Collegian 04.17.2025

City News editor questions

Opinions Editor

Democrats in debate

as an effective means to control urban housing costs, and additional enforcement to reduce illegal immigration. Alex Garcia, president of the Red Cedar Law Review, reached out to The Collegian when he was unable to source a conservative examiner for the Democrat debaters. Garcia said he was happy with how the majority of the debate went.

“Do you believe that biological males should be allowed to compete in women’s sports?”

Thomas McKenna asked.

The large auditorium went silent.

“Don’t answer that,” a student in the crowd said.

It was Tuesday, April 15. The Red Cedar Law Review, an undergraduate journal of law and politics at Michigan State University, was moderating a debate between the College Democrats and College Republicans of the university.

McKenna, a junior and the

By Sophia Bryant Collegian Freelancer

After teaching eighth grade for 25 years, Julie Budd will retire from Hillsdale Academy at the end of this school year.

“I will surely miss the school, and the students, and my great colleagues,” Budd said. “What a blessing it has been.” Budd has been involved with Hillsdale Academy since her oldest son started fourth grade when it opened in 1990 under the leadership of George Roche III, the president of Hillsdale College from 1971–1999. She said prior to that, she had been feeling frustrated with her son’s options for education.

“I just felt like it was an answer to prayer when we got the letter telling us that Dr. Roche was thinking about opening the school, and they were trying to garner what kind of interest there would be,” Budd said.

Budd, daughter of retired history professor John Willson, graduated from Hillsdale

legian, was examining the two College Democratic debaters in the final segment of the night: whether the Trump administration’s efforts to combat certain diversity, equity, and inclusion practices have been a good thing. After 20 minutes of debate about affirmative-action issues, McKenna switched the focus to another facet of DEI.

“Why are you asking this question?” Braxton Maduka, one Democrat debater, asked.

“Because it’s an equity issue that the Trump administration is dealing with,” McKenna said. “Should biological men be allowed to compete in women’s

“I think that this is not a very relevant issue,” Alana Mick, the other debater, said. “There’s very few, like, biological men—”

“I’m sorry, you’re not answering the question,” McKenna said. “Should biological men be allowed to compete in women’s sports?”

“I think trans women should be able to,” Mick said.

The audience cheered and applauded.

The debate, which drew upwards of 150 attendees from MSU and other local universities, covered four resolutions: DEI initiatives, a federal assault-weapons ban, rent control

“We hope that having structured dialogue in public, where people are standing behind their opinions in an intelligent way, will improve the political climate on campus and will make this campus a more intellectually enriching place,” Garcia said. “For our first time organizing a debate, it wasn’t bad.”

Sinan Lal, the liberal examiner of the Republican debaters and co-founder of the Red Cedar Law Review, said his love for political conversation was shaped by his background. A native of one of the most Republican counties in Michigan, St. Clair, Lal said he has had a lot of contact with conservatives.

See Debate A2

By Ellie Fromm Assistant Editor

Charger senior Joni Russell pitched her first career no-hitter on April 9 against the Lake Erie College Storm, leading the team to an 8-0 six-inning game of the doubleheader series. In the same series, head coach Kyle Gross reached his 200th career win.

The Chargers also won the nightcap 18-0 in five innings on Wednesday against the Storm. Russell is now tied with Trevecca Nazarene University’s Haley Fagan, who set the record in 2016, for the Great Midwest Athletic Confrernce’s career shutout record with 23 shutouts.

This year’s games against the Storm was redemptive, according to Russell.

“We played Lake Erie last year, I was throwing a perfect game,” Russell said. “Seventh inning, two outs, I had two strikes on this girl. I threw the ball down the pipe, and what does she do? She doesn’t just get a hit, she gets a home run. So I didn’t even get a shutout or no hitter, and then I ended up striking out the next girl, and then the game was over.”

In 2023, Russell was named as an All-American to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association team and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. She was also named G-MAC Pitcher of the Year that same year. Russell was named an All-Region player in 2023 and 2024, and received first-team All-G-MAC player for three consecutive years, 2022-2024. In her time at Hillsdale, she has received G-MAC Pitcher of the Week 12 times, NFCA Pitcher of the Week once, and been named to the NFCA National Pitcher of the Year watchlist twice, the latest of which was the end of last month.

Hillsdale Director of Athletics John Tharp said he was shocked that this was Russell’s first no-hitter game.

“She’s so good,” Tharp said. “I was surprised that it was her first no hitter. You can get spoiled with how great she’s been over the years that you would definitely have thought she would have had one by now. It really just shows how dominant she is on the mound and that she knows how to pitch.”

College in 1984 and worked in marketing at a local bank.

After the academy opened, she was offered a job teaching eighth grade.

“The best part of my job is working with the students,” Budd said. “This age group can be a challenge, but I love it. They challenge me daily and I can honestly say that I have learned just as much from them as they have from me over the years.”

During her time at the Academy, Budd has organized eighth grade traditions such as annual trips to Stratford, Ontario to see attend a Shakespeare festival; reading “A Christmas Carol” aloud followed by a Victorian Tea with the seventh graders; and decorating chalkboards with the day’s schedule, calligraphy, and sketches.

By Tayte Christensen Assistant Editor

Students in the Documentary Filmmaking class premiered two Hillsdale College sports documentaries April 15 in Plaster Auditorium.

Lecturer in Journalism Buddy Moorehouse said this semester’s class capitalized on the stories of Hillsdale athletics.

“Sports are such a great subject for documentaries, because there’s so much built-in drama in every season, every athlete’s career, every game,” Moorehouse said. “Because Hillsdale has such a rich history in athletics, it seemed like a natural thing that we should do.”

“The Legend of Jack Gohlke” told the story of former Charger guard Jack Gohlke’s rise to fame playing with Oakland University in the 2024 March Madness tournament.

Gohlke, a 2023 graduate, had one year of eligibility left due to COVID-19 and transferred to Oakland University. In the team’s March Madness run, he

helped the No. 14 seed Golden Grizzlies defeat No. 3 seed Kentucky with 10 three-pointers and a total of 32 points. Gohlke now plays for the Mexico City Angels.

Junior Carolyn Spangler, an associate director for “The Legend of Jack Gohlke,” said she enjoyed researching for the film, which included searching Hillsdale athletic department archives for information and video footage.

“I knew almost nothing about collegiate basketball at the start of the semester, so while I was researching Jack’s time at Hillsdale, it was amazing to discover the deep friendships, great sense of team, and true brotherhood which lie at the heart of the Charger basketball team,” Spangler said.

This semester’s premiere was unique with two feature-length documentaries, rather than

showing individual students’ shorter projects, as previous classes have done. Moorehouse said both documentaries were timely and he wanted to produce them this year. “I wanted to beat ESPN to the punch,” Moorehouse said. “I know they’ll probably do a Jack Gohlke documentary at some point because he was such a phenomenon.” Moorehouse said Gohlke was scheduled to attend the premiere

but his team’s schedule didn’t allow him to be there. Because of his absence, Gohlke recorded a video thanking the students for making the film and the audience for coming to watch,

and Spangler said. The story of Hillsdale’s 1985 football team, the school’s only national championship title winner, came to life in “The Year of the Charger.”

Moorehouse

Hillsdale club proves math is integral to the liberal

Spring has yet to reach nearby Michindoh.

Courtesy | Makayla Hanna

“Do you believe that biological males should be allowed to compete in women’s sports?” Thomas McKenna asked. Caroline Kurt | Collegian

Players from the 1985 team attended the documentary premiere.

Courtesy | Buddy Moorehouse

Roger Kimball explains golden thread initiative

The golden thread initiative is a project of cultural recovery perfectly fit for the season we’re in, publisher of The New Criterion and Encounter Books Roger Kimball said in his convocation speech April 10.

“In many cultural precincts today, we find that faculty and students alike regard education chiefly as an exercise in disillusionment, and they look to the past only to corroborate their own sense of superiority and self-satisfaction,” Kimball said. “‘The Golden Thread’ is meant to be an antidote to that bundle of entrenched and debilitating pathologies.”

“The Golden Thread” is the title of a two-volume history of the Western tradition set to release Aug. 26. The initiative also includes the Victor Davis Hanson Chair in Classical History and Western Civilization

Wilfred M. McClay’s book, nership is meant to inspire a revolution in the zeitgeist, according to Kimball.

When introducing Kimball, College President Larry Arrn connected Kimball’s work as a cultural critic to his conservative identity.

“You cannot have agriculture without conserving the fruits of the culture that has been built already,” Arnn said.

The first volume, by James Hankins, traces history from the Greeks through the Renaissance. Allen Guelzo continues the story in the second volume from the Enlightenment to the day before yesterday, according to Kimball.

Mumme visits

The initiative also aims to help students and readers appreciate the achievement and the fragility of civilization, Kimball said.

“‘The Golden Thread’ also makes a larger offer that Encounter is undertaking with Hillsdale to change the conversation about — well, I was going to say about education — but really it is about that firing thing that the rather dull word education is all about. Namely, opening the treasure chest of the past in order to confront and ultimately to emulate greatness.”

This is the countermovement, according to Kimball, against the modern educational trend of removing writers like Aristotle, Milton, Dante, and Shakespeare from the curriculum. Even worse, Kimball said, is the practice of using these authors primarily as examples of patriarchy, transphobia, racism, and imperialism.

“We are working to…help bring about a counter revolution that is also a return to fundamentals,” Kimball said. “We intend to embrace and rekindle a number of subjects, from science and mathematics to economics, history, and rhetoric.”

Kimball highlighted Cicero’s assertion that the work of education is similar to that of cultivating a field. Philosophy, Cicero said, is the cultivation of the mind or spirit, pulling out vices by the roots and making souls fit for the reception of seed.

“But even the best care, Cicero warned, does not inevitably

“‘The Golden Thread’ aims to awaken readers to their, which is to say our, vocation as custodians of this tradition, responsible for its preservation, its cultivation, and reform,” Kimball said. “We must be gardeners, Hankins said, not engineers, working with nature and nature’s God, not against.”

bring good results. The influence of education…cannot be the same for all,” Kimball said. “The results of cultivation depend not only on the quality of the care but also on the inherent nature of the thing being cultivated.”

To explore the word thread, he recalled the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur and more broadly pointed to the golden thread’s role in providing an account of mankind’s adventures in time.

“In part, that means retracing the steps and the missteps that have brought us to our present journeys,” Kimball said. “We want to deliver readers from the provincialism, not only of place, but what the English writer David Cecil called a provinciality of time.”

Provinciality of time, as defined by Cecil, is to feel ill at ease and out of place, except in one’s own period. To be cosmopolitan in time, to look at life through the eyes of great novelists, is to be freed from this limitation, Cecil writes.

To close, Kimball examined the word opportunity and pointed to the cultural vibe shift that has brought newfound receptivity to “The Golden Thread”’s message of recovery.

“That is the encouraging part,” Kimball said. “The admonitory part is that such magnificent seasons do not last forever. Such opportunities are as fleeting as they are rare. We must, as Shakespeare has Brutus say in the play ‘Julius Caesar,’ take the current when it serves or lose our veterans.”

Student Fed adds outdoor tables

By Jayden Jelso Collegian reporter

The Student Federation recently added four new outdoor tables in front of Central Hall.

“We wanted to think of a way that we could make a meaningful improvement to campus, specifically outside, because nice weather is coming,” President of the Student Federation and sophomore Zac Briley said. “We know everyone’s a little tired of longer walks to classes and not being able to go to convenient entrances, and we wanted to find a way to improve campus without doing something that was going to cause students an additional headache.”

Briley said he believes students want good outdoor spaces, especially with the quad gone.

“This was an opportunity for Student Fed to do more for campus than we’ve done in the past. It was a chance to leave a lasting impact, instead of just

“I think the stigma around talking about politics is stupid. I think it’s terrible,” Lal said. “Politics is fundamentally how you view the world, and talking about that with each other is really progressive, really constructive.”

Leah Willingham, a student at MSU who attended the debate, said she was not sure what to expect.

“I thought it might get a little uncivilized,” Willingham said. “A little bit snippy. And it definitely was at parts. There was definitely a lot of audience heckling that I wasn’t expecting.”

Willingham said while she generally agrees with liberals, neither side of the debate

funding clubs,” Briley said.

Briley said the round tables are American-made and were chosen for their function and cost-effectiveness.

“We knew we wanted something that would match campus, so we didn’t want to buy the ugly white plastic tables that you see around. Those are a bit of an eyesore in my opinion, and we wanted something that is beautiful and enhances campus,” Briley said.

Briley said the tables are wood-like in appearance, but are made out of a composite material, resulting in a more durable table that should weather better in the long run.

“If you’ve paid much attention to the teak tables that are out there, you can see they’re still intact, but are looking a little worse-for-wear,” Briley said.“Hopefully these new ones will last for a long time.”

Briley said he assembled one of the tables himself.

“Parts of the tables are heavy and bulky, and we used

compelled her.

“I’m going to be honest,” Willingham said. “I was a little disappointed with the Democrats’ performance.”

Willingham said she is on the MSU Moot Court Association and has experience in debate.

“I don’t think the arguments that the Democrats chose were the strongest for appealing to, not just the Republican team that they’re against, but also the larger audience of people they wanted to persuade,” Willingham said. “They chose a lot of arguments that were targeted toward already progressive people and didn’t really meet halfway.”

Willingham likewise offered criticism of the Repub-

hand tools, so that made it a bit more difficult. But it came together and should not come apart,” Briley said.

Briley said there are currently no plans for new chairs to go along with the tables, but the Student Federation has talked about other seating areas, including two fire pits, one on the northwest side of Kendall, the other on the northeast side of Lane.

“This will require a significant financial commitment from the college,” Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé said. “We intend to start construction after Commencement. If all goes well, they will be completed by the time students return to campus in the fall.”

Péwé said nothing more is planned for the south quad this summer, but the college is dedicated to providing new and upgraded outdoor spaces around campus.

“We intend to build 8-10 restrooms inside the big white

licans’ debate strategy.

“The Republican teams focused too much on national sovereignty and patriotism to matter to me,” Willingham said. “That doesn’t really appeal to my moral compass.”

Though Willingham said she would consider herself left-leaning, she sided with the Republicans on the rent control segment.

“Rent control just isn’t a good idea economically,” Willingham said. “That was my thinking in terms of what I’ve learned in my macro- and microeconomics classes. Basic economics supports that rent control isn’t the best way to approach the issue.”

During the rent control segment, McKenna had pressed the Democrat debat-

Vatican for Lutheran studies

By Ameera Wilson Collegian reporter

Associate Professor of Theology Jonathan Mumme visited the Vatican this February as part of a group studying the “Augsburg Confession”, a statement professing Lutheran beliefs and disagreements with the Catholic Church from the 1500s.

The International Lutheran Council and a group from the Vatican created the Concordia Lutheran-Catholic Augustana Working Group, a 10-member study group of Roman Catholics and Lutherans focused on studying the “Augsburg Confession.”

“The working group is not an official dialogue commission. The aim is not to produce a document of churchly consensus. However, the publication of the results of the joint research is intended to enrich the ecumenical discussion in an indirect way,” said Matthew Block, communications manager for the International Lutheran Council.

According to Mumme, a Lutheran, the confession was not considered Lutheran when it was made in 1530, as Lutheranism was a derogatory label at that point. Rather, it was a confession presented by Philip Melanchthon to the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire to give an account of the faith as it existed in certain territories that had been implementing reform of the church. However, it still deeply shaped the Lutheran church of today.

barn at Hayden Park,” Péwé said. “Those restrooms will improve the numerous student activities happening at Hayden Park. When students return, we will have completed the Nimrod Complex at the Halter Center. This will make possible year-round archery, air rifle, air pistol, small bore-rifle, and small arms classes, training, competition, and recreation.”

Sophomore Carver Means said he is excited about the new tables.

“I like to spend a lot of time outside, especially studying,” Means said. “It’s very peaceful and I always feel refreshed. As college students, we tend to spend too much time in our dorm rooms, an artificial and eternal night time where your only light source is electricity. When you go outside, it reminds you that there are more important things than homework, and that there’s a broader world than just your classes.”

ers on the idea of universal price controls.

“You’ve argued that the government should be able to fix rent prices at lower levels, and so to get to the heart of your economic thinking, I want to ask about price controls on other goods,” McKenna said. “The price of eggs right now is extraordinarily high. Do you think that the government should be fixing the prices of things so that people who might not be able to afford eggs at $5 a carton can afford them at $2 a carton?”

The two Democratic debaters turned and whispered to each other.

“They absolutely should,” said Kai Baltes, a Democratic debater.

According to Mumme, the group is hoping to do a very specific and focused study, looking at how the “Augsburg Confession” reflected the beliefs of Christians living at the time.

“We would call our approach not confessional, but confessorial. Meaning it takes a position within its day, within the recognized parameters of what was believed, taught and lived within Western Christianity at that time,” Mumme said.

Mumme said the study is meant to reveal both similarities as well as differences in what Catholics and Lutherans confess as the truth.

“Our hope is to produce some kind of document on the basis of the Augsburg Confession that says, ‘This is what we can say together about salvation or justification. Here are things we need to examine more, because we see some differences, and here are things where we just disagree,’” Mumme said. “Then we are going to attempt to do the same thing in that document in relation to issues of church, ministry, episcopacy and the like.”

Ecumenical theology is both a difficult and a necessary area of study, one which has an entire institute devoted to it. In that specific academic pursuit, there is an important truth.

“Anywhere you find a Lutheran church in the world they will say the “Augsburg Confession” is part of how we understand and present the faith,” Mumme said. “The “Augsburg Confession” very much presents itself as a confession of the one true faith.”

The confession itself has been studied previously, specifically in 1980 around its 450th anniversary. Mumme said his group has worked on the document for five years and hopes to meet semi-annually up to the 500th anniversary in 2030.

“The working group is looking at how this foundational Lutheran document attempted to preserve, not disrupt, the unity of the church in a time when denominational divides had not yet been hardened,” said Thomas Winger, professor of theology at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary and another Lutheran working on the document.

“What about cars?” McKenna said. “Should we put price controls on cars to make them cheaper?”

“Cars in general?” Baltes said.

“Yeah, let’s say cars in general,” McKenna said.

“Sure,” Baltes said.

“OK, so which goods should the government not put price controls on?” McKenna said.

“This gets into the debate of capitalism, and whether or not it’s very effective at determining what the price of the good really should be,” Baltes said.

“So you would rather legislators in Lansing, for example, decide the price of eggs in Michigan, decide the rent that you pay, rather than you

“But underlying that study, is the recognition that the church is one. Somehow, we can say that Christ desires that,” Mumme said. “The differences are things that we can’t just be indefinitely content about.”

However, according to Mumme differences cannot be resolved easily but take a great deal of time and effort.

“The 300 years after the Reformation have convinced us that we are not going to overcome these differences by polemically bludgeoning one another in our rightness,” Mumme said. Through the group’s approach, there is an attempt to understand other denominations’ theology from the inside with respect and honesty about distinctions, disagreements, and agreements.

“You can approach it by recognizing these people as followers of Jesus Christ,” Mumme said. “We claim to have the same Lord. We claim to be interested in the same things, and yet there are differences and we are not one in the way we want to be one.”

making a voluntary exchange with your landlord?” McKenna said.

Baltes replied that the government should only intervene when a substantial issue exists, and McKenna proceeded to question him on government zoning laws being the reason housing market issues exist. In a heated moment of a later segment on illegal immigration, Democrat debater Rowan Vail Mauldin explained his theory of political affiliation.

“What you’re seeing here is a lot of bullsh*t fear mongering,” Mauldin said. “But if I were interested in that, I wouldn’t be a Democrat.”

Roger Kimball spoke on the golden thread initiative. Jillian Parks | Collegian

Professors discuss immigration policy

By Sarah Katherine Sisk Senior Reporter

Four Hillsdale College professors clashed over immigration reform during a roundtable discussion hosted by the Alexander Hamilton Society April 9. The panel featured Associate Professor of Economics Charles Steele, Associate Professor of Economics Abel Winn, and Professors of Politics Kevin Portteus and Thomas West, who shared competing visions for addressing America’s immigration challenges.

Winn proposed a novel shift in immigration policy that would put sponsorship decisions directly in the hands of individual Americans.

“I believe, fundamentally, that who immigrates to the United States and how we decide or how we select them,

should be left to the American people in the most literal way possible,” Winn said. “The basic idea is, if you are a United States citizen, you will have the right to invite or to sponsor any immigrants — subject to constraints like you can’t of course be a criminal or a terrorist.”

Winn was referring to a policy proposal by economists Glen Weyl and Eric Posner called the Visas Between Individuals Program. Under the proposed VIP system, American citizens could personally sponsor immigrants in exchange for a portion of their future earnings, Winn said. Sponsors would have complete discretion in selecting immigrants based on factors like economic potential, cultural compatibility or humanitarian concerns. They could even choose to waive any financial arrangement for cases

Students attend VOCES8 concert

By Joshua Mistry Collegian Reporter

Seventeen Hillsdale College Chapel Choir students made the trip to Detroit on April 6 to hear world-renowned British vocal ensemble VOCES8.

The group performed a genre-spanning concert of sacred, classical, and jazz music at Christ Church Detroit as part of their 20th anniversary world tour.

“The concert was a mix of sacred music, renaissance madrigals, and pop and jazz medleys. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the more popular pieces,” senior Madeline Scheve said.

The group performed the various genres of music very well, Scheve said.

“I’ve noticed that some groups think of pop music as a time to let their guard down, and then the quality really suffers,” Scheve said. “But with VOCES8 it didn’t matter what genre they were singing, the intonation, tuning, and dynamics were always perfect.”

Junior Jack Vultaggio said he was impressed by the group’s precision and unity.

“I knew from recordings how much VOCES8 strives for perfection, but to hear that executed live was really special and a testament to how in sync they are as an ensemble,” Vultaggio said.

For junior Joseph Duncan, the performance was a masterclass in choral technique.

“They sang a piece from the opera ‘Elijah,’ which we sang last spring with the Chapel Choir,” Duncan said. “Their tuning, vowels, diction, and synchronicity were world-class.”

Scheve said two pieces

from A1

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the 1985 championship, which Moorehouse said was a motivation to make the film this year. Six members of the 1985 team attended the premiere.

Moorehouse said through the players’ voices, the documentary introduces the audience to head coach Dick Lowry and the impact he made on the players’ lives.

“Even though Dick Lowry passed away last year, the audience kind of came away with a real good sense of who he was, and it’s because they did an excellent job in the documentary of bringing that out,” Moorehouse said.

Senior Carly Moran interviewed players on the team for the documentary and said she

they deem worthy of charitable sponsorship.

“The people who constitute the citizens of the United States are the people for whom this regime exists,” Portteus said. “The Constitution already provides for determinations about who should be let in and who should not be let in.”

The United States exists as a collective sovereign entity, not just a collection of individuals, Portteus said. As such, the American people should have a unified voice in immigration policy through our constitutional framework.

“Dr. Portteus, as you mentioned, immigration should be collective. I guess my big question is we’re a country of 330 million people, we span a continent. It’s difficult to imagine us doing anything collective in that sense,” Winn said. “Why not look at us more like a gated

community where all of us are inside the gate, all of us have property rights over our part of the gated community, but we still get to invite in individual members of the community?”

Portteus said immigration policy should be viewed through the lens of national sovereignty rather than domestic policy. He pointed to the Constitution’s Define and Punish Clause, which grants Congress the power to address violations of international law, as the foundation for federal immigration authority.

West said contemporary non-European immigrants and their descendants are increasingly voting on the left, diverging from traditional American values.

“We have 91 million people who are immigrants or offspring of immigrants living in America today,” West said. “The

correlation between immigrant generations and voting on the left continues up to the present day. This is a generational continuation. What we have today is a whole new variety of immigrants who are not from Europe at all, therefore have much greater divergence from the older American way.”

A nation requires more than just legal agreements to bind its people together, West said.

People need shared traditions, ceremonies and cultural bonds to create genuine community.

Since 1965, most U.S. immigration has come from nations without strong democratic traditions. West said. These non-Western countries historically have no tradition of liberty.

“It makes sense to have people come into your country that support your ideas,” Steele said.

When asked about the cor-

rect number to allow to legally enter the U.S., Portteus said given current circumstances, the only practical policy in the short term is a complete moratorium on immigration. Steele had a slightly more nuanced opinion. He contrasted Lily Tang Williams, a Chinese-American activist and politician known for her fierce criticism of communism based on her experiences in Mao’s China, with Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-M.N., a member of the progressive “Squad” who frequently advocates for leftwing policies in Congress, to illustrate his views on selective immigration.

“So, what’s the right number? If we’re talking about Lily Tang Williams — a million of them,” Steele said. “If we’re talking about how many Ilhan Omars — zero.”

Nonprofit CEO addresses illiteracy crisis in America

stuck out to her in particular, the first: a setting of the Ave Maria in Russian by Russian composer Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmanioff, called “Bogoroditse Devo.”

“When they sang the first chord of that piece, I instantly turned to my friend Viola with total amazement because of how synchronized and controlled the two voices were,” Scheve said.

The second, Scheve said, was “Lux Aeterna” by Edward Elgar.

“I decided to close my eyes during the whole piece to really try to picture the flow of the phrases,” Scheve said. “It was easy to do since their tone was so pure.”

Duncan said the group has been a personal inspiration as he sings in choirs. “VOCES8 inspired me in high school with their music and expressivity,” Ducan said. “In particular in the ‘Ave Maria’ by Biebel.”

Another group of eight students travelled to see the performance on Sunday.

“Our group chose to go to this concert because we all really enjoy good choral music and sing in choir and we have also listened to VOCES8 in the past,” freshman Connor O’Donohue said. “It was also just a fun quick trip to Detroit. We got to explore downtown a little bit prior to the concert, which was a lot of fun.”

Despite his initial preference for choral music, O’Donohue said he appreciated the group’s versatility.

“They presented an excellent program of music including both classical choral music as well jazz songs most people would know,” O’Donohue said.

enjoyed hearing their stories.

“The production process teaches you how, even when you ask the same questions about the same experience to different people, they will all have such varied perspectives,” Moran said. “Yet, all the players had a shared love for the game and one another, and all emphasized how their coach Dick Lowry had a permanent impact on their lives.”

Moorehouse said he appreciated the students’ ability to draw personal stories from the sporting events while they learned the mechanics of making a documentary.

“What they really got out of it is that even a sports documentary isn’t about sports, it’s about people,” Moorehouse said. “I think that really came through.”

By Alessia Sandala Assistant Editor

Sixty-seven percent of Hillsdale County students are falling behind in literacy, according to Pamela Good, the co-founder and CEO of the literacy nonprofit Beyond Basics.

“This is the reason that we are 41st in the world: they pulled the plug on teaching kids how to decode words in the early 1980s,” Good said.

In a lecture April 15, Good said the goal of Beyond Basics is to help students learn how to read at the appropriate grade level through the Gold Star Standard to Reading Proficiency, which involves individualized assessments, daily tutoring, and a phonics-based curriculum.

“During the school day, they give us a room to run our programs, and we send tutors to that school every day to work,” Good said. “The kids are in the school, and we pull them into the room. It’s like a little assembly line. I say our secret sauce is logistics more than it is curriculum.”

For years, schools focused on teaching students using a “whole word method,” a process where students were taught to memorize individual words rather than sounds

Academy from A1

“My expectation is for my students to strive to be excellent students, but even better human beings,” Budd said. “I am grateful that they have pushed me to do the same.”

Along with teaching eighth grade, Budd has coached junior high and high school track.

“The athletes and coaches alike rely on her steady encouragement and her meticulous record-keeping,” Hillsdale Academy teacher Deanna Ducher said in an email. “We’re grateful that she’s agreed to continue on in that role even after retirement so we will still

or letters, which Good said harmed students more than anything else.

“You had new crops of teachers coming into education in those first couple decades — I would say that it was embraced in a very widespread way in the ’90s,” Good said. “We have two decades of kids that have poured out at this point and have not been helped by it.”

While most schools have moved away from the whole word method, Good said students are still struggling, especially after COVID-19.

Federal and state governments, according to Good, have also fueled the problem by giving funds to schools without ensuring students are learning.

“It’s not that handing out money is bad,” Good said. “Handing out money when you don’t know whether or not it’s actually accomplishing the intention is wrong. It just is. It means we’re sending illiterate kids out there.”

Katie Nienstedt, senior director at Beyond Basics, said children often do not learn to read when they should in K-3 but move on to the next grade level anyway.

“In a traditional setting, teachers teach kids to read kindergarten through third grade,”

see Mrs. Budd and her trusty clipboard at the meets.”

Budd has also worked as the adviser for the junior high service club and the Upper School Pro-Life Club, and served as a Mentor Teacher for grades 5-8. Budd coached quiz bowl for eighth grade, and the team has taken first place for the majority of the 25 years she has been coaching.

most pressing national crises of our day. With well over half of our nation’s 8th graders below reading level, our education system has been killing the futures of our children for the past two decades,” Crain said.

The key to ensuring students are learning is to make sure states are held accountable for the success of students and to reach students when and

where they are most likely to

“It’s easier to reach a high school kid online because their school day, between sports and activities, is too full and it’scy,” Good said. “It’s also private for them, because they’re doing it from home. So we elongate the school day, elongate theing the same method, and then we have to hold the states accountable.”

Good said the country must begin implementing methods such as the Gold Star Standard to Reading Proficiency if it hopes to prepare the next generation for success.

“We’re all right around 40% proficiency,” Good said. “This is a national crisis.”

Hillsdale College freshman

Evie Gray, who had Budd as a teacher in eighth grade, said she enjoyed learning from her.

“She always emphasized excellence in the classroom, which grew me as a student,” Gray said.

“Since the founding of Hillsdale Academy, Mrs. Julie Budd has been one of the most integral components of helping our school start, grow, and become such a special place,” Hillsdale Academy Headmaster Mike Roberts said in an email. “She has served as a parent, coach, and teacher. For the past 25 years, Mrs. Budd has been teaching and mentoring the eighth grade class as they finish lower school and become well prepared for high school. I appreciate the excellence she has brought to Hillsdale Academy and she will be greatly missed.”

Gray said she especially loved reading a series of short stories that dealt with the pride of the human condition.

“That particular unit gave me a love of short stories that I still carry with me today, and I am very grateful for that experience in Mrs. Budd’s class,” Gray said. “I appreciate how she cared about her students’ understanding of the material.”

Hillsdale College freshman Alethia Diener said Budd has taught and supported her throughout eighth grade and high school.

“She has fostered in her classroom not only striving for academic excellence but more especially the pursuit of maturity, virtue, and Christian witness,” Ducher said. “Her role as the one to prepare students for high school has been key to the students’ future success, but seeing their characters develop has always been the most important to her.”

Budd said she will miss teaching and cherish memories from her time at the school.

“More than anything, I will remember the interesting and sometimes hilarious class conversations, seeing students strive to accomplish their goals, receiving kind notes, and watching those often goofy, gawky students who walk in the door in the fall grow into young men and women as they continue to grow in wisdom and virtue,” Budd said. “It’s those small things that made my time at Hillsdale Academy something special.”

“From literature discussions to random kind notes and goodie bags to the valuable lesson that I can choose a godly attitude in any circumstance, Mrs. Budd helped form me as a young adult,” Diener said. Ducher said Budd’s high expectations and compassion have guided students during the transitional eighth grade year.

Pamela Good said 67% of students are behind in literacy. Alessia Sandala | Collegian

Julie Budd taught at Hillsdale Academy for 25 years. Sophia Bryant | Collegian

Premiere

Opinions

The Collegian Weekly

The opinion of the Collegian editorial staff

Online : www.hillsdalecollegian.com (517) 607-2415

Editor-in-Chief | Jillian Parks

Managing Editor | Isaac Green

Senior Editor | Michaela Estruth

Outreach Director | Olivia Pero

Design Editor | Ally Hall

News Editor | Catherine Maxwell

Opinions Editor | Caroline Kurt

City News Editor | Thomas McKenna

Sports

Culture

Features

| Colman Rowan

| Kamden Mulder

Social Media Assistant | Sam Otting

Circulation Manager | Lauren Bixler

Assistant Editors | Megan Li | Tayte Christensen | Christina Lewis | Alessia Sandala | Zachary Chen | Eleanor Whitaker | Anna Broussard | Ellie Fromm | Ty Ruddy

Ad Manager | Nathan Stanish

Puzzle Editor | Matthew Tolbert

Illustrator | Maggie O’Connor

Faculty Advisers | John J. Miller | Maria Servold

Strength Rejoices in Sudoku

The Collegian has published 50 logical-reasoning puzzles for this year’s readers to attack. Amid the exhaustion from papers, exams, and quizzes, it can be hard to complete another mental task. But this worthy challenge will strengthen both your studies and your friendships.

Puzzles sharpen your mind for the academic challenges you face. A 2019 study found 50–93 year olds who solved number puzzles at least once a day scored better in all categories across two cognitive tests. While the researchers consid-

ered senior citizens rather than senior undergraduates, their conclusion applies to everyone: Solving puzzles practices organization, memory, and methodical reasoning — skills every Hillsdale student needs, especially during Hell Week.

The Hillsdale experience includes more than academics. As many say, “it’s the people.” Puzzles allow us to build relationships with our fellow students. Unlike looming final exams, puzzles are a challenge we take on voluntarily without fixed deadlines imposed by professors. By choosing to

face this challenge together, we re-ignite the fire of partnership — which, as President Larry Arnn says, is the meaning of the word “college.”

So tackle a puzzle or two. Get stumped at a five-star Math Maze over coffee. Bond over a four-star Cartouche. Not only will you take a fun break from your insane to-do list, you’ll also be preparing yourself for the impending doom of Hell Week. And who knows? Maybe that classmate who found the key to the Noughts and Crosses will become a lifelong friend.

America, it’s time to go nuclear

By Clare Oldenburg Collegian Freelancer

By Caroline Kurt Opinions Editor

Every day, Hillsdale students pass construction sites on their jaunts to and around campus. While we attend classes, sweat over deadlines, and pore over papers, Weigand Construction workers undertake a different kind of work: physical, rather than intellectual, in its focus. For their efforts, the college already has the Christ Chapel, George Roche Sports Complex, Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center, and College Park Townhomes to enjoy.

Other than saying “Hi” to Gate Guy and occasionally taking out the dorm trash, many of us citizens of the ivory tower spend our eight months a year at Hillsdale wholly isolated from physical work. The demands of academic life, especially in conjunction with dorm living, leave little time for us to take on substantial physical work. Most students don’t cook or clean for themselves and aren’t responsible for childcare or the upkeep of a house. These privileges we enjoy are something to be grateful for, as they free us to give ourselves more fully to our studies.

Summer is the perfect time to reclaim your relationship with the physical world. It can take any number of paths: a full-time job on a farm or in a lumberyard, work taking care of children and housework, or a part-time role mowing lawns or doing odd jobs. Whatever it is, be deliberate in seeking out some physical challenge. Hillsdale students are an intelligent bunch, and most are smart enough not to scorn manual professions like the trades or the work of keeping a home. Yet in remaining isolated from strenuous physical work — and no, sprinting to class doesn’t count — we miss out on an integral part of the human experience, one with the capacity to greatly enrich our intellectual and spiritual lives.

Besides yielding satisfy-

ing, tangible results, manual work frees intellectually-inclined students from inadvertently living the heresy of gnosticism, treating the physical world as less worthy of care and attention. That includes one’s body, which manual work both challenges and strengthens. In treating physical work as unworthy of our time, we also miss out on its meditative nature. When the body is occupied, the mind runs free. A long afternoon spent digging in a backyard garden, smeared in engine grease up to the elbows or speckled with fresh paint, is ripe time for contemplation — most of all, if you embrace the sounds of the task rather than using music to drown your thoughts. If idle hands are the devil’s workshop, then busy hands are instruments of good.

The mundane nature of most ordinary manual tasks — laundry, dishes, and cleaning up — provide all of us the opportunity to undertake a task not because it is thrilling or fun, but because it is an opportunity to serve the people around us and Creation itself.

Though most Hillsdale graduates work a job that demands more intellectual than physical effort, adult life, especially parenthood and homeownership, entails fundamentally embodied roles. Parents change diapers, haul toddlers and baby carriers around, lug groceries inside in a single trip, and get dragged into games of freeze tag. Homeowners scrub floors, fix cabinets, and heave sofas up stairs. The sooner we learn to embrace and enjoy physical work, the better we will be equipped to meet the demands of a life beyond Hillsdale. We aren’t brains in a vat. So use this summer to stretch your physical capabilities, and bring out into the sunshine the wisdom you’ve gained in dusty classrooms.

Caroline Kurt is a junior studying English. Flex your (actual) muscles

The Trump Administration has taken significant steps to revitalize nuclear energy in the United States by opening old plants and pledging the Department of Energy’s efforts toward commercializing nuclear energy. This comes at a critical time, as finding a sustainable source of clean alternative energy becomes more imperative by the day.

The biggest problems with alternative energy — wind, solar, and hydropower — are the unintended impacts on the environment that it claims to spare. The vibrations of wind turbines drive whales insane; solar farms deep-fry passing birds; and hydroelectric dams foil fish migrations — all in the name of helping the environment. Maintaining our current use of fossil fuels becomes less feasible as resources decrease and pollution levels skyrocket, so a solution must be found. The answer may seem scary: reforming and revitalizing nuclear energy. But as the Trump Administration clearly understands, it is actually a far more safe and feasible option than typically thought.

The phrase “nuclear energy” conjures images of “Fallout,” Chernobyl, mutant deer, and uncontrolled havoc wreaked by science gone too far. Yet in reality there have been only three major nuclear energy disasters in the past 70 years: Chernobyl, Three Mile

Island, and Fukushima. Each has a particular set of extenuating circumstances. Chernobyl, while certainly a major disaster, can be explained by three words: Soviet safety standards. Fukushima was the result of tsunami damage to the electrical grid, which incapacitated the emergency shut-down systems. This disaster does not accurately reflect the safety of nuclear power plants, but rather shows the importance of location when constructing power plants. The disaster at Three Mile Island resulted from an improper attempt to clean a filter. This accident resulted in zero casualties, no recorded injuries or illness, and minimal radiation leakage into the environment. Far from being a damning indictment of nuclear power, Three Mile Island proves the efficacy of American nuclear safety standards. Although these events are easily dramatized, they are by far the exception and not the rule for nuclear energy.

According to the World Nuclear Association, there are 440 active nuclear power plants currently operating in 31 countries. In 2023, they produced 2602 terawatt-hours of electricity, which is enough to fully power over 1.8 million homes for a year. It seems unbelievable such power can result from such a small and mysterious source. The simple explanation is that the nuclei of atoms are tightly bound together, but some nuclei are unstable due to their larger

size. When hit by a particle with sufficient energy, they can split, releasing some of their binding energy, a process called nuclear fission. If enough nuclei fission simultaneously, the energy produced can boil water, which rotates a turbine to produce electricity. The fission process is controlled so the energy is released gradually, not all at once like a bomb.

A major challenge of nuclear energy is nuclear waste and its safe storage. However, this must be contextualized by scale. The energy that holds nuclei together must be high enough to overcome the electrostatic repulsion between the protons. Fissioning one gram of U-235 produces around 100,000 times more energy produced than burning one gram of coal. This energy could run a microwave for 25 years. The amount of energy produced by a small amount of material easily compares to the smaller amount of waste product produced, which means a significant return on the investment.

The United States produces 2,000 metric tons of nuclear waste per year, which sounds like a staggering amount, but actually fills less than half the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The total amount of nuclear waste produced in the U.S. since the 1950s could fit in the volume of a football field. This is an incredibly small amount for 70 years of nationwide production, and it’s not all “waste.”

In fact, some waste products can even be refissioned to produce more energy. Several countries, like France, recycle their nuclear waste products, because up to 90% of the original potential energy is still available in the waste. Recent investigations into monazite crystals, which are highly resistant to deformation by nuclear radiation, may also provide a new source of shielding and storage. This isn’t to say that attempting to expand nuclear energy is an easy undertaking. Running a safe nuclear reactor is a complex endeavor, but well within the reach of a society that values technical excellence and competence. The only society with reason to fear nuclear energy is one that rewards mediocrity, complacency, and the shrugs of “good enough.” Those who are content with the bare minimum will not maintain the greatness nuclear energy requires. If the U.S. fears nuclear energy, we first should examine ourselves. It would be easy to destroy our environment with alternative energy and burnt coal because we are scared of the excellence nuclear energy demands. Revitalizing nuclear energy requires that we make both our standards and our spirits great again. Are we up to the challenge?

Clare Oldenburg is a senior studying physics.

Letter to the Editor

Learn from the Passion story: Garcia deserves justice

By Cody Strecker Guest Writer

Tomorrow, when hundreds of millions of Christians — and a majority of students, faculty, and staff of the college — celebrate Good Friday, they will be remembering that in Jesus, God was unjustly murdered. Jesus was brought before the political authority in his land, Caesar’s representative, Pontius Pilate, who put him to death.

But the Gospels go out of their way to make clear that this grave enactment of evil was not due to Pilate’s unfortunate misapplication of the law. No, Pilate rightly discerns that no charge had been successfully brought against Jesus. Pilate correctly judges him to be innocent. But Pilate still has Jesus executed. The appalling evil of that day was compounded because it was no accident;

it was no misunderstanding. Pilate knew exactly what he was doing, and did it anyway. He sent an innocent man to death because it was politically expedient for him to do so. His attempt, with a splash of water, to keep his own hands stainless of this decision, would be comical if it wasn’t the deadly serious act of a cowardly, small man.

In a horrific irony, this Holy Week we are seeing the same story played out — an innocent man punished because a leader thinks it will please the crowd. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal Salvadoran immigrant who became a legal U.S. resident in 2019, was wrongfully deported to El Salvador on March 15 due to what the Trump administration has admitted was “an administrative error.” Like Pilate 2,000 years ago, Trump knows this man has been convicted of no

crime. Like Pilate, Trump so far has refused to use his authority to enact justice. Garcia is being held in a brutal, maximum security prison that was built to house the very kind of gang members that Garcia was granted asylum in our country to escape.

The Salvadoran government has stated its intention that no one incarcerated there will ever return home. That makes Trump’s refusal to correct his mistake the equivalent of a death sentence for this innocent man.

Think it’s sacrilegious to compare this event with Good Friday? It was Jesus who told us to make this very kind of equation. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).

The point is not that Abrego Garcia is a sinless sacrifice; of course he isn’t perfect. Jesus’ point is about us: How we

treat such a person reveals what we think about Jesus.

On the day that Jesus was crucified, no Roman citizen stood up to Pilate to demand that he maintain justice and release the innocent man. This Good Friday could be different, if even a fraction of America’s Christians demand that Trump act justly. Trump, like Pilate, is choosing injustice because he judges injustice to be politically expedient. Would that the Christians on this campus, while they prepare to worship their unjustly crucified Lord, also cry out for justice for Abrego Garcia. What will the crowd of Hillsdale’s Christians be shouting this weekend? “His blood be upon us”? Or “Return us Kilmar”?

Strecker is an assistant professor of theology.

Cody

Mom was wrong: Talk to strangers

By Ally Hall Design Editor

It took Austin two minutes

to replace me. As I rounded the corner in Zingerman’s Roadhouse one Sunday afternoon to complete a game of cribbage, my seat was taken by an 80-year-old man. During the span of a bathroom break, my boyfriend had selected a stranger to spend his day with.

I was offended — not because I was replaced, but because befriending old people is my thing. For years, my penchant for collecting part-time job groupies and nursing home to-bes shaped my life often more than the jobs or volunteer opportunities themselves. Now my boyfriend of a couple weeks had one-upped me in a game he didn’t even know he was playing. You should consider befriending an old person every time you leave the house. I’m

not only saying be polite to the alarmingly old grocery store clerk or offer to hold doors open a hair longer for the woman with the walker. You should also approach random elderly people with the same level of interest as you do your closest friends.

After exchanging pleasantries, the old man introduced himself to me as Joseph Kubek, a prominent local photographer in the Ann Arbor area. It was his birthday, and his table near us harbored many of his relatives who were visiting from out of town.

The first thing Kubek taught me was the “Kubek Hug” — an eerily prolonged hug in which you share a breath and only let go when it feels right. It’s supposed to be a soul connection, a spiritual moment between two people carving out intimacy in the hurried nature of everyday life. Though this sounded charming, I advocate for talking to strangers — not necessarily touching them.

We didn’t hug that afternoon, but he did promise to mail us bookmarks. When we exchanged information, Kubek asked us very earnestly “You promise?” when we said we’d call. When it comes to connecting with older people, there is a heightened responsibility to follow through on the things you say you’ll do. While their lives were at one point as hectic as young people’s, many have fewer and fewer opportunities to connect with people beyond their inner circle. Life does not get less rich as you age, but in many ways it does get smaller.

In an age which increasingly lacks intergenerational living and community, befriending strangers like Kubek is a small opportunity for young and old to learn and love one another.

A month later, Austin and I drove to a Greek restaurant in a Dearborn strip mall on a Saturday afternoon. Before the car’s engine ceased, we could see Kubek’s silhouette outlined in the laminated window, a crooked baseball cap and a mound of photo folders on the chair next to him. He’d been there before us at his signature table, setting up a series of images to show us that he’d taken throughout his career. Nature scenes, bizarre ’70s family portraits, deteriorated portraits he had restored: What to us seemed a charming display of random pictures was to Kubek his life’s work, neatly contained in felt folders and piled into the corner of the diner’s front table.

Austin and I spent three hours in the restaurant. The waitress knew him. He hardly had to look at the menu. He knew the ins and outs of how to get the most bang for your buck. Every detail of lunch had an anecdote. The restaurant itself belonged to a longtime friend who had offered him a cheap apartment when he was left high and dry after a failed business debacle. But with Kubek, all ends in triumph.

Kubek’s life motto is Carl Jung’s concept of “synchronicity.” Instead of some cleansed psychoanalytic definition of meaningful relationships between events, Kubek perceives

this word almost as a spell. When he’d connect dots between important people in his life or serendipitously timed success, he’d almost whisper “synchronicity.”

As he’d point out the faces of deceased friends in images he took of trees or the night sky, your ears would perk up and await the magic word.

Our lunch with Kubek wasn’t about us, and our generation really likes when things are about us. From highly personalized algorithmic feeds to mundane routines, it is important to remember that others’ stories are just as important as ours. This is what relationships with older people can offer: a humbling reminder that one day we, too, will

jump at the chance to share our stories with unsuspecting young people trying to complete a game of cards.

Ally Hall is a senior studying Rhetoric and Media.

Illustrated by Maggie O'Connor.

Dear Metz, focus on gluten-free

By Zachary Chen Assistant Editor

Every Hillsdale student — ever — has complained about our cafeteria.

Mostly, this is because we spoiled students need something, anything to kvetch about — and, when we’re so blessed with excellent professors, community, and fellows, what have we left to disparage apart from our food?

But we’re wrong about this. Freshmen — youngsters that they are — might not believe it, but the food, service, and variety at the Knorr Dining Hall has drastically improved, even over the course of this semester. The better burgers, warm cookie Wednesdays, weekend omelettes, Sunday sundae bar, and bubbly water machine are just a few things that have made our lives better, and for these, we Hillsdale students owe you our

heartfelt thanks. So you should know that we appreciate your responsiveness to student input. The changes are great: Keep up the good work! And as you pursue culinary excellence, please remember the gluten-free section. Right now, students who can handle some gluten contamination can eat from the J. Clarks burger grill and even go through the Main Plate line. If they choose, some gluten-sensitive individuals can even ask for a gluten-free pizza. These are all very helpful to the student body. Moreover, running the gluten-free station on the weekends has proved a real life-saver for many gluten-free students. The added options at the gluten-free waffle station are outstanding. But those who have more severe gluten allergies can’t afford to run the risk of cross-contamination, which nixes any food cooked in the fryer and glu-

ten-free pizza baked on a gluten-contaminated plate. It’s often difficult for students with severe gluten allergies or celiac to appreciate the changes because so few of the new improvements are available to them.

Adding variety to the gluten-free zone may not seem like much, but it would mean fundamentally improving the lives of Hillsdale’s gluten-free students on a deep, personal level. Salads — no matter how scrumptious — will still get tiresome if they’re the go-to options, day after day.

Since Hillsdale meal plans are not optional, gluten-free students have no choice but to pay thousands of dollars for the gluten-free zone. They deserve more for their money.

Though focusing your efforts on bringing our gluten-free options up to the same standards as the gluten-full food won’t necessarily be as popular with gluten-eating students, it will

do good for those members of our campus who have to worry about sitting at a table strewn with breadcrumbs.

And improving the gluten-free zone need not be a monumental enterprise, either. A soup, perhaps, and more than one hot meal option. The salad bar should always have some non-fried, gluten-free protein. It wouldn’t take much to spice up the gluten-free options.

You’ve done it once already — our cafeteria food is better than ever before. The thought and attention that you’re putting into feeding Hillsdale students is evident… and excellent.

Now do it for the gluten-free students: just because they can’t eat bread doesn’t mean their mealtimes have to be crummy.

Zachary Chen is a sophomore studying Greek and Latin.

We must cement election reforms

By Frederick Woodward Collegian Reporter

Conservative activists are happy and left-wing pundits and lawyers are furious — again. The cause, however, is more surprising than normal. The debate this time revolves not around cultural flashpoints such as wokeness in schools or men competing in women's sports. Rather, the clash is over legal procedures and requirements relating to a more fundamental part of American life: our electoral process.

President Donald Trump signed his 102nd executive order, EO 14248, March 25, intending to secure American elections to the extent possible through unilateral executive action. Trump’s actions represent the crest of a tidal wave of conservative advocacy surrounding the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a legislative measure aimed at securing federal elections from non-citizen voting.

As the SAVE act gains traction in the House of Representatives, conservative election reform advocates finally have legislative and executive momentum on their side — now is the time to carry this inertia

forward and cement further reforms.

While the SAVE act is admirable as initial legislation, conservative leaders should see it as opening a door, rather than checking the box of election integrity off a lengthy list of conservative legislative priorities. Contrasting Trump’s election-security executive measure with the SAVE act demonstrates the amount of ground that conservatives still must make up legislatively before the current Congress ends a little over 18 months from now.

Trump’s order includes categorical recommendations targeted at every federally regulatable aspect of American elections. The Democratic National Committee has already joined 10 other left-wing non-governmental organizations in challenging the order in court. Attorneys general from 19 states have also sued to block the order’s implementation, including Michigan’s own Dana Nessel.

Laying aside the question of whether it is right for federal courts to be as active as they are in reviewing presidential directives, the most efficacious elements of EO 14248 are likely to be struck down or, at the very

least, blocked from effective implementation by left-leaning judges in a majority of cases. It’s no coincidence that the four main leftist challenges to the order have been brought in some of the country’s most liberal districts: one in Massachusetts, and three in the District of Columbia.

These developments ought to send a clear signal to conservative lawmakers: Executive action alone cannot mend America’s broken election system. The SAVE act represents an important first step as a popular, relatively non-controversial measure, opening the door to reform of federal election standards. But it cannot stand alone.

Congress ought to codify many key reforms from EO 14248. Any congressional measure passed should require uniform paper ballots and hold states accountable for keeping their federal voter rolls pure should be part of. Congress should also require that ballots counted in a federal election be received by the election’s actual date, ensure identification and exclusion of foreign funds used in federal elections, and perhaps most importantly, secure Overseas Citizen and Military voting. All of these are essential ele-

Remote work revives worklife balance

By Michaela Estruth Senior Editor

The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it masks, social distancing, and remote work. Thankfully, only one of these elements remains: working from home.

Remote work is productive, convenient, and necessary for various jobs. In fact, when done well, working from home can be more productive than working in an office. ActivTrak reported a 35–40% productivity increase for employees working from home. A Harvard Business School study reported a positive increase in productivity for remote work in the years following the initial shift under Covid.

During the summer of 2023, I interned for the Colson Center, a Christian nonprofit organization based in Colorado. The Colson Center’s team maps all across the United States. Office days were Tuesday and Thursday. For the remaining three days a week, employees worked from home — even those in Colorado. I found my writing and editing was much more productive when I was alone, away from conversations, nearby Zoom calls, or regular coffee breaks.

While my work was more efficient away from the office, I valued the days in-person. I was able to meet more teammates and engage in real conversations face-toface, not through a screen. These personal interactions strengthened the transition to a completely remote internship the following summer with the Colson Center. I was efficient and productive but also enjoyed the daily Zoom calls and team meetings because I knew the people with whom I was working.

This summer, I plan to attend four weddings and am hoping to visit my sister and her family in Mississippi. Searching for post-grad employment options that would provide the necessary flexibility for travel and family seemed pointless, except in the remote-work field. I now have several options that can all be done away from an office. My personal location is insignificant because my work ethic and production will remain consistent.

ments of reform from EO 14248, which Congress should support with accompanying legislation. What makes enacting these reforms effectively so important is not merely some abstract question of litigative or legislative process. Rather, the question at the heart of the matter is far greater, for it is one that tests the fabric of our nation’s ideals of responsibility and justice. If the American ideal of delegated self-government is to continue sustaining itself, then each eligible citizen must be assured of the legitimacy of his vote.

Ensuring that only legitimate votes are counted in our federal elections is crucial to safeguarding the incentive structure of individual responsibility that our government is predicated upon. Working to ensure safe and secure elections alone will not solve our nation’s many woes. However, safe and broadly trusted elections will help continued regime changes remain peaceful, extending the time which conservatives have to correct America’s course.

the summer, we’ll go on brief walks over lunch. For as much as he travels, my dad makes himself available for his family when he is home, even with busy calls or stressful days. I’m thankful he no longer heads to the office at 7 a.m. and returns at 6 p.m. I much prefer making faces at him on his calls through our glass doors or bringing him fresh muffins for a morning snack. I have also seen the blessings of remote work in my sister’s life. She worked for Hillsdale’s admissions office for three years after graduation, but she needed a remote position because of her husband’s military career. Admissions was gracious to extend that flexibility to her, allowing her to work throughout the year and make numerous visits back to campus to visit me — I mean, to do her job. Even through the birth of her first child, she was able to work part time, thanks to her remote position.

As I’ve seen through my sister, remote work is especially helpful for young moms. Sometimes families need the extra income, but most moms can’t drop everything and head to the office for eight hours. Some moms, instead, can crank out a few hours of work throughout the day when the kids take a nap or have some play time. In my sister’s experience, this was harder than it sounds. Other moms, however, say the few hours of work provide a needed mental challenge apart from the motherly questions of “Who needs to eat?” “Who is sick?” and “What should I make for dinner?”

Of course, not every job should or could be remote: Some jobs can’t be done on the computer or over the phone. Any sort of repair, delivery, or sale requires face-to-face interaction and hands-on production.

Perhaps my situation is an anomaly — writing and editing typically requires a quiet, focused environment. But many other jobs require a low-distraction environment. Remote positions also provide flexibility for additional travel or the shifting work hours characteristic of many modern jobs.

When people ask what my dad does, I say, “He’s either on the phone or on a plane.”

As sarcastic as it is, that statement is accurate. My dad works with teams of people spread across the country. He can consult, strategize, and delegate across phone and Zoom meetings. He doesn’t have an office because very few teammates share a location. When he does travel, he visits the small offices of the few teammates who are in the same city.

Without remote work, my dad’s job would be nearly impossible or our family would have to move. Instead, his remote work schedule allows him to see his family throughout the day. Over breaks, I’ll have my morning cup of coffee, and my dad will join me for 10 minutes between his calls. In

President Donald Trump’s mandated return to work order for federal employees was a necessary and judicious step to further government action and productivity. Government employees should be interacting in the office environment because their work requires more engagement, conversation, and last-minute meetings. Taxpayer dollars should not support remote work for federal employees who live in the capital of our country. College would be nearly impossible without professors who lecture in-person every day. Hillsdale professors sacrifice more than most by remaining in the office to engage with students outside the typical work hours. To say I’m thankful is inadequate. Nor should every person work from home. The 100% extrovert would go insane. Others may lack productivity or personal drive. Working from home should not excuse laziness or poor performance.

Remote work requires proactive, efficient, trustworthy individuals and a team who can depend on everyone doing their part. If done well, this work creates more flexibility, productivity, and family prioritization.

Thankfully, COVID-19 is past, and the remote world is not the only option. But I’m thankful it is one.

Michaela Estruth is a senior studying history.

economy.

Frederick Woodward is a sophomore studying political

City News

Acting mayor will not run in August election

Joshua Paladino, a Hillsdale grad, said the office’s limited authority is not worth the drama

By Thomas McKenna & Charles Hickey City New Editor & Collegian Freelancer

Acting Mayor Joshua Paladino will not run for mayor in August.

The city council voted the Hillsdale alumnus into the temporary position, officially called “mayor pro tem,” when former mayor Adam Stockford ’15 stepped down in December. Stockford said he resigned to move his family to a dream house outside the city limits. Paladino also cited a commitment to family while saying the office is not desirable.

“I love the city. I love the work,” Paladino told The Collegian this week. “It’s literally just that the drama is not worth the authority that comes with the office.”

The council voted Jan. 20 to hold a special election this August to fill the mayor’s seat, but if more than a couple of candidates run, the city will hold a November runoff with two contenders. After the special elections, the new mayor will have to run again in the regularly scheduled primary and general elections in August and November of 2026.

“I don’t have time to run in possibly two elections,” Paladino said.

Paladino — who earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from Hillsdale College — was elected to the city council in 2022. Just before Stockford stepped down, Paladino defeated Ward 2 Councilman Will Morrisey in a 5-4 council vote to become mayor pro tem. Morrisey, a former politics professor at the college, held the second-in-command position for six years until Paladino replaced him.

Paladino began his term as acting mayor with plans to allocate more funding to road repairs, remove fluoride from the water, and wean the airport off city funding, according to his December interview with The Collegian. But his plans faced opposition from other council members and some city staff.

Two city officials — Airport Manager Ginger Moore and City Engineer Kristin Bauer — resigned in the past month, both citing a negative culture in city politics.

After the resignations, Ward 1 Councilman Greg Stuchell told Paladino at the April 8 city council meeting to resign.

“I am just sick of the fact that we lost two excellent managers, and both of their reasons were the same. I’m going to end this with you mayor pro tem,” Stutchell said at the mee-

ting, referring to Paladino. “I’m going to ask you to consider resigning your pro tem position.”

Paladino said his power in the mayoral seat was more constrained than the public believes.

“The mayor’s office receives more attention than is warranted,” Paladino said in an interview this week. “The mayor is

ger under our charter and our ordinances. He has sole control over all of their duties, all of their functions, day to day. Council can set parameters.”

Paladino most recently faced criticism on social media for an Officer Compensation Board’s recommendation to increase salaries for the mayor and city council. But Paladino

“I don’t have the time for this. I have a family. I have a full-time job.”

a council member with limited appointment powers. All of the appointments have to go through the council. He has no executive authority in his own right that he can exercise without the consent of the council. So it’s not an office that particularly interests me.”

This lack of power combined with criticism from the public makes the office undesirable, Paladino said.

“It would be one thing to take heat and criticism if you had a lot of authority,” Paladino said. “All of the city staff is responsible to the city mana-

opposes the measure, which the council will vote on April 21.

“I don’t know that any amount of money would be worth it for the drama,” Paladino said. “I don’t know how Stockford did it for so long.”

Stockford, the former mayor, held the office for seven years. Reflecting on his time as mayor, Stockford also said the mayor’s office is seen as more powerful than it is in reality.

“The hardest part of being mayor was that you don’t have as much authority as what the general public believes you

Rotary Club to add new park in town

By Christopher Tufaro Collegian Freelancer

The Hillsdale Rotary Club will build a new “fitness park” near Stock’s Mill as long as it receives approval from the Hillsdale Planning Commission at its May 14 meeting.

The new park would include pickleball courts, soccer fields, a playground, and “ninja” fitness equipment. It will be located between East Carleton Road and East Bacon Street, on property owned by Stock’s Mill and the City of Hillsdale.

Heather Tritchka, president of the Hillsdale Rotary Club, said she came up with the idea for the fitness park as the club was putting the finishing touches on the Sandy Beach Project, which includes bike paths, a beach, and playground areas around Baw Beese Lake.

“I was looking for the next thing, something for the whole community,” Tritchka said. “My daughters used to walk to the park when they were younger, but there really isn‘t an area like that now.”

She said she was looking for an area with a lot of grass,

high visibility, and bike path accessibility.

David Wheeler and the City of Hillsdale each owned part of the property, according to Tritchka.

“We were in talks with the owner about acquiring the property, we said that we would make him a fair offer on the land,” Tritchka said. “When he came back to us, he offered to donate it outright.”

Tritchka said the City of

Fitness equipment is “shockingly similar to swings and slides,” according to Tritchka.

The project will be executed across four phases, with the earlier phases aimed at developing the space. As the club acquires more funds, Tritchka says it plans to build “ninja” equipment based on the popular “American Ninja Warrior” television show.

Tritchka said the Rotary

“There isn’t anything like this in Hillsdale now. There hasn’t been a new park in decades.”

Hillsdale also donated its portion of the property.

With the pre-emptive parts of the planning complete, the Rotary Club began to make more plans. Tritchka said the club wants to put in equipment targeted at a younger audience.

Club is currently in the final phases for approval by the Hillsdale City Council before it can break ground. The organization has received funding from entities with a presence in the community including the Hillsdale Community Foundation, Meijer,

and County National Bank, but they are still looking to fund large portions of the project, especially the ninja equipment.

Although the park has received no major opposition, concerns have been raised about keeping homeless people from camping in the park. Tritchka said measures would be taken to keep the park safe for community members.

“We shouldn’t let fear of misuse prevent us from doing something good for the community,” Tritchka said.

Nolan Sullivan ’22, a Rotary Club member, said that with the funds the club has already received they will be able to begin building. But the project could take many years.

“There isn’t anything like this in Hillsdale now, there hasn’t been a new park in decades,” Sullivan said.“There’s a great opportunity for this park to offer kids a walkable and visible space in the town, to have a new park for the first time in decades. We have this opportunity to bring in new equipment that’s up to date and set some of this up.”

might have, but you get held accountable for all the decisions that are made,” Stockford said in a March interview.

But Stockford also said in a comment to The Collegian this week that the mayor has a “bully pulpit,” which can allow the mayor to set the agenda.

“It’s more about steering the ship than being the navigator,” he said. “You can chart a course, but you need everyone else rowing in the same direction. That takes the trust and support of your peers. Most of the time I was Mayor, I had that.”

Stockford also said sweeping reform is difficult to accomplish quickly at the local level.

“When you start talking about major policy changes, it not only threatens the status quo, it can threaten people’s livelihoods if the policies can result in budget cuts or positions being eliminated,” Stockford said. “You better believe people will get up in arms when you start talking about taking food out of their mouths. That’s human nature.”

As mayor, Stockford said, one is expected to be responsible for city council decisions, whether or not he opposes them.

“You answer for all of it by

honor of the title, but it’s what you sign up for,” Stockford said. “I was very clear about this with all of council when I talked to the mayor pro tem candidates the night we voted for mayor pro tem.” At least two candidates have announced they will run in August: Ward 2 Councilman Matt Bentley and Scott Sessions, who was mayor of Hillsdale from 2013-2017.

“I would like the people to look for a mayor who wants to take the time to know the laws, the city charter, the ordinances — who wants to understand the city’s policies,” Paladino said.

The city should reform the mayor’s powers to give him more authority, making the position worth the hassle, according to Paladino. The mayor, he said, needs more control over the city’s administration, budget, and hiring.

“The highest executive office in the city should have some sort of real independent authority attached to it,” Paladino said.

When the city elects a new mayor, Paladino will keep his seat as a Ward 4 Councilman.

“I don’t have the time for this,” Paladino said of the special elections. “I have a family. I have a full-time job.”

Hospital raises $1

million for new equipment

By Sydney Green Collegian Reporter

Hillsdale Hospital raised $1 million for new medical equipment through its Capital Campaign fundraiser.

“I am grateful for the generosity of this community and their unwavering support of our independent hospital,” said Richard Moore, chair of the fundraising committee.

“At some point, everyone will need some form of medical care, and it’s vital that we have state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure available to serve the residents of Hillsdale.”

The fundraiser launched in November 2023 with the

“I

for that care to happen.” The campaign funded the purchase of six new pieces of equipment. The pieces include a generator for Hillsdale Orthopedics, a Hana Fracture Table, Workstations on Wheels for the medical surgical unit, an HVAC unit for the laundry department, an echocardiogram machine, and a new HUGS Infant Security System. Newlon said she is grateful the community trusts their mission.

think the community gives to us because they love the care that they get here.”

goal of reaching $1 million for new hospital equipment.

Throughout 2024, the campaign fundraising committee conducted meetings to reach the community. The committee concluded its fundraising at the end of 2024 and announced its completion March 26. Hillsdale Hospital Communication Donor Development Manager Kyrsten Newlon said she is happy to see their fundraising efforts pay off in 2025.

“I would say that we were very pleased at how generous our community was,” Newlon said. “We asked our community to help, and they stepped right up and responded to the need. They wanted to help support our mission to keep providing that high quality care and providing a great environment

“It’s very evident how each piece of equipment affects patient care and affects our staff efficiency and safety,” Newlon said. “I think the community gives to us because they love the care that they get here.”

According to Hillsdale Hospital’s press release, donors included Hillsdale College, Drew’s Place Assisted Living, Stillwell Ford, Southern Michigan Bank and Trust, the CNB Foundation.

President and Chief Executive Officer Jeremiah Hodshire said in the press release that the new equipment will help provide continued safety for their patients.

“Every dollar raised by this campaign contributes to our mission to provide exceptional patient care for our community,” Hodshire said. “We are constantly looking at new ways we can improve outcomes and provide support for our patients.”

Ava-Marie Papillon illustrated the City News header.

The park will be located between East Carleton Road and East Bacon Street, near Stock’s Mill. Christina Lewis | Collegian

Council to vote on pay raises

By Jayden Jelso Collegian Reporter

Acting Mayor Joshua Paladino said he opposes the pay raise proposed by the Officers Compensation Committee that would increase the mayor’s and the council members’ annual salaries.

“I’m against the raise because the city charges the maximum tax rate, uses special assessment districts to fix its failing infrastructure, has increased fees across the board,” Paladino said. “Our citizens pay enough as it is.”

The mayor currently makes $3,700 annually and members of the Hillsdale City Council make $1,430 each. If passed, this bill would raise the mayor’s annual pay to $25,000 and the city council members’ salary to $10,000 each. The compensation board voted 3-2 on Thursday to recommend the changes, and the city council will vote on the pay raises at its April 21 meeting.

“The current form of city government is such that we have expert-driven, managerial, bureaucratic, leftist local government,” Paladino said. “In any form of progressive governance, the elected officials are constantly neutered. They’re constantly given directive by the experts and aren’t exercising independent judgement or will. All of these things add up to suggest that the elected officials shouldn’t get a raise.”

Paladino said the raise would be detrimental because the city’s form of government has not changed from a city manager system, in which the city council hires the city manager to oversee daily operations and implement policies.

it,” Paladino said. “But, as it is, we would have a city manager who makes $210,000 a year to oversee the BPU and the city administrations, and a council that would be compensated about $100,000 but have no additional work to do. I don’t know that it would necessarily incentivise them to do work.”

Paladino said he tries to be a “scrupulous observer of the law,” even if he disagrees

shocked when he learned how little the council members make and that he tried to call another meeting to re-discuss the raise.

“Unprompted, the city manager intervened and asked the city attorney to prevent us from meeting again, demanding that our previous decision, which I had not submitted to council, be final,” Richardson said. “The bylaws of our committee leave open the

“I want to see our mayor and council more involved in the deliberation of policy.”

with certain ways the council functions.

“The local Officers Compensation Commission is a progressive, leftist innovation of the worst possible kind,” Paladino said. “It gives control over salaries to an unelected body. In any republican form of government, the elected officials themselves, or the voters, through their authority over the charter,

question of revisiting a decision that hasn’t yet been sent to council. From this ambiguity the city staff derive ‘no basis’ for my committee to remeet. Such ambiguity could be interpreted charitably, in line with the wishes of the citizens of Hillsdale.”

According to Richardson, Robert’s Rules of Order, a guide for conducting meetings and making decisions within

said. Timothy Green, another member of the Officers Compensation Committee, said he supports the raise.

“I am for the raise for a simple reason. I want to see our mayor and council be more involved in the deliberation of policy,” Green said. “We have a deliberative form of government and the council members should have the bandwidth to engage in that. More pay sends signals to current and future council members. You must discuss, you must be capable, you must be engaged. This is a job, and you don’t need to be self-sufficient or retired to do this work.”

Elizabeth Schlueter, a Hillsdale resident, said no one should be involved in city government for the pay, but was surprised to learn how little the mayor and city council members earn.

“In the context of the whole city budget, this is probably less than the city pays for office supplies and toilet paper at city hall,” Schlueter said.

It is justified to raise pay for elected representatives because they play an essential role in serving Hillsdale’s citizens, according to Schlueter.

should set the salary.”

“If the city wants to change the form of government, we should do that and then change the pay along with

Council members will do more or less work based on their love or passion for it, according to Paladino.

Russell Richardson, the chair of the Officer’s Compensation Committee, said he was

groups, allows for revisions of previous decisions based on new information and a desire of one majority member to change his vote.

“The basis for reconsideration is there if city staff was willing to see it,” Richardson

“I do not think this recommendation is beyond the pale at all, nor do I see convincing evidence that it is driven by some sort of dark conspiracy on the part of the mayor pro tem,” Schlueter said. “Everyone should take a deep breath and recognize that we are all working to improve this city, and that our elected representatives, as well as city staff, deserve our respect and the benefit of the doubt, even when we disagree on a particular policy.”

Aldi recalls store brand colby jack

By Gabriel Themar Collegian Freelancer

After stainless steel fragments were discovered in the dairy product, Aldi voluntarily recalled all of its Happy Farms Colby Jack Cheese from locations in Michigan and three other states last month.

It’s the first time Happy Farms, the Aldi-owned brand that makes the cheese, has ever recalled a product. But it marks the 69th time Aldi has taken itmes off the shelves since 2018, with previous causes ranging from products being mislabeled to others being contaminated with salmonella.

The news made its way to the Hillsdale student body.

“It’s really disappointing to hear,” said freshman Gavin White, who said he regularly shops at Aldi. “I’ll probably be buying my dairy products elsewhere from now on.”

Aldi runs 114 locations in Michigan, including the new location in Hillsdale that opened March 13.

The Food and Drug Admi-

nistration has since declared the recall a Class II Recall, an event where ingesting the recalled product could have minor adverse health effects on the body. Aldi did not respond to requests for comment.

“From time to time in the retail world, questions regarding a product’s quality or safety — or errors in its packaging or shipment — may arise,” a statement on Aldi’s website said. “On those rare occasions, ALDI has a plan to swiftly and effectively remove such products from the store.”

Dan Zagzebski, CEO of the Great Lakes Cheese Co., Inc., enacted the recall.

“A ‘pull-from-sale’ alert from either the manufacturer of the suspect product or our own Corporate Buying Department will trigger a rapid response plan for handling recalls,” Aldi said in a statement. “Products that do not meet ALDI or government standards in any of these areas will be efficiently and effectively removed from sale.”

Guess the steeple in town: a City News game!

Compiled by Charlotte Knobloch

Courtesy | Aldi

Sports

Action Shooting

Chen medals

By Ty Ruddy Assistant Editor

The Hillsdale College Action Shooting team competed at the Blue Bullets Alabama USPSA State Championship last week. Senior Taylor Chen notched a podium finish in the Limited Division and Hillsdale finished with multiple top-ten finishes in both the Limited and Limited Optics divisions.

“There were frustrating moments with passing rain storms and delays due to stage equipment malfunctions, but we kept our mental game focused on what we could control,” Chen said.

An 81% accuracy rate launched Chen to second overall in the Limited Division. During the competition he racked up 1133.421 points.

“The Alabama State Championship was an incredible test of our shooting fundamentals,” Chen said. “It required intense stage planning, precise movements, and accuracy at distance. The competition field was deep, but I believe the team put on the best showing of its ability yet.”

Also in top ten for the Lim-

Games

Cartouche

Difficulty:

The product of the entries in each bolded region is noted in its top-left corner. However, digits in a dashed region are first added together, and that sum is multiplied by the remaining entries. Each row and column contains one each of 1–6.

Multidoku

Difficulty:

Each of the first five rows and columns contain one each of 1–6 in their six squares. (In the sixth row and sixth column, a number from that range may appear multiple times or not at all.) The sixth row is an anagram of the sixth column, and the sum of the five values therein is given in the bottom-right triangle.

ited Division were sophomore Kayla Mullin, who placed fifth in Limited overall and first in Ladies Limited, and sophomore Clara Bozzay, who placed sixth in Limited overall and second in Ladies Limited.

“I had a rough first stage but was able to fix the issues and get several personal bests throughout the day,” Mullin said.

Adam Burlew, who coaches the Chargers, finished ninth in the Limited Optics Division, and junior Joseph Grohs finished just behind Burlew, securing tenth place. Burlew also finished fifty-sixth across all divisions and Grohs finished sixty-third.

“The Alabama match was a great challenge for the team because the stages involved many far shots and no-shoot targets which bear a penalty if they are hit, so there was a huge emphasis on accuracy,” sophomore John Beecher said. “Several members of the team still had some of their best matches.”

The Chargers will finish their spring season at the 2025 Excaliber Ammunition Buckeye Blast Ohio State Championship.

Club swimming competes and qualifies

By Francesca Cella Collegian Reporter

Junior Makayla Hanna qualified for the 2025 TYR College Club Swimming National Championship Meet in three events: the 50-yard, 100-yard, and 200-yard breastroke.

Hanna completed the 200yard breastroke in 2:41.63 at her recent swim meet at Bowling Green State University Feb. 22, which earned her a third nationals placement.

Hanna did not compete in nationals this year, as the host venue had already reached its limited capacity by the time she registered for the meet. Hanna said she plans to continue improving her speed through swim club, which gave her the motivation she needed to hit qualifying times.

“Before, I was really just casually swimming,” Hanna said. “I’m definitely swimming a lot more now that we’re trying to get to competitions and stuff.”

Sophomore Dylan Glover, the club’s president, said he helped found the club last spring with Nick Rutkoski, sophomore Finn Fleischer, and sophomore Hayden Stolzenberg because he saw a need for

Club Sports Baseball

4/10 Puzzle Solutions

community among swimmers on campus.

“There wasn’t really any organized form of swimming club sports when I showed up,” Glover said. “We were originally going to found a men’s club, but we made it co-ed because there was co-ed interest.”

Hillsdale College Club Swimming has attended two meets since its founding in fall 2024.

After interest grew and the club received approval, it became an official intercollegiate sport and joined the national organization College Club Swimming, allowing the team to participate in meets, according to Hanna.

Glover and Hanna are two of the board members who coach the club and structure practices.

“We have three practices that you can come to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday,” Glover said. “The Tuesday practices are mandatory because we found that people need motivation to come to practice.”

Junior Isaac Myhal said he started swimming with the club last spring after hearing about it from Rutkoski because he wanted to keep up a swimming routine.

“I’m not nearly as good at the coaching side, putting together sets, finding all of that, trying to gauge what I need to do to get better,” Myhal said. “That’s where it’s been really helpful to have other people who have put a little more time and effort into figuring that out.”

Myhal said one of the things he most appreciates about being part of club swimming is the opportunity to form new friendships.

“I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people that I just didn’t meet in other circles,” Myhal said. “Dylan is one of my good friends now. I don’t really think that I would have met him and really gotten to know him otherwise.”

Glover also said the physical exertion in swimming forms a tight bond.

“There’s a certain kind of respect you get for the other person,” Glover said. “You realize, ‘Oh gosh, you’re doing this too? Oh my goodness, Finn just threw up? Oh shoot. I gotta keep going.’”

Hanna’s high level of competition particularly drives the team to excel, according to Glover.

“I’ve never met someone

who swims like she does,” Glover said. “Her best swims are when she’s just exhausted at the end of practice.”

Glover said Hanna’s endurance and her ability to push herself allow her to swim faster in practice than is common.

“You put her in for another sprint, and she goes faster, and again, and she goes faster,” Glover said. “Everyone slows down at that point, but she doesn’t swim like that.”

Hanna said she encourages swimmers to attend a club practice because it will feel like coming home to swimming.

“You can join the club at any level,” Hanna said. “We have people who competed way back in middle school and are coming and swimming and competing with us, and we have people who are like me who did a bunch of swimming growing up, even in high school.”

Students interested in joining club swimming should contact Dylan Glover or attend practice in the Jack McAvoy Natatorium Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11a.m.-12 p.m.

Chargers split weekend series against Findlay

By Elaine Kutas Collegian Reporter

The Chargers split their away weekend series with the University of Findlay Oilers, winning both games Saturday and losing both games Sunday.

During the first game Saturday, the Chargers jumped out to a 9-0 lead by the end of the fourth inning, finishing with a 12-8 win. According to associate head coach Ryan Van Amburg, senior Zak Kent had a strong weekend, going eight for 13 at the plate with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, and driving in seven runs.

Sophomore Daniel Higdon was the starting pitcher and earned his fourth win of the season, pitching five and a third innings with four walks and six strikeouts.

“As a pitcher, it’s much easier to pitch with a huge lead, as I have a nice cushion, so I can be aggressive in my approach towards the other team’s hitters, attacking the strike zone often, without having to worry about giving up the lead in a close game,” Higdon said. “After putting up so many runs, we could relax a bit and put on cruise control for the next few innings.”

early in the at-bats and stay in control of things, I can let the opposing team put the ball in play and trust the defense behind me and good things will happen.”

The second game’s 4-1 win came to fruition through help from sophomore Will Millard and freshman Billy Porotsky, who both had two strong atbats.

On Sunday, the Chargers lost their momentum from Saturday, losing both games. According to Higdon, Findlay took advantage of opportunities given up by the Chargers, allowing them to slip by with the wins.

For this performance, Kent was named a Great Midwest Athletic Conference North Player of the Week. Freshman Gibson Cary also had a strong weekend, pitching six innings of the second game.

“It’s fun when the offense is constantly getting on base and scoring runs,” Kent said. “In game two, Gibby Cary gave us an incredible start which kept us in the game. Taking both games on the first day was huge for us.”

Sophomore Rocco Tenuta led in the top of the first inning on an RBI single. The Chargers scored 11 runs through the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Senior Augie Hutchison hit a pair of two-run singles in backto-back innings for four total RBIs.

Cary was the starting pitcher for the second game on Saturday, giving up one run in six and two-thirds innings to help the Chargers win with a 4-1 victory. Cary struck out three and walked two Oilers. Sophomore Hayden Hoffpauir came in for relief and earned his second save of the season, finishing the game by retiring both of the batters he faced. Cary said that his training at Hillsdale has helped him change his strategy on the mound and relax more as he plays.

“At the start of the season, I tried to force myself to be as perfect as possible and strike everybody out, which sort of carried over from high school,” Cary said. “I’ve shifted away from that mindset and realized that as long as I throw strikes

“We didn’t play terrible baseball; things just didn’t go our way,” Hidgon said. “To continue strong this season we need to limit mental mistakes, control aspects of the game that we can control, and take advantage of mental mistakes other teams make. We have a very talented lineup and staff, and if we play baseball the right way from here on out, we should be an extremely competitive team.”

Hillsdale is now 19-18 overall and 12-8 in the conference.

The Chargers will play the Northwood University Timberwolves at home on April 18 and 19 at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, and again at noon and 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Sophomore Will Millard bunts against Lake Erie College over the weekend.

Courtesy | Tiffany Treppa

From bench to desk: Tharp's Hillsdale journey

By Grace Novak Collegian Reporter

Sometimes, all it takes is a load of laundry to redirect the course of your life.

That’s what Director of Athletics John Tharp learned when he went to God with a request after coaching college basketball for 29 seasons and accumulating 501 career wins.

“I need some help. I need a sign. What do you think my next move should be?” Tharp said he prayed.

When God didn’t immediately shout down an answer from heaven, Tharp went back to folding his laundry and pulled out of the basket his lucky coaching pants that he wore to every game. As Tharp held them up, he noticed a large rip right in the seat of the pants.

“I knew at that moment that my coaching career was over,” Tharp said.

Since taking the position as Hillsdale’s Director of Athletics in 2023, John “Roundy” Tharp has a desk job after decades of coaching. This transition has allowed him to get involved in all of Hillsdale athletics, where he has the opportunity to make a big impact.

“Ultimately, I’m responsible for the varsity sports,” Tharp said. “That goes from everything from budget to development of culture to taking care of our student athletes and making sure they understand what the purpose of athletics is at Hillsdale College.”

Friday night high school basketball games were an exciting event for the whole city of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where Tharp grew up. From his teenage years as a starting point guard at the public high school, all the way to his professional years as a college coach, the two pillars

of Tharp’s life have remained constant: basketball and family.

Growing up, Tharp idolized college legend John Wooden, an acquaintance of Tharp’s high school coach Tom Desotell. Wooden set the record for NCAA national basketball championship winning streaks with seven in a row while coaching the UCLA Bruins. This hero of the collegiate basketball world served as inspiration for Tharp throughout his life. Tharp’s daughter even dedicated school poems to her father’s basketball hero.

Tharp played basketball at Beloit College, the rival school of his older brother’s college. He played starting point guard for Beloit while he was a student and became assistant coach under his mentor and role model coach William Knapton upon graduating. At just shy of 5 foot 9, Tharp said he made up for height in his

Track & Field

speed, agility, and love of the sport.

At Beloit College, Tharp met his wife Jennifer “Sweet Pea.” At age 24, on his honeymoon, Tharp received an offer from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, asking him to be its head coach. Tharp said he was thrilled even though the program was notorious for being one of the worst in the country. He saw the job as an honor and an opportunity.

“I don’t think anybody else wanted the job,” Tharp said.

As he turned around the basketball program, he earned himself a place as a respected college coach, and was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2024. During his time at Lawrence, the team appeared in multiple conference finals and semifinals — winning three conference titles — and set a record-breaking win streak of 25 wins. His first season coaching, the team went 4-10 in the conference. In his third season, they finished 122.

Although he has a legacy of wins and accomplishments, Tharp says that his main focus is his family.

“The pursuit of being a division one coach was something that I wasn’t going to sacrifice my family for,” Tharp said.

Tharp has expanded his basketball family after coaching 29 seasons, two teams, and

hundreds of players, according to Tharp. From his fond stories, players came to family birthday parties, slept in his basement when they were sick, and looked up to Tharp as a mentor, just like Tharp looked up to his own childhood role models.

“My legacy in my life will be the people,” Tharp said.

Thirteen coaching years had passed at Lawrence when Tharp got a phone call from Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, encouraging him to relocate to Michigan and coach at Hillsdale.

“I was drawn to the challenge of this. Could we do this? Could I replicate what I did at Lawrence here?” Tharp said. Tharp went on to become the winningest basketball coach in Charger history with 297 wins. The team visited the NCAA DII tournament five times and won three conference titles. It also appeared in the NCAA DII Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. Sixteen years and a legacy in Hillsdale history later found Tharp facing his load of laundry. Should he apply for the position of director of athletics? His ripped pants answered for him and directed him to his current role at Hillsdale, overseeing roughly 375 Charger student-athletes in 16 varsity sports.

Dobrowolski named Athlete of the Week

By Joshua Mistry Collegian Reporter

Junior Cass Dobrowolski

was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Week as the Chargers competed at the Calvin Knight Invite at Calvin University April 12. Dobrowolski won the high jump with a mark of 2.14 meters, which puts him fifth nationally.

"The main goal is to put on a good performance at conference and at nationals, so we will start to tailor our training toward that. When the outdoor high jump record falls, that will just be an added bonus," Dobrowolski, whose jump also was an NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark, said. "I want

to walk away from college athletics and be able to call myself an All-American, so that’s the big goal trackwise."

Junior Connor McCormick placed second in the pole vault with a mark of 4.60 meters.

Senior Ben Haas won the shot put with a mark of 17.30 meters, a provisional qualifying mark.

Sophomore Jackson Childress placed second in the discus throw with a mark of 48.39 meters. Haas won the hammer throw with a mark of 65.80 meters. On the track, senior Jamahl Burke placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.12 seconds. Burke also placed third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.25 seconds.

Did you ever think about or go to any other colleges before Hillsdale?

Not really. I knew pretty early on that Hillsdale was the place for me.

Thoughts on the new Minecraft movie?

I haven't seen it.

"At this point, I’m not where I would like to be and that’s just being honest,"

the provisional mark for the 800 and see if that gets me into nationals. I also won’t let

morale for everyone," Ma saka said. "I’m hoping to hit

a personal best mark of 3.95 meters, a provisional qualify -

Compiled by Frederick Woodward

ing mark. Senior Grace Chen won the long jump with a personal best mark of 5.29 meters. Chen placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 11.12 meters.

On the track, junior Lucy Minning won the 100-meter dash with a personal best time of 11.87. Minning also won the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.62. Lamoreaux placed third in the 400-meter dash with a personal best time of 59.68. Freshman Evyn Humphrey won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:10.30, a provisional qualifying mark. Sophomore Savannah Fraley placed third in the 1,500-meter run with a personal best time of 4:46.87.

Senior Averi Parker placed second in the shot put with a mark of 13.70 meters. Senior

Katie Sayles placed third in the shot put with a mark of 12.89 meters. Senior Mackenzie Morrison placed third in the discus throw with a mark of 40.52 meters. Parker also won the hammer throw with a mark of 55.95 meters. Sayles placed second in the hammer throw with a mark of 51.45 meters.

"I just want to enjoy every moment. This isn’t a sport that you get to do forever so I want to have fun and make some good memories while I can," Dobrowolski said. The Chargers will compete next at the home Outdoor Mid-Week Multi Meet April 16-17 before the 55th Annual home GINA Relays April 17-18.

Could you see yourself

What's your favorite meal to have before a game?

I love going to ‘Finish Line’ for breakfast on game days. The “3 of Everything” is my go-to.

Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Tharp coaching in 2022. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

From left to right: Logan Tharp, McKayla Tharp, John Tharp, Jennifer Tharp, and Lukas Tharp. Courtesy | John Tharp

Charger Sports

Charger doubles team earns top-20 ranking

By Tayte Christensen Assistant Editor

Hillsdale Women’s Tennis

No. 1 doubles pair sophomore

Ané Dannhauser and freshman Briana Rees is ranked 17 in the nation after defeating the Northwood University Timberwolves’ nationally ranked pair 6-1.

The duo, ranked 22 in the nation heading into the weekend, helped the Chargers down a short-handed Timberwolves team 4-2 at home April 12.

“The doubles ranking is the highest in our program history,” head coach Nikki Walbright said. “We have never been in the top 20 before, so that was great. The girls had a lot of confidence going into the match and really just completely dominated the Northwood team. It was very fun to watch.”

The team win puts the

Men's Tennis

Chargers among the top 10 teams in the NCAA Division II Midwest region.

Adding to the team’s accolades, senior Courtney Rittel’s wins at No. 2 doubles and No. 4 singles over the weekend earned her the Great Midwest Athletic Conference women’s tennis Player of the Week for the first time in her career.

“She has been grinding all season with really hard matches, and I feel like this past weekend she took over and executed her shots really well, leading to her victories,” Walbright said.

The Timberwolves played the match with only five players, defaulting at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles.

At No. 2 doubles, Rittel and junior Megan Hackman took a 6-4 victory to lead the Chargers to a doubles sweep against the Timberwolves.

“Courtney and I have been working really well together

Hillsdale evens out conference record

By Jamie Parsons Collegian Reporter

Charger men’s tennis lost 4-0 against the Northwood University Timberwolves at home April 12. Hillsdale now stands 9-8 overall and 3-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Facing the current second-place team in the G-MAC, the Chargers lost in doubles play and three of six singles matches, allowing the Timberwolves to clinch the match.

Freshmen duo Eddie Bergelin and Rintaro Goda won 7-5 at No. 3 doubles, with Hillsdale falling to the Timberwolves at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to lose the doubles point.

Head coach Keith Turner said Bergelin and Goda’s dynamic on the court allowed them to win their match.

“They looked like they enjoyed playing together,” Turner said. “Goda brings a positive presence to the court which is very important, especially in doubles.”

Goda said his win against the Timberwolves gave him confidence to compete in future singles matches.

“We played tactically and overall our level was pretty decent,” Goda said. “For me it gave a lot of confidence for future singles matches as my level throughout my match was in good form.”

In singles play, freshman Ryan Papazov at No. 1 singles, sophomore Ellis Klanduch at No. 2 singles and Alejandro Cordero-Lopez at No. 4 singles lost their matches, giving the Timberwolves three points to clinch the overall match.

Freshman Sam Plys was tied 5-5 in the second set, with the potential of pushing his opponent to a third set at No. 3 singles, while sophomore Henry Hammond was leading 4-3 at No. 5 singles when both matches were abandoned after the Chargers lost their third singles match.

Turner said Plys and Hammond played well, and if the Chargers can perform the same way in all the singles matches then the team can finish the season on a good note.

“Plys and Hammond were two of the highlights on the singles court,” Turner said.

“We aren't far away from being the top team in the conference but we need everyone playing well at the same time.”

The Chargers will host Cedarville University April 18 and Ashland University April 19 in the final weekend of the regular season.

Cordero-Lopez said he is feeling optimistic about the weekend.

“I don’t expect this weekend to be as difficult, but they will still be a challenge for which we will prepare in this week’s practice sessions,” Cordero-Lopez said.

Softball

Russell said the G-MAC career shutout record was a surprise to her, and that she is grateful and focused on the game and her team.

“It's just cool to have a legacy to leave after I graduate,” Russell said. “Even after my whole shoulder injury, I didn't even think I would play this year, and now all of this is going on, and I'm about to break another record. I didn't even know that was possible. I don't keep track of that stuff, it just happens.”

Gross now has 204 career wins, including 185 as coach of the Chargers. He is the all-time winningest coach at Hillsdale.

“It was a surprise,” Gross said. “After the game, the team presented me with the ball and said, ‘Congratulations on two hundred wins.’ I didn't realize I was that close. I still remember my 100th win, and I guess I just didn't think it had been that long.”

Tharp attributed the win record to Gross’ ability to build a program.

“Coach has not just built a team, he's built a complete program,” Tharp said. “When you're winning at the level that he's winning, you realize that there's plenty of talented teams out there that have underachieved. Coach has built a big program that I hope has been built to last a long time.”

Gross said the milestone win showcases this program’s development and strength.

“It just shows the progress of this team in this program,” Gross said. “All the players that have been here before

and players that are here now, just their commitment to excellence and things like that. I think it just points to the fact that there's a good program here, with the fantastic young ladies that have been here before, and are here currently.”

The Chargers beat the Thomas More University Saints away on Saturday in a doubleheader, 6-1 and 3-0. Then, on Sunday, they beat the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers in an away doubleheader, 4-2 and 6-0.

and I’m sad she will not be around next semester,” Hackman said.

With a comfortable lead from a dominant doubles performance, the Chargers entered singles play only needing two singles victories to win the match.

At No. 4 singles, Rittel fought for a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win as part of her award-winning weekend.

“You could tell from the very beginning that we were the team with more energy and confidence,” Rittel said. “I truly think our positivity and willingness to fight together as a team is what helped us sweep doubles and really pushed me through to close out my match. Closing out my match versus Walsh two weekends ago really gave me the confidence to know that I had the ability and stamina to fight and win my match versus Northwood.”

Sydney Davis had a batting average of .533 for the week of competition. Davis was awarded G-MAC softball Player of the Week, while Russell was awarded G-MAC Pitcher of the Week, sweeping the awards for the week of April 7-14.

Hillsdale is No. 2 in the G-MAC with an 11-3 record. The Tiffin University Dragons hold the top seed with a 14-2 record.

The Chargers are at home this week. On Saturday they

Freshman Julia Zlateva’s No. 5 singles opponent retired due to injury, giving the Chargers the points needed to claim the win.

This weekend was a great win for the team and the definition of a team effort,” senior Libby McGivern said. “Everyone contributed in some way, whether it was their energy and cheering or winning on court.”

With a win against the Timberwolves, the Chargers hold on to their third-place spot in the conference as the G-MAC tournament approaches later this month. Northwood is in fourth place in the G-MAC. The Chargers are 10-7 overall and 5-2 in G-MAC play. The squad will play its final regular season matches at home on the Mary Jane Delp Tennis Courts against Cedarville University and Ashland University Friday and Saturday.

play the Ohio Dominican University Panthers at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The next day, on Sunday, they are scheduled to play the Ashland University Eagles at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. On Tuesday, they will play the Malone University Pioneers at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“This is a big week for us,” Gross said. “ODU is a big rivalry, and we have senior day on Saturday against Ashland, so it is also a huge weekend for us.”

Sophomore

Senior Joni Russell pitching in

Tiffany Treppa

Coach Kyle Gross and junior Maggie Olaveson at home in a game against Northwood University on Aril 6. COURTESY | Tiffany Treppa

Doubles team Rees and Dannhauser in the fall. Courtesy | Ané Dannhauser

SOFTBALL from A1

C U L T U R E

Last senior art exhibit shows in Daughtery gallery

By James Joski Collegian Freelancer

Senior Cecelia Cummins singled out her favorite painting at her art show: a portrait of Julio Suarez called “He Taught Me How to Do This.” Suarez, chairman and associate professor of art, has taught Cummins since her first art class.

“It was a really good lesson,” Cummins said. “There was a lot of pressure behind it because he’s my painting professor. I have to get his likeness down.”

She was one of three seniors who displayed their work at the senior art exhi -

bition “Wide Eyed” on April 11. With her were Abby Davis and Katie Lannon.

Each senior brought a distinct style and personality to the exhibit, displaying landscapes, graphic designs, and portraits.

“I just love painting all different mediums and all different things,” Lannon said. “I really like to portray beauty in my art.”

Among Lannon’s works, natural and religious scenes dominated the exhibition.

“I love saints, and my faith is really important to me,” Lannon said. “I love painting things that are religious, but then I also love nature.”

Lannon’s favorite work, “Assisi,” features an Italian church nestled among smooth rolling hills.

“My sophomore year we studied abroad in Austria, and we went on a pilgrimage to Roman Assisi, and I just fell in love with Assisi and the beauty there,” Lannon said. Cummins’ section featured a greater emphasis on portraits and the human form.

Always looking to grow as an artist, Cummins said she often chose subjects she knew would strengthen her craft.

“I try to find challenging things,” Cummins said. “For example, Suarez had cut out hands as inspiration to put in

the oil studio, and I saw those, and I figured they would teach me a lot.”

Also present were a series of portraits executed in the studio using real models who posed in three-hour sessions with breaks every 20 minutes.

While oil typically takes days to dry between layers, Cummins worked while the layers were still wet in a technique called “wet on wet” to complete the portraits in as few as three days.

In the middle of the exhibit, stood Davis’ dioramas, drawings, and graphic designs.

Davis took most of her art classes in drawing and graphic design.

Academy stages ‘Les Miserables’

By Michaela Estruth Senior Editor

The blood of the martyrs watered the meadows of France in Hillsdale Academy’s performance of “Les Miserables” to a sold out audience at The Sauk Theatre in Jonesville last weekend.

Sixty high schoolers filled the stage, bringing the famous musical to the Hillsdale community.

“I’m going to try as faithfully as I can to show that all this hard work that everyone has been putting in is worth it. I want the audience to be blown away by it,” junior Zane Socha, who played Jean Valjean, said in an interview with WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale. Socha dedicated months of work in voice lessons and acting to bring the challenging character of Jean Valjean to life, according to co-director Kathryn Wales.

“Our Jean Valjean is a kid who had barely acted before, but wanted to be the lead and worked really hard,” Wales said in an interview with the Collegian. “He got a private voice teacher, and he has really transformed himself over the last several months. His leadership is one of the most striking features of this experience because the other kids are watching him put his whole heart and soul into this, and it’s beautiful and inspiring to everyone.”

Marius at the end of the show.” Wales said the cast of 60 is one of the largest ever for an Academy production. She said the students were dedicated from the beginning.

“It’s been wonderful, because a lot of these students are real fans of the story. Many of them are reading the novel, or have read the novel,” Wales said. “They’re several students who already knew what ‘Les

so funny and amazing. Henry Lindley and Anne Gray are such a powerhouse of talent,” Wales said. “I love all the music. I love the songs for different reasons at different points. But the one that made me hoot and holler was definitely ‘Master of the House.’”

Hillsdale Admissions

Counselor Juliana Undseth saw “Les Miserables” years ago at her hometown community

Wales said the Academy balanced the rehearsal schedule with sports obligations, which made perfecting the show a challenge. She said during show week the entire cast rose to the challenge and unified to bring it to life.

“Show week is the most exciting of all,” Wales said. “We’re finally putting all the elements together. We’re in the space. We’ve got the costumes. We’ve got the lights. It’s been a great time to get everyone together.”

Miserables’ was, and so when we announced it, the response was humongous. I mean, kids jumping up and down. One broke into tears.”

theater and said she was impressed with the performance and the number of professors’ children involved.

In the radio interview, Socha and Gray said the ensemble is essential to the overall performance.

“The ensemble builds the world in which the main characters act,” Gray said. “We could not do it without them.”

Gray said she enjoyed portraying such a wellknown character who brings comedic relief to a serious show.

Wales said Gail Mowry, her co-director, arranged a school trip to Chicago to see the Broadway tour of “Les Miserables” in December. The high schoolers knew their parts at that point and could revel in the excitement of seeing them brought to life.

“A lot of [the pieces] start with class assignments,” Davis said. “I think that it is really cool to have an idea of a project or subject that I want to do, and then find a way to fit that into the guidelines for an assignment.”

Davis pointed to a Russian-themed cover for the board game Clue as an example.

“There was a thematic art competition, and the theme was family. I really liked the game clue, so I did a board game for graphic design.”

Of all her displayed works, Davis singled out a diorama of whales in space as her favorite.

“We got to do whatever we wanted for our summer project, something we wanted to do for a while,” Davis said. A lover of stars and sea creatures, Davis had made similar dioramas in high school.

“The idea was fun.” Davis said. “The craftsmanship was really shoddy, so I was really excited to get to try it again.” Suarez said his students are capable of wonderful careers after graduating.

“Just the mindset of hard work and dedication and you just have to earn things,” Suarez said, “It’s going to help them do whatever they want.”

Handel’s ‘Messiah’ to return to chapel

By Colman Rowan Culture Editor

Carrying on the quadrennial tradition, the Hillsdale College Choir, Chamber Choir, and Orchestra will perform the entirety of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” in Christ Chapel on Friday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. and then again on Sunday, April 27, at 3 p.m.

Composed in 1742, the roughly two-and-a-half hour baroque style oratorio has 53 parts telling the story of Christ and his time on earth.

“There are certain books that every student that comes through the school will study,” Choir and Orchestra Director James Holleman said. “This is such a monumental piece, it kind of falls into that category. It is a pillar of Western music.” Holleman said between the two performances, the concert will feature solos from 49 students.

The last performance, in 2021, was the first to take place in Christ Chapel. Holleman first directed “Messiah” at Hillsdale in 2000. It was performed at College Baptist to accommodate the hundreds of student performers.

“I remember the first time we did it, we had a custodian in the fine arts building, and he and I went over there and went up underneath the stage in the back at College Baptist, and there are these giant beams,” he said. “I was having these nightmares of the whole thing collapsing with a bunch of choir members on the risers.”

Senior Stephen Berntson sings in both the Chamber choir and the College Choir and said Holleman requires students to buy the score so that they can mark it up and have it as a souvenir.

In his interview with WRFH, Socha described the show as a story of redemption, mercy, and forgiveness.

“Jean Valjean works through inner turmoil that he expresses throughout the show, especially in the song ‘Who Am I?’ That’s what he’s trying to discover through the whole show,” Socha said. “As Valjean goes through, he discovers who he is as a son of God and as a good father as he takes care of Cosette and then

Many Hillsdale College professors’ children played leads in the show, which drew the college community, according to Wales.

“Henry Lindley is really funny and doing a great job as Mr. Thénardier. What a goofball,” Hillsdale College sophomore Josh Underwood said. “The young men are really talented and I’m so glad they are participating in theater.”

The Thénardier songs were favorites, Wales said.

“‘Master of the House’ blew the roof off the place. It was

“They are killing it. Their costumes are really epic and they look super cool,” Undseth said. “Mary Schlueter killed it with Fantine’s song, ‘I Dreamed a Dream.’ That moved me.”

Wales said Schlueter’s performance as Fantine brought her to tears.

“Kids have told me that they rush to peek through the curtain to watch Mary sing ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ because she puts her entire soul into that song every time she does it,” Wales said. “It’s amazing to see.”

“It was a wonderful way to kick off that camaraderie and made everyone so excited,” Wales said. “I felt immensely grateful to her for that experience. It was definitely one of the highlights of the year.”

Wales said, on a personal note, this production has been touching for her because of her family’s involvement. Her parents joined her in the audience and her eldest child, Academy freshman Gregory Wales, entered the stage as Grantaire.

“He’s been watching me do drama and absorbing by osmosis from what I talk about, and seeing all my shows in the front row over the years,” Wales said. “I’m so glad for him to finally be in it.”

“When I came here to build the music program and the choir and the orchestra, I thought, ‘OK, these freshmen I have my first year, when they’re seniors, let’s do ‘Messiah,’” Holleman said. “Let’s do it every four years, so every student has a chance to either be in the orchestra or the choir or simply be part of the audience.’ So we did that.”

“It will be nice to keep forever as a reminder,” he said. Berntson said he has really enjoyed preparing to perform “Messiah.”

“The best part of performing Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is bringing together the whole music department together for one epic production,” he said. Admission is free but tickets must be reserved by calling (517) 607-2848 or emailing boxoffice@hillsdale.edu.

“Les Miserables” cast member sing on stage. Micheala Estruth | Collegian

(Left to right) Cecelia Cummins, Abby Davis, and Katie Lannon pose next to their work. James Joski | Collegian

Chamber Choir and orchestra practice ‘Messiah.’ Anna Broussard | Collegian

C U L T U R E

Minecraft movie is uninspiring

By Colman Rowan Culture Editor

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a video game and a studio in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a movie.

I cannot say that “A Minecraft Movie” is a good movie. Then again, I would be lying if I told you I didn’t laugh when I watched it.

Director Jared Hess, known for “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Nacho Libre,” which Jack Black starred in, clearly imbued the same unpredictable, dry humor of his previous films into the Minecraft movie, but the played-out plot and weak acting bring it down.

The story begins with Steve, played by Jack Black and named after the Minecraft video game protagonist. Steve, growing tired of his mundane adult life, returns to his childhood dream of mining. In the mine, he discovers a portal to “the overworld” (the world of Minecraft) and starts a life of creativity there.

Due to plans of domination from an evil sorceress, played by Rachel House, from “the nether” — a dark, lava-filled realm originally from the

parentless sister-brother duo, played by actress Emma Myers and child actor Sebastian Eugene Hanson; and a real-estate agent, played by Danielle Brooks, end up in the overworld with Black.

What follows is a classic adventure story: the unlikely gang of misfits must band together to meet the common goal of getting out of the strange place and getting home. Ultimately, what they learn from their journey they bring home with them, and like any nostalgic kid’s movie, they learn the impor tance of friendship, creativity, and childlike wonder.

Black’s role is a classic type: the seasoned veteran in a strange place, similar to that of Robin Williams in “Jumanji.” Black, however, is far less compelling than Williams in the 1995 classic.

when first learning to speak. Perhaps you’ve heard the lines: “flint and steel,” “the nether,” and who could forget, “chicken jockey.”

If you are unfamiliar with these phrases and have a child who uses the internet, just ask him about “chicken jockey.”

I don’t think people go see this movie because they think it’ll be good — it has a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6/10 on IMDB — people seem to see it because of the cultural movement and

In this movie, as is the case in many of his movies, Black walks the line of cringe and comedy. As he has gotten older and his childish acting style has stayed young, he has veered further from that energetic and out-of-pocket style in beloved movies like None of the main actors produce a convincing performance, and the script, especially for Black, is very weak. As internet meme-culture has picked up on, much of Black’s lines are simple demonstratives, as a baby does

maybe a secret hope for something good connected to their nostalgic memories of playing Minecraft, the most popular video game ever.

Countless videos online show the atergoers cheering, clapping, and even throwing bins of popcorn at the screen when

Black delivers the famous line: “Chicken jockey.”

This break in decorum, though mostly by teenagers, shows that no one has been taking this movie very seriously and yet, somehow, that has worked very well for marketing.

The most remarkable thing about the Minecraft movie is, after only two weekends, it is already the highest-grossing film based on a video game ever and the most profitable movie to come out this year so far.

I question if Hess ever took this movie seriously, but if he and the studio were trying to harness the beast that turns internet fame into a cultural movement and thus profit, then they succeeded.

The absurd and cringeworthy line delivery from Black, Momoa’s ridiculous pink outfit, and Myers’ chronic TikTok face somehow turned a profit. If the studio did this on purpose, then it has unlocked both a great and evil power of film: the ability to turn garbage into money.

The movie is not all bad.

The love affair with the Minecraft villager had some funny moments, and the whimsical atmosphere and color palette, along with an absurd setup, show some comedic and artistic

Raffaella ballet honors Stroiks

By Anna Broussard Assistant Editor

After six years in the making, “The Raffaella Ballet Movie,” which honors Raffaella Maria Stroik, screened in The Searle Center April 10.

The ballet, commissioned by Duncan and Ruth Stroik, intends to convey the life of their daughter Raffaella, who died in 2018 at age 23 and was a ballet dancer.

“The inspiration for the ballet is the life of Raffaella Stroik, who died before her time, and who was a beautiful ballerina,” retired New York City ballerina and choreographer Claire Kretzschmar said.

“The story takes these different elements from her real life, and it weaves them together in a fairy tale.”

David Whalen, associate vice president for curriculum, briefly announced the nature of the ballet movie before it began and said Stroik’s contribution to the college far exceeded ballet.

“Raffaella Stroik, daughter of Duncan and Ruth Stroik, passed away while our Chapel, designed by Duncan, was under construction,” Whalen said in an email. “The ballet they commissioned is in her honor, and, in tribute to her affirmation, that beauty will save the world, was filmed and brought to Hillsdale for a screening as a way to enrich the college community.”

Kretzschmar said the performance’s key themes highlight the pursuit of good in the face of evil, excellence, and true romance. It is a story of life that pervades throughout

the entire ballet.

“This is something that Duncan and Ruth envisioned for the story from the get go, and then recruited all of these artists to help bring it to life, including Michael Kurek, who did the original music, and their daughter, Gabrielle Stroik Johnson, who did the set design,” Kretzschmar said.

“We had this great team of people making the ballet, and my role as the choreographer was to see that the story would come to life through movement and music on stage.” The movie is intended to embody the beauty and excellence in Raffaella’s life, according to Whalen.

“It is an entirely new ballet, yet one expressive of ballet’s great tradition,” Whalen said.

“Raffaella is a beautiful and poignant reminder of the power of dance to elevate our minds and hearts, and we were honored to have the Stroiks share this ballet with us.”

Sophomore Arimathea Bennett said the performance was spiritual and emotional.

“‘The Raffaella Ballet’ is a marvelous display of beauty. I particularly enjoyed the sets and the music, the soundtrack was composed for this specific ballet, and it was incredibly crafted. They were able to tastefully weave in pieces of iconic Catholic music like the Regina Caeli and, when I heard it, my ears perked up, and it brought me to tears,” Bennett said. “The entire story is so touching, and the Stroiks have done an excellent job of honoring their sister and daughter.”

Eleven-piece recital showcases original student work

By Grace Brennan Collegian Reporter

As the Tower Dancers silently set themselves on stage, Markel Auditorium hummed with ambient music as faint lights came on, creating a dim atmosphere for the dancers’ first piece “Lifeforms.”

The performance began with modern dance, switching to contemporary, jazz, and ballet throughout. Other pieces included were, “De Caridad,” “Unspoken,” “The Space in Between,” “The Wild Wild West,” “Variation from Paquita,” “Encounter,” “Growing Up, Growing Apart, Growing Together,” “When I Travel,” and the “Billy Joel Tribute”.

The Tower Dancers performed three shows April 11 through April 13 after months of dedicated practice.

The performance was not

composed of a single theme, said director of dance and Tower Dancers Holly Hobbs. Each piece was choreographed by someone different, varying in music, lighting, costume, and performers.

“We don’t usually have a theme for our dance concerts because each choreographer is presenting their own unique vision and thematic idea,” Hobbs said.

Sophomore Moriah Mitchell, who started dancing when she was three years old, performed in “Lifeforms,” “The Wild Wild West,” “Paquita,” and the end tribute to Billy Joel. Mitchell said she was glad there were different variations of dance in the show and enjoyed being able to act and tap dance for “The Wild Wild West.”

“If I had to pick a favorite, I’d say the wild west ballet just

because there’s so much acting in it. And you get to do a lot of acting when you dance, but sometimes it’s a little more toned down,” Mitchell said. “This one included so much pantomime, miming, and a lot of facial expressions. It was just so much fun to practice and perform.”

According to freshmen Mary Brecount and Lucy Jansen, the piece offered a more theatrical story than simply showcasing the beauty and skill of dance.

“It combined more theatrical elements, being very entertaining because you could see the emotion and more of the characters of the dancers,” Brecount said.

Although not as theatrical as the wild west ballet, many other pieces were just as lighthearted, such as “De Caridad” with five dancers who moved

to the lively “Attaboy,” played by fiddler Stuart Duncan.

According to sophomore Nina Morrey, although many of the pieces were lighthearted, others displayed feelings of longing, such as “Growing Up, Growing Apart, Growing Together,” choreographed and performed by Olivia Rome and Sophia Rome.

“There was a sense of longing in a lot of the pieces, like with twin piece there was a longing to stay together,” Morrey said.

In “Paquita,” each dancer was dressed in black and red regal costumes by Corinne Langford, accompanied by Ludwig Minkus’ “Song Title.”

Paquita is a story of a noble man falling in love with a gypsy woman who is found to have aristocratic blood. In this piece, sophomore Victor Fernandes played the noble man,

“Whole Lotta Highway” by Marty Stuart and His Fabulous

Our faith, near as I can tell, teaches us to see our lives as a journey — a road trip. “Whole Lotta Highway” is just that song which, without ever mentioning God or Jesus, seems nevertheless to invoke the journey of faith, and even the dark night of the soul: “I’m out in the middle of nowhere, driving through a night as black as coal. Seen a whole lotta highway, with a million miles to go.” Amen to that.

and freshman Karis Lim, the gypsy woman.

Lim, who has been dancing since she was seven, took seven months off dancing and a nine month break off pointe-not dancing on pointed shoes-and returned to the stage in “Paquita” for the first time since. According to Lim she started taking dance classes here in the fall, and Hobbs asked her to perform for Tower Dancers a few times until she said yes.

“I was praying a lot more throughout the whole process and decided to commit this entire performance to God’s glory,” Lim said. “This is just a way for me to worship him in my dancing, to love him, and to love my audience.”

Lim said despite her regal, sophisticated role, she wanted to be a light so the audience could feel the same joy she

“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by

I read the book first when I was in my early 20s. I had no idea what it meant, or even what it was about. Pirsig made me want to understand and for that I could see I needed to learn a lot more. I’ve been on that road ever since. Many years later, my wife Pam and I listened to the whole thing on our headsets while touring through Canada and Nova Scotia on a motorcycle. It’s appropriate, since most of the action in the book takes place on a long motorcycle trip. Nobody who writes about long motorcycle trips can be all wrong.

feels when dancing.

“I just wanted to be very warm and generous to the audience, and I didn’t want to be aloof or sort of looking down my nose at people, which is sort of the character,” Lim said. “But I think because I was performing more as myself, rather than this girl, I was hoping the joy that I find in dancing would translate over to the audience.”

Sophomore Nate Gallagher, who helped with stage production, said all of the performances were so moving it made him wish he knew how to dance.

“There’s so much art, craftsmanship, talent, and grit that the dancers are showcasing,” Gallagher said. “The amount of admiration and respect I have for them is off the charts, particularly during the variations, which were all fantastic.”

“Forrest Gump” (1994)

Tom Hanks is mesmerizing as the mentally impaired title character whose simplicity veils an astonishing capacity to redeem the broken people around him, including the maybe best-ever story of black/ white friendship in Forrest and Bubba (OK, since Huck Finn and that Jim guy) as well as the beautiful Robin Wright’s haunting portrayal of Jenny. At the same time, the movie offered a ringing affirmation of the goodness of life! Spoiler alert: Forrest saves Jenny in the end with the words: “I’m not a smart man, Jenny. But I know what love is.” He broke her heart, and ours, too.

Superlatives (2017)

Robert Pirsig (1974)

Compiled by Abigail Leigh Collegian Freelancer

Mattox and his wife, Pam, on a long motorcycle trip together. COURTESY | Mickey Mattox

Momoa in “A Minecraft Movie” Courtesy | Youtube

Black says “Chicken Jockey” Courtesy | Youtube

The so called “Chicken Jockey” Courtesy | Youtube

F E A T U R E S

Longhorns living in lake country Gluten freedom: meeting kneads

How students brought the southern spirit across the Mason-Dixon

By Sarah Katherine Sisk SENIOR REPORTER + TEXAS NATIVE

Deep in the heart of southern Michigan, a group of Hillsdale College students are celebrating the unique culture of Texas, thousands of miles from home.

The Lone Star Society, founded by junior Josh Underwood and his cousin, senior Madelyn Hornell, emerged from a casual Texas Independence Day gathering last spring, according to junior Josh Mistry, the club’s treasurer.

“Towards the end of it, a couple of us gathered around and joked about how much fun it would be if we could get the school to pay for this,” Mistry said. “We soon came around to the idea and believed that a club promoting Texan culture would emphasize parts of Hillsdale’s culture with a Texan avor.”

What started as an o and joke about institutional funding morphed into a genuine passion project, with students volunteering to shape this nascent club’s future.

“Ten minutes later, we had pieced together an o cer board from the partygoers and decided to make the Lone Star Society a real deal,” Underwood said.

Far from being an exclusive Texas-only group, the club welcomes anyone interested in the state’s culture.

“Over half of our current membership roll is from out-

side of Texas,” Underwood said. “We want to share what makes Texas awesome with all of campus, not hoard it for ourselves or guard any pretense of exclusivity.”

e club’s approach transformed what could have been a niche cultural organization into a campus-wide movement. By welcoming students from every state and background, the Lone Star Society turned Texas pride from a potential barrier into an invitation.

“Our roster each year will revolve around the yearly Texas Independence Day Party on March 2 and a viewing of the 2004 ‘Alamo’ movie four days later on the battle’s anniversary — the one-two punch of Texas Holy Week,” Underwood said.

The club’s signature Texas Independence Day Party has proven very popular.

“We had 40 or so students and professors stop into our most recent Independence Day Party,” Underwood said. “ e demand for Texas is growing, and we’re ready to meet it.”

Events typically feature quintessential Texas experiences. Mistry highlighted the club’s love for live music, noting that some events have included line dancing instruction to complement country music, which has made the events “very lively.”

For Mistry, born and raised just outside of Dallas, the club is more than just a social gathering.

“Many of the tangible aspects of Texan culture re ect

underlying sentiments of freedom, liberty, and an independent and self-reliant spirit,” he said.

Looking ahead, the club hopes to expand its o erings. Potential future events include two-step parties and Texas Hold ‘Em nights.

Mistry sees the club as a bridge between Texas and Hillsdale’s conservative ideological traditions, a way of extending the state’s philosophical spirit beyond its geographical boundaries.

“As Texas lls up with expats from liberal states, I expect more and more Texans to seek out the education that Hillsdale o ers,” he said.

Underwood sees the club as a way to foster broader connections.

“What starts as a lighthearted party for some random state becomes a springboard for everyone to talk about what they love and miss from their di erent parts of this great country,” he said. “Patriotism for your home state is important, and I want to see a revival of that on campus for Texans and non-Texans alike.”

Underwood’s love of the state has been with him his entire life.

“My grandparents and parents instilled a love of Texas in me since the womb,” Underwood said. “My dad was from Wisconsin and loved it up there, but he opted to be

buried in Texas since he loved the state so dearly.”

According to Underwood, an Austin-native, Texas is a microcosm of America.

“We have liberty, friendly people, country dancing, wide open spaces as well as bustling cities, delicious food, and the Second Amendment,” he said. “ at’s what makes Texas great for me.”

e Lone Star Society meets a few times each semester, mostly to celebrate important days in Texas history.

“I attended the rst event they held and had a great time,” said Jane Kerr, a recent member but non-Texas native. “ ey had live music, and it was nice to spend time with everyone else who attended the event.”

Underwood added that so far, meetings have been ad hoc, fun gatherings of members.

For those wondering what they might gain from joining, Mistry o ered two answers.

“Materially, they would gain access to delicious food, great live music, and admission to our events,” he said. “They would also gain appreciation for the love of freedom and liberty, as well as a chance to interact with other like-minded individuals.”

For interested students, the process to join is simple. Anyone born in or who spent signi cant time in Texas can join automatically. Others can become members by taking a short quiz – the “Lone Star Patriotism Exam.”

By Malia abido COLLEGIAN REPORTER

In this Quick Hits, Anna Vincenzi, assistant professor of modern European history, talks long study guides, honeymoons, and KitchenAid mixers.

What is the biggest thing you miss about Italy?

e fact that there’s a beautiful, centuries-old building on every corner.

What is the earliest meal you remember?

Little sweet buns with jam in the middle that I used to help my mom make as a child.

What is the most important lesson to learn from modern history?

Ignoring problems and tensions in society can drive people to seek solutions in revolution — sometimes

with tragic results, as in the French Revolution and the totalitarian experiments of the 20th century. Better to take those problems seriously and pursue prudent reform, grounded in the wisdom of the past (that thing we call the Western Heritage). In other words, we should all read more Edmund Burke!

What is your favorite genre of book and why?

Books that reveal something deeply true about human nature and its desire for ful llment. Genre is less important, though I tend to enjoy historical ction.

What is the most inspirational quote/theme you remember from a non-academic source?

Well, I guess I have a non-academic quote tattooed on my foot: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” It originally comes from the

with Anna Vincenzi

last page of the “Whole Earth Catalog,” but to really understand the “foolish,” you should watch the conversation between Gelsomina and the Fool in Fellini’s movie “La Strada.”

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

I want to visit the Holy Land because — well, Jesus.

What do you think are your students biggest pet peeves?

I had to look up “pet peeve” online. If I understood what it means, maybe the length of my study guides — which, for the record, are still shorter than Dr. Gaetano’s.

If you were not at Hillsdale, what would you be doing?

Probably working in some administrative or secretarial position. Or maybe plan-

By Sophia Mandt COLLEGIAN REPORTER

When Rachel Mumme, wife of Hillsdale Associate Professor of eology Jonathan Mumme, discovered her daughter su ered from a yeast allergy, she became motivated to bake her own sourdough bread. Mumme didn’t want her daughter to feel le out from eating foods the rest of her family could eat. Neither did she want to give up on eating one of her favorite foods. Mumme said she discovered her child could eat sourdough without su ering from an allergic reaction.

“I didn’t want to live without bread forever,” she said.

Mumme said she started baking sourdough at home, before selling her bread to others. She said her family spent ve years living in Germany, which helped to develop her bread-making abilities. After her family moved to Michigan in 2022, she started selling her bread in Hillsdale.

“We ate a lot of bread there, and it was all delicious,” Mumme said. “When we came back to the states, we realized there’s no comparison between the two. So I gured out how to make bread, which morphed into sourdough.”

Over time, Mumme said she discovered how to turn sourdough into many di erent kinds of bread. She read all the books she could nd about baking sourdough, a process involving plenty of trial and error.

Now Mumme’s company even has a website called “Hillsdale Hearth.” She delivers around 25 loaves of fresh-baked bread each week and can be reached for special orders with the email address rachel@hillsdalehearth.com.

“With four children and healthy appetites, we go through a lot of bread,” she said.

Hillsdale Hearth customer and self-proclaimed “Rachel Mumme bread evangelist,” Julie McClay said Mumme’s bread is almost magical.

“I have a real sensitivity to gluten. I can eat her bread and so it’s this wonderful world opened up to me,” she said. She belongs to a farm

What is your favorite memory teaching at Hillsdale so far?

ning honeymoons to Italy! I’ve already been doing that for a few students who are getting married.

What’s your favorite aspect of teaching at Hillsdale?

How engaged the students are; the fact that they’re here to grow, not just to secure a salary a erward.

What is one thing that makes you smile?

My 3-year-old, blonde and cute daughter Lucia, who has recently started saying, “Oh man” and “How dare you.”

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three items would you bring?

share, which is how she rst heard about Hillsdale Hearth. In a farm share, a group pays a certain amount of money to hold a share in whatever a local farm produces for a season, McClay said. She said her share brings in samples from around the surrounding Hillsdale community like local honey. One time the share included a loaf of Mumme’s bread, and the rest, for McClay, is history.

“This is going to sound like a lot of bread. I usually purchase three regular loaves a week, and one bake of the week each week,” McClay said.

As stated on Mumme’s website, each week features a special bake of the week which features a di erent type of bread.

McClay said she tells people how good Mumme’s bread is at every opportunity.

“Everybody just absolutely loves this bread, so I keep some in the freezer, just for hospitality,” McClay said. “Give it a try. You won’t regret it.”

Like McClay, junior Alba Padron said she has food sensitivities.

“I love Mumme’s freshly milled and baked bread, as it is one of the few I can tolerate without issues,” Padron said. Padron said she loves supporting a local baker. She said she has experienced working in a bakery rsthand and understands the amount of work that goes into making quality bread.

Padron first discovered Mumme’s bread during her freshman year of college. She remembers attending the Mumme’s house for an Easter lunch, where Padron enjoyed Hillsdale Hearth bread for the rst time.

“Mrs. Mumme’s bread is delicious and worth every dollar,” Padron said. “It is much higher quality than any commercial bread.” Mumme said she loves getting to know her customers, many of whom eventually become her friends.

“It’s not just this nameless loaf of bread for somebody, but my friend stopping by to pick up bread,” she said.

If you had one superpower, what would it be?

I would love to have the ability always to be on time.

Memories from the summer course in Italy—especially when a student wrote in the teaching evaluation, “Food is forever changed for me.” It made me feel like I’m actually doing something good with my life.

Nowadays it would be Starlink and a laptop (so I’d have access to all the books in the world, including the sacred ones), and a KitchenAid mixer.

Members of the Lone Star Society celebrate Texas independence. COURTESY | JOSH UNDERWOOD

Anna Vincenzi, assistant professor of modern European history, and her husband Lorenzo. COURTESY | HILLSDALE COLLEGE

fea + ures =

Hillsdale club proves math is integral to the liberal arts

By Jillian Parks Editor-In-Chief

“Has this always been here?”

Sophomore Andrew Schmidt asked the group of us gathered outside Associate Professor of Mathematics David Gaebler’s office at 6 a.m. on April 12. He was referring to a geometric piece of art, about 2.5 feet in diameter, hanging from the ceiling.

“It predates me, and I got here in 2013,” Gaebler said. Schmidt laughed and admitted that noticing things and spatial awareness weren’t exactly on his list of strengths.

While the claim could be true for obscure decor, Schmidt uses the power of observation and visualization every day as a math major and the leader of the math team.

He broke the school record for the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in his freshman year. He took college-upperclassmen-level problem-solving courses in high school. He leads the Hillsdale Problem Solving Seminar, colloquially known as the math club, through archived competition questions every Thursday in the basement of Dow Science.

Sometimes, during math club, when people are split into groups or pairs, working on a few different problems simultaneously, a flurry of math terms, numbers, and contributions blend into a cacophony of discovery.

“By changing the point on L1, we get a different plane with . . . the natural log of . . . a constant factor and solve for . . . a double angle over two . . . but what if it’s parallel?”

Excitement enlivens each of their faces as their voices rise in volume and quicken beyond their usual conversational pace. It’s the kind of contagious passion that makes you wish you remembered more than just the quadratic formula from your 12 years of public school math education.

Last Saturday, Schmidt split six participating members of the math team into two groups of three in preparation for the annual Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition set to take place in Saginaw later that morning.

Only five of the competitors made it to the Dow Science that morning, though.

Sophomore Matthew Tolbert trudged down the hill from Whitley Residence toward the bus, where we picked him up a full 30 minutes past the scheduled departure time — and still ahead of the sunrise. The math team, Gaebler — the team’s faculty adviser — and the assigned reporter were already packed into a cozy 15-seater van, ready for the three-hour bus ride.

Tolbert apologized for being late and slung a plastic Mossey Library bag filled with books into the space next to the passenger seat. It was the only desirable seat left, unless he wanted to be stuck in the very back or one of the middle seats.

“I have to work on my theology paper,” he explained to the bus.

Everyone laughed — not just because it was a joke, but because they all understood. These were liberal arts students who knew what it meant to hold brain space for polynomials alongside Plato and arithmetic sequences alongside Aristotle. Balancing rigorous math with deep dives into philosophy and theology is part of the deal at Hillsdale — and, surprisingly, part of the joy.

Sophomore Benjamin Bassett said he chose Hillsdale for its liberal arts focus, hoping it would make him a more well-rounded mathematician.

“Math is awesome, and I love it, but there’s a lot more than math,” Bassett said. “It’s nice to go home after a math competition and read Shakespeare or play piano, because while they might not be directly applicable to a career in math, having appreciation and limited knowledge in a lot of fields is very human.”

The others seem to agree, at least in practice. Among them are interests in the audio-visual, the musical, the computational, the linguistic, the theatrical, and more. From the front to the back Gaebler, Tolbert, freshman Levi Dittman, senior Seamus Welton, myself, alumna Emily Rose ’24, sophomore Benjamin Bassett, senior Jonah Murray, and Schmidt, the van was filled with people who embodied that balance.

Even with all of these diverse interests, the group decided to talk about math on the bus ride. I dozed in and out of listening, watching the limbs of the dead trees pass by through the window. The conversation inside the bus took a similar shape, starting with foundational ideas and words and branching off into more complex off-shoots and theoretical ideas, including an in-depth reading of a Reddit thread with a poorly done proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.

Fermat’s Last Theorem says that no whole numbers can solve the equation x^n + y^n = z^n for any value of n greater than two, if x, y, and z are all positive whole numbers. Pierre de Fermat wrote this in the 1600s, but it wasn’t proven true until 1994 — 300 years worth of attempts at proof.

Upon arrival at Saginaw Valley State University, each team had three hours to complete 10 math problems: some that required basic algebra and others offering extra credit for not relying on calculus. The problems are difficult, so the teams often divide and conquer. Tolbert takes over counting problems. Murray gets trigonometry and analysis questions. Schmidt is partial to number theory.

Rose and Gaebler both worked on the problems in the professor waiting room during the three-hour time slot, occasionally collaborating with educators from other colleges. Gaebler walked me through a few of the problems, which were likely well explained and lucid aside from the fact that I couldn’t even remember the difference between a natural number and an integer.

Solving up until the very last minute, Murray and Tolbert reported writing in parallel to finish their final proof as the clock counted down. Schmidt, Tolbert, and Murray’s team finished all 10 problems, unfortunately discovering upon reunion that they missed problem two on account of 27 being a factor of 2025. Welton, Bassett, and Dittman hypothesized solid answers for about four of the problems. Both teams agreed problem seven was the trickiest this year.

As more and more teams trickled into the room, the energy of sharing, comparing, and corroborating energized the space. Excited half sentences and nodding in agreement accompanied a lot of “right, right, right!” as the competitors remembered the excitement of finding the answer all over again. It was that familiar cacophony I heard in Thursday math club, but it was all 14 teams, continuing through lunch and into the review session where students from different schools worked through their solutions to the test problems in front of the group.

Hillsdale students presented four of the 10 problems, with Tolbert doing two of those. Kalamazoo College, the reigning champions from 2011–2018 and 2023–2024, demonstrated three of the 10 problems. The remaining problems were each taken up by a different school.

Benjamin Whitsett and Matthew Quirk from Kalamazoo stopped to talk with the Hillsdale team after both schools dominated the solution session. In a semi-competitive, semi-friendly way, the two teams discussed the problems they solved and the problems they didn’t. The competition results won’t be announced until the test author and grader go through the tests, awarding points for processes as well as correct answers.

“Hopefully, we can see each other outside of a competition setting sometime,” Whitsett said as the groups parted ways.

The Hillsdale team agreed, said goodbye, and piled back into the bus. The same trees and branching conversations characterized our bus ride home, but the adrenaline wore off, and the 6 a.m. call time caught up to a few of us.

That morning, outside of Gaebler’s office at 6 a.m., the team had discussed an intriguing idea in mathematics: the Goldbach Conjecture. It states that every even number greater than two can be made by adding two prime numbers together. Though it’s been checked for trillions of even numbers using computers, no one has found a solid, step-by-step mathematical proof that has shown it to be true for all even numbers. So it remains a conjecture, not a law.

Mathematics — especially in the realm of problem solving — often begins with conjecture: a willingness to question, to attempt, to fail, and an intentional pursuit of fully proving ideas of which we are reasonably sure, even if the process takes anywhere from three hours to 300 years.

The governing mathematical laws come to light in time, amidst branching conversation and cacophonies of discovery, causing mathematicians like Gaebler, Schmidt, Tolbert, Murray, Bassett, Welton, Dittman, and Willis to ask:

“Has this always been here?”

Equations courtesy Lower Michigan Mathematic Competition 2025.