Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 142 Issue 2 - September 6, 2018
Class of 2022 sets new records
By | Brooke Conrad Features Editor Hillsdale College 2018 applicants faced the lowest admittance rate in the college’s admissions records, according to preliminary data. At 37 percent, this year’s enrollment rate is the lowest it has ever been, down from 41 percent last year and continuing a 4-year downward trend. The school’s Admissions Office usually aims for a class size ranging from 350 to 380 students, and this year it enrolled 357 students, down from 391 last year. Additionally, the class is 55 percent men and 45 percent women, a greater gender difference compared with last year’s 50-50 enrollment and the previous year’s 48 percent male and 52 percent female
enrollment. “We’re getting really good — and I think we’ve always been good — on the yield side,” Senior Director of Admissions Zach Miller ’11 said, referring to the admissions department’s ability to recruit applicants. “And the fact that Hillsdale is becoming a little more popular as an institution across the country — that helps us get the students we’re looking for.” Miller said this year’s male-to-female ratio is unusual, especially given the national trends. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, females were expected to make up the majority of the nation’s college and university students in fall 2018, with 11.2 million total female enrollees and 8.7 million male enrollees.
“Usually the classes are larger for women, and that’s generally the way it’s been at Hillsdale the past couple years,” Miller said. “That’s not something we aim to do. It’s the way the applications kind of fleshed out at the end of the day.” All the data is only preliminary and will not be officially confirmed until mid-September, but according to Miller, the preliminary data tends to be “on target” with the official records. Additionally, the college drew only 25 percent of its students from Michigan, the smallest percentage in the college’s records to date. Records from the past seven years show the percentage of Michigan students in the low 30s. Miller attributed the
declining percentage of Michigan-native students to Hillsdale’s growing national reputation and to the fact that this is the second year the admissions department has had four regional admissions counselors who reside in their respective areas of recruitment: one in California, one in Texas, and two in Washington, D.C. Freshman Jaime Boerema said having an admissions counselor was helpful during her transition to Hillsdale. “I knew I wanted to be here, but certainly having support in admissions and having contact with people at the college makes me feel like I’m having an easier transition,” Boerema said. “I think having a good rapport with your admissions counselor is definitely an important part of
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The Hillsdale Chargers beat Mercyhurst 14-9 in the first game of the year. Ryan Goff | Collegian
going to the school you want to go to.” Boerema is from Michigan and was put on the admissions waitlist after applying to Hillsdale. “I know it was really hard to get in this past year, and I feel really blessed to have made it off the waitlist,” Boerema said. “I think that is encouragement and incentive for me to work that much harder.” The class of 2022 also had a slightly lower average on the ACT,scoring 30.16 out of 36,down from 30.26 in 2017. But the freshman class did average slightly higher on high school GPAs with a 3.89 average, up from last year’s 3.87. Miller said the scores speak for a “very strong” academic class and that it is the goal of admissions to bring in the
“best students in the country.” “It’s an honor really to know I came out of that pool,” freshman Jack Coker said, “which is good because I only applied to Hillsdale and didn’t apply anywhere else. I put all the eggs in one basket.” Miller added that the admissions department is excited about this year’s freshman class, because bringing the students to campus is the result of over a year of hard work. “Orientation Sunday is always like our Christmas,” he said, “because we get to welcome these kids that we’ve talked to and worked with, and we get to see their excitement of starting their journey at Hillsdale.”
‘Consistent and kind’: Remembering Radio Free Hillsdale nominated former English chair Gene Templeton for college radio awards By | Nicole Ault Editor-in-Chief Remembered for his commitment to students, high standards, and wry sense of humor, Richard Eugene “Gene” Templeton, former chairman of the Hillsdale College English department, died at his home on Aug. 29 at the age of 81. Born in Tennessee be-
to school full time,” Brent Templeton said. “That was a good indication of his character and tenacity and perseverance.” That tenacity carried into the workplace, where Templeton’s colleagues remember his devotion to his work and students. He’d often be in his office with the door wide open, recalled Christopher Busch, professor of English,
Professor Emeritus of English Gene Templeton died on Aug. 29 External Affairs | Courtesy
fore moving to Michigan as a child, Templeton served as a professor of English at Hillsdale from 1967 until his retirement in 1997, chairing the department for five years. He married Ellen Justice-Templeton, former chair of the French department at Hillsdale College, in 1981. After a memorial service Tuesday, he was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. Templeton was the first in his family to receive a college education, said Brent Templeton ’86, Gene Templeton’s youngest son. “As a young man, he worked 40 hours a week, had four kids, and was also going Follow @HDaleCollegian
who worked with Templeton after coming to Hillsdale in 1991. Templeton was a tough grader with high standards, students said. Brent recalled that once, his peers were discussing what a tough professor Templeton was — and Brent told them that was why he chose a math major. “I remember him being a stickler for details,” said Nicole Coonradt, visiting assistant professor of English. A December 1988 Hillsdale graduate, she took one or two classes with Templeton and had him as a reader for her thesis defense. “He was very meticulous,
and I got good feedback from him; he was the one challenging me,” she said. Professor of English John Somerville, who also worked with Templeton for the last several years of Templeton’s time at Hillsdale, said Templeton encouraged him to hold high standards for students’ work. For all his toughness as a grader, though, Templeton had a wry sense of humor and a kind heart. Noting that Templeton’s class was “always interesting,” Coonradt recalled that Templeton once brought a pickle dish into class to illustrate a climactic moment in Edith Wharton’s “Ethan Frome.” A “peacemaker” and a “moderator” who listened to all perspectives at meetings, Templeton encouraged the professors who worked for him and tried to create departmental unity, Busch said. Templeton held a departmental retreat, invited professors over for dinner, and initiated a lecture series for English professors to each talk about something they studied. As a father, Templeton was “consistent and kind” and encouraged his four children to be independent thinkers, Brent said. Kids laughed a lot in his home, recalled Angie Berry, trade book coordinator at the Hillsdale College bookstore, who grew up as a playmate of Templeton’s children. It
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By | Elizabeth Bachmann Collegian Freelancer Seniors Ryan Kelly Murphy and Genevieve Suchyta jockey against other finalists to win first place for radio submissions to College Broadcasters, Incorporated. They were the first Hillsdale students to submit radio pieces to and be nominated as finalists in the CBI, for the Audio Newscast and Public Affairs Documentary categories respectively. In October, Murphy and Suchyta will travel to a convention in Seattle, where CBI will announce a winner from among the four finalists in each category. Murphy became involved with Radio Free Hillsdale during her freshman year, when the program was first starting up. She now spends most of her time on the airwaves as one of Radio Free Hillsdale’s news anchors, broadcasting national, local, and state news, as well as sports and weather. She decided to submit a recording of one of her casts at the request of Radio Station Manager Scot Bertram. “Newscasting is great because you can get your hands in so many areas of radio. You put together the script, record it, edit and produce it to be ready to air,” Murphy said. “What I focus on is speaking clearly, enunciating, and using my tone to bring the story to life and help the audience to recognize its biggest takeaway.” Murphy said she was shocked and proud to be chosen as a finalist. “It is not just my award or my achievement; it is because of this station as a whole, and the people who are involved are so invested, and we are learning alongside each other,” she said. “I am excited to see what the station does in the future, and I am hoping this is the first of many awards.” Suchyta has also been involved with Radio Free Hills-
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dale since its inception. Over the years, her interests have shifted from straight news pieces to investigative pieces. She submitted “A Problem of Pain,” her documentary on the opioid epidemic. She investigated the issue thoroughly by interviewing a local
crime, and the legislative perspective of trying to preserve communities,” Suchyta said. “The complexity really makes it interesting in creating it, as well as in listening to it.” Throughout the documentary, Suchyta explores the realities of addiction, “pill
Senior Ryan Kelly Murphy was nominated for Best Audio Newscast by College Broadcasters, Inc. Marketing | Courtesy
anesthesiologist, the Hillsdale County Sheriff, State Sen. Mike Shirkey, and College Director of Health and Wellness Brock Lutz, before she began her creative process. “I tried and get as many possible perspectives on this issue: the medical perspective of treating pain, the psychological perspective of treating addiction, the law-and-order perspective of controlling
mills,” the responsibility of pharmaceutical companies, and possible solutions to this problem. Whether or not Suchyta and Murphy are selected as winners among the finalists at the CBI convention in Seattle, Bertram expressed his pride that their young program produced such successful stu-
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