TikTok Research Spotlight: Molly Williams

By Moira Gleason Collegian reporter

The Biden administration is demanding that TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company ByteDance Ltd. sell to an American company or face a national ban on the video-sharing app in the U.S. Some members of Hillsdale College’s faculty and student body think that such a ban has been a long time coming.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States made the demand recently following the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation of TikTok’s surveillance of American journalists revealed last December. U.S. lawmakers have cited increasing concerns that the app poses national cybersecurity threats and may censor content for political purposes.

Hillsdale Associate Professor of Economics Charles Steele said that banning TikTok is a matter of national security against a foreign threat, and it is not a free trade or free speech violation as some have proposed.

“TikTok should be banned,” Steele said. “That’s not an infringement on somebody’s rights. This is shutting down a Chinese espionage operation. It’s an intelligence and sabotage operation. It would be the same as if someone said, ‘Can’t I choose my friends?’ Yes, you can. But what if your friend was a Chinese agent arrested for espionage? You can still choose your friends, that’s not the point.”

According to Steele, TikTok is being weaponized by the Chinese to collect data on its users.

“TikTok is collecting data on you, the person using it,” Steele said. “They put keystroke loggers on phones and other computers. They target the data that you receive, so they’re shaping your news stories ... It’s a Chinese intelligence operation.”

Even though TikTok is not directly run by the Chinese Communist Party, Steele said, it still has access to data the app collects on its users.

“Every Chinese firm is required by Chinese law to operate on behalf of the

Chinese Communist Party if the party says so,” Steele said. “They have CCP leaders within TikTok, so there’s no question about that.”

Steele said that a sale of TikTok to an American company would not solve the cybersecurity threats that the app poses.

“The ownership of the hardware, software, and system is not the fundamental issue,” Steele said. “The system is designed to capture data, and it will be accessible to the Chinese Communist Party regardless.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee cited similar concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and connection to the Chinese government when they passed a bill known as the DATA Act on March 1 that would effectively block American interactions with ByteDance.

The U.S. has previously banned the app from federally issued devices, and some U.S. allies seem to be following suit. New Zealand announced on March 17 that it will ban the app from devices linked to Parliament. Britain, Canada, and the EU banned TikTok from government-issued devices in recent months.

Freshman Aidan Christian, who had a TikTok account in high school but has since deleted it, agreed with Steele that a TikTok ban is necessary because the app poses a threat to the privacy of its users, especially if they are federal employees.

“TikTok has a lot more stringent privacy violations than most social media apps,” Christian said. “It tracks keystrokes on your phone whether or not the app is open, whatever app you’re in. It sees everything you type. It tracks location, just like everything else. It tracks app interactions like what you visit and how long you spend on each thing. It’s very in-depth information. There should be nobody who works in any sort of field where sensitive information is dealt with who has a TikTok, because one data breach could lead to disaster worldwide.”

Sophomore Gavin Listro agreed that the bans currently in place against TikTok on

federally issued phones are necessary to protect sensitive information. Listro added that he would personally be in favor of a national ban against TikTok, but is not sure whether the U.S. government can legally take that action.

“I wish more people made the personal choice not to use it, and it would therefore be obsolete,” Listro said. “If it’s being weaponized, then yes, it should be gotten rid of. But if there’s no easy way to prove it, then it might be seen as a first amendment violation.”

According to Assistant Professor of History Edward Gutiérrez, it is because people will not make the personal choice to use the app that the government must step in and impose the ban.

“What we have here is the friction between ethics and politics,” Gutiérrez said. “The former must precede the latter…when man cannot regulate himself, the law must… Social media, with TikTok being the ultimate example, is exhibitionism. Now amplify this moral degradation with a national security risk. This should not be an issue, but since our ethical standards have sunk so low, we require laws to mitigate that failure.”

Freshman Emma Kate Mellors, who recently deleted her TikTok account, said she believes TikTok poses a privacy threat to its users. However, she doubts that most college students will be concerned about the privacy issues of the app because of its popularity and addictive format.

“We don’t really think that far in advance sometimes,” said Mellors. “Plus there’s the thought of ‘what do I have to be revealed?’”

Steele said in light of the recent consensus across the world in banning TikTok, all college students should be concerned about the privacy threat they are imposing on themselves by using TikTok, even if the ban does not go through.

“I think if someone hears what I have to say about it and still uses TikTok, they’re either ignorant or malicious,” Steel said. “I understand that it is entertaining…But this is a much more serious issue than that. Get rid of it.”

Compiled by Jillian Parks Social media manager

What was the focus of your research? I was looking at the effects of agricultural land use on stream biology, specifically what’s within the riparian corridor. That’s the area of land immediately adjacent to the stream, and this is important because it’s been found that the riparian corridor can act as a buffer to the stream ecosystem. Trees and shrubs in that riparian corri dor arwe called riparian veg etation. When rain brings runoff with chemicals, fertilizers, pollutants, stormwater runoff, whatever, that riparian vegetation will act as a buffer and draw in those chemicals before it enters the stream. When you remove that riparian vegetation, the stream is able to get a lot more polluted a lot more quickly. I looked at two streams, both in an agricultural water shed, meaning the land that drains into those streams is predominantly agricultural. The main difference between the two streams was their riparian corridors. One of their riparian corridors was mostly agricultural and one was forested.

What did you look at to measure these effects?

We looked at the differences in insect populations between the streams and what’s called benthic aquatic macroinvertebrates, which are bottom-dwelling critters, things like larval insects, or snails or clams or leeches, anything that lives on the bottom of the stream. This is important because those types of organisms present are indicative of levels of pollution.

What did you find?

Ultimately, we found that my agricultural riparian corridor stream had organisms indicating much higher levels of pollution. The forest stream had organisms indicating much lower levels

of pollution. But what was interesting, they both had what’s called high conductivity values. Conductivity is just a measure of all the suspended material in the stream, which is a pretty rudimentary estimate for pollution because the more stuff in the water, the more polluted it is. The fact that they both had high conductivity values is showing that they both are exhibiting effects of being in agricultural land.

and still help the stream biodiversity quite a bit.

Did you have any professorial input or any specific advisers that were really good at helping this?

“Dr. Houghton was my thesis advisor, and it was really great. I was kind of in a unique position to be conducting my research off campus. I was actually working part time at a summer camp while I did my research, so he was great throughout the entire process. It was his idea to look at adult insects and not just benthic aquatic macroinvertebrates, so that doubled the data of my study.”

What are you planning on doing post graduation? How does this research at all relate to it?

The dif- ferences in the biology between the two streams is indicating that despite those inputs from the agricultural land, the riparian forests can still promote biodiversity and keep organisms less polluted.

What is the applicability of something like this?

So we can’t get rid of agriculture; our population is growing. We’ve got to feed everyone. There’s no way to eliminate farmland, so what’s important is to pursue means to mitigate the negative effects of agriculture without actually removing agriculture. What’s great about this is that this supports research that the riparian corridor is more important or plays a greater impact on the health of a stream than necessarily the watershed. For agricultural streams, you can take very relatively small measures such as planting trees and shrubs directly on the stream bank without removing much land for farming

“I am hoping to go into fisheries and wildlife. I’m pretty flexible with exactly what I do, but my thesis research in addition to past internship experiences and experiences outdoors as a kid has really increased my passion for freshwater specifically. I’m trying to focus my job search on the Great Lakes area, or working with streams or wetlands in need of restoration.

Why are you motivated to go into this field? Why do you think it’s important?

“A lot of it is just a passion for the outdoors. I used to be at the pre-health sciences track until I took a general ecology course and realized that I was really interested in working to protect our natural resources – not only to protect freshwater systems for the sake of biodiversity, but also for human health and consumption. Especially with recent events, like the East Palestine train derailments, it’s a really developing field with lots of new opportunities. As our population grows, the demands on the earth are more important, but I think it’s important to sustain human life, but at the same time, to try to protect our resources.”

Professor feature: Christopher Heckel, Hillsdale-born botanist

By Elizabeth Crawford Collegian Reporter

Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher D. Heckel has made a profession out of stopping to smell the tulips. Heckel has taught at Hillsdale College for five years, but his love for biology started as a kid.

“I’ve always been in love with biology,” Heckel said. “When I was in fourth grade we were learning about the parts of the flower, and I just thought that was the neatest thing. I dissected so many flowers after learning how to do

Heckel said his favorite flower, aesthetically, is the tulip, but second choice is Arisaema triphyllum, a flower commonly known as Jack-in-the-pulpit. His love of flowers followed him to graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh, where he examined the impact of deer on the unpalatable forest herb in his research.

“From a science perspective, my still and current favorite flower is the flower from my dissertation that I worked on, which is Jack-in-the-Pulpit,” Heckel said. “It’s a woodland herb and it has deceptive pollination sydrome, so it actually traps bugs to do its pollination.”

Among the other unique features of the flower, Heckel said that every year it can change its gender

from male to female, female to male, or from a gender to no gender at all.

“It’s a way for the flower to focus its efforts on being one sex or the other to maximize what it can do with its resources,” Heckel said. “That improves its competition for reproduction.”

Within the context of his dissertation, Heckel said he was studying the flower’s impact on deer as an unpalatable forest herb.

“It’s typically not consumed because it has highly irritating crystals in its tissue,” Heckel said. “If you were to chew on one of these plants your mouth would start to burn and you wouldn’t want to eat much more.”

Some students, such as sophomore and biology major Sam Wallace, have a particular appreciation of Heckel’s interest in plants.

“I really like him because he’s a botany guy and we have similar interests,” Wallace said. “He definitely knows what he’s doing.”

Junior Bree Cocelli is one of Heckel’s advisees and has taken a few of Heckel’s classes.

“His passion for plants, and his extensive knowledge of all things plant-related is infectious and makes all of his students—but especially his advisees for research— want to learn more and to be better scientists. My biggest advice to any Hillsdale student, even if they want to stay as far away from strosacker as possible, is to take a class with Dr. Heckel. You won’t regret it!”

Before finishing his dissertation, Heckel received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hillsdale College in 1999, and a master’s degree in biology from Georgia Southern University in 2004. One of Heckel’s favorite stories from graduate school concerns the time he went hunting for a flower in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

“In our doctoral program, my adviser worked on a particular genus of plants and one of the species lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,” Heckel said. “She was looking for someone in the lab to go collect these flowers for her.”

Volunteering to go search for these flowers, Heckel arrived in March, with snow still on the

ground and a small chance of finding these tiny flowers.

After wandering around the forest, following the directions of an amateur botanist, Heckel said he only found the flowers after giving up.

“I sat down on this rock outcropping to figure out what my next plan of action was going to be, and I looked down at my feet and amongst these native cacti I found the flower I was looking for.”

Heckel’s home wasn’t in the Upper Peninsula or Georgia, though. In fact, he’s a self-de scribed “original townie.”

“I grew up in Hillsdale County,” Heckel said. “My wife also grew up in the area, and when we started a family we wanted to be close to family.”

After moving back to Hills dale in 2000, Heckel taught at Hillsdale Academy as a high school science instructor before the college offered him a job in the biology department as a botanist.

“When the previous bota nist left for another position, that created an opening for me,” Heckel said. “I was lucky enough to get the job.”

Heckel said his current

research in his lab focuses on three main areas: the population biology of forest herbs, effect of renerative agriculture on soil health, and the dendrochronology of the college’s campus hardwood trees.

“My botany classes and independent researchers have been collecting and analyzing tree cores, (which is a way to count tree rings without cutting the tree down) to develop a master chronology for the local hardwood tree population which can be further used to explore

Senior Molly Williams studied stream biology in upstate Michigan

Molly williams spent part of her summer conducting resarch. Courtesy | Molly Williams

Christopher Heckel is an assistant professor of biology and a botanist.

Courtesy | Hillsdale College

Features

‘Mission Possible’: Local woman shares parents’ story

By Aubrey Gulick Senior Reporter

Nancy Hastings spent her career writing people’s stories during her 20 years at Hillsdale Daily News. Now that she’s retired, she’s decided to do the same for her parents.

Nancy’s book “Mission Possible” was published on Jan. 24 and details the missionary efforts of her parents, who traveled to Brazil in the 1950s to spread the Gospel.

“After working for the Daily News for so many years and telling other people’s stories, I always wanted to tell their stories,” Nancy said. “I mean, who has parents that go to another climate or live in a new world? I wanted to do it for my children, so they have something to reflect on.”

Hours of combing through her parent’s memoirs and notes produced her first book. Although she used pseudonyms for her parents

and changed the names of many locations in the book, the story belongs to them.

“They were two Americans who were convinced that God was calling them to share the good news of the gospel,” Nancy said. “So they went on this adventure.”

“Mission Possible” follows a young couple who served a small church in Tennessee before receiving a call to pursue mission work in South America. In the mid-1950s, they traveled to Brazil, where they would spend the next 25 years.

“When they first arrived, there were a lot of hardships,” Nancy said. “Not just because they didn’t have supplies. Mom had to learn how to live. She was a farm girl from southern Indiana and had to live in a new country with new customs, climate, and language — everything was so new.”

Ben Hastings, Nancy’s son, was enthusiastic about the

project when he heard about it shortly after his mother retired.

“As a child, I grew up hearing about their travels when we would visit the family farm. It was always exciting to hear my grandfather talk about his many adventures and the places they lived,” Ben said.

Nancy was born in Brazil and lived there through sixth grade. She only remembers the end of her parent’s 25 years of ministry. A missionary woman with a teaching certificate taught Nancy and her siblings.

“It was kind of like being homeschooled. We would walk to her house, and she had a room with a chalkboard,” Nancy said. “She taught us all, even though we were in different grades. It was a one-room schoolhouse situation.”

Although the family eventually returned to the United States to give Nancy and her

older brothers a more normal high school experience, they have frequently returned to Brazil, where her parents owned a home for years.

“It was so much fun because the book was documenting something that happened, even though it’s historical fiction,” Nancy said.

Although she initially wanted to self-publish, Nancy decided against it after realizing she could spend thousands of dollars editing the manuscript.

“My goal was just to get their story out there,” Nancy said. “And to recoup the money I put into it, if it does well, that’s just icing on the cake.”

Although the publishing company, Christian Faith Publishing, initially wanted a picture of Nancy on the cover of the book, Nancy turned to local artist John Castellese.

‘Like planning weddings, minus the dress’

By Isabella Helms Collegian Reporter

Sure, there might be a few awkward slow dances, but the Greek social calendar would be incomplete without the elegant attire, special venues, and colorful themes of date parties and formals.

Sorority and fraternity date parties are a recurring part of Greek life, providing opportunities for students to socialize, dress up, and have fun. From the elaborate decorations to the carefully selected themes, even casual date parties or black-tie events require planning and execution.

At the forefront of this effort are students like sophomore Emma Turner, the director of events for the Kappa chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

With a committee to assist with set-up and clean-up, Turner’s responsibilities include securing a venue, choosing a theme, and coordinating with vendors. Her passion for event planning began when she was a freshman, and she saw the opportunity to bring her vision for fun and creative events to life.

“Planning these events is like planning weddings, minus the dress,” Turner said. “You don’t realize how much goes into these events until you actually start planning them. It’s insane how many moving parts there are when you are running a seemingly simple sorority social function.”

Turner said picking a date and venue requires finding a space that is both aesthetically pleasing and safe, as well as working with the location’s staff to accommodate catering and a DJ.

Last year, Kappa held their formal at the Dawn Theater, the first event to be hosted in the newly renovated space. This year, Kappa plans on hiring catering from a local business called Cilantro Tacos. Turner chose the restaurant in order to support a small business in the community.

On the day of the formal, Turner starts setting up and decorating at 3 p.m., and works the event until 11 p.m.

While the work may be onerous, sophomore and Kappa Sarah Trimbath said that the end result is a stunning event that attendees get to enjoy with their peers. “I really enjoyed planning and designing one of our banners from our Y2K Kappa date party,” Trimbath said. “I have always loved formals and date parties because they’re a great opportunity to spend time with my sisters and involve other members of the campus.”

Sophomore Danny Molter, a member of the Beta Kappa chapter of Alpha Tau Omega, said that the dance floor is always the highlight of his night.

“I’m personally always stoked to dance at formals and date parties. When the music hits, it’s hard not to bust a

move,” Molter said. “It’s always a great high-energy environment filled with people excited to be there.”

Sophomore Emily Hardy, a member of Pi Beta Phi’s Michigan Alpha chapter, said that the sorority faced an unexpected complication at their most recent disco-themed formal.

“My favorite memory about setting up for this past date party was when our 9 by 9 foot balloon arch that we made in the house could not fit in one of the girl’s minivans. So, what else do you do but walk it two miles to the venue?” Hardy said. “Very thankful for everyone who helped.”

For students like Max Aylor, a sophomore and member of ATO, date parties and formals provide an opportunity to break out of comfort zones and connect with others.

According to Aylor, the fraternity’s formals are known for their emphasis on dressing up, gentlemanly behavior, and encouraging guys to interact with the opposite sex.

“It brings people outside of their comfort zones because oftentimes you get people who are reluctant to go and talk to people, and then you put them in a date party environment and they’ll start branching out,” Aylor said.

Aylor also said that date parties and formals help to break down stereotypes about “hillsdating.”

“You go to these events to have a fun time with your date, not to propose,” Aylor said.

“Nancy had an idea of what she wanted. I did a layout sketch, and after a few changes, we settled on the final rendering,” Castellese said.

Despite this being his first time designing a book cover, Castellese found the process similar to his other commission work. He said he finds both the book and its author inspiring.

“If a person uses their gifts and talent, anything is possible. This pertains to Nancy and her parents, who shared this adventure,” Castellese said.

In addition to Castellese’s artwork, the book includes sketches that Nancy’s dad

completed in his journal during his time in Brazil.

“He was an avid artist throughout his entire life, and I cherish the many drawings and works of art that he left our family to enjoy,” Ben said.

The response to the book has been overwhelmingly positive, Ben said. Many community members came to show their support at a book signing in February.

“I’m so proud of my mom for accomplishing her goal of writing this book. It’s been a dream of hers for a long time, and it’s amazing that this story is available for the rest of the world to enjoy,” Ben said.

Local center extends a new Helping Hand

By Micah Hart Circulation Manager

When the doors swing open at Helping Hands Pregnancy Resource Center on Howell Street, clients are welcomed by a newly familiar face.

Emelie Randell began her role as office coordinator at the Hillsdale-based pregnancy support center in February. Randell was hired as part of the center’s plan to expand their outreach in the community.

“The people who work and volunteer at Helping Hands are amazing, and hiring Emelie was inspirational,” Moreno said. “It makes it that much easier to give each person who comes through the door or calls on the phone the attention he or she deserves as made in the image and likeness of God.”

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Michigan’s subsequent passage of ballot proposal three, Asberg said that Helping Hands has continued to grow.

Sophomore Charlie Albus discussed the process behind ATO Art Show, one of his favorite events.

“Everyone makes a painting and submits it to the social chairman, who works with his buddies to make funny captions before the pieces get auctioned off with fake money at the event,” Albus explained.

Next to a slanted picture of JFK’s inaugural speech in Aylor’s room hangs a Teletubbies painting, featuring Albus’s face as the sun in the background. Aylor has kept it since his first ATO art show, and he plans to always have a spot for it on his wall.

Sophomore Garrison Danzer, member of Delta Tau Delta’s Kappa chapter, said that his fraternity uses date parties and formals as unique ways to build community.

“Fraternity formals are really fun. In Delta Tau Delta, it is tradition in the fall semester for the graduating seniors to give their littles gifts, and in the spring, the littles give gifts to their bigs,” Danzer said. “Some are meme gifts and others are more serious like a custom paddle signed by the whole fraternity.”

While the planning and execution of these events can be exhausting, many in Greek life agree that the end result is worth it.

“At the end of the day, we’re all here to have fun and make memories,” Turner said.

“I hope to add to the compassionate atmosphere of Helping Hands,” Randell said. “Since I am the first person to greet clients when they walk in or call in to the center, my prayer is that the clients feel welcomed and loved from their first moment with us.”

Randell said she hopes to foster a compassionate and loving community for those in need of help.

“I quickly realized that working in the political side of things is not how the Lord has equipped me,” Randell said. “But He has equipped me to work in a pregnancy resource center, to be faceto-face with the women actively affected by these laws and by the culture.”

With Randell’s help, Bryce Asberg, the organization’s executive director, said the center will be able to better support its mission.

“Emelie is a reminder to us that God brings us exactly the personnel that we need at just the moment we need them,” Asberg said. “We look forward to seeing Emelie’s service accelerate our growth and be a blessing to Hillsdale County.”

Randell helps with the office’s administrative tasks, which she said allows for other staff and volunteers to prioritize spending their time with clients.

Lisa Moreno, a volunteer with Helping Hands, said that Randell has made everyone’s job in the office easier.

“We are in the beginning stages of a partnership with the local courts that will dramatically expand the number of clients we serve through parenting mentorship,” Asberg said. “With this growth, we needed an office staff position to increase standardization and consistency, as well as to handle the administrative load that comes from serving hundreds of Hillsdale families.”

Randell’s hiring came as part of a five-year plan for the center. Although Randell is a recent college graduate, she said she formerly served as a volunteer receptionist at a center in Brighton.

“Our line of work can be incredibly difficult, and Emelie is on the front lines as the main contact point for our clients,” Asberg said. “We need staff who have a firm trust in Christ and who care deeply about our mission of equipping women and men to make life-affirming decisions. Emelie meets these criteria, and it is a joy to have her join our work.”

Asberg said he and the team are excited to see how Randell’s work impacts the community and helps the center to fulfill its mission.

“I have loved finding my place on the team and getting to take part in a ministry that serves Hillsdale in such a meaningful way,” Randell said. “Also, seeing the babies is a huge bonus!”

Nancy Hastings’ book features the story of her parents, who worked as missionaries and pose here front of a school they built in Brazil.

Courtesy | Nancy Hastings

Senior Meghan Dudzic and sophomore Emma Turner attended Kappa Kappa Gamma’s cowgirl-themed date party. Courtesy | Emma Turner

Features

Undergraduate entrepreneurs build businesses

By Isaac Green Sports Editor

At some point, almost everyone has come up with their own business idea. Then comes the reality check, and most of these ideas are buried. Hillsdale’s Kehoe Family Initiative for Entrepreneurial Excellence encourages students to turn their lightbulb moment into a reality.

“It sounds simple, but we all have these ideas, and we just think we can’t do them,” said Linsey Larkin, a sophomore who is currently developing a date box subscription business. “I had a great opportunity to have a one-on-one experience with a graduate who started her own business, and her biggest takeaway was just to make the first sale.”

The Kehoe Initiative helps students to do just that. Hillsdale instituted the initiative in 2021, and it now coaches, finances, and supports a total of 17 students — taking ideas from the drawing board to the first sale.

Program members either develop personalized business ideas during the initiative or bring previous ideas in with them as they prepare to enter a variety of industries ranging from real estate to entertainment. Current enterprises include a dance studio, a landscape company, and a digital marketing agency.

Through the program, junior Alydia Ullman hopes to start her own coffee shop in Washington D.C., that will

provide an alternative to the businesses that populate the town she grew up in.

“I’ve been very frustrated with how small businesses in the area where I’m from, Alexandria, always lean left,” Ullman said. “The hope is that it will not only be a place where you can buy baked goods and coffee and books but also a place for debate and the discovery of truth. I want to post lectures and community events and be a place where Hillsdale values come to life.”

While with the initiative, students must connect with 10 business people in their field each semester and meet every two weeks with Executive Director of Career Services Ken Koopmans, who oversees the program, and Kevin Stucker, a program adviser.

“What Kehoe helps you do is develop your plan and start actually making progress on taking the right steps to be ready to launch it once you’ve graduated,” Ullman said.

Part of this process includes learning from professional entrepreneurs. To do this, members attend a minimum of four Executive Speaker Series events during their time with the program.

“We meet monthly, and we’ll have entrepreneurs come in and we’ll have dinner together. They will give a talk and then we will share our ideas with each other,” Ullman said. “We usually get together outside of that maybe once or twice a semester just for bonding purposes and catching each other up to speed on where we’re at.”

Junior Nicholas Cain has been planning businesses since he was little. He said the initiative has allowed him to take one idea further than the rest.

“With my knife-sharpening business, it’s entirely mobile

Quick Hits with Scot Bertram

By Lauren Scott

Assistant Editor

In this quick hits interview, WRFH General Manager Scot Bertram talks Huey Lewis and the News, bike rides, and radio.

Do you remember what one of your first words was as a child?

Mommy and daddy. Radio was also one of my first words.

How old were you when you got your first newspaper subscription?

I asked for and received a subscription to USA Today for my seventh birthday.

Who is the most famous person you have talked to either in person or on the phone?

Donald Trump was a guest on my radio show in 2012. If not Donald Trump, it might be Bill Cosby, who I’ve talked to three times.

What was the first concert you went to?

Huey Lewis and the News in 1991. It was a birthday present from my parents.

Do you have any hobbies you like to do with your children?

I frequently bike with my son, Alex. Our longest bike ride was 32 miles. We did 1,000 miles over the summer a few years ago. He’s the one that drives that. He wants to ride and ride and ride and ride and ride, and so I go along with him. And my daughter, Jillian, has started to come along a little bit on some of those trips.

Would you consider John J. Miller to be your BFF? No, but he is a very good friend.

What would be worse than a world without radio? I don’t like that question.

Besides radio, what brings you joy?

Family, children, and music.

Who are your radio role models?

Steve Dahl was one of my very first favorite hosts. Rush Limbaugh, who I think was just unparalleled. And my friend, Dan McNeil taught me more than anyone about preparing for shows, executing shows, having radio shows that sound like they should be on the air, and the importance of production in pieces.

What was your favorite date you and your wife would go on?

Bowling, which I wish we still did because I love bowling. Then we had kids, and it became far tougher to bowl in leagues.

If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?

same-day sharpening,” Cain said. “I go to the people’s houses and sharpen their knives in under an hour.”

Cain said he came up with the idea after recognizing the problem with other knife-sharpening businesses.

“For me, I think it was seeing a flaw in the current businesses where it takes a week to get your knives back.” Cain said. “I have kind of a practical vision with knife sharpening where I just want to get sharp knives to the customers right away.”

Cain said his vision for the business allowed him to keep himself on the right track as he moved forward while also leaving room to adapt.

Keeping this vision as a guiding principle requires skillful hiring, a task that Cain said he has developed during his time at the initiative.

“Gathering the right people is very important to the success and growth of a business,” Cain said. “We’ve talked about how to interview and how to gather the right type of person to make sure they fit the culture and mission of your business.”

Many students in the program plan to pursue their businesses developed with the program after graduation. But this should not dissuade prospective students who are hesitant to turn their current ideas into permanent careers. Developing as an entrepreneur, even with a temporary project, can provide invaluable experience for future pursuits, according to Cain.

“I’m treating this as more of a learning experience of seeing the ins and outs of business and entrepreneurship and then, after college, hopefully taking that to something in a different direction,” Cain said.

Like Ullman and Cain, Larkin’s business looks to provide creative options for a particular market. Her plan to pursue a date box subscription model grew out of conversations with her boyfriend last summer about creative dating ideas.

“It’s a series of themed dates delivered directly to your door, which is kind of fun, because date planning is kind of hard,” Larkin said. “Sometimes it’s hard to think of ideas, sometimes there’s no time, and sometimes money is an issue.”

Her solution is to work out the details for couples ahead of time.

“If we could imagine a world where, with just a few clicks of a button, you can have your perfect date experience delivered to your door with all of the materials included, it would be great,” Larkin said.

Larkin said that freshmen who are considering applying for the program should not hesitate if a business idea is not immediately ready.

“You don’t have to have everything ironed out,” Larkin said. “One of the great things is they have ideation hours, so they’ll help you figure that process out.”

Students can apply in the fall semester of their sophomore year, and the program accepts up to nine new members per application cycle.

Like Larkin, Ullman encouraged students to apply even if a fully formed business idea is not ready.

“I would jump into this because the resources are incredible,” Ullman said. “The community that you’re in is really inspiring and helps you work harder at your business and working with Ken and Kevin is also incredible. They really keep you accountable.”

I would say Milton Friedman. I didn’t get any economics courses in high school or college, so the way I learned a lot of my economics was through Friedman and his books. Almost more than anyone I can think of, I find myself referencing the insights that he has.

If you had to listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I would generally say the greatest rock song is “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones. So I guess if I picked a song to hear every day, I’d pick the best.

What is your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid? Sharkleberry Fin. Although, my wife suggested that I stop drinking Kool-Aid a few years ago to cut down on my sugar intake. Since the wife knows best, I did.

From top to bottom: Alydia Ullman hopes to open a coffee shop that serves baked goods, and Nicholas Cain runs a knife-sharpening service. Courtesy | Alydia Ullman and Nicholas Cain

Scot Bertram’s favorite Kool-Aid flavor is Sharkleberry Fin. Courtesy | Scot Bertram