Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 138 Issue 12 - 4 December 2014
Sundahl retires after 30 years
Junior named regional athlete of the year
Chris McCaffery Collegian Reporter
Bailey Pritchett Spotlight Editor Junior Emily Oren was determined to avoid running in college. She never anticipated she would win the most prestigious award for a cross country runner in the most competitive region in the nation. Last weekend, Oren was the second female runner from Hillsdale College to win the NCAA Division II Regional Athlete of the Year. “I mostly won the award because I won regionals,” Oren said. “But it’s also an accumulation of how you’ve done in other races.” With a time of 20:45, Oren helped the Chargers take second out of the 33 teams that competed at the NCAA Division II regional championship on Nov. 22. Coach Joseph Lynn said that Oren’s mental and physical strength make the perfect hybrid for a successful cross country runner. “She can handle a quick pace and move as fast as anyone at the end of the race,” he said. Oren runs 65 miles a week, training for at least two hours a day. “I was a decent runner in high
(Anders Kiledal/Collegian)
school,” she said. “I could have walked onto Division I teams, but I wouldn’t have been on scholarship right away. I was adamant that I wouldn’t run, but then I visited Hillsdale and loved the coaches.” Although Oren runs the same times as Division I athletes, she never doubted her decision to run for Hillsdale. “I could run on varsity
See Oren A7
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Daniel Sundahl, professor of English and director of the American Studies Program, is retiring in December after 30 years of teaching at Hillsdale. During his long and distinguished career at Hillsdale, Sundahl played a key part in forming many Hillsdale College institutions, including the American Studies Program, the Dow Journalism Program, and the Visiting Writers Program. When asked if he had anything to say to the Collegian about his retirement, Sundahl said, “No.” Sundahl was born and raised in Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1982. An accomplished poet and writer, his articles, book reviews, and poems have appeared in publications including the Southern Poetry Review, First Things, Commonwealth, and Image Journal. He has published three books of poetry, which are all out of print: “Loss of Habitat,” “Hiroshima Maidens: Imaginary Translations from the Japanese,” and “The Small Logics.” Earlier this semester he introduced Gregory Wolfe `80 during the Visiting Writers Program celebration of Image Journal, which has published Sundahl’s work. Provost David Whalen, who Sundahl helped hire decades ago, recalled his interview with the English department and many subsequent memories with fondness and respect. He said that when receiving candi-
Daniel Sundahl and his wife, Ellen Donohoe at a Hillsdale event.
(Photo
Courtesy of External Affairs)
character of Hillsdale. He also mentioned Sundahl’s “rigorous, intelligent and energetic mentorship” of students. to his students and to the college,” Whalen said in an email. “And that means students and colleagues who do not even know him are indebted along with the rest of us. Dr. Sundahl would eschew the cliché, but it is true: he will be sorely missed.” Kevin Portteus, associate professor of politics, will be the new director of the American Studies Program for the spring semester. Students like junior Jacqueline Frenkel said they will miss Sundahl’s unique ap-
proach in the classroom and his ability to teach “how to learn not only from literature but from life, that our time here is a time of sanctuary.” “He taught me to see poetry in the miracles of dandelions, wooly worms, and Milk Duds, which (I learned) are not to be shared,” Frenkel said in an email. “What I will miss most is a professor who showed me what it means to encounter each day as a student, humble, and hungry, and paying attention, the Internationally Unknown Poet who taught me how to live.”
A Few Good Men to help community with snow removal this winter Breana Noble Collegian Reporter
Senior Tyler Wilke stands beside the new truck for the A Few Good Men snow removal crews. (Photo Courtesy of Thomas King)
A Few Good Men, a volunteer club that helps local households and organizations with manual labor, will lend a hand to locals through its snow removal initiative and its new snow plow truck. “When it snows, it snows, and it has to be removed,” senior Tyler Wilke said. “There are a lot of people in the community who physically can’t do it or if they were to pay a contractor to do it, they would have to choose between food or heat.” Thus, A Few Good Men provides snow removal and salt to the community. “A Few Good Men’s motto is ‘See the need. Meet the need,’ so
that’s what we’re doing,” Wilke said. This year, however, the group is adjusting the structure of the program so that there will be three teams each day assigned in case of snowfall. “Students can sign up to work on a snow crew which will only go out when it snows,” seThomas King said. “Thus, there is minimal time commitment but a lot of excitement for anyone who volunteers for a snow crew.” The club wanted to purchase a truck with a snow plow, but did not have the funds, so the group prayed for a truck. “[Wilke] got in touch and wanted to help out,” sophomore Executive Director Jacob Thackston said. “He said, ‘I’ll buy one,’ and he did.” According to Wilke, the op-
portunity “fell out of the sky.” He found a pickup truck with a snow plow on Craig’s list. “Mom’s always said, ‘If you want to get something done, do it yourself,’” Wilke said. “I really think there’s a need in the community. We’d been looking to buy one through A Few Good Men, but just didn’t have the funding.” Wilke brought the truck to Michigan from his home in Illinois upon return from Thanksgiving break. “Instead of maybe getting one or two houses shoveled out in a snowstorm, we can hit 10 or 12,” Wilke said. “We live here eight months out of the year; this is our community too. Especially at Hillsdale, it’s not the government’s job to take care of these people, it’s our job.”
See AFGM A2
How Muddy Waters Stadium got its name ‘Heroes get remembered, but legends never die’ Sam Scorzo Sports Editor
puddles of ankle-deep mud. But it would take a lot more than that to slow down Michigan State University’s juggernaut of a fullback. He ran the ball 35 yards and dove into the mucky end zone for a touchdown. After the victory, it’s said that the coach looked at the running back, Frank Waters, and uttered: “You’re a real mudder son. We’re going to call you Muddy.” The name “Muddy” would eventually become synonymous with both Hillsdale College and college football coaching for decades to come. After graduating from MSU, Waters started his coaching career at Walled Lake High School. Two years later, he received a call from his college position coach who had recently taken on the head coaching job at Hillsdale. He was looking to retire, but he had a prob-
lem: He wanted to leave the “Dales” in good hands. Waters accepted the job at Hillsdale and skyrocketed the college’s presence in the athletic world. From 1953 to 1957 Waters’ team went undefeated, racking up a total of 34 straight wins and 7 straight NAIA Championships, setting the mark at the time for the most consecutive wins ever in college football. Hillsdale would keep this record for Division II football until Grand Valley State University topped it in the early 2000’s. Coincidentally, it was the Chargers that were able to squash GVSU’s 48-game winning streak in 2009. Jim Larkin, now 75 years old, was a linebacker for the 1957 team and would eventually become one of Waters’ assistant coaches at Hillsdale. He remembers Waters as respectful, humble, “especially excellent” with parents, and “extremely caring.” This care for his players resulted in him turning down an invitation to play in the 1955 Tangerine Bowl hosted in Florida because black players were prohibited from playing.
“That was the kind of guy he was,” Larkin said. “When he found out my dad died, he was up on his boat on Lake Superior. He got right in his car and drove all the way down to see me.” Waters helped Larkin as well as many of his other players get coaching jobs after graduating. Many of his former players would then send their best athletes to Hillsdale. “Half of our team was from New York because that’s where they all went to coach,” Larkin laughed. John Cervini, Hillsdale’s vice president of institutional advancement, was one of these Long Islanders who traveled to Hillsdale for football. guys,” said Cervini, who played offensive right tackle. “He was a real master of psychology. He could really motivate his players and that’s one of the reasons he was successful.”
See Waters A7
Aleksandras Shtromas Former professor survived Nazi occupation, died of lung cancer 15 years ago. B4
Men’s basketball grabs two wins Kyle Cooper wins GLIAC Player of the Week honors, averaging 36 points and 14 rebounds. A8
City to install new LED lights Hillsdale gets a $20k grant to upgrade downtown lights. A6
Coming to a theater near you The theater and art departments are planning an exciting 2015-16 season. B1 (Anders Kiledal/Collegian)
(Courtesy of
Brad Monastiere)
INSIDE
Hillsdale’s engagements Seven couples share tidbits about their betrothed. A3
Muddy Waters poses with all his trophies.
(Laura Williamson/Collegian)
News........................................A1 Opinions..................................A4 City News................................A6 Sports......................................A7 Arts..........................................B1 Features....................................B3
The Ferguson aftermath Students opine on whether the A5
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