Junior Emily Schutte won first-place for “Best Newscast” out of all the colleges in the nation, awarded by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System March 8.
“Earlier that day, someone had made a funny comment about how it was hard to be a woman in this political climate. It was funny,” Schutte
said. “So we were just joking about it, and I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m gonna win being a woman in this particular political climate.’ And then I did, and I was really excited.”
Schutte was in New York City with six other radio journalism students, most of whom had been nominated as finalists for awards from IBS.
Scot Bertram, general manager of WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, said he makes
ists to New York for a two-day conference with IBS every year.
“Our finalists this year were all very well deserving, we were rooting for all of them to get a win,” Bertram said. “It is better to walk away with one win than no wins. So even getting one makes everyone on the trip feel good, because someone there was able to walk up and pick up a trophy.”
On Friday, students attended a full day of panels and discussions, and that night, they had dinner in Times Square with Hillsdale College journalism alumni working in the area, according to Bertram. Then they went to the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
“For some students, it’s the first time they’ve ever been to New York City. It’s fun to watch them react and see the size of the city. We try to make it to the top of a tall building,” Bertram said. “If you are a finalist with the IBS awards, we offer the opportunity to go along. Emily was there, and she won in person this year,
Bertram and Schutte said the auditorium was filled with a couple hundred students from at least 50 schools for the awards ceremony.
“I guess I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was. I love doing radio and crafting these stories working with my voice,” Schutte said. “Finding that someone else also thought it was good work that was worthy of this prize was really special, and it was very encouraging to me.”
Bertram said when Schutte became involved with the radio station in the spring of her sophomore year, she expressed interest in helping with news coverage specifically.
“She has a very natural ability to communicate. Her delivery is very smooth and she already had some natural talent, even if she didn’t know or didn’t think she did,” Bertram said. “It was easy to start her working here at the station.”
Senior and WRFH News Director Lauren Smyth, who was nominated for “Best News Director, Radio,” said she remembers thinking Schutte sounded like a professional when she first heard Schutte’s newscasts.
Junior wins best newscast at international radio awards Administration to close Park Place as housing
By Elijah Guevara Collegian Freelancer
The on-campus house Park Place, which includes four apartments, could be demolished to make space for administrative facilities such as offices and storage and will not be available for student housing next year, according to Dean of Men Aaron Petersen.
“As the college has grown, these plans have progressed, and we realized that construction may be possible sooner rather than later, maybe as early as this summer,” Petersen said. The college has known for many years that the location of Park Place at 100 Park St. was viable for such buildings, and Petersen said this was a factor in purchasing the properties in the first place.
Jonah Kirstein, a junior living in Park Place who was already signed up to live there next year, said he and his housemates received the news from Petersen in an email March 3.
“I was in class, and then our house group chat kind of started blowing up,” Kirstein said.
Augustine McCormack, a junior currently living in Park Place, said he was surprised by the news, especially since off-campus applications had closed Feb. 21.
“We were kind of scrambling, because everyone else on campus had already figured out where they’re going to be living for next year,” McCormack said.
By Olivia Pero Outreach Director
When a Hillsdale student considers the biggest thing he could possibly do after college, arguing before the United States Supreme Court is probably one of those things, especially if he comes from the west side of Cleveland, said Elliot Gaiser ’12, solicitor general of Ohio. Gaiser, who was in the journalism program and was the opinions editor of The Collegian during his time at Hillsdale, argued a discrimination case before the Supreme Court Feb. 26.
He defended the Ohio Department of Youth Services against a woman named Marlean A. Ames, who brought a claim under Title VII, a federal employment statute, that the department discriminated against her for being heterosexual after she lost two positions to homosexual workers.
Gaiser argued Ohio didn’t violate Title VII. He said the trial court and the court of appeals agreed with Ohio’s position, so now the Supreme Court must make a decision.
“It’s an exhilarating thing to stand in front of the in -
By Ellie Fromm Assistant Editor
As construction on Hillsdale College’s classical education building approaches the one-year anniversary, one thing is for sure: Weigand
Construction Superintendent Brian Beck is not a fan of working in the cold weather.
In March of last year, Weigand, a construction company out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, broke ground on the Diana Davis Spencer Graduate School of Classical Education, employing approximately 11 men daily on the site, and a total of 50 people, which in -
cludes subcontractors, according to Beck. The crew works through the Michigan weather conditions, from warm, sunny summer days to the below-freezing, dark winter ones. According to crewmen, working through southern Michigan’s winter provides setbacks, such as delaying concrete footing
credible jurists that make up our Supreme Court and present arguments on behalf of a client like your state,” Gaiser said. You want to be as prepared as you can be when you know you will have to stand in front of the highest court in the U.S. and defend your position at the end of your work on a case, he said.
“Everything the Supreme Court reviews is going to be a headline at some point, and because the underlying facts of this case drew media attention, I knew there would be scrutiny,” Gaiser said.
College President Larry Arnn said Gaiser is a fine man who is diligent, honest, intelligent, and successful in everything he tries.
“I have been proud to watch his growth,” Arnn said. “He once asked me if the students thought he was over-serious. I told him probably — he was very serious. I also told him not to worry about it. It was not a bad problem, if it existed, and anyway he would grow out of it.”
pourings due to freezing temperatures, but they are used to it. The biggest setback the crew faces with the cold is pouring concrete, as it cannot be poured once the ground freezes.
Beck has worked on the new buildings on Hillsdale’s campus for three and a half years — his time split between his trailer office and the construction site. He worked on projects including the Marilyn J. Sohn Women’s Residence, the Sajak Visual Media Center, and Hillsdale Academy’s expansion.
“The winters haven’t been too bad recently, the last three or four. I think last year we poured the academy concrete in January,” Beck said. “Now it snowed in February, the whole month of February, pretty hard. That wasn’t too bad of a winter, though.”
The new graduate school building is the first time he has worked on a project on Hillsdale’s main campus while students are present.
The new construction routes add two minutes to students’ commutes from the Grewcock Student Union to classroom buildings, according to The Collegian’s calculations. Catherine Maxwell | Collegian
Construction crew conquers cold climate
Junior Emily Schutte and senior Lauren Smyth were nominated for awards. Courtesy | Scot Bertram
See Alumnus A2
Weigand Construction employees used tarps to continue work during cold weather. Jillian Parks | Collegian
Students throw tea on military history trip to New England
By Skye Graham Collegian Reporter
Students reenacted throwing tea into the Boston Harbor with Professor of History David Stewart and Assistant Professor of Medieval History Charles Yost during a spring break tour of historical locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York associated with the early years of the American Revolution.
The group visited the sites of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Old North Church, Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, and the Saratoga Battlefield on the week-long trip sponsored by the Center for Military History and Strategy.
“Visiting historical sites makes stronger memories and provides clearer understanding than simply reading,” Stewart said. “A professor or book can relate facts, but standing in the Tea Party ship gives an impression of size you can’t get in a classroom. Visiting Concord’s bloody angle makes visceral the anguish of the retreating soldiers. Looking out from Bunker
Hill makes plain its critical role in controlling Boston.”
Sophomore Ava Jolley said she liked being able to visualize historical events throughout the trip.
“The Saratoga Battlefield was probably where I learned the most,” Jolley said. “We got to walk all over the battlefield and read the signs and plaques.”
At the site of the Boston Tea Party, students witnessed actors do a historical reenactment of the Boston Tea Party in period costumes.
“They reenacted an assembly at a meeting house where they reviewed the history of British oppression lately visited on the colony,” Yost said.
As part of the historical reenactment, the students took turns throwing parcels of tea off a boat in the Boston Harbor.
Sophomore Grace Canlas said the “tea” was plastic crates shaped like boxes of tea with the East India Tea Company stamp on them. They were attached to a rope that enabled the ship to reel the boxes back in.
“It was just a great opportunity to celebrate being an American, and it satisfied something
deep in my soul that I didn’t know was needed,” Canlas said. “I was like, ‘Oh my word, every American should have the opportunity to throw tea into the Boston Harbor.’”
Jolley said the Boston Tea Party Museum was one of the highlights of her trip.
“The museum was awesome,” Jolley said. “Because how many times do you get to throw a crate of tea into the Boston harbor? Not many.”
Canlas said she loved touring the U.S.S. Constitution, where a sailor took the group down to a restricted area in the lower deck.
“He showed us one of the original life oak beams of the U.S.S. Constitution, and the original copper sheets of it from 1797,” Canlas said.
Jolley said the trip helped her gain a better understanding of and appreciation for American history.
“Pretty much everything on the trip was new to me,” Jolley said. “The school I grew up in didn’t have a big emphasis on history, so American Heritage was my first American history class. I find the spring break trips helpful to learn because it’s
difficult for me to visualize the documents I read, but visiting the places where it happened makes it all clearer.”
Canlas said she enjoyed learning from both Stewart and Yost and seeing New England for the first time.
“I’ve never laughed so much in a single week in my life than on this trip,” Canlas said. “They both brought a great perspective on it, because while it is an American Revolution trip, we’re looking at the American heritage that is also situated in the Western heritage at large. And so Dr. Yost was still able to contribute to the discussions on the Western heritage and on American heritage, which was really neat.”
Yost said he learned a lot from Stewart on the trip.
“He’s an expert, and he arranged readings from primary sources for us,” Yost said. “We had him there on site to give his perspectives and to answer questions. His knowledge is encyclopedic.”
Canlas said she enjoyed learning about the broader context of the American Revolution and what was happening globally and historically that led up to the present.
“To hear both of them discussing these topics with each other was really a privilege to hear, because they don’t get a lot of those opportunities to hear two professors necessarily discuss these topics with each other and deliberate about, ‘What is the Western heritage? What is the American heritage?’” Canlas said. “That was really special.”
Stewart said his favorite part of the trip was seeing students grow in their interest in history.
“Above all, I enjoyed witnessing the students’ excitement as they retraced the Founders’ footsteps and internalized the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs which shaped our country,” Stewart said.
Author to discuss church fathers
By Frederick Woodward Collegian Reporter
Hillsdale Catholic Society will host author Joe Heschmeyer to deliver a talk in Plaster Auditorium on “The Faith of the Early Church before Constantine” March 26 at 7 p.m.
A soiree at the Phi Sig Pavilion, with food, drinks, and live music by senior Greg Whalen from 8:30-10:00 p.m will follow the talk, which was coordinated by the Hillsdale College Catholic Society.
Event organizer sophomore Luke Hill said the talk will “specifically address whether the early Christian church held the same or similar beliefs as the modern Catholic Church today.”
Hill said he is excited to meet Heschmeyer, noting
According to Gaiser, Title VII makes it an unlawful employment practice to fail to hire, fail to promote, or to otherwise take any adverse employment action against a prospective employee or employee because of that individual employee’s race, sex, national origin, or religion.
that “Shameless Popery,” Heschmeyer’s combination blog and podcast, had helped him greatly in his own journey to Catholicism.
Prior to launching “Shameless Popery” and assuming his current role as a scholar with Catholic Answers, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the Catholic faith in the 21st century, Heschmeyer was a high school and college debater, a seminarian, and a litigation attorney.
According to Heschmeyer’s profile on Catholic Answers, after studying history as an undergraduate at Washburn University, he went on to obtain degrees in philosophy from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, theology from the Pontifical Angelicum in Rome, and a J.D. at Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C.
Catholic Society secretary and sophomore Lizzie Putlock said the purpose of the talk isn’t merely polemical.
“He’s a Catholic apologist and is very skilled in debating,” Putlock said. “But our purpose in bringing him here is not to stir up division, but rather to present the opportunity to both Catholics and Protestants to understand the roots of their faith through hearing about the way that early Christians lived, how they worshiped, and what they believed.”
Putlock said topics such as the divinity of Christ, the Eucharist, Marian beliefs, and the structure of the Church would be touched on in the presentation, with the opportunity to meet Heschmeyer and engage further on these topics at the soiree afterward.
Sophomore Logan McVay said he is looking forward in particular to hearing Heschmeyer speak about the example of the saints and martyrs of the early Church.
“This period in time is when the church grew the fastest and the strongest,” McVay said. “I think that’s because there’s something in the human heart which longs for love, God, and the redemptive. This is part of the salvation story of Christ, and when you’re able to witness to that, you might suffer as a result, but death isn’t the end. That’s what gave so many of the early Christians their special courage. In our day, we need to remember — it is possible for the whole world to be wrong, and one man to be right — and I think that the early Christians witness well to that for us.”
Professor takes on binary-choice politics
By Malia Thibado Collegian reporter
Associate Professor of Economics Christopher
Martin proposed an alternative to the modern polarized political environment in his talk entitled “Binary Choice Politics and a Conservative Alternative,” co-sponsored by Praxis and the Classical Liberal Organization of Hillsdale March 6.
“I want to propose to you another way of thinking about politics,” Martin said. “One that might apply most of the time. A reframing way.” Martin advocated for an exchange of ideas rather than a battle of ideology, a conversation rather than an argument.
Traditionally, Martin said, people subscribe to a tribalistic group-think that automatically puts them in a group with like-minded individuals and pits them against the rest.
Martin posed the example of hoplites of Ancient Greek city-states, who fought on behalf of their respective cities because of their group affiliation to things like citizenship or ideology. Everyone needed to defend each other to defend their identities.
Nowadays, Martin said, this phenomenon encourages people to defend their “team’s” ideas, even if they might dissent if they were not affiliated with this “team.”
“This instinct of group affiliation might have served people well in the far off primeval, but it does not today,” Martin said. “I think we have to keep an eye on this group affiliation aspect of ourselves so that it doesn’t lead us astray.”
Sometimes, Martin said, individuals should focus on their similarities rather than their differences.
Most Americans agree that slaughtering children for political reasons is wrong. There are people, some of them state leaders, who perpetuate it.
“While we’re having our battle,” Martin said, “the orcs are on top of the hill looking down on us. This is melodramatic, but if you really have a lot of animosity, think about what we actually share.”
Martin discussed the Horseshoe Theory, which provides a blueprint for the alternative to the mainstream linear spectrum of political alignment. Shaped like a horseshoe, the graph depicts the spectrum of political thought with the far left and right closer to each other than the respective moderates of their parties.
“The reason I think this is useful is to address this idea of the binary choice,” Martin said. “There does come a mo-
ment in your life when you have to make a binary choice. You do have to decide which team you’re going to support, but it’s not just saying, ‘What are the worst things in the opposing coalition?’ Instead, ‘What’s the overall outcome in the short term and long run?’ Oftentimes you feel kinda bad about both choices.”
Throughout America’s history, Martin said when people worked across party lines, they improved the country. Slavery, the Jim Crow Laws, and many others were defeated through — in part — nonpartisan discussion. Additionally, according to Martin, if one works with the opposing team on agreed policies, he is in a better political position even if they win.
Martin prescribed a threestep program to help resist knee-jerk group affiliation: be patient with forming your opinion, stress test your theory, steelman your opponent.
“It doesn’t mean compromising our own principles, it’s an approach to dialogue,” Martin said. “It doesn’t mean that there’s only one path. There’s a range of prudent strategies that you can follow to get to a good destination. We can get into a trap where we think that going the low road is the only way to stop a hypothetical future dictator, but if there’s other paths that we forewent, then that’s kind of on us.”
Sophomore Brian Shia, president of Praxis and CLO, said his favorite part of Martin’s speech was the prescription of a stress test.
“It’s not just about temporary victories,” Shia said. “We have to think about longterm consequences. Will the other team also bend the roles to do worse things than what we are doing? You have to set a good precedent and not bend rules.” Shia also agreed with Martin’s advocacy for a move toward more classical liberal principles in politics.
“These are ideas that the founders were supportive of,” Shia said. “We’ve seen a move away from that framework. I think we need to move back to that to have efficient work.” Junior Anna MacPhee said she enjoyed the talk and found it specifically applicable to herself.
“A lot of times, the lectures surrounding President Trump are on his faults and his advantages,” MacPhee said. “Dr. Martin made you think about people relating to other people and what we can do to improve the society of people we live in.”
Gaiser was defending his client who prevailed below in the court of appeals, he said.
“The U.S. Supreme Court reviews judgments, and we were arguing that the judgment was correct, that it flowed from the evidence in this case underneath the standards set by the precedents of the Supreme Court,” he said. The other side tried to frame the case, and the media tried to frame the case, as about whether there should be different standards for different kinds of employees and litigants, Gaiser said.
“All along, we said we agreed
“In this particular case, the Ohio Department of Youth Services moved for judgment on the pleadings in a number of her claims and to dismiss some of her other claims,” Gaiser said. “Many of her claims were dismissed by the trial court, but not all of her claims, specifically her claims about sexual orientation.”
that Title VII doesn’t treat some people better than other people. It treats everybody the same,” he said.
Gaiser said he has argued many cases in his career, but this was his first time arguing in the U.S. Supreme Court, though he’d been at the court before in a different role.
“This was my first time back at the court as an advocate as opposed to as staff for one of the justices who rules on these cases,” he said.
Gaiser clerked for Associate Justice Samuel Alito and met each of the U.S. Supreme Court justices during the 2021-22 term.
“I didn’t want to let any of them down by not having a good answer for their questions,” Gaiser said.
Professor of Rhetoric and Public Address and Director of Forensics Kirstin Kiledal said Gaiser was one of her advisees and speech studies majors during his time at Hillsdale.
“He had all the markers that he was going to do something good in the world, because not only did he have the potential, but he had the drive — he himself wanted that,” Kiledal said.
Kiledal said there are many people whom she would be surprised about where they are now after college, but not Gaiser.
“He always had an interest in politics and in, at some level, serving people, whether it was in his state or his country,” Kiledal said.
Kiledal said Gaiser was an excellent student, he was involved in many things on campus — including Student Federation and producing his own podcast before they were popular — and he excelled in the Edward Everett Oratory Contest.
“He was a four-time finalist in the Everett Oratory competition and won twice, which then led to Mr. [Don] Tocco also taking Elliot a bit under his wing as well,” Kiledal said.
Gaiser said a Hillsdale education is the best training for the practice of law that he is aware of.
According to Gaiser, he would be nowhere close to the lawyer he is now had he not had the rigorous liberal arts education in Western traditions of philosophy and rhetoric that he received at Hillsdale College.
“I would love to just tell students that they should be able to have ambitions to do great things in the service of great things, and do great things for the higher things,” Gaiser said.
Alumnus from A1
Assistant Professor of Medieval History Charles Yost and Professor of History David Stewart threw fake tea crates into the Boston Harbor.
Courtesy | Carolyn Spangler
SAB brings professor talk show to campus
By Sophia Bryant Collegian Freelancer
Forget Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon — the Student Activities Board is hosting a Late Night Prof Talk Show tonight in Plaster Auditorium from 7-9 p.m.
“It will be like a television talk where two student hosts will interview professors and ask them questions, and professors will participate in talk-show style games,” SAB Creative Team member and junior Gray Turner said in an email. “Students will get to watch their favorite professors answer questions about their lives and careers, and the games will be entertaining and funny to watch.”
Director of Student Activities Ingrid Dornbirer ’24 said participants will include Associate Professor of Philosophy Ian Church, Dean of Masters in Classical Education and Professor of Education Daniel Coupland, Assistant Professor of Physics Nathan Herring, Teacher of Collaborative Piano Daniel Kuehler, Associate Professor of English Jason Peters, and Visiting Lecturer in Biology Angie Pytel.
Turner said while SAB has not done a professor talk show event in the past, it has hosted a Faculty Revue.
“Prof Talk Show will be a
from A1
“Emily has been doing incredible work at the station,” Smyth said. “I’m so happy she got this well-deserved recognition from the IBS awards and that we got to experience New York together.”
Schutte said her winning newscast stood out in its extensive use of local stories, especially college sports. Bertram said all of Schutte’s newscasts possess very good news judgment in terms of how she orders her stories by importance.
“She has a very good pace to her reading and her delivery, which is important,” Bertram said. “Now that it’s been nearly two years worth of newscasts and working here, every time you do a newscast, every rep you get in, every time you have another opportunity to deliver one, you’re going to get better.”
Schutte now hosts a weekly show called “Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?” with her father, Greg Schutte, a marriage counselor. In each episode, Schutte asks her father questions about relationships in college.
“I’ve gleaned so much knowledge and wisdom from my dad about relationships that I think is very valuable and that I want to share with other people,” Schutte said. “The whole concept is trying to help people get outside of their head about relationships.”
Schutte said she has done a lot of personal vocal training growing up, such as participating in choirs, singing with her family, practicing speech and debate, and reading aloud to her siblings. In Schutte’s sophomore year, she won first-place at the 24th annual Edward Everett Oratory Competition with the topic, “Foreign Policy, Free Speech, and Academic Freedom.”
little more scripted and organized and will allow for students to learn more about some of their professors and watch their professors participate in funny games,” Turner said.
Head resident assistants of Simpson Nathan Rastovac and Jadon Camero will host the show, according to Dornbirer.
“They’re the students helping us keep the event flowing and they’re also hilarious,” Dornbirer said.
“This is a unique event and a good way for the professors to be involved in student life, and they have hidden talents and are quite hilarious,” Dornbirer said. “It’s an opportunity for students to see another side of professors and learn a little more about their personal lives as well as their talents and some of their quirks.”
According to Turner, SAB hopes to continue the event in future years.
“Part of what makes Hillsdale so unique is the genuine dedication and love that its professors have for their jobs and for their students,” Turner said. “Events like Prof Talk Show demonstrate this dedication well, and it shows how our professors care about their jobs and students both inside and outside of the classroom.”
“The power of spoken media is that it’s very personal. You’re able to connect people in a way that is different from the written word. It’s a medium that can persuade based on tone, volume delivery, as well as message, and when people turn your voice on in their home, in their car, whatever the case may be, they’re inviting you into their lives in a sense,” Schutte said.
“It can tell a story in a very intimate way.”
Schutte said she often tells others about the work she does for the station, because it makes her very excited.
“It is a really nice outlet to express yourself, and if you want to work on training your voice more, it’s a great opportunity to do that, because you’re pre-recording everything, so you don’t have to be afraid of messing up,” Schutte said. “It’s an opportunity for you to talk about something you’re really passionate about, and grow your oral skills in a very low pressure environment.”
Bertram said though he can tell students what a great job they are doing, it can mean more coming from other professionals.
“There’s a value in being recognized for the work that you’ve been doing, there is a value in being judged and being placed among your peers who are also trying to do their best in a competition like this. It really is an acknowledgment of skill and hard work and dedication to craft newscasts for the station,” Bertram said. “We’ve had great success through the years with our newscasters being honored, whether it be Michigan Association of Broadcasters or IBS or College Broadcasting Inc. That’s been a really good tradition that we’ve held through the years here.”
Local mission trip shares Gospel
By Daniel Johnson Collegian Reporter
Hillsdale College students stayed in Hillsdale and served the local community over spring break.
From March 7-13, InterVarsity and Equip Ministries partnered with Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers to lead a missions trip in Hillsdale.
Senior Zach Adams said the students served at many different places, including Crossroads Farms, Hillsdale County Medical Care Facility, Drew’s Place, Camp Hope, and Share the Warmth, and the Hillsdale County Jail.
“There were two main goals,” junior Stephen Zhu said. “One of them was to serve the community and
share God’s love and the Gospel with them.” According to Zhu, the group’s goal for the mission of living out the gospel in the community is closely tied to students’ spiritual growth.
“The other goal is to grow the students going on the trip in their faith,” Zhu said.
Junior Jihye Kim said the trip provided students with the opportunity to exercise their beliefs outside of their comfort zone.
“We want people to take this time to die to themselves and come on this trip and go out and love the people in their backyard,” Kim said. “Because Hillsdale County is one of the poorest counties in Michigan, and there are extremely high rates of drug abuse, alcoholism, incest, abuse, and
all kinds of other bad things.”
Kim said all of these problems presented many opportunities for students to share the love of Christ.
“Instead of looking down on those people and kind of just being sequestered away on Hillsdale’s campus, we want Hillsdale to go out and think, ‘No, God condescended to be incarnated amongst men,’” Kim said. “He decided to make himself lowly to be among sinners.”
Kim said the group’s purpose in sharing the gospel was to help people find freedom of salvation in Jesus.
“We wanted people to really realize the power of the gospel, and that is the hope that we have, that our lives are hidden in Christ, that he died for us, he cleansed us, he saved us, and he is conforming us to his image,” Kim said.
According to Adams, this outreach was primarily initiated by students.
“The adult leaders drove vans around for us and counseled us, but for the most part it was the students who took initiative in coordinating things and discerning how to best love the people we came across,” Adams said.
According to Kim, the adult leaders were part of four outreach groups that served in different places.
“We split up into four squads, and each squad had one adult leader and two student leaders — one male, one female — and then we would all pair up and go out,” Kim said.
According to Adams, forming relationships with people was a big part of what these outreach groups did.
“We went to Camp Hope several times throughout the week,” Adams said. “On Wednesday night we went to have a bonfire there, and some of us played basketball with two of the guys who live there. One said that they didn’t have anyone to play with anymore, and it was special seeing how much fun he had with us. As a group, we’re going to try to continue the relationships we formed there.”
According to Kim, the relationships formed were not the only thing they took away from the trip.
“We did a survey at the end of the trip, and pretty much everyone said they strongly agreed that the trip helped them grow in their faith a lot,” Kim said.
All three students encouraged more students to come in the future.
“We want all students to come on this trip,” Kim said. “I would challenge people not to be afraid, not to be intimidated, but instead to seek to love God.”
Students to share testimonies
By Sophia Bryant Collegian Freelancer
Three students and one professor from different denominations will share how God has worked in their lives at Night of Testimonies, hosted by the Student Ministry Board March 26 at 6 p.m. in the Mauck Solarium.
“Night of Testimonies was birthed out of a desire to push past debates over doctrinal abstractions and just give people an opportunity to share their own stories with Jesus with others, and for others to learn and be blessed by it,” College Chaplain Rev. Adam Rick said in an email. “We’ve done the event seven times now, with one more to go this semester,
and they really have become precious events for the board as for others.”
Senior and Student Ministry Board member Alex Schrauben said the event’s focus is the narrative of how God has been working in the speaker’s lives instead of preaching about denominational differences.
“Ecumenical ministry is admittedly difficult on campus,” Schrauben said in an email.
“Many people misunderstand what the Student Ministry Board attempts to do, oftentimes assuming that we are trying to get everyone to conform one way or another or to sacrifice their convictions in the name of unity. For SMB, our Nights of Testimony em-
body the spirit of ecumenical worship.”
According to Rick, the Student Ministry Board gives each testimonialist a prompt to help them think through their testimony and keep them focused. Board members also work with each individual to help them feel comfortable sharing.
“As a consequence of these guides, the testimonies shared to date have been quite vulnerable and inspiring,” Rick said.
Sophomore and Student Ministry Board member Abigail Stonestreet said the event is a beautiful way different denominations can experience unity in the body of Christ.
“It’s a good thing that we are convicted in our beliefs,” Stonestreet said. “It’s OK that
we have differences in beliefs, but also that we realize that the Lord calls for unity in the body of Christ. We can work towards that by hearing each other out and listening to the way the Lord is working in the lives of our friends.”
Stonestreet said the board has been trying to incorporate faculty into each Night of Testimonies.
“The goal is to have a night where we can come together and listen to the way that the Lord is working in our lives and on campus,” Stonestreet said. “For me personally, Night of Testimonies has been really impactful for realizing that the Lord works on an individual basis and he wants a personal relationship with us.”
SAB to make murder medieval
By Faith Miller Collegian Freelancer
“Murder in the Hoynak Room” may sound like the title of an Agatha Christie novel, but students can solve a medieval mystery there at the Student Activities Board’s Murder Mystery (K)night March 26 at 7 p.m.
“It’s a very fun event. Each character in the story is played by a team of up to five people, and there will be about 10-15 teams there,” said senior Rachel Hintze, an SAB events team member. “Everyone plays the characters differently so your
Housing from A1
According to McCormack, after a meeting between the Park Place residents and Associate Dean of Men Jeffrey Rodgers, the rising seniors were given permission to live off-campus.
“We’re happy because the school has really worked with us, and they gave us support as rising seniors to help approve us real quick to get off campus,” Kirstein said.
According to Petersen, the timing of the Park Place de-
team can split up or stay together while trying to solve the mystery.”
The participants in the mystery will learn the backstory of each character through objective tasks, but halfway through the night, one team will end up dead, and it’s up to the others to solve the mystery. Charcuterie will be served during the game. Each team will receive a character after signing up, so it can get to know the new persona and strategize beforehand, according to Hintze.
Hintze, who helped run the same event last year, said she suggests students dress accord-
cision worked out because the college was able to notify students before they locked in their 2025-26 housing decisions.
“The students who were planning on living there are currently working on other options,” Petersen said.
Sophomore Jack Vultaggio, who planned to move to Park Place with five housemates, said the college’s decision, which they also learned about via email March 3, gave them only two weeks to find off-campus
ing to their characters. This year, the theme is a medieval mystery.
“Dressing up really adds to the event because the more that you can play your character, the more helpful it is for the team and the more fun it is,” Hintze said.
Director of Student Activities Ingrid Dornbirer ’24 said the event is a great opportunity for friend groups to come together and leave reality for a night.
“The event is a great way to escape the busyness of Hillsdale and have a fun time with your friends,” Dornbirer said. “Espe-
arrangements before housing applications open on March 17.
“We were all very disappointed,” Vultaggio said. “Park Place is a great house.”
Vultaggio said he hopes more off-campus permissions will be granted to juniors and sophomores who rely on places like Park Place as an alternative to moving off campus after their freshman year.
Kirstein said Park Place is his favorite place he has lived at Hillsdale because of its ability to host many people while still
cially in the grayer months, you enter into a new world via this game.”
Hintze said students can sign up for the murder mystery in the Student Activities Office newsletter. When signing up, students will designate one team member to be the team captain.
“Any information that you’ll need to play will be given to you in an email explaining your character and the backstory when you sign up,” Hintze said. “It’s fun to get into character and it’s fun to spend an evening with your friends just trying to figure out who did it.”
being a quiet and convenient location.
Kirstein said that his favorite events in Park Place were music nights and events involving cooking and serving food, due to the house’s big kitchen. “It’s nice and secluded,” Kirstein said. “You don’t really get bothered by anyone on campus over here, so it’s probably as close as you can get to living off campus without actually living off campus.”
Radio
Students ministered at the Hillsdale County Jail during the mission trip. Courtesy | Jihye Kim
Opinions
The Collegian Weekly
The opinion of the Collegian editorial staff
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Opinions Editor | Caroline Kurt
City News Editor | Thomas McKenna
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Puzzle Editor | Matthew Tolbert
Illustrator | Maggie O’Connor
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Try a better joke
By Caroline Kurt Opinions Editor
Three ugly words have wormed their way through campus, into Saturday-night conversations, laughter in the hallways, and serious discussions: “Repeal the 19th.”
The phrase refers to the 19th Amendment, which extended the right to vote to women. The argument goes: Some woman somewhere (whether in my personal life or U.S. political history) has done something I don’t like. Thus, we should take away the right to vote from all women everywhere.
It’s a classic example of something we all tried in middle school: Saying something once for a shock effect and laughter, then repeating it ad nauseum. If that’s the type of tired, juvenile social credit you’re after — go for it. The rest of us have graduated eighth grade and are more interested in being engaging, good-willed, genuinely funny adults.
Even before November’s election, the vibe shift was palpable. The tides of the culture war were turning in favor of MAGA and Trumpian conservatism, after long years of boorish wokeism and humorless late-night TV.
But now that conservatism is gaining traction in the culture, we must take care not to become the ugly, unfunny bullies the progressive left so often is. Not all “free speech” is equal. As adults, we ought to know the difference between a joke that’s playfully transgressive and an attempt at a joke that’s instead disgusting, mean, or immature.
“Repeal the 19th” is mild compared to the worse humor people on the right have attempted — which is perhaps why so many feel they can use it. But that doesn’t detract from how terrible people sound saying it. At the very least, it’s a sign they lack creativity, trotting out a phrase that’s been tried a thousand times instead of an original joke. Try harder. Women love
funny men, not ones that serve up warmed-over farright podcast clips. Nor is gentlemanliness now weakness. The toxic “compassion” woke activists preached as an excuse for the worst violations of human dignity — euthanasia, genital mutilation, and abortion, to name a few — gave kindness a bad name. But people of faith ought to remember the radical charity preached by the paragon of strength and consider giving each other’s failings the benefit of the doubt.
A boy lashes out against all women everywhere when one member of their sex hurts or offends him. A man holds his tongue and defends the women in his life. Recall the way your male role models treat women. Rather than perpetuating the gender wars eighthgrade-style, they act in a way that unites the sexes.
Those who more seriously argue to “Repeal the 19th” often trace abortion rights and radical feminism to women gaining the right to vote. That’s a weak and historically illiterate copout about as convincing as Adam blaming Eve in the Garden. Men and women are prone to different types of selfishness and weakness, both of which contributed to our cultural sins. For better or for worse, we form each other. Instead of arguing about misogynistic hypotheticals, spend your time discussing how to build a culture in which men and women flourish together. And next time you consider demeaning the virtue and intelligence of the female sex in so juvenile a way, consider whether you would say that to your mother or grandmother’s face. If you cannot feel compelled to act a gentleman around your female peers, at least consider whether you would like to restrict the political freedoms of the women who sacrificed to raise you.
Caroline Kurt is a junior studying English.
Give students the Free Press
Hillsdale students have access through the Mossey Library to a wide range of news publications, from the very conservative to the very liberal. All students receive a free online subscription to The Atlantic, Athletic, Economist, Epoch Times, New York Sun, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
While too few students take advantage of these subscriptions, those who do, including
much of The Collegian staff, find they play a vital role in their education. Being educated on current events, conversations, and culture allows us to apply the ideas and arguments formed in the classroom to the reality of the world we will enter once we leave.
When the college considers adding new outlets to the list, The Free Press ought to be next.
Started by Bari Weiss after
she left the New York Times in 2021, the Free Press says it seeks to bring back the honesty, doggedness, and fierce independence that readers once expected from great journalism. In the words of Oliver Wiseman, who visited campus March 3, the outlet seeks to fall on the corporate side of rebel media and the rebel side of corporate media. It aims for high standards of fact-checking and professionalism without bow-
ing to the establishment. The Free Press has made good on its promises, calling out the left for its breaches in rationality and the right for its moments of hypocrisy. It is the kind of publication people at Hillsdale say they wish existed. This is a publication that is challenging the narrative of what journalism should be, much like the work of a certain small liberal arts college with which we’re all familiar.
Put power tools back in schools
By Carly Moran Senior Reporter
The smell of Douglas fir as 2x4s are sawed in half. A metallic aroma from nails baking in the sun. The whining whirr of an old electric drill.
These were defining parts of my childhood as I helped my dad build a treehouse and a doll house, as I watched him repair old trucks on Sunday afternoons, as we took countless trips to Home Depot. Yet these sounds and sensations are a fading part of the American memory.
My dad learned his skills through shop class — today known as Career Technical Education — an elective choice that’s increasingly less available in U.S. public schools. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that CTE enrollment declined by 27% from 1982 to 2013, while academic credits rose by 36%. The mass decision to eliminate classes like woodworking, metalworking and auto shop poses a threat not just to blue-collar America, but to American culture as a whole.
Part of this national dilemma is purely practical. The rise of big business promised lifelong stability, a salary, and benefits for the entire family. Suburbs and the tech revolution meant more
desk jobs. Schools in these new communities responded accordingly, promising college-prep education, further ingrained in the system by titans like the College Board and the Department of Education. In our space race of a tech battle against China, corporations like Google partnered with American public schools to teach coding through Minecraft and promote the ever-virtuous Woman in STEM.
At Folsom High School, my alma mater, we were practically bred to be computer engineers like the hundreds of parents who worked across the street from campus at Intel, the company that designs the CPU of the laptop I wrote this article on.
The dream died at the end of our teen years, as Intel announced a series of layoffs. Just this past fall, the company announced 272 layoffs at the Folsom campus. Last month, another 58.
The corporation said they were laying off my classmates’ parents to “cut costs,” but has since been at the heart of the recent H-1B visa debacle, addressed by Vice President J.D. Vance. Intel, alongside other big tech companies, has been accused of firing American workers and “replacing” them with foreign workers willing to work
for half the pay, often with fewer credentials or experience. The job security preached to us since middle school was a lie.
When I arrived at Hillsdale College in the fall of 2021, it was during the wake of COVID, and only the beginning of my hometown’s troubles. Yet I immediately saw the toll removing shop class had taken on the Midwest.
A region formerly known as the car factory capital of the world was now the “Rust Belt.”
I could see how Trump had won Michigan in 2016, with promises of a return to America First manufacturing, and how he won yet again in 2024. Those of us from the coasts were removed for years from the effects of our blue-collar decline.
After COVID, with our tech industry in trouble, we are now forced to recognize the necessity of the working class man. There is a reason we are called “coastal elites,” so far flung from the heart of the issue, blinded by a stroke of temporary luck.
Statistics show wood and metalworking classes help increase graduation rates, especially for those who may feel left out by the traditional high school education model. The Michigan Department of Education reported in 2022 that 96% of Career Technical Education students received their diploma, a clear jump from the 81% state graduation rate
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 61.4% of the high school graduating class of 2023 were enrolled in college by October. Our public education system fails to account for the one in three who will not go on to higher education.
Technical education classes provide a sense of talent and stability for students who might otherwise feel discouraged by
their more academic courses. My dad, who has ADHD, has always felt most comfortable accomplishing a project with his own hands. As someone who works in sales, it still provides an important creative outlet for him, despite not working in an industrial field.
In an increasingly digital age, young people feel this shared call to create something physical, to take a break from a screen. There is something inherently good about returning to the physical. In the first U.S. census of 1790, an astonishing 90% of Americans were farmers. The vast majority of the remaining 10% would have been skilled laborers or shopkeepers. Less than a century ago, human history was defined by the hand and the tool, not the screen and the microchip.
My high school later realized the importance of a well-rounded curriculum. During my senior year, they completed the construction of a new Career Technical Education building, headed by my former teacher Andrew Bias. Under his leadership, the school reestablished multiple wood and metal working classes and received a $50,000 grant from Harbor Freight Tools. A classical education is not complete without remembering the body. Recent initiatives, like the expansion of campus fitness programs and the creation of the Hillsdale Homestead, are great examples of this. If we wish to preserve the Western tradition, we must also acknowledge the labor it takes to build it.
Carly Moran is a senior studying politics.
Illustrated by Maggie O’Connor.
Bezos knows the free market
By Kamden Mulder Features Editor
Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, announced at the end of February the paper is shifting to focus the scope of its opinion section on free markets and personal liberties. While Post journalists disagree with Bezos’s decision, the problem isn’t his mandate but his staff’s sense of entitlement — liberal journalists are out of touch.
Following the announcement, Post editorial page editor David Shipley resigned due to his disagreement with Bezos’s editorial decision. Other staff members left amid a flurry of criticism, openly opposing the shift.
The change mirrors the cultural and political transformation in this country. Bezos, who built an empire by understanding market needs, applied the same approach to the Post.
NPR reported The Post lost
75,000 subscribers following the change. The loss in paid subscriptions, however, is nothing new. The paper lost $100 million in revenue in 2024 and $77 million in 2023.
Yet only in the last few months has Bezos advertised new convictions for himself — and his paper. Bezos’s recent support of President Donald Trump, including his $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration fund and last-minute decision to pull an endorsement editorial for Kamala Harris, left many of his reporters in dismay. The Hill reported the loss of subscribers can be attributed to said decisions.
The loss in revenue, however, extends beyond the last six months. Whether or not Bezos is a die-hard MAGA voter or just a savvy businessman, he’s identified a problem. Readers are no longer turning to the Post — so he’s seeking new readers.
“There was a time when a
newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views,” Bezos said in a post on X. “Today, the internet does that job.”
With every legacy media outlet’s opinion sections essentially recycling the same takes, the market is oversaturated with progressive journalism. Bezos is making a wise business decision, regardless of whether his beliefs are popular among his staff.
With the deliberate shift to cover more traditionally conservative and American ideas, the Post can fill a niche corporate media has previously left untapped.
“I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America,” Bezos said in his statement. “I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m
excited for us together to fill that void.”
In 2024, Trump received over 14 million more votes than in 2016. Conservatism is gaining popularity in the era of Trump 2.0, and with that, an emphasis on free markets and personal liberties. Preconceived notions and varied media diets will never allow for a complete reversal, but almost 15 million more people today support those ideas than eight years ago. Even securing a fraction of that market overpowers the couple hundred thousand readers the paper has lost in recent months.
Bezos is attempting to fill a niche large media conglomerates have largely ignored. Amazon’s success has proven Bezos can anticipate people’s needs and capitalize on them. The redirection of the Post is no different.
American Studies.
Kamden Mulder is a senior studying
Deportation upholds Catholic social teaching
By Francesca Cella Collegian Reporter
While 56% of Christian voters supported Trump in the 2024 election, playing a key role in sending him back to the White House, religious leaders such as the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, have condemned Trump’s deportation policies.
“This is one of the fundamental points of the Holy See: no deportation,” Cardinal Parolin said last month.
The claim that deportation is against Christian charity stems from a misapplication of charity and a misunderstanding of Catholic social teaching. It assumes that charitably “willing the good of the other” and upholding the dignity of the human person mean allowing illegal im-
migrants to remain in the U.S. Christian charity, however, also requires preserving the security of the American people by upholding the legal immigration system, and in turn protecting hardworking, law-abiding migrants who seek a better life in America. Understood correctly, Catholic social teaching guides Christians in structuring a society with charity and justice.
The crux of the issue rests on whether, in upholding each person’s dignity, Catholic social teaching ensures each person’s best life or comfort. The Catholic principle of solidarity does not mandate favoring those with challenging circumstances in all government decisions, but rather upholds man’s obligation to “commit oneself to the common good; that is to say,
to the good of all and of each individual.”
The Christian politician must simultaneously consider the welfare of the illegal immigrant and of his own child while pursuing what is best for the American people. While it seems impossible to balance these conflicting interests, the Catholic Church suggests there is an order to Christian charity.
In a Jan. 29 interview with Fox News, Vice President J.D. Vance referred to the principle of ordo amoris, which states there is a hierarchy in Christian charity. Christians should prioritize loving those who are relationally or physically most proximate. Vance referenced Thomas Aquinas’s idea that “we ought to be most beneficent towards those who are most closely connected with us” to argue
The Trump administration signals family commitment
Christensen Assistant Editor
A new wave of presidential relatives are stealing the show. And this time, it’s got nothing to do with cocaine and laptops. Since President Donald Trump’s Inauguration, appearances of extended members of the first and second families have been plentiful as well as entertaining. From Trump’s adult children and their young kids to Vice President J.D. and second lady Usha Vance’s three young children, family values are back in the White House in a capacity America hasn’t seen since JFK’s presidency in the 1960s.
These kids’ presence keeps our political leaders real, honest, and humble. Beyond their objective adorableness, they serve as reminders to America’s leaders of the opportunities they have to promote family values with the policies they create.
The Vance family, perhaps the most “normal” family of the administration — with no divorce or parental separation to mar family dynamics — are also one of the most entertaining in American politics today.
Picture any American family’s summer road trip: the whole gang spilling out of a minivan wearing slides and pajama pants. The Vance family painted a slightly more elegant version of this image emerging from Air Force Two in Paris last month, as the boys’ designer pea coats left enough room between their knees and ankles to reveal their patterned pajama pants.
outings show the American public they’re just like any other family, while allowing their children a semi-normal childhood.
In an interview with Ted Cruz on his show “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” hosted live at CPAC last month, Vance touted the Trump administration’s stance on families and said his own young children, coupled with his Christian faith, influence the policy decisions he makes.
“We’ve got to persuade our fellow citizens to stop thinking about babies as inconveniences to be discarded,” Vance said.
“We’ve got to start thinking of them as blessings to cherish, and that’s exactly what I promised to do. I’m blessed to have a 7-year-old, a 5-year-old, and a 3-year-old, and I can’t help but see the country through their eyes.”
While not an official member of the Trump or Vance family, Elon Musk’s 4-year-old son X Æ A-12, or X, has been a prominent figure in and around the White House since
fice today for a better America in the future.
Likewise, the decision of different Trumps to bring their children into the public eye signals to the American people family unity is something these families treasure, and they should too.
From 7-year-old Luke Trump’s command to “vote for Grandpa” to his 5-yearold sister Carolina proclaiming “make American great again,” at a rally in North Carolina last September, Trump’s youngest grandkids saw a lot of the campaign trail. While Luke and Carolina’s stage time was limited during Trump’s campaign, they were constantly there behind-the-scenes with their involved parents, and had front-row seats to Trump’s inauguration.
The presence of kids early on in this administration is not simply an amusement for the American people. Rather, it should be a reminder to leaders in the administration they have promises to the American people to uphold,
Later on the trip as the family toured the newly-restored Notre Dame cathedral, the Vances did what they could to keep their kids engaged in the visit, but their attempt to instill an admiration for the beauty of the cathedral in their children fell flat. In their effort, the Vances were examples of average, well-meaning parents, who for centuries have dragged their kids to various old buildings to admire their architecture and point out the different kinds of columns featured (are they Ionic? Dorian? Corinthian?), in an effort to give them a cultural experience.
While they could easily have hired a nanny for the weekend and left the kids at home, the Vances instead chose to make a family trip out of it. The Vance family
Trump took office, first making waves at a Feb. 11 Oval Office meeting with Trump and Musk. Since then, X has made several public appearances with Trump and Musk, including when Trump bought a Model S Tesla, and boarded Marine One with Trump earlier this month.
Musk’s morals concerning his children are hardly orthodox and are concerning for both his kids and the mothers of his children left to raise their kids without a father. While Musk should be as present in his other kids’ lives as he is in X’s, he at least devotes his time and money to something valuable — namely, the efficiency of the government — when he could have chosen to retreat to any of his mansions or spend his time and money on other initiatives.
As far as X is concerned, the child’s presence humanizes Trump and Musk, showing they’re just like everyday American parents and grandparents with people who depend on their decisions in of-
that this principle upholds America’s obligation to care for her people before foreigners, justifying deportation. By allowing a mass of people to evade the law and destroy the country, America neglects her primary duty to defend her own people and government. Our nation is permitting a quiet invasion of illegal immigrants, some of whom spark conflict in our cities. We do not let this happen in other countries. While we send billions of dollars to Ukraine and Israel to help them protect their nations and their peoples from invasion, we sit by and allow our own nation to deteriorate.
While it is the duty of nations to welcome foreigners, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless, the Catechism of the Catholic Church also states, “Immigrants are
obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.” Illegal immigration indicates a contempt for American law and a direct refusal of civic duties.
Deportation upholds the good of America in charity. Homicide, rape, and theft are clearly detrimental to the welfare of our country and must be stopped. Even if illegal immigrants do not commit these more egregious crimes, they have already broken the law by their illegal entry and must not be permitted to disregard the authority of the state.
Although it may seem like a harsh measure to tear families away from the American dream and bus them back across the border, deportation is only the appropriate
response to the injustice committed in illegally entering a country.
Deporting illegal immigrants upholds the American legislature and government and affirms that our nation is governed with authority. It protects the American people — including our millions of legal immigrants — from harm and allows them the right to live securely. Deportation is the uncomfortable point at which loving one’s neighbor involves maintaining boundaries and defending the principles of law.
sophomore studying English.
Trump and Musk: poor fathers, better leaders
By Lauren Bixler Circulation Manager
Conservative influencer and author Ashley St. Clair petitioned a Manhattan court to legally declare Elon Musk the father of her child and grant her sole custody Feb. 21. This child would be Musk’s fourteenth, and St. Clair the fourth mother of his offspring. This should ring the alarm bells for conservatives who cherish traditional family values.
While continuing to advocate for family-first culture and policy, conservatives must acknowledge the foremost leaders of the Trump administration hardly exemplify even basic monogamy.
“I am, and always have been, the only parent and caretaker that R.S.C. has known,” St. Clair said in the petition.
In November, Musk told St. Clair he wanted to “knock [her] up again,” according to court documents. He also told
he had a child.
Trump’s family appears united today, especially in their appearances together at the White House. Yet his past brings into question Trump’s loyalty to the causes which align with conservative family values — abortion and in vitro fertilization among them.
It’s frustrating for conservatives to make peace with the perceived value differences between themselves and the leaders of this country.
What complicates this situation is when everyone who votes Republican is lumped into the same category. Anyone who voted for Trump is referred to in most news outlets as “MAGA Republicans.” Yet not every person who votes Republican stands behind Trump’s every action. Frankly, that notion is contrary to conservatism.
Russell Kirk addressed this point in his 1993 work “Ten Conservative Principles.”
“There exists no Model
imperfectability. Human nature suffers irremediably from certain grave faults, the conservatives know,” Kirk wrote. “Man being imperfect, no perfect social order ever can be created.” Overscrutinization of actions or character faults is what the Left does incessantly. Say something politically incorrect decades ago when you were a young adult? Canceled, career ruined, stained for life. Conservatives must refrain from the same belligerence and instead treat everyone with equal scrutiny. America needs someone like Trump to take a bat to the federal government and pave the way for leaders more like the magnificently humble Washington.
including that of a more affordable economy and better education options.
“We believe, in the Trump administration, that babies are good, that families are good, and we want to make it easier for young moms and young dads to choose life, to start families, and to bring new life into the world. That’s the whole point of our policy,” Vance said on “Verdict with Ted Cruz.”
Bringing their kids and grandkids to political functions is one way members of the Trump administration are displaying their commitment to these pro-family policies to the American people. Viral videos of the kids’ shenanigans are a bonus.
Tayte Christensen is a junior studying history.
Illustrated by Maggie O’Connor.
St. Clair earlier this month that the two “have a legion of kids to make.”
If this characterizes Musk’s role with one child, one can imagine his attitude toward the other thirteen. His appearances with his 4-year-old son X Æ A-12, or X, in the White House are endearing, but he still has another dozen children. It appears Musk’s parental focus is on quantity rather than quality. His reason for having kids is to populate the earth, not out of loving devotion to them or their mother.
But Musk is not the only one who has a sticky past when it comes to family life. President Donald Trump has a history of infidelity and is now on his third marriage.
Trump cheated on his first wife Ivana Trump with Marla Maples, who then became his second wife. Trump had three children in his first marriage and one in his second. Trump later divorced Maples and met Melania Knauss, with whom
Conservative, and conservatism is the negation of ideology: it is a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the civil social order,” Kirk wrote.
Real conservatives do not latch onto any singular political figure but adhere to time-tested values — what Kirk describes as “an enduring moral order made for man.” Family life is guided by this order, which is why Trump and others he associates with seem prominently at odds with conservatism.
A proper family order requires stability. Unstable families create an unstable society — a truth especially concerning when prominent figures like Trump and Musk may embody this instability. However, to hyper-focus on one aspect of these men’s character and disregard the rest would be equally foolish and antithetical to conservatism.
“Conservatives are chastened by their principle of
Conservatives hope Trump can rally Americans under the “common sense revolution” he touted in his March 4 speech to Congress. People who cherish traditional values must recognize we are in a war for the soul of America. Regaining common sense is the first step toward healing that soul. Common sense was a phrase in the mouths of our Founders, and it’s in the mouth of Trump’s administration. Before we can hope for Kirk’s enduring moral order, we at least need a little more common sense. When you spend your time entrenched in the study of virtue and principles, it’s easy to scrutinize every aspect of every person. But the world is not that simple — even broken people can do great service. A leader like Trump can still be the bulldog America needs even if he’s not the moral exemplar for whom traditional conservatives yearn. But not all hope is lost. Trump’s “common sense” mission may miss the mark on marriage and family as it pertains to his own life, but others in the administration succeed in living out traditional values. Common sense is now the language of the right, and common sense will be the foundation upon which America can rebuild itself and return to its traditional roots.
Lauren Bixler is a sophomore studying politics.
Illustrated by Maggie O’Connor.
Francesca Cella is a
Tayte
Move aside Hunter Biden.
City News
Aldi’s grand opening draws hundreds
Shoppers rose before dawn to see the budget grocery store’s new Hillsdale location
By Isaac Green Managing Editor
Hundreds of people lined the sidewalk outside Aldi early the morning of March 13 in anticipation of the grand opening of the grocery chain’s new Hillsdale location at 3751 W. Carleton Road.
As the parking lot filled up, drivers took to leaving their cars along the ditches that line both sides of W. Moore Road before joining the ranks of shoppers dressed in warm clothes and armed with coffee. Hillsdale resident LaTasha
Trump
McClung said she got to the store at 7 a.m., good enough to land her a spot as one of the first 100 customers to walk through the doors when the store opened at 8:45 a.m. Her reward was a gift bag filled with samples of Aldi products and gift cards.
“I usually drive to Coldwater, so I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore to make my bruschetta and things like that — everything that would cost top dollar in regular stores,” McClung said. “I save so much money.”
While just the first 100 customers received gift bags,
tariffs
attendants handed out free Aldi tote bags, coupons, and key chains to everyone who attended the grand opening.
The key chains are designed to hold the quarters that shoppers must use to unlatch the red locks chaining shop -
ping carts together outside the store. After checking out, shoppers can return their cart to retrieve their quarters by re-engaging the lock.
In an effort to streamline the check out process and further its goal for a cleaner planet, Aldi asks that shoppers bring their own reusable bags when visiting the store, according to the company website. Those who don’t can buy from a selection of paper bags or Aldi-brand reusable bags at the front.
ler stores, and staffing fewer employees than most large grocery chains, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Normally, I go to Meijer or Walmart, but it will be nice to have more options for everyone,” Manna said. “I like to make things from scratch,
lot of the brands back that we used to buy,” Schwarz said. “I think we’re still gonna go to Kroger, but there are some brands that we really love here.”
Operating more than 2,000 stores nationwide, the Hillsdale location marks the 114th Aldi store to open in the state of Michigan, according to the company website.
“Normally, I go to Meijer or Walmart, but it will be nice to have more options.”
After visiting the store for the first time last Sunday, sophomore Mikayla Manna said she thinks Aldi will be the place she shops most often moving forward.
“It’s smaller so I find it easier to find things in it, and it seems like their produce and things in general are just cheaper,” Manna said.
These low prices are made possible by a variety of costsaving strategies — stocking fewer items, operating smal -
typically, so having fresh ingredients is nice.”
While Hillsdale’s store looked like a typical Aldi she has seen at home in Nebraska, Manna said the one difference was that it is almost all selfcheckout at the front.
David Schwartz, a threeyear Hillsdale resident, also said his family used to grocery shop at a different Aldi location before moving to the area.
“We’re excited to have a
“Our stores are designed to make grocery shopping smarter, faster, and easier,” Webberville Vice President for Aldi Ryan Fritsch said in a press release. “We’re excited to open our first Aldi store in Hillsdale and introduce local customers to a new, more affordable way of shopping.” The new store will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will provide curbside pick up and grocery delivery options.
hike
prices
for Hillsdale businesses
Some business owners call it “healing pain” as others fear the threat of more levies
By
The costs of supplies — from tomatoes to steel — are rising for Hillsdale businesses as President Donald Trump levied heavy import fees on goods from China, Canada, Mexico, and other countries last week.
Joshua Mincio, owner of St. Joe’s Café, said he intentionally sources American produce for his restaurant, choosing tomatoes from California instead of Mexico. But Trump’s 25% tariff on Mexican goods will raise his costs anyway, since the cost of Californian tomatoes will go up.
Abe and Ben Graves, co-owners of Jonesville Lumber, said they have been receiving vastly different quotes for materials from suppliers, due to Trump’s flip-flopping on tariff policy.
“Nothing is set in stone right now,” Abe Graves said. “The tariffs are on, they’re off, they’re on, they’re off, which creates a bit of instability in the market right now. What’s real and what’s not?”
But some business-owners say they are confident Trump can use the tariffs to create a fairer global trading environment for the United States.
“I think that there is a plan behind all this,” Abe Graves said. “Trump says a lot of stuff but you have to read between the lines on what he’s actually doing. Sure, he’s throwing out big tariffs, but at the end of the day, he just wants them to come to the table and talk so they can negotiate this out and actually get realistic rights, so that it’s good for both countries. My brother and I are definitely willing to give him a shot at figuring this out.”
retaliated with reciprocal tariffs on American products, sparking a growing trade war. On March 12, Trump implemented a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum entering the U.S., which the European Union responded to with steep tariffs on American exports like bourbon and beef.
Trump’s tariffs affect a broad swath of products, as Americanmade products are often assembled with global components.
Andrew Gelzer, manager of Gelzer’s Hardware, estimated that “70% of our inventory mix will be affected to some degree, with costs rising 7% on the lower end, with some products as much as 40%.”
“The tariffs are painful,” Gelzer said. “While I’m completely in favor of strengthening the economy and making it work for us, the reality is that consumers and small businesses will be hurt by most of Trump’s tariffs.”
On March 13, Trump proposed a 200% tariff on European spirits and wine. Mincio said
this “absurd number” would effectively put a complete halt to all such imports.
“No customer is going to pay three times the regular price for a bottle of wine,” Mincio said.. “We wouldn’t be able to sell any Italian or French wine.” Ben Graves said Jonesville Lumber is trying to soften the blow of the tariffs, using material already in stock to average new costs down for customers and contractors.
“We’re doing our best to make sure we are all set to weather the storm,” Graves said. “Keeping the best price possible in front of your customers is all you can do.” Gelzer said Gelzer’s Hardware will pursue the same course of action.
“We’re going to control our prices and absorb some of this, just to protect our community, to a degree,“ Gelzer said. “But if uncertainty continues, eventually we will have to raise those prices.”
“Because of these tariffs, those Mexican tomatoes a lot of folks buy are now more expensive than tomatoes grown in America,” Mincio said. “So the demand for the California tomatoes we use is going to be extremely high.”
tariff announcements and reversals have created an atmosphere of uncertainty.
“As it stands, I don’t think people were ready for such a
“The tariffs are on, they’re off, they’re on, they’re off, which creates a bit of instability in the market.”
Mincio agreed with Trump’s policy that more
sudden change in the economy, with this little warning,” Mincio said. “The general feeling is one of uncomfortable uncertainty.”
Todd Ritchey, owner of White’s Welding, said the tariffs — while painful — are necessary to level the global playing field and encourage fair competition. He called them a temporary “healing pain.”
“People should look at why the tariffs are in place, and not panic over the price increases,” Ritchey said.
He acknowledged the impact of Trump’s steep aluminum and steel tariffs on his business, but said he trusts Trump to bring about a satisfactory conclusion for the nation.
“When there’s a plan in place, and there’s a goal to achieve, it’s hard not to be behind it,” he said.
Since taking office in January, Trump enacted substantial import tariffs of 20-25%, targeting China, Canada, and Mexico. These countries have invariably
Ava-Marie Papillon illustrated the City News header.
Senior Raegan Coupland at the opening of Aldi March 13. Isaac Green | Collegian
Charles Hickey Collegian Freelancer
goods should be grown and made in America, but he also said Trump’s rapid
Todd Ritchey, owner of White’s Welding, said tariffs will level the global playing field. Charles Hickey | Collegian
St. Joe’s Cafe Owner Joshua Mincio with his tomatoes. Charles Hickey | Collegian
Hundreds lined the sidewalk outside Aldi before the store opened at 8:45 a.m.
Isaac Green | Collegian
Council considers reducing Barry Street repair costs
A vote to stop a separate plan to narrow Broad Street and add bike lanes failed
By Sydney Green & Alessia Sandala Collegian Reporter & Assistant Editor
The Hillsdale City Council delayed a decision on a road repair project for a second time as Acting Mayor Joshua Paladino suggested using city tax funds to reduce costs for homeowners on Barry Street.
In a unanimous vote, the council postponed its decision on the establishment of a special assessment district for the street until the second week in April. Establishment of the SAD would require Barry Street homeowners to pay up to $5,000 each for repairs to the dilapidated road.
At the March 3 city council meeting, Paladino proposed using extra funding from the Capital Improvement Fund, the new endowment from Hillsdale College, and the new SAD policy to offset the costs homeowners would have to pay. According to Paladino, this would reduce the costs from $5,000 to under $3,000 per property.
“Unless the assessor’s estimate is off by more than $50,0000, this proposal would put the residential cap at $3,000,” Paladino said. “We would still take in $50,000 in new revenue under the new policy that we passed in February than under the old policy.”
Ward 4 Councilman Robert Socha said he is concerned this proposal would cause future problems with citizens.
“If we make this change then we are going to have members of the community coming and saying that we did this for Barry so we should do it for them,” Socha said. “If we wanted a $3,000 cap, we should have amended the entire SAD. I think
this is opening Pandora’s box.”
Paladino replied, saying governmental policies can change over time and the policy is not uniform.
“A uniform application of the law is not justice, the law is never in itself uniformly-applied, pure justice. You have to take into account the specifics,” Paladino said.
Timothy Polelle ’19, a Barry Street homeowner, said he would support the establishment of the SAD if Paladino’s proposal was accepted.
“In principle, I do still oppose the project, I wish there were no special assessments at all, but if you could negotiate a number below $3,000 that would be good for me personally rather than never having a road at all,” Polelle said. “Barring that, my opposition stands, and I think it should be voted down.”
Ward 3 councilman Bob Flynn said the council will be in a better position to discuss and move forward at the next city council meeting.
“When we started talking all of a sudden about moving numbers, I felt like I didn’t have enough information from city staff, the finance director, and others,” Flynn said. “We will have all those people there on April 7 and more specific numbers for what it will cost each person.”
The council is planning on voting on the establishment of the SAD April 14 because Socha will not be present at the April 7 meeting. According to Paladino, however, the council will vote April 7 if the opinions from city staff are amenable to everyone.
The council also voted down a motion by Ward 2 Councilman Matthew Bentley to stop a project that would narrow Broad Street to one lane in each
direction and add bike lanes to the downtown road.
A 6-2 vote kept the plan on track, with Bentley and Bruns in favor of stopping the plan. Bentley said most residents at a recent public hearing on the plan spoke against the bike lanes.
“There was a public hearing, but the public was not heard,” Bentley said. “And I don’t understand the extent to which the public or this council as their representatives were involved in the nuts and bolts of the process.”
On the road diet plan, Zoning Administrator Alan Beeker said the Transportation Alternative Program grant, which would offset the project cost by 80%, requires the city to include bike lanes in the proposed plan. The city will find out in midApril if it wins the grant for the project, he said.
“It is a Transportation Alternative Program and that means it has to be non-motorized improvements,” Beeker said. “Since the intent is to reduce the number of lanes but not actually reduce the physical width of the road, we have that space available anyway, and by calling that space a bike lane, it enables us to apply for that grant.”
According to Beeker, the main goal of the road diet is to force traffic to slow down on M-99 by decreasing the number of traffic lanes.
“We are not changing the physical width and I heard a lot more positivity about reducing the number of traffic lanes in order to reduce the speeds, especially through the downtown, and enable there being a buffer space,” Beeker said. “In this case, the buffer space is simply being termed a bike lane. If there aren’t any bikes on it, then it’s just a buffer space.”
Wortz presses school sports authority to follow Trump order on gender
By Kamden Mulder Features Editor
The standoff continues between Michigan lawmakers and the Michigan High School Athletic Association as Republicans lead a push to enforce President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning biological men from competing in women’s sports.
But the MHSAA remains unmoved, saying it will await further guidance before taking any action on the president’s order.
Republican members of the Michigan House of Representatives — with the support of eight Democrats — adopted House Resolution 40 last week, pushing MHSAA to “promptly align its eligibility rules for high school athletes with Executive Order 14201 to preserve the integrity of competition and the safety of our female athletes.”
State Rep. Jennifer Wortz, R-
Quincy, co-sponsored the resolution introduced by State Rep. Jaime Greene, R-Richmond.
“When boys compete in girls’ sports, they seize an unfair advantage and rob girls of their victories,” Wortz said at a March 13 press conference. “The MHSAA should defend our girls and their chances to excel and win.”
The resolution, although it bears no legal power, comes after Rep. Tim Walberg, RMich., strongly supported the withdrawal of federal funding from athletic programs in light of noncompliance.
“The next step will be enacting a punishment on them. If they want to do it, fine,” Walberg said on “The Steve Gruber Show.” “But the federal revenues that come to them, at the very least for their athletic programs that are commingled or used in the athletic programs, I would recommend that they be withdrawn.”
Michigan State Sen. Joe Bellino, a Republican who represents part of Hillsdale County and Southeast Michigan, told The Collegian “schools will be punished” if they refuse to comply with the executive order.
For a transgender student to participate in sports, schools must get waivers from MHSAA. Two students were given waivers in the fall, and none in the spring, according to Bellino.
Although the state House recently adopted the resolution, the Democrat-controlled Michigan Senate is unlikely to follow suit with the House, according to Bridge Michigan.
“Their [Democrats’] reasoning is, ‘It was only two high schoolers this year,’” Bellino said. “My question to the Democrats is this: If it’s only one person whose civil rights were violated, would you say, ‘Don’t worry, it’s only one?’ No, you wouldn’t.”
City officials remain opposed to in-town marijuana sales
As Coldwater took $757,000 in pot taxes, Hillsdale councilmen stand by bans on the drug
By Lauren Bixler Circulation Manager
Members of the Hillsdale City Council say they remain opposed to the opening of marijuana dispensaries as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed a new 32% wholesale tax on marijuana to raise funds for statewide road repair.
“After voters legalized marijuana, the industry has grown exponentially thanks in part to Michigan’s industry-friendly taxes, the fourth-lowest in the nation,” Whitmer’s office said in a Feb. 10 statement.
The tax would come on top of a 10% excise tax and 6% sales tax already levied on marijuana purchases. A portion of the revenue from the excise tax is passed down to localities where the sales were made. The City of Coldwater — a city with about twice the population of Hillsdale — received $757,000 in tax revenue from marijuana sales in the 2024 fiscal year.
But Hillsdale has declined to permit the use or sale of marijuana in city limits since the state legalized the drug in 2018. A statewide ballot initiative passed that year legalized the recreational use and possession of marijuana for adults 21 years and older, as well as enacting a tax on marijuana sales. In response to the initiative, the Hillsdale City Council passed two ordinances in December 2018: one prohibiting the sale and use of marijuana in a public place, and the other prohibiting the establishment of dispensaries within city limits.
“In the old view, the state was supposed to punish wickedness and vice and promote virtue. And under our current state, you get rewarded for promoting and legalizing vice.”
benefits of permitting dispensaries to open within the city.
The tax revenue from marijuana sales is significant, City of Coldwater City Manager Keith Baker said.
“We’re in our third or fourth year of receiving funds from the state,” Baker said. “We also collect a $5,000 licensing fee every year from each of these establishments, which brings about another $60,000-$70,000, depending on licenses that year.”
Baker said the Coldwater City Council dedicated the initial year’s worth of marijuana revenues to park projects. He said these projects would not have come to fruition so quickly without the additional funds, or, at least, it would take a long time to find room in the budget to save up for them.
Paladino said there is not currently a push for allowing the sale of the drug in Hillsdale, but if citizens wanted to change the ordinances, the council would have to consider the risks and
“The state withholds funds from us. They say, ‘Hey, we have this pile of cash, and all you have to do is promote vice within your city limits,’” Hillsdale Acting Mayor Jos hua Paladino said.
“With $100,000 you could end special assessments, and then you would have to think, ‘What does that do for the character of our citizenry?’” Paladino said.
“Are more people then able to own their homes, stay in their homes? Are they able to avoid foreclosure because their taxes are lower? Are families able to own more homes to raise their children better if their taxes are lower? So there is a real tradeoff I think we have to consider here.”
As alluring as the marijuana tax revenue looks to Coldwater, Baker said the city anticipates a limit to the revenue in coming years.
“There’s a lot of marijuana produced so that creates a low price point,” Baker said. “And the market is only so big for it, so they’re gonna see a sales plateau. It’s not going to always be an increasing market.”
Al Williams, who is running for chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and is also president of the Detroit dispensary DaCut, said Whitmer’s 32% tax does not consider the trade-off — higher taxes will make the product more expensive and will likely end in the closure
of dispensaries that are already struggling to profit.
“I think this increase actually would encourage more people to operate in the black market,” Williams told Bridge Detroit last month. “There are other ways to fix the roads.”
Will Morrisey, a former politics professor who has served on the Hillsdale City Council since 2016, said money was part of the council’s conversation in 2018 but the city’s final decision met with the approval of parents who want to limit the exposure of their children to marijuana.
“We were of course aware that revenues derived from such businesses are substantial, but monetary considerations are secondary to the character of life in the town,” Morrisey said.
Ashley Davis, chief administrative officer of the Stoned
“There
Goat Cannabis Company — a dispensary in Osseo — said marijuana’s benefits outweigh its harms.
“One of the biggest reasons people turn to cannabis is an alternative to traditional medications, especially opioids and painkillers,” Davis said. “We see so many customers looking for natural ways to manage pain, anxiety, and sleep issues without the risk of side effects often caused from prescription medications. For a lot of people, cannabis has helped them cut back or completely stop using pharmaceuticals.”
Davis said Stoned Goat focuses on education and transparency and does so by having knowledgeable employees who can adjust the cannabis needs to each customer.
“You won’t get that type of education from the black market,” Davis said.
Baker said some officials in Coldwater are concerned because of instances of people driving under the influence of marijuana. Because law enforcement officers have no easy way to measure marijuana’s percentage in the body, such as how breathalyzers measure blood alcohol content, that makes it difficult for prosecution or determining whether or not somebody has enough of the drug in their system to classify them as being under the influence.
is a real tradeoff that I think we have to consider here.”
Professor of Economics Gary Wolfram said he considers economist Ludwig von Mises’s arguments about prohibition as a model for the government’s role in marijuana legalization.
“Mises argues that prohibition is going to fail,” Wolfram said. “Cocainism, morphinism, and alcoholism are all pernicious vices and you shouldn‘t consume these things. But once
you allow the government to preclude you from purchasing something that harms yourself, where does it end?” In response to Mises’s argument, Paladino said the issue of legalization concerns more than the individual.
“When they’re advertising it, and your children see it, you don’t actually have full control over the moral formation of your children when it’s being blasted at them as normal from an early age,” Paladino said. He also said there is little talk about the harms of marijuana as it’s advertised as a “positive good” with little side effects, and this advertising can be especially harmful for children when they frequently encounter it in Hillsdale.
Morrisey said there is not a push within the City Council to legalize dispensaries and he intends to continue his opposition to the industry.
“Many Michigan highways are lined with billboards touting marijuana shops and the gambling industry. These businesses are effective ways of keeping people satiated, stupefied, and indebted,” Morissey said. “They serve those who wish to enrich and empower the state apparatus by making citizens apathetic, passive, and helpless — that is, turning citizens into subjects. So, I intend to continue to oppose these industries.”
The open sign at Stoned Goat Cannabis, a dispensary in Osseo. Lauren Bixler | Collegian
Rep. Jennifer Wortz, a Republican representing Hillsdale, speaks at a March 13 press conference. Courtesy | Michigan House Republicans
Sports Opinion
Here's why Michigan will win March Madness
By Nathan Furness Collegian Freelancer
The University of Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team is poised to make a run to the Final Four after winning the Big Ten tournament by defeating the University of Wisconsin Badgers 59-53 on March 16. Following their win over the No. 6 seed Purdue University Boilermakers and upset over the No. 2 seed University of Maryland Terrapins, the Wolverines are once again atop the Big Ten in hoops.
The Wolverines will look to start their potential run on March 20 as they face off against the Big West Conference champion UC San Diego Tritons in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Former Florida Atlantic University head coach Dusty May took the Michigan head coaching job this past offseason following a horrendous 8-24 season where the Wolverines won just three games in conference. May immediately turned the program around winning 13 of his first 16 games and starting 5-0 in conference play. His first-year
Games
Difficulty:
Each row and column contains 2 each of A, B, and C. The numbers around the border indicate the number of "pairs" of consecutive identical letters that appear in the row or column.
Hint: For a row or column with two pairs, the letter in the second position is always part of a pair.
Battleships
Difficulty:
There are four ships of length
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2 (◀▶), two ships of length 3 (◀ ■ ▶), and one ship of length 4 (◀ ▶). Each ship is surrounded by empty water on all sides, including diagonally; no two ships touch or intersect. The numbers along the border indicate how many ship pieces appear in that row or column.
squad would end the regular season with a record of 22-9 after losing a few tough games towards the end of the season. These struggles quickly disappeared with their threegame run to win them the Big Ten Tournament.
The Wolverine offense has been a big reason for their success this season, much of which comes from their twin towers attack. Their starting lineup is the only one in the country that boasts a pair of 7-foot players. Junior transfer from Yale University Danny Wolf and senior transfer from Florida Atlantic University Vladislav Goldin combine to be a dominating force in the paint. Goldin averages 17 points and has scored over 20 in seven of his last eight games.
at a towering seven feet, Wolf can easily handle the ball and shoot the three, averaging 34% from beyond the arch this season. With these point-guard-like attributes, these twin towers run an al-
well in the Big Ten Tournament. Combined, they scored or assisted on more than half of the 226 points scored by the Wolverines during the tournament.
Despite all of this recent
Wolf averages a double-double, scoring 13 points a game and grabbing 10 boards. Although he stands
3/6 Puzzle Solutions Alphabet
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most unguardable screen and roll with Wolf handling the ball and Goldin cutting to the rim. The duo played especially
offensive success, the Wolverines are by no means the top team in the nation. They are a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament because of their nine
Noughts and Crosses
losses, including two double-digit losses to rival Michigan State Spartans. Recently, they have not shot the three-point shot well and have struggled badly with turnovers all year. With an average of over 14 turnovers a game, the Wolverines rank a horrendous 340th out of all 364 NCAA Division I teams, a problem that could hinder them in close games. Regardless of these weaknesses, what makes Michigan so ready to make a run to the Final Four is the momentum they carry from winning the Big Ten Tournament. In recent years, Power 5 conference teams that win their conference tournament or lose in the finals are much more likely to make deep runs in March Madness. Momentum from previous games is vital in college basketball, and there is
no greater momentum builder and confidence booster than winning a Power 5 conference tournament.
Michigan knows how to win close games. The Wolverines have 12 wins over Big Ten opponents by 4 points or less, a record for any NCAA DI men’s basketball team ever. While this may sound like Michigan is punching above its weight class, it also shows that Dusty May’s squad knows how to close out games. Anytime the game comes down to the wire, Michigan fans can expect their team to get the job done, a very important trait for success in March Madness.
Michigan is hot at the right time. Coming off of their tournament win, their towering star players will continue to play well. Pair that with the version of Michigan that fans got to see in Indianapolis over the weekend, and there is no telling how far this team could go. They are capable of making the Final Four and could even compete for a national championship.
March Madness is back, and so is Michigan basketball.
Women's Basketball Loss ends historic season
By Cassie DeVries Collegian Reporter
Hillsdale College women’s basketball advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2018 but lost to Northern Michigan University 61-56 in the Midwest Regional Quarterfinal at Grand Valley State University March 14.
“It was not the end we wanted, but it ended up being a really close game,” senior Lauren McDonald said. “It was a cool experience, and I’m grateful we got to go that far.”
The Chargers finished their season 21-10, their first 20-win season since 2008-2009.
Northern Michigan was ranked third in the tournament.
“The biggest thing is that everyone on our team got to experience a game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time,” head coach Brianna Brennan said. “ It's the biggest stage we can play on, and it was really cool to see our girls walk into that game and start that first quarter with nothing but confidence.”
The Chargers made five 3-pointers in the first quarter, ending with a 19-18 lead.
Hillsdale struggled to score in the second and third quarters and were outscored 13-6 and 15-9, respectively.
“The second and third quarters were just a bit more cold offensively from a scoring standpoint,” Brennan said. “We still held Northern Michigan to our defensive goals, which was great, but unfortunately, we just got ourselves in too much of a hole to come out of it.”
The Chargers entered the fourth quarter trailing by 13, but seniors Kendall McCormick and Lauren McDonald scored 16 points to bring the team back to a single-digit deficit.
McDonald hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds to go, bringing the score to 59-56.
McDonald narrowly missed a double-double with 16 points, nine rebounds, six steals, and three assists.
McCormick had 15 points, three steals, and five rebounds.
Junior Emma Ruhlman scored 10 points and added six
rebounds.
“This year was a turning point for our program and our culture, and we became a lot stronger and attacked adversity head-on throughout the season,” Brennan said.
The Chargers were led by their three senior starters: McDonald, McCormick, and Caitlin Splain.
“We’re obviously sad our season is over but that was the furthest we’ve gone in a while, so we’re definitely proud of that,” McCormick said.
Both McCormick and Splain walked onto the basketball team. McDonald transferred from the Air Force Academy, and senior dual-athlete Marilyn Popplewell joined mid-season as a guard after not playing since high school. Injured seniors Carly Callahan and Ashley Konkle will also be leaving Hillsdale.
“We are going to really miss the leadership from those six,” Brennan said. “They were the best teammates and supporters and held the standards high for all of our younger girls.”
Men's Basketball Chargers lose close game in semis
By Ellie Fromm Assistant Editor
The Charger men’s basketball team fell to the Malone University Pioneers in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference semifinal game 58-55 on March 7 at home.
“I would say going into that game that our team was feeling really good about the opportunity ahead of us,” junior Ashton Janowski said.
Hillsdale held a small lead throughout most of the game, but fell behind in the final quarter.
“The team did a great job battling back from being down nine points with 10 minutes left and giving ourselves a chance to win down the stretch,” senior Joe Reuter said. “It shows the toughness that we have and it was great to see how we handled that adversity.”
Janowski, redshirt senior Charles Woodhams, and sophomore Mickey McCollum all scored 12 points for the Chargers. Woodhams and Reuter were awarded first-team All-GMAC honors. Redshirt sophomore Jacob Meyer received the G-MAC’s Elite 26 award, his second consecutive year receiving the award, for having the highest GPA in the G-MAC basketball tournament. The Chargers did not receive a bid for the NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament, and are graduating three starters.
“The game turned into a free throw battle and we just missed some shots that we usually make. They were shots that we all thought were going to go in but didn't,” Janowski said. “All shots that we could and will make next year.” Reuter and Janowski said that the Chargers knew what
to expect coming into the game because it was their third time playing the Pioneers this season.
“They just had some of their guys that didn't play well against us in the past step up and play really well,” Reuter said. “They made some plays that we didn't, and we lost because of that.”
Sophomore Ané Dannhauser was in the stands for the game and said that, despite students leaving campus for spring break, it was well-attended.
“In the last minute everyone was cheering and almost holding their breath because the difference was literally one or two baskets,” Dannhauser said. “It was heartbreaking because of the fact that it was so close, but it was a very fun game to watch nonetheless.”
Hillsdale plays at Michigan in 2014. COURTESY | the Collegian Staff
Women's Tennis Chargers fall to fierce competition
By Tayte Christensen Assistant Editor
Charger women’s tennis
went 1-4 with one match at home and three on the road in Florida over spring break.
The Chargers first faced the University of Northwestern Ohio Wildcats at home March 8, falling 5-2.
In doubles, No. 2 pair senior Libby McGivern and freshman Briana Rees took a 7-5 victory. The Chargers’ other win in the match came from sophomore Ané Dannhauser, who posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles.
Later in the week, the Chargers traveled to Florida, where they first squared off against the top-ranked NAIA Seahawks of Keiser University in Boca Raton on March 11. The Chargers fell 7-0. Against No. 15 Nova Southeastern University Sharks March 12 in Fort Lauderdale, the Chargers lost 7-0. Hillsdale’s sole win in the match came from Rees and Dann-
hauser’s 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles.
“Bri and I really worked together and stayed calm no matter what, which is what enabled us to beat them,” Dannhauser said. “The win was definitely a shock for us and them, but it was so good.”
The team wrapped up the week with a 4-3 victory over the Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish in West Palm Beach March 13.
“Thursday was very tough and we all had to fight so hard to get that win,” Dannhauser said.
“PBA is a team we always manage to lose very close to, but this time we came out on top.”
At No. 1 doubles, Dannhauser and Rees took a 6-2 win. Rittel and Hackman followed suit with a 6-2 victory in No. 2 doubles.
At No. 1 singles against the Sailfish, Dannhauser won 7-6, 6-2.
“My singles match was so challenging but also very rewarding,” Dannhauser said. “I
Track and Field
kind of messed up and had to fight hard to come back in the first set and then just stay focused in the second set.”
Rees walked away with a 6-2, 7-5 win in No. 3 singles, and Zlateva won at No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-1.
“We were playing against such high level teams, but I truly think the whole team came out and gave it their all over all three days,” Dannhauser said. “Overall the trip was absolutely amazing, and we didn’t want to leave. It was a great way to kick off conference play and I know now that we are ready for anything.”
The Chargers are now 6-6 on the season and will face Kentucky Wesleyan College and Thomas More University on the road this weekend.
Men's Tennis Wins over break boost confidence
By Jamie Parsons Collegian Reporter
The men’s tennis team went undefeated at the PTR Spring Tennis Fest in South Carolina, dominating their matches against West Liberty University and Millersville University to improve to 6-5 on the season overall.
The Chargers won 7-0 against West Liberty March 11, defeating their opponent in doubles play to secure the doubles point, and winning all six matches in singles play.
The Chargers won all three doubles matches with sophomores Ellis Klanduch and Henry Hammond grabbing a 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles, freshmen Samuel Plys and Eddie Bergelin grabbing a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles, and freshmen Ryan Papazov and Rintaro Goda grabbing a 6-0 win at No. 3 doubles.
The Chargers swept the singles portion with Papazov at No. 2 singles, Hammond at No. 4 singles, and Goda at No.
6 singles securing a 6-0, 6-0 win.
Head coach Keith Turner said he was confident the Chargers could defeat West Liberty and he was happy when the team made it happen.
“West Liberty is a weaker team, and we knew that going into the match,” Turner said.
“The guys did a good job of taking care of business.”
Goda said the match against West Liberty gave the Chargers more confidence as they headed into their second match in the PTR Spring Tennis Fest because it reacquainted the team with playing outdoor matches.
“The match on the 11th allowed us to get a better feel outdoors,” Goda said. “It also gave us confidence as we proved that we were able to perform in conditions we were not acclimated to.”
The Chargers won 6-1 against Millersville March 13, winning the doubles point and five of six singles matches.
In doubles, the Chargers won two of three matches with Klanduch and Hammond claiming a 6-2 victory at No. 1 doubles, and Goda and Papazov claiming a 6-3 victory at No. 3 doubles.
Bergelin pulled out a tough victory at No. 4 singles, pushing the match to a third set and winning 6-4, 1-6, 1-0. Freshman Alejandro Cordero Lopez fell short at No. 3 singles and lost 4-6, 3-6.
The Chargers will open up their G-MAC conference play this weekend as they travel to Kentucky to play against Kentucky Wesleyan College March 22 and Thomas More University March 23. Turner said the Charger’s performance at the PTR Spring Tennis Fest got him excited for the rest of the season.
“We showed that we can perform well outside with limited practice time,” Turner said. “Our confidence is growing which is a good sign for the upcoming conference season.”
Haas claims national title, other Chargers place in Indy
By Joshua Mistry Collegian Reporter
Senior Ben Haas earned the title of a NCAA DII Indoor National Weight Throw Champion with his first place weight throw mark of 22.89 meters.
"The atmosphere was amazing at nationals. It always is,” Haas said. “My biggest adjustment leading up was working on controlling my excitement because in my past few nationals I let the energy get to me and I am happy that I was able to perform to the best of my abilities.”
Haas also placed 16th in the shot put with a mark of 16.74 meters.
Senior Cass Dobrowolski placed 12th in the high jump with a mark of 2.11 meters.
"Coach Fawley and I did some reflection throughout the season looking at how certain training blocks correlated with my meet performances so that we could optimize our training in the weeks between indoor Greater Midwest Athletic Conference and nationals," Dobrowolski said.
Senior Katie Sayles competed in her fourth and final indoor national meet, placing 15th in the weight throw with a mark of 18.50 meters.
"This was 100% my best mindset going into nationals. Knowing it was the last time I would throw weight, I put everything on the line and just didn’t happen to catch ‘the big one.’ I still had an amazing time and got to watch everyone throw extremely far," Sayles
Sports Feature
said. Sayles will graduate this spring holding the record for the Chargers in the weight
ready to compete our best. Frankly, there wasn’t much to tweak at the last second. Having consistency during the
throw.
"Our whole season is leading up to this meet so Coach Jess made sure that we were
builds a foundation for success at nationals," Sayles said.
Junior Tara Townsend com-
peted in her second indoor national meet and placed ninth in the pole vault with a personal best meet of 4.07 meters.
"It was amazing to watch Tara clear a new personal best in pole vault but Ben winning the weight throw competition on his first throw takes the cake. As soon as I saw that he threw another 45 centimeters past the mark that had him sitting #1 in the nation all season, I knew he had the win in his hands," Dobrowolski said.
Townsend was seeded 11th heading into the meet, and only missed out on first-team All-American honors by one spot.
"It’s always so much fun to compete at a national championship. The energy is electric and everyone is so excited to
show off all their hard work. With it being a festival year (us, wrestling, and swim were all in Indianapolis), the amount of people and hype even around town was amazing," Sayles said.
Freshman Evyn Humphrey finished 12th in the mile with a time of 4:49.59 in her first championship meet.
"It’s an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many other outstanding athletes. It’s super fun to be able to compete at a high level as an athlete and just as fun to watch others compete at a high level as a fan," Dobrowolski said.
The Chargers will kick off the outdoor season at the Blizzard Buster Invitational hosted by Miami University March 21.
TeSlaa ranks first in athleticism at combine
By Ameera Wilson Collegian Reporter
Former Charger wide re-
ceiver Isaac TeSlaa earned a top score among the wide receivers
in the 2025 NFL Draft Combine last month.
NFL Next Gen Stats gave him an overall score of 70, placing him at 30th among the wide receivers. The overall score includes both athleticism and college production.
In the athleticism section, though, TeSlaa earned the score of 96 out of 100 in athleticism, the number one score among wide receivers.
“It was cool to see how I stacked up against the other guys and to see that I ended up
being number one,” TeSlaa said.
“I was extremely grateful, not only for myself, but to be able to share it with all the people who have supported me up to this point.”
TeSlaa played wide receiver for the Chargers from 2020 to 2022 and then transferred to the NCAA Division I University of Arkansas Razorbacks where he played for two more years before declaring for the draft.
“I have heard he did well. That is not surprising at all, as
he has always been a phenomenal athlete. Anybody with that size, speed, and strength combination should have a shot to play in the NFL,” Hillsdale College Football Offensive Coordinator Brad Otterbein said.
The former Hillsdale wideout drew the attention of NFL analysts after his performance.
“TeSlaa can mismatch smaller cornerbacks with his frame and play strength and is a reliable pass catcher when contested. TeSlaa’s ball skills and ability to work down the field from the
slot should carry backup value for teams in the market for help at receiver,” wrote NFL Analyst Lance Zierlan.
If drafted, TeSlaa will be the 14th Charger to be drafted to a professional team, joining names like Chester Marcol ‘72 (Green Bay Packers), Nate Johnson ‘80 (Pittsburgh Steelers), and Jared Veldheer ‘10 (Oakland Raiders).
“The Hillsdale College athletic department and the Hillsdale College football program are proud of what Isaac was able
to accomplish while wearing the Charger Blue and White,” said Hillsdale’s Director of Athletic Communications James Gensterbum. “We wish him the best as he gets the opportunity to pursue a career in the NFL.” Otterbein said although TeSlaa tested well at the combine, his athleticism is only part of his success as a player.
“His greatest attribute is his work ethic and desire to be great that will continue to let him have success,” Otterbein said.
Charger chatter
Zak kent, BaseBall
What's your movie hot take?
A good movie has not been made since 2010.
If you were a superhero, what powers would you have?
The power to dispense liquids from my fingers.
Compiled by Ameera Wilson
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
What animals do you think you could take in a fight?
I could definitely take down a Canadian goose.
season
Isaac TeSlaa at the Combine. COURTESY
Haas receives his award alongside his coach Jessica Bridenthal. COURTESY | James Gensterblum
Charger Sports
Hillsdale wins three over break as freshmen find their rhythm
By Elaine Kutas Collegian Reporter
The Hillsdale Chargers baseball team went 3-6 over spring break, playing Emporia State University, Maryville University, Saginaw Valley State University, and Malone University. The Chargers won their first game against Emporia University and two of their four games against Malone.
According to associate head coach Ryan Van Amburg, freshman Gaard Swenson had two RBIs and six runs during the week of competition. Swenson secured the March 7 win against Emporia State with a walk-off homerun at the bottom of the ninth inning. He also had a double during the March 12
home opener and brought in the first run on an RBI single by senior Zak Kent. Van Amburg said Swenson and the other 14 freshmen have been acclimating to the team well.
“Gaard Swenson had a strong week at the plate, showing great consistency with hard contact,” Van Amburg said. “The freshmen integrated quickly, especially given the large number we brought in this year. Now that we're deep into the season, they all know what to expect and what it takes to succeed, so we no longer think of them as freshmen.”
Kent put up a total of eight RBIs and two runs during the week, proving his importance as a senior player, according to Van Amburg.
Sports Feature
“Zak Kent has been a key
contributor, coming through in big moments and driving in a lot of RBIs when we needed them,” Van Amburg said.
Kent said that the week of games did not go as well as expected, but that the team will be able to learn from these games and carry that experience into the rest of the season.
“This weekend I played in all four games at Malone and was able to put some good swings on balls,” Kent said. “I was blessed with many runners on base, so naturally when I see an RBI opportunity, I get excited and try my best to take it.”
Sophomore Jake Pallo pitched eight innings throughout this week, striking out four batters. Senior
Brandon Scott pitched 14 innings, six of which were against Malone University on March 15 in a 10-0 shutout win for the Chargers.
“On the mound, Jake Pallo and Brandon Scott both delivered excellent performances,” Van Amburg said. “Pallo pitched in multiple games, allowing just one run, while Brandon Scott threw a dominant shutout against Malone to secure a win.”
Also pitching for the Chargers this week was sophomore Winston Delp. He pitched as relief in four innings this past week, including two innings as relief for Scott during the March 15 win against Malone. Delp had two strikeouts and allowed no walks or hits during his time on the mound.
Baseball settles into new clubhouse
By Tayte Christensen Assistant Editor
The Hillsdale College baseball team officially moved into the Hardenbergh Clubhouse this month.
The clubhouse, located under the grandstand of the Lenda and Glenda Hill Stadium, holds 37 player lockers as well as a common space for the team, seven showers, a separate coaches office, and space for a training room in the future.
Head coach Tom Vessella said the coaching staff and administration had discussed converting the formerly-empty space under the grandstand into the team’s clubhouse at the time of the stadium’s completion in February 2024.
“It was something that we've always talked about, and then with the way the
space worked underneath — really kind of a unique space and kind of crammed it in — but it's wasted space if we don't have this,” Vessella said. Vessella and Director of Athletics John Tharp said the generosity of the Hardenbergh and Delp families, as well as other donors, allowed for the quick construction of the space.
“As far as other clubhouses go, it's a little unique with how it's designed, but we can make this work with the small space,” Vessella said.
“We played Tetris a little bit to make everything fit.” Construction on the clubhouse began in the fall and finished in January, leaving the college to finish minor details like furniture and key card security access. Vessella said despite the aim to have the space finished by the first
home game March 12, flooding from the bathrooms above the coaches office in February prevented the team from accessing the clubhouse sooner. Vessella said pieces of drywall and several ceiling tiles had to be replaced due to the flooding, and the team had to allow time for the carpet to air out.
“In any project you're gonna have little hurdles and problems you have to solve along the way,” Vessella said. “We're here now, and you forget about all of them once you’re in the space. So now it's like, ‘wow, what a cool little spot.’”
Tharp said the new facility elevates the baseball program and will help the baseball team in recruiting for years to come.
“Hillsdale College has made a commitment to athletics,” Tharp said. “They're about the whole person, and Dr. Arnn has been about that from the beginning — about the heart, spirit, and body of our students and our student athletes. It just shows a commitment to the athletic department and to the students at Hillsdale College.”
The clubhouse comes as a step up from the team’s former space in the Roche Sports Complex, which included two separate spaces — one for field players and one for pitchers — with one shower in each area, which Vessella said didn’t always have hot water, and limited room for players’ gear. In the new space, each player has his own locker and there is room for players to relax after practice.
“Everything is an upgrade,” Vessella said. “We have all the exact same stuff that we've had
in the past, it’s just that now we have the whole team in one space with a bigger locker. So they still have lockers and showers and the normal stuff, but now they have more space for all of their gear. We have seven working showers with actual warm water, and we have an office with coaches. So we're all together in one spot.”
Sophomore infielder Rocco Tenuta said he is excited for the team to share the space and to get to see players outside of practice.
“With our old locker rooms in the sports complex, we had two separate locker rooms — it was hitters in one, pitchers in the other,” Tenuta said. “All my roommates are pitchers, so I would just see them when I go home and hardly ever see them at practice or in the locker room. It's a lot of fun to have everybody in here at the same time.”
Tharp said the baseball clubhouse is one phase in the college’s plans to expand other athletic facilities, including a new softball field, which he said the athletic department is balancing considering the construction on Mossey Library and the Grewcock Student Union on the main campus.
“It’s awesome that the school has this commitment to upgrading our facilities, not just for our student athletes, but for every student,” Vessella said. “It’s exciting that a first-class institution like ours is going to have firstclass facilities for everyone over time.”
“In Game four against Malone, my focus was twofold: first, closing out Brandon Scott’s stellar start after he threw six scoreless innings, and second, keeping them off the board so we could runrule Malone, wrap things up an inning early, and beat the incoming rainstorm back to Hillsdale,” Delp said.
According to Van Amburg, other outstanding performances from the week included sophomore Rocco Tenuta hitting a crucial home run and double as well as consistently getting on base.
“It’s been a tough year with injuries and illness so far, but our players have been focused on taking care of their bodies, prioritizing recovery and treatment,” Van Amburg said. “Freshmen like Tyler Sowers,
Swimming
Will Lehman, and Gaard Swenson have stepped up, playing every day and proving they can handle the intensity of the season despite being newcomers, and Zak Kent and Rocco Tenuta, as returning players, have consistently produced and been reliable contributors for us each day.” The Chargers will travel to Columbus to play Ohio Dominican University in a four-game series this coming weekend, March 22 and 23, then will return home for a four-game series March 29 and 30.
Clifford makes Hillsdale history
By Ty Ruddy Assistant Editor
Seniors Elise Mason and Megan Clifford fin
ished their swimming careers at the NCAA Division II Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, last week. Clifford became the first woman in Hillsdale swimming history to earn All-American honors in the 200-yard freestyle for the third straight year. Mason’s best finish of the week was a 21st place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Mason leaves Hillsdale as a 13-time Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion in distance events, including four straight crowns in the 500-yard freestyle, the 1,000-yard freestyle, and the 1,650-yard freestyle. She also holds school records in each of those events, and attended the national meet all four years at Hillsdale. Along with her high finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, she placed 32nd in the nation in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 38th in the nation in the 500-yard freestyle.
“I am so blessed to have been able to swim at Hillsdale and I will always remember the amazing time I have had here,” Mason said.
“I am also so thankful for everything I have learned through this experience and for all of my supportive teammates.”
On day one of the national meet, Clifford took 30th in the 100-yard butterfly. The next day, she put up
her history-making performance in the 200-yard butterfly.
“This season has been the perfect way to end more than 16 years of competing in the swimming world. It tied together many loose ends for me and I was able to just enjoy the time with my teammates and cherish every moment,” Clifford said. “Swimming at Hillsdale has been undoubtedly the biggest blessing of my life as it has blessed me with people who support me in and out of the pool while also challenging me to be the best version of myself.”
On Saturday, she finished her Hillsdale career with a 55th place finish in the 100yard freestyle. Clifford, like Mason, will graduate as one of the most decorated swimmers in Hillsdale’s history. She owns school records in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard butterfly. She also leaves as her legacy four individual G-MAC championships.
“Both Megan and Elise set the standard for our team over the past four years. The ultimate competitors, we could always depend upon them to give their best each time out,” Kurt Kirner, head coach for the Chargers, said.
“I have been proud to stand alongside them and coach them throughout their final years as student athletes.”
Senior Augie
Redshirt sophomore Max French's locker space in the new clubhouse.
Courtesy | Tayte Christiansen
C U L T U R E
in review this week...
Beyond clovers and green beer: rediscovering St. Patrick
By Emily Schutte Collegian Freelancer
Anyone who did not believe in spiritual warfare before now, perhaps might after listening to the Augustine Institute’s audio drama, “The Trials of St. Patrick,” written and directed by Paul McCusker with music by Jared DePasquale.
Far more than the childhood tales of banishing the snakes or teaching the Holy Trinity with a shamrock, this drama presents the real battle God waged, through Patrick, upon the darkness which reigned over Hibernia–modern day Ireland.
“I wish we could reclaim St. Patrick as a man of God,” McCusker said in an email, “rather than as a celebration of leprechauns and clovers and green beer and complete overindulgence.”
Growing up Catholic, I have always had a relatively solid knowledge of St. Patrick’s story, yet I have never encountered him so deeply as when I listened to this interpretation of the legend.
This story is filled with adventure and courage, and it is intense and frightening at times. In fact, for several years now, my mother did not let her youngest children listen to certain parts of the story, especially an exorcism scene, because they are so intense.
Among its most important characters are Patrick, the tale’s protagonist; Leary and Angus, the high king and queen of Hibernia; and Crom Cruach, the demon he must defeat.
The primary conflict of the story is the spiritual warfare Patrick faces. As a young man, he is lukewarm in his faith. Through his time of captivity, Patrick experiences his first taste of the demon oppression the people of Hibernia face.
After an attempt to escape, Patrick goes into the wilderness by himself to tend sheep, and it is here, in loneliness and isolation, that he learns what it means to rely on God.
He escapes captivity, but not long after returning home, he is called by God to return to Hibernia. The people, enslaved by the rule of their demon gods, are engulfed in spiritual darkness and shackled by the powerful influence of the druids.
“Oh holy boy. Oh holy boy,” said the words which come to him in a dream. “Come and walk amongst us once more.” Patrick, in trying to bring the gospel to Hibernia, is blocked by druids, warlords, and the king. So entrenched are the people in spiritual darkness that only a show of power will open the door for Christianity.
“Even the Gentiles will come to God for refuge, departing from the heritage of lies and the idols of stone who are not gods,” said Honoratus, one of Patrick’s mentors. “God will act and act with power, and they shall learn the Lord’s name at last.”
I did not realize before listening to this audio drama that the Irish people’s babies were sacrificed to de-
Christ,” Patrick said, “be driven out from the creation of God and from the souls made in the image and likeness of God and who are meant to be redeemed by the precious blood of the Divine Lamb.”
My stomach clenches and I get chills every time I listen to the exorcism scene. With each listen, I am overwhelmed by the might and power of God. Each time I
““I wish we could reclaim St. Patrick as a man of God,” McCusker said, “rather than as a celebration of leprechauns and clovers and green beer and complete overindulgence.”
mons — Crom Cruach being the worst. Thirsting after the blood of the innocents, the demon, according to legend, devoured a third of the children of Hibernia in human sacrifice.
At the climax of the story — and the most powerful scene of the drama — Patrick performs an exorcism and banishes Crom Cruach to hell.
“In the name and by the power of the Lord Jesus
am struck and inspired by the combination of the powerful voice acting, the intentional soundtrack, and the intricate storytelling.
“We always choose actors based on how well they fit with the character,” McCusker said. “Patrick was from Roman Britain, was taken as a slave to Ireland (as it’s now known), then made his way back again. He most certainly didn’t speak with an ‘English accent,’ as we know it. We also
couldn’t go with the Lucky Charms Leprechaun-type Irish accent. So we went for a workable middle ground.”
The script contains minute historical details, names, and geographical locations. One particularly engaging example is the scene where Patrick cuts down the tree of Germanus, a Christian duke, who persisted in the pagan practice of hanging animal heads from the tree.
“My writing process was the same for St. Patrick as any other historical drama,” McCusker said. “I read what I can about the person — as a character, not as a ‘saint’ or a good guy or bad guy, etc. — in the context of his or her time, and then piece together the best story the research revealed.”
The soundtrack, carefully designed, carries the imagination of the listener into the scene whether that be into the hills of Hibernia or into the spiritual warfare for souls.
Through the superb voice acting of John Rhys-Davies as the elder voice of Patrick, and Seán T.Ó Meallaigh as the younger Patrick, the veil of Patrick’s sainthood disappears. He becomes a real man with real failings and struggles but also with real courage and an unwavering faith in God.
“As with any drama about a saint, I’m struck by his hu-
manity, his struggles, but mostly his faith to follow God no matter where he might lead,” McCusker said. “It’s reckless. Even a bit insane (from a strictly human point of view). Yet he did it.”
Interestingly, McCusker chose not to end the drama with Patrick’s death. Instead, we are left to ponder his work and its meaning in our own lives.
“Right before this project,” McCusker said, “we had produced a drama about St. Francis — which goes all the way to his death. I didn’t want to do that again, especially since we know so little about Patrick’s death. Also, Patrick was one of the few missionaries who was not martyred. So ending with his death seemed anti-climactic from a story point of view.” As the feast of St. Patrick comes and goes this year, certainly celebrate the feast with beer, soda bread, and some Irish fiddle tunes, yet in the midst of the celebrations, remember the courageous battle waged on hell — a war waged by a simple man named Patrick.
“By the grace of God I’ve come a long way,” Patrick said, “and will go further still, until he calls me home.”
Andrew Schulz’s special says there is merit to IVF
By Joshua Mistry Collegian reporter
New York City comedian Andrew Schulz’s latest Netflix special, “LIFE,” satirically explores his personal journey into fatherhood and highlights the pro-family bent in American society. Filmed at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, the special strikes a different tone than Schulz’s typical cultural commentary, digging into the challenges he and his wife faced with in vitro fertilization.
The special opens with a montage of Schulz’s earlier years, leading up to the most consequential transition of his life: fatherhood. He humorously recounts their troubles with conception, which ultimately led them to pursue IVF.
Schulz picks perfect anecdotes about the fer-
tility treatments that encapsulate the emotional rollercoaster accompanying them. He blends his vulnerability with crude jokes to soften the blow and make his story feel more relatable.
“Now, IVF, very hard for the woman, OK, very expensive for the man. I don’t think we talk about that enough. The financial trauma associated with it: $30,000 for a kid,” Schulz said. “Yeah, I started looking up human trafficking just to see. I’m a capitalist.
I’m a free market guy.”
He diffuses his views on conception, IVF, and childbirth in his distinct style of comedy that balances vivid details with clever lines. His levity while discussing such an intimate topic opens the audience to laugh with him at the events that he describes.
“Technically you could choose the gender of your baby, right?” Schulz said. “I told my wife. I was like, ‘Listen, if you want to choose the gender, we can choose the gender. OK, I’m just letting you know now whatever gender we choose it’s gonna stay that one. They’re not coming back here 15 years later, ‘I identify as this or that.’ I got paperwork. I spent 30 grand on the boys.”
He rose to fame through this witty comedy which, while very funny, also subtly captures the waves of American culture. Schulz is brilliant, and he demonstrates his grasp of the changing views on family in his humor. Schulz reflects a growing trend evident in the last presidential election. Many liberals are taking a turn to the center and moderating, as it feels, the
Overton window of political shifts to the right.
Schulz is the classic New York City liberal. His podcast often hosts political guests, and, over the last few years, his slow crawl to the center has accelerated.
Like many Democrats, he is beginning to see the futility of cramming identity politics down the throats of working-class Americans. Schulz does not oppose the LGBTQ movement but shows that the old position of these identities, as more private than public, is coming back into style.
In “LIFE,” Schulz touches on a topic that may seem secondary to the culture war over identity politics but is a downstream effect of much of the woke movement. As he shared, he and his wife had their
daughter via IVF. IVF is a medical procedure developed at the waning of the sexual revolution, and one that has fierce supporters, and critics. Traditional Christians tend to oppose IVF on moral grounds, particularly because the method often involves discarding human embryos.
Regardless of how his daughter was conceived, Schulz’s open embrace of IVF accompanied a shift on his podcast, “Flagrant,” where he reflected that his marriage felt incomplete until his daughter was born.
Schulz’s special makes light of the process and his feelings about becoming a girl dad, but like all good comedians, he makes a point underneath the humor. Families are good.
Marriage ought to lead to family, and being a dad is
the best part of his life. His call to action is a broad, necessary message for an America with a declining birth rate: we should live in a society with a pro-family tilt. Comedians use sarcasm and laughter to highlight issues , sometimes derisively to antagonize the opposing side. But no one walks away from “LIFE” thinking that Schulz regrets the birth of his daughter. Instead, Schulz leaves his audience with the impression that having a child is often a difficult, complicated process, filled with moments of humor, but one that fulfills a deep instinctual human urge.
(From left to right) St. Patrick audio drama cover, Andrew Schulz special cover, Severance TV show cover, “The Last Supper” movie cover
COURTESY | Augustine Institute, Instagram, Amazon, Instagram
By Nathan Stanish Ad Manager
Aubrey “Drake” Graham’s first album released since his feud with rapper Kendrick Lamar, “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” ($$4U), is a return to his roots — generic pop-adjacent music with some familiar collaborators.
Fans hoping to see Drake’s rebuttal to “Not Like Us” will be disappointed. Out of the 21 tracks and 73-minute runtime, Drake dedicates only a handful of lines in a single track to the feud: “Gimme a Hug.” He says nothing directly against Kendrick Lamar, instead writing: “They be droppin’ s***, but we be droppin’ harder s*** (Droppin’ harder s***)/F*** a rap beef, I’m tryna get the party lit.” Considering “Not Like Us”
C U L T U R E Drake’s album tries to move on from feud
outperformed all of Drake’s disses in the feud at every level, claiming he’s dropped “harder s***” is revisionist history. But the last line signals the intent of the album. Drake wants to return to his career and forget about the beef.
If this is the best Drake has to resume his career, however, his best days are behind him. Despite the gratuitous runtime, the tracks lack originality or lyricism.
Most focus on the past sexual escapades of Drake and his collaborator, Jahron “PartyNextDoor” Brathwaite. PartyNextDoor even mentions
a girl from Michigan, complete with an explicit joke poking fun at Michigan’s water quality.
Compare “$$4U” to Taylor Swift’s most recent album, “The
Tortured Poets Department,” which also ran over an hour with 31 individual tracks — the longest of Swift’s career. Swift justifies the length with the depth of material, as Swift records her reaction to the Eras Tour and the increased spotlight. Drake could have spent time reflecting on the impact of the feud — especially after thousands of people sang along to Kendrick Lamar calling him a “certified” pedophile at the Super Bowl. Instead, Drake dedicates a couple of minutes to the feud and focuses the rest on Valentine’s Day and his life as a
bachelor. The message is clear: Drake is done with the feud and has no intention of improving his artistry. The same generic music that brought him fame also brought him criticism, as Lamar and others picked apart Drake’s lazy attempts at releasing hits across multiple genres. His disses during the feud at least encouraged better lyricism from Drake, but “$$4U” demonstrates that those disses were an anomaly, and Drake can’t keep it up anymore.
“$$4U” is not the final chapter in the Drake-Lamar feud — it’s the first chapter of the rest of Drake’s career. Unfortunately, this chapter is too long, too shallow, and too similar to the music that got Drake into a feud in the first place.
Severance fans want more questions answered
By Dave Bellet Collegian Freelancer
Following the slow moving first season of the TV show “Severance,” season two provides only a partial explanation for many of the questions left unanswered in the original season.
Season two, produced by Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson, started releasing new episodes every week starting in mid-January on Apple TV+. The tenth and final episode of the season comes out this Thursday night, March 20.
Mark Scout (played by Adam Scott) is a middle aged man who has lost his wife. He undergoes the procedure known as severance in order to separate memories of his work life from those of his personal life. While Mark works on the severed floor — the basement of the Lumon company build-
ing — he decides to remove his personal memories. Seeking to relieve the pain of living without his wife and trying to make a living, he unknowingly surrenders his will during the work day by inserting a brain chip through surgery.
The first season explores how “innie” Mark’s — with no memories or access outside Lumon’s work — partners with his fellow employees to rebel and slowly uncover the secrets of the severed floor.
Every episode reveals small bits about the strange protocol, purpose, and history of the company, making the plot seemingly more complicated everytime. The first season also reveals the “outie” life of Mark Scout, where he spends his nights after work deeply distressed and depressed by the loss of his wife.
The second season does not break the constant tension of
Professors’ picks: Allison Postell, visiting assistant professor
of philosohpy
I grew up listening to this band with my dad and talking about his comingof-age and the choices he made as a young man faced with pressing circumstances and the kinds of existential questions we all ask. Plus, my brother dated John Fogerty’s niece for a hot minute.
This trilogy follows the life of a woman named Kristin, whom the reader grows to know and love. She wrestles mightily with flaws born from of her own bad choices. At times, Kristin struggles, not only to pursue the good, but even to recognize what it is. It is a rich invitation to reflect deeply upon themes pertaining to ethics, love, family ties, culture, and — ultimately — redemption through the healing power of grace.
This movie about Thomas More raises clear themes about practical wisdom, courage, and personal integrity in formidable political circumstances. It’s a clear portrayal of how the greatness of a moment can reveal the greatness of a man.
Compiled Ameera Wilson Collegian Reporter
the severed floor, but Dan Erickson, one of the writers for the series seems to have a plan for resolving the thick plot presented.
The entire first season is filled with confusingly grim symbols, stories, and traditions on the severed floor. Erickson seeks to explain most of these by going above ground. Regardless, the “innies” still have work to do if they want to find out what happens outside the severed floor.
Scott’s versatile acting is able to portray two different personas of Mark that are strikingly similar but tragically differently motivated. Going into season two, we see “outie” Mark before he has processed the death of his wife and how similar he was to the present “innie” Mark who has not had to live through this death.
While they both are rebellious and more upbeat, the
outie in the setting of season two is brutally crippled by his own hard-headedness and indecision. Insecure about his decision to sever, “outie” Mark nurses his wounds by taking anger out on his sister and drinking. Stagnant in his house at night and in the morning, Mark makes no progress against his depression.
Similar to the acting challenges set up by the two halves of one person, Britt Lower — playing both Helly R. (innie) and Helena Eagan (outie) — is able to showcase the mind boggling manipulation of the “innie” from the outside. Given surveillance of the severed floor, Helena becomes jealous of the excitingly rebellious life of Helly. With Helena’s “outie” in charge of what her “innie” Helly experiences, the season’s moral conundrums become considerably more fascinating. This comes with a disap-
pointing facet of the second season: the sexual content in the series is unnecessarily more prevalent than in the first season. Just like most other modern series, once the standard for sexual content is set, it will usually continue in the same fashion for the remainder of the series. While the creators and writers have an interesting theme to convey concerning manipulation, the use of sexual content undercuts that message. With the tenth and final episode releasing tonight, it is clear that not all of the problems will be solved. Much like the first season, a cliffhanger between this season and the next will keep fans hooked. The creators have succeeded in tightening this tension, and, as the final episode releases, most fans can’t wait to grab the TV remote.
‘The Last Supper’ disappoints
By Lewis Thune Collegian Reporter
The latest entry in Christian cinema comes by way of Mauro Borrelli’s “The Last Supper,” which left audiences hungry after its recent theatrical release.
The film tells the story of the titular event and those directly surrounding it from the unique perspectives of Jesus’s followers — an approach previously untouched on the silver screen — centering predominantly on Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot.
The movie is a low-budget project which garnered the bulk of its publicity on account of its executive producer, well-known contemporary Christian music artist Chris Tomlin. Those who enter expecting production quality similar to that of the ongoing immensely popular Jesus bioseries “The Chosen” will be disappointed. Those who expect a production quality befitting Tomlin’s works of art will actually be pleasantly surprised.
minds as to whether they want their English to bear a region-appropriate accent. While the main characters speak plain, American-sounding English, most of the side characters slip into Middle East-adjacent accents like those used on “The Chosen.”
James Oliver Wheatley delivers an, on the whole, poor performance as Simon Peter, coming off as either confused or wooden — a terrible problem to have
more relatable — the unfortunate cost of a stellar performance.
And Knepper’s Judas is only the beginning of the bright spots which might tragically but pleasantly surprise skeptical audiences. The locations and sets are at once captivating and entirely believable, with the exception of the opening and closing landscape shots, which look like they may have been generated by artificial intelligence.
“That is to say, “The Last Supper” is, on the whole, an unremarkable film”
with a central character.
Worse yet, Jamie Ward sporadically alternates between Jim Caviezel’s stoic and unflappable Jesus as seen in the 2004 hit movie “The Passion of the Christ” and Jonathan Roumie’s emotional Jesus from “The Chosen.” He does neither particularly well.
The scenes which actually take place at the Passover table are beautifully done, but, for a movie entitled “The Last Supper,” they are regrettably short. Because the story’s culminates with Peter’s rooster and Judas’s noose, the arrest and execution of Jesus avoids gory violence like in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” but at the cost of temporal inaccuracies and showing a mere five seconds of the cross.
That is to say, “The Last Supper” is on the whole an unremarkable film. The perspective is compelling, but the execution over nearly two hours of run time is thoroughly subpar.
In attempting to portray more relatable and sympathetic disciples, Borrelli produces an extremely slow and underwhelming account of Jesus’s final meal. Watching the movie, viewers will get the sense that Borrelli wasn’t entirely certain about the story he wanted to tell — and worse yet, that the cast was equally confused.
In the first place, nobody can quite make up their
The best performance by far comes from Robert Knepper as Judas Iscariot — and that’s where moviegoers will see flashes of what this movie could have been.
Borrelli’s writing creates a Judas with whom Christian viewers can empathize: one plagued by worries, bitterness, and temptation.
Knepper brings this Judas to life, showing a man racked with discontent and guilt in the lead up and aftermath of his betrayal. If Borrelli’s Peter received the same quality writing and acting, Christians would see their own doubts and shortcomings equally represented in the redeemed Peter and the condemned Judas, as it is, the betrayer remains the
While “The Last Supper” is an all-around unsatisfactory film, it’s at the very least not a complete disappointment based on what it was given. It provides audiences of all ages a fresh and interesting new perspective on the passion narrative and allows Christians to see themselves in the sins and failures which brought it about. It’s not a terrible use of two hours — though when the closing credits roll and Chris Tomlin’s “No Greater Love” begins, most viewers will want at least half an hour back.
“Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1998)
“A Man for All Seasons” (1966)
“Kristin Lavransdatter” by Sigrid Undset (1920)
Postell and her husband Joseph before their first date in 2005. courtesy | allison postell
“$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” album cover COURTESY | INSTAGRAM
Announcing the 2025
Robert H. and Susan M. Rewoldt Essay Contest in Politics Organized Through the Politics Department and the Office of the Provost
This essay contest is open to all undergraduate students at Hillsdale College. Essays will be judged by the politics faculty, and the winners will receive monetary prizes:
1st place essay: $5,000
2nd place essay: $3,000
3rd place essay: $1,000
2025 Topic: Consent in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century American Politics
Maximum Essay Length: 1,500 words (longer essays will automatically be disqualified) Only 1 essay entry will be allowed per student.
The essay must be the student’s own, wholly original work. Essays written for Hillsdale College classes are not eligible. Please note: Only the first 30 submissions will be accepted. Essay submissions are only accepted by email, and these instructions must be followed: -Essays need to be fully formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style, including footnotes and a bibliography.
-The essay needs to be in a file attachment to the email. Do not send a link. Do not put the essay text in the body of the email.
-The attached essay file should not include your name. (A pseudonym is not necessary. Essays will be tracked by the order in which they are received.)
-All essay submissions will be checked for length. If you submit a PDF, please list the word count at the top of the first page.
-Send your email to: politicsessay@hillsdale.edu Failure to follow these instructions will result in automatic disqualification.
Students who follow these instructions will receive a confirmation email after their submission is received. Questions? Please email Dr. Michael Driscoll: mdriscoll@hillsdale.edu
Deadline for Submissions: Friday, April 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
BEST
THE COLLEGIAN OF
Disc 1: The Best Food Spots
In a survey conducted within The Collegian staff, we voted on the best spots in Hillsdale and Jonesville to eat, study, and socialize.
By Ally Hall Design Editor
Disc 2: The Best Etc. Best
Baw Beese Lake | Courtesy Hillsdale Historical Society
Jilly Beans Coffee House
John J. Miller, Hillsdale Brewing Company
By Colman Rowan CULTURE EDITOR
To an East Coaster from the megalopolis that spans Washington, D.C., to Boston, Hillsdale seems like the middle of nowhere. But, when driving through Wyoming, nowhere takes on a whole new meaning.
This spring break, sophomore Thomas Potter and I drove through other Hillsdales in Illinois and Wyoming to stay in Lander, Wyoming — even going as far west as the Grand Tetons and Idaho. Driving to Wyoming from here is no joke. Heading south to I-80 and driving roughly 1,100 miles west puts you about 100 miles south of Lander. Heading up to Lander from there and completing this trip without stops would take about 21.5 hours.
We did stop, of course, first in Chicago and again in Nebraska, doing the same on the way back. That helped a lot — not to mention the monetary help we got from the gas mileage of a Toyota Prius.
On the last leg of our westward trip, we began in Lincoln and went west. Nebraska is full of farmland for three things: corn, cows, and soybeans. To a suburban city-slicker, that’s not much to see. But as Nebraska turns
Hiking through Hillsdales: Students trek out West for spring break adventure
into Wyoming, those farms become scarce and ranches become the primary use of land.
Once you enter Wyoming, the ranches technically continue, but all that can be seen is endless plains of grass with fences along the road that presumably mark property. Eventually the mountains of Colorado become visible while passing Hillsdale, Wyoming, and soon enough mountains were rising around the road.
Through Laramie, the highest “major” city in Wyoming, with a 7,200foot elevation, the air inside our bag of Doritos expanded from the decrease in air pressure, caused by the thinner atmosphere at the higher elevation, making the bag pu up. And a er heading west, we saw Sinclair, a town built around an oil re nery that looked like an evil lair from a Hayao Miyazaki movie.
As we drove up to Lander o the interstate and onto a local highway, I learned that anytime a minor highway intersects with another, they call that a “junction” and there is a “town” there. A town that o en consists of less than ve houses. ese junctions rarely
largest city at around 65,000, roughly twice as large as Jackson, Michigan. From Lander, we went on hikes in the Wind River range and drove over to the Grand Tetons. The Tetons are the most striking mountains I have ever seen. Driving to-
come up, as so few roads connect to anything in Wyoming.
Once we reached Lander, we could see Wyoming’s 13th largest city at 7,600 by population — roughly 400 less than Hillsdale. We found out that Cheyenne, the capital, is the
ward them from the east, one must pass through the Bridger-Teton National Forest, where moose abide and the continent’s watershed divides.
A few miles past that 9,000foot continental divide, the car gripped the road around
a turn up a hill, and threading between 4-foot snowbanks, turned to face the Teton range, still dominating the horizon more than 50 miles away. I’m not exactly sure what the French explorers meant when they named them, but “grand” is certainly a good word. Albert Bierstadt could capture that in his paintings, but I could not, in my pictures, do the range justice. We hiked the only available hike in that National Park — it’s still the oseason — and drove through the Teton pass to Idaho for good measure.
Having hiked around Lander and visited family on previous days, we took the last night to go “night repelling,” a cult favorite activity among Wyoming Catholic College students.
With only one phone and no ashlights between omas,
myself, his sister and her husband, our main company was the full moon lighting up the rock face.
A er nishing that horizontal walk down the canyon cli , I found myself alone. omas had gone down before me but I couldn’t nd him. (I later found out he unsuccessfully tried to nd his way back to the top.) Alone in the moonlight, I tried not to look at the shapes in the woods and think about something else. It’s not just the emptiness that makes Wyoming interesting, but the barrenness. You can drive for dozens of miles without seeing a house, a tree, or even a non-grass plant. Miles of rocks and grass in the plains and the same tree over and over again in the mountains. What makes it so beautiful then? It’s huge. Bigger rocks, bigger plains, bigger mountains, bigger everything. Encountering the expansive nothing of the plains set against the all encompassing nothing of the mountains forces you into a world of extremes. Facing extremes requires new thought. So go visit Wyoming, because with nothing to distract you and nothing to inspire you, you can come to see anything.
Construction workers endure the chill on campus
Construction from A1
“ ere’s a lot more prep for us,” Beck said. “More safety factors around here, having to get the gate and the fence and everything, and tape it all o and make sure the kids stay safe, to keep people out of our construction area.”
Foreman Jack Mattson has worked on Hillsdale buildings for more than 12 years. He worked on Christ Chapel, the George Roche Sports Complex, the Lenda and Glenda Hill Stadium and TFO Partners Field, student housing, and Hayden Park’s outdoor stadium and track.
“What was challenging about the chapel was all the intricate stonework, everything from the basement, the footings, all the concrete to the stonework and nishes inside,” Mattson said. “Obviously, when you go inside, it’s just challenging. We had di erent training for simple things you wouldn’t think about, like set-
isn’t Hillsdale anymore.”
Working in the middle of campus during the academic calendar is not much of an inconvenience for the crews, according to Mattson.
“We kind of keep things fenced off and everything,” Mattson said. “Other than our gate guy, who’s absolutely famous, we don’t have much
“We get the same cold [in Indiana],” he said. “Over the years, this is kind of what we do. It can be brutal, it can be cold.”
“Other than our gate guy, who’s absolutely famous, we don’t have much interaction or anything with the students. We try to get the job done”
ting the stone.”
Mattson grew up in the Hillsdale area and moved away in his young adulthood.
interaction or anything with the students. We try to get the job done.”
Derald Anderson, a carpenter foreman, has worked on Hillsdale’s building expansion for more than three years. His job is mainly doors, trim, and hardware. He has worked on Marilyn J. Sohn Women’s Residence, the Sajak Visual Media Center, and Hillsdale Academy’s expansion.
Mattson said this is a medium-sized building for the company, and more like what they usually build, as opposed to the chapel, which was unique for them and required extra training and expertise.
“All these buildings have been done since then,” Mattson said. “ at was the late ’70s, early ’80s, so the campus was kind of right here, with a few of the houses that are sororities and things like that. Now, Hillsdale College
According to Mattson, the men who work for Weigand Construction, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are accustomed to the conditions of the cold and the setbacks that come with the weather. He drives about an hour to work in Hillsdale every weekday.
“If I stay home when it’s cold it’s not that bad,” Anderson said jokingly. “Honestly, it hasn’t been too bad. We’ve had cold days where all we want to do is hunker down and try to stay warm. But, Jack [Mattson] will tell you the heat is always in the tools.”
Colman Rowan (left), Thomas Potter (middle), and Joe White (right) traveled to Wyoming for spring break. COLMAN ROWAN | COLLEGIAN
The Grand Teton Mountians. COLMAN ROWAN | COLLEGIAN
