The Hillsdale Collegian 2.28.19

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Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Vol. 142 Issue 20 - February 28, 2019

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Charter application denied for Colorado Barney school By | Nolan Ryan News Editor A proposed classical charter school in Colorado, part of Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative, has been denied a charter application by the Boulder Valley Board of Education, based on concerns regarding school governance and religious discrimination. The Ascent Classical Academy Flatirons, according to its website, is “a proposed K-12 tuition-free charter public school,” and would be the next school to open as part of Ascent Classical Academies, a network of charter schools. The ACA leadership first submitted an application in August 2018 to open Flatirons this coming fall, said Derec Schuler, CEO of ACA, and 650 families intended to enroll. But because the local school board denied the appli-

cation, according to Schuler, ACA appealed the Colorado State Board of Education, which then instructed the Boulder Valley school board to reconsider the application. After reviewing the application per the state board’s instructions, the local school board denied the application again, Schuler said, rejecting ACA’s governance model for the school and suggesting the school could have problems with discrimination. “The superintendent of the local school district initially recommended our school,” Schuler said. “We felt positive coming into the meeting where we were to be approved. But at that meeting, the superintendent reversed his recommendation. It was a surprise to all of our families.” The charter was denied in a 3-3 vote; in addition, Board Member Val Flores recused herself. In a statement

Men’s Track

Humes is Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet at G-MAC championship By | Scott Lowery Collegian Freelancer The Hillsdale College Chargers came into the 2019 indoor season as a young, inexperienced team with a lot to prove. After continued improvement and a strong performance at the G-MAC Indoor Championships last weekend, however, the Chargers will bring experience and momentum into the upcoming outdoor season. Hillsdale rode some strong individual performances to a third place finish at the conference championship meet. Tiffin University took first with 183 points, while the University of Findlay, the host of the meet, took second with 113 points. The Chargers finished the meet with 86 points. “Some of those other teams have some pretty stellar guys.” Junior Joseph Humes said. “I don’t think anyone thought we could go up against those teams that have competed at a national level. To finish third is exciting, I definitely feel like we performed up to our full potential.” Humes has been an anchor for Hillsdale all year, and came through in the clutch last weekend. Humes entered the meet as the favorite to win both his events, the 3000

meter run and the mile run, and didn’t disappoint. In the mile run, Humes started strong and held the pace for 16 laps around the narrow track in the University of Findlay’s Malcolm Athletic Center. As he came around the final curve, however, the race was far from decided. Humes finished in a meet record 4:15.02, but five other runners finishing within three seconds of him. One of these close finishers was freshman Mark Miller, who took second with a time of 4:15.91. “All I was thinking about was just keep cruising and focus on winning on the race.” Humes said. After his victory in the mile, Humes also competed against a loaded field in the 3000 meter run, a tall task as fatigue played a factor. “It was tough running again right after the mile. My legs didn’t feel good.” Humes said. “Most of the good distance runners were running in the 3000 and I didn’t know if my legs had enough to keep up.” In spite of the fatigue, Humes was able to stay in the lead pack through the course of the race. In another finish race down the stretch, Humes came out on top to win his second event of the meet.

See Men’s Track A8

The Filling Station’s expansion on Broad Street will include new indoor seating for customers. Facebook

on Boulder Valley School District’s website, the board expressed concern that the school’s governance structure may not serve parents or let them have “sufficient influence.” The statement also said ACA leadership rejected Superintendent Rob Anderson’s “proposed condition for a parent-elected board to govern” the new charter school. “The school is managed by Ascent Classical Academies and the board meetings would likely be held in Golden, 30 miles from the district and the taxpayers who support the school,” the statement said. “It would also be ‘self-replicating,’ meaning that the board will select replacements for members who have completed terms – a model that does not promote public accountability.” Eric Coykendall, associate director of the Barney Charter School Initiative, said while

the charter denial is unfortunate, ACA and BCSI have to pay attention to the reasons the board gave for rejecting the application, particularly regarding school governance. “Politics may have affected the decision in a negative way, but we also have to take seriously the reasons the district gave for its rejection.” These political forces, according to Schuler, came in the form of the local chapter of the NAACP, the Boulder Valley Education Association, and a local LGBTQ rights group. In a Jan. 19 opinion for the Daily Camera, Kristine Johnson and Louisa Matthias, co-chairs of Boulder’s NAACP chapter, claimed ACA’s association with Hillsdale College, through BCSI, meant it was not a good fit for the community because Hillsdale is a “religiously-oriented school with right-wing associations,” and religious charter schools

should not receive public funding. BVSD’s statement on the situation says ACA requested waivers from the school district’s non discrimination policies “without adequately explaining the need for the waiver or offering a satisfactory replacement.” The school board particularly noted a lack of “references to gender identity/expression or physical characteristics.” Schuler maintained that the fears about discrimination from the new charter school are unfounded. “We had requested a waiver from the district’s nondiscrimination policy, and we were very clear about our rationale — our policy on discrimination protects everyone’s rights,” he said. “It’s important we handle complaints ourselves, as a charter school.” Coykendall said the

accusations against ACA and BCSI on the grounds of discrimination and pushing religious or political views are “absurd, because none of that is legal.” The fact that BCSI has 20 schools throughout the country, he said, refutes the accusations. “Not only would we advise against it, but it almost doesn’t matter because you can’t do that,” he said. “If you were attempting to use a charter school to proselytize, you wouldn’t be able to get away with it for very long, and you especially wouldn’t be able to get away with it if you had 20 schools in nine states. It’s leveraging in sort of an absurd assumption to get people to believe there’s something substantial there.” According to Coykendall, schools that provide serious education will have to teach

See Colorado A2

The Hillsdale College Tower Players rehearse for their production of the musical ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood.’ Lilly Schmitz | Courtesy

The Tower Players will perform ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood,’ a musical based on an unfinished Charles Dickens work, through this weekend.

College reorganizes administrative offices By | Nicole Ault Editor-in-chief In an effort to manage a rising influx of visitors and events, Hillsdale College is restructuring several administrative offices to better facilitate communication and operations between departments. “We’re trying to build a structure that will support growth and keep things operating in a logical way,” said Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé, noting that administrators began

looking into restructuring about three years ago. Admissions visitors have increased by almost 100 percent over the past five years and the college has seen a 3040 percent increase in applications, said Vice President for Business Development Doug Banbury. The college also hosts an increasing number of donors and events. To accommodate the growth, the various components of the reorganization “align departments that have similar nature and function together,” Banbury said. One of these changes

involves a merging of part of the marketing department with Institutional Advancement. Bill Gray, until now the director of marketing, is becoming Vice President of National Donor Outreach, moving with a team of three others -- Megan Bowser, Gina Gallutia, and Jessie Rurka -- whom he’s worked with in the marketing department. Noting that the promotion is “well-deserved for Bill Gray,” Banbury said the college hopes to see a stronger collaboration between the type of fundraising Gray has done in marketing and

that of Institutional Advancement. Gray said the duties of the new role include expanding the college’s list of active donors, inviting people to take online courses or subscribe to Imprimis, and collaborating with Institutional Advancement to make sure they communicate with donors effectively. His team is different than other Institutional Advancement teams, he said, because it markets to thousands of people at a time rather than one-on-one. “We’re most excited to bring See Admin A2

Women’s Track

Johansson named top freshman among women at G-MAC track championship By | Scott Lowery Collegian Freelancer

Hillsdale’s Filling Station is expanding on Broad Street. For coverage, see A6.

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Records sometimes seem to last forever, enduring so long they reach a near-mythical status; rarified air never to be breathed again. In Kajsa Johansson’s mind, however, 37 years was long enough. Johansson flirted with the school record in the 60 meter dash -- set at 7.70 seconds by Carol Pettit in 1982 -- all year, coming within three hundredths of a second on three different occasions. In the final heat of the G-MAC

Indoor Championships when it mattered most, Johansson blew the record away. She finished in 7.65 seconds and took first in the event. “It’s really cool. All season I expected conference to be the time where my performance would peak for the season.” Johansson said. “In the moment, I wasn’t really focused on that though, I was focused on scoring points for the team.” As a young team, the Chargers entered the G-MAC Indoor Championship looking to make a splash. After the

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events concluded Saturday in the University of Findlay’s Malcolm Athletic Center, Hillsdale found themselves in third with 99.5 points. The Chargers finished just behind Walsh University, who took second with 103 points, while Tiffin University made a statement in their first year in the G-MAC, finishing first with 188.5 points. “Considering the size of our team this year and how young our team is, that was really impressive.” Johansson said. “There’s a lot of potential in the future for us.”

Johansson showcased some of that potential in both her events. After winning the 60m, Johansson also ran well in the 200 meter dash, finishing second with a time of 25.23 seconds, a personal best. In light of Johansson’s performance in the 60m and the 200m, she was recognized as the Freshman of the Meet. Johansson has demonstrated explosive athleticism and extraordinary potential in her first full indoor season, and is locked in on improving. “Being on the younger See Women’s Track A8 Look for The Hillsdale Collegian


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