Courtesy | Emily Jones
Courtesy | Onpoint Run
Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Hit-and-run: Hillsdale Police continue to investigate fatal accident See A4
Haunted Building: Summer job spent with ghosts? See A7
Emily Oren '16: ran in her second Olympic Trials in August See A5
Vol. 145 Issue 1 - August 25, 2021
Collegian Archieves
www.hillsdalecollegian.com
College fully open with no vaccine requirement
Administration cites self-government, leaves personal health decisions to students and faculty
By | Ben Wilson Editor-in-Chief Students, faculty, and staff are not required by Hillsdale College to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to study, teach, or work on campus this fall. “In the spirit of individual liberty, people need to make informed decisions for themselves,” Provost Chris VanOrman said. The college respects philosophical or religious reasons some people cite against receiving the vaccine, VanOrman said in an email to faculty and staff on Aug. 13. Professors may request that students wear masks in class and that the administration holds “jurisdiction” on masking in public spaces, he wrote. The college has not announced plans for quarantining or testing, but it will continue
providing ionization technology, classroom disinfection, and hand-sanitizing stations. For those interested in receiving the shot, vaccines remain available at the Hillsdale Hospital to anyone over the age of 12. “We will continue to work with the hospital to provide the vaccine to anyone who desires it,” VanOrman said. Rachel Lott, director of marketing and development for Hillsdale Hospital, said hospitalizations at the facility are increasing, and so are cases across the county. There have been 4,281 cases in Hillsdale County to date and 94 deaths since March 2020. “Hillsdale Hospital continues to monitor the number of COVID-19 cases in our community and adjust our protocols as needed,” Lott said. “We also continue to encourage individ-
uals to get vaccinated and hold weekly vaccine clinics right here on our hospital campus.” According to data on Michigan.gov, the rate in the county of those over 16 who have received their first dose of the vaccine is 40.75%. The statewide rate is 65.2%. “In the past 30 days, we have seen more new cases in the county and we have had more patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, which is to be expected when there are more cases overall,” Lott said. The college will monitor local health, but classes will remain in-person. “Believing that in-person instruction is the best way to educate our students, we also remain committed to protecting the health of our students, faculty, and staff,” VanOrman said. More than 750 colleges and
universities across the country are requiring students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. At least 12 of these schools are in Michigan, including the University of Michigan’s three campuses and Michigan State University as well as Albion College, Chamberlain University at Troy, Grand Valley State University, Kalamazoo College, Lawrence Technological University, Oakland University, University of Detroit Mercy, and Wayne State University. On June 17, VanOrman published an op-ed in The Detroit News opposing mandatory vaccination for students. The article ran alongside a piece by Albion College President Mathew Johnson, who argued mandating the shot was “the safest option.” “We recognize the need to
keep our minds and our options open, but we are also committed to keeping our campus and our classrooms open,” Johnson wrote. “This policy is the best way to achieve that goal and to do so in a way that prioritizes the health and safety of every member of our campus and the broader community.” Albion was the first college in Michigan to require vaccination for its students and faculty. Johnson said this call was made “deliberately and thoughtfully.” VanOrman said Hillsdale will not ask who has been vaccinated as that is “private health information.” “Higher learning institutions across the country are adding a new obstacle to the education they claim is necessary: the mandatory vaccination of students,” VanOrman wrote. “Hillsdale College will not take part.”
VanOrman said the Hillsdale administration consulted experts and provided extensive cleaning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. But when it comes to vaccines, the school weighs on the side of individual liberty. “Rather than issue one-sizefits-all policies, Hillsdale College will continue to operate as it always has, according to the principle of self-government,” he said. VanOrman noted in his Aug. 13 email the differing opinions surrounding the virus and related policies, but said college faculty and staff need to “find a way to work together with respect and civility.” “We can do that successfully if we focus on our common purpose,” he said.
Princeton Review awards high marks to Hillsdale College
Class of 2025 members pose at the Welcome Party on Monday. Courtesy| Student Activities Board
Hillsdale welcomes biggest, most selective freshman class in its history By | Elizabeth Troutman Assistant Editor Hillsdale College has just enrolled the biggest and most selective freshman class in its history. The admission rate dropped to a record low 23%, a 13% decrease from last year. The class of 2025 boasts an all-time high of 427 freshmen, approximately 70 more students than the class of 2024. The admissions office reviewed a record 3,300 applications, according to its preliminary statistics. “As Hillsdale becomes more well-known nationally for the type of education that
we give and the principles that we stand for, more people are attracted to that in today's climate and culture of higher education,” Zachary Miller ’11, senior director of admissions, said. He also noted that Hillsdale’s decision to resume in-person classes in the fall of 2020 contributed to more attraction. “This made a statement to a lot of students who were seeking that for their college experience,” he said. The incoming freshmen class — 201 men and 226 women — have record-breaking credentials, with an average
By | Logan Washburn Assistant Editor Hillsdale College released its 1776 Curriculum in late July, which discusses aspects of American government and history such as the founding and the Civil War. Matthew Spalding, vice president of Washington operations and dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, hopes the curriculum will present honest history to American students. The curriculum provides lesson guidance on its website for parents and teachers of students
in kindergarten through the 12th grade. The curriculum differs from New York Times’ 1619 Project, which claims that the institution of slavery has touched all aspects of American life, rendering it necessary to “reframe the country’s history.” However, Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn said that the college began creating the curriculum long before The 1619 Project emerged. He said that work on the curriculum began at least 40 years ago. While former President Donald J. Trump’s 1776 Commission
GPA of 3.93 and an average ACT score of 32. This score is an entire point higher than last year’s, although the admissions process did not require a standardized test as part of the admission process due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The class represents 41 states and six foreign countries, including Italy and Finland, with roughly 23% coming from Michigan. Last year, 27% of freshmen were Michiganders. Diane Philipp, vice president of student affairs, said that in response to the high number of freshmen, the college chose to house incoming students in locations that minimized
displacing residents who wanted to return to their previous residence hall or room. For instance, Koon switched from a men’s dorm to a women’s dorm and The Suites became male-only housing. More students moved off-campus this year, including sophomores who typically are not granted off-campus permission. “It’s nice to have the freedom of living in your own house, but it’s also teaching me important skills such as paying bills and working with a landlord,” off-campus sophomore Alex Mitchell said.
See Freshmen A2
By | Maggie Hroncich City News Editor Hillsdale College earned high rankings in The Princeton Review’s annual release of the top 386 universities and colleges in the country. The review, which is based on surveys of 143,000 students across the nation, placed Hillsdale College in the top 20 of 12 subcategories related to academics and student life, according to a press release from the college. “It is encouraging to be included among this group of leading institutions for yet another year,” said Christopher Van Orman, Hillsdale College provost. “It is a confirmation that a true liberal arts education, one that focuses on forming successful, virtuous students and citizens, remains one of the best and most-desired educations among our nation’s young people.” Among the various categories, Hillsdale scored especially high in community service, religion, and conservatism. Hillsdale was ranked as third for Most Conservative Students and third for Most Engaged in Community Service, as well as seventh for Most Religious Students. Hillsdale also ranked tenth for Professors Get High Marks, twelfth for Most Politically Active Students, and fifteenth for Best-Run Colleges. The Hillsdale Collegian was ranked as the fifth-best college newspaper for the second year
in a row. "The Collegian is an excellent newspaper and it's great to see the hard work of our journalism students earn national recognition,” Dow Journalism Program Director said. Former Collegian Editor-in-Chief Carmel Richardson '21 said she was proud of the ranking, especially given that it was such an unprecedented year. “I’m really proud of the work that we did last year as a team and I know that especially with the pandemic and a volatile election cycle there was no shortage of interesting stories for us to write about,” Richardson said. “It was a good year, I’m really proud of the work that we did, and I think the ranking really reflects that.” Former news editor, Madeline Peltzer ‘21, said she was proud of the work the staff put in to achieve the fifth place ranking. “As news editor, I was in charge of not only the largest section of the Collegian but also of the front page. My main goal was to ensure that we were covering a wide variety of campus stories while they were fresh,” Peltzer said. “I also wanted to make A1 as visually interesting and aesthetically-pleasing as possible, so I had a lot of fun playing around with layout. I think we accomplished both of these objectives and I’m so proud of the work the news team produced last year.”
Hillsdale's 1776 Curriculum seeks to provide 'honest history' for K-12 students on Patriotic Education included Arnn as chair and Spalding as executive director, Spalding said the 1776 Curriculum is unrelated. The 1776 Curriculum offers a different perspective from The 1619 Project, but it also teaches the darker aspects of American history and how the nation has overcome them. As stated on its website, the curriculum focuses on “America’s founding principles, which have outlasted and extinguished from law various forms of evil, such as slavery, racism, and other violations of the equal protection of natural rights.”
The creator of The 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones, argued that “our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written.” The National Education Association, the largest public teachers’ union in America, distributed The 1619 Project to teachers across America. According to The New York Post, the NEA has recently announced that it will be promoting critical race theory in 14,000 school districts across the nation. Spalding said this debate is not about history, but is the result of a movement to “read history
backwards.” “Their approach is illegitimate, and they’re not only using history as a foil,” Spalding said, “but they’re using it as a foil to fight and see everything through the eyes of race, which is even more problematic.” The 1776 Curriculum, on the other hand, seeks to provide a “knowledge and understanding of American history and of the American republic as governed by the Constitution and morally grounded in the Declaration of Independence,” as found on the curriculum’s website. Arnn said that America is
built around a declared set of principles at its founding. America’s founding principles posed a challenge to people of the past, just as they pose a challenge to people in the present, he said. “The first principle is a form of the law of contradiction: A thing happened in the past, or else it did not,” Arnn said. “Once it is past, it cannot change.” Arnn explained the importance of an accurate portrayal of history. “One finds out about the principles, choices, and events of
See 1776 A2