Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 142 Issue 3 - September 13, 2018
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Wall Street Journal excludes Hillsdale from annual college rankings By | Kaylee McGhee Opinions Editor Despite its selective admittance rate and academic rigor, Hillsdale College was excluded from the Wall Street Journal’s annual college rankings because it “does not participate in the federal student aid program,” according to the Journal’s senior director of communications Steve Severinghaus. The Journal ranked nearly 1,000 U.S. universities and private colleges in a report published last week, but only considered those schools that report certain data to the Department of Education. This methodology differs from other publications, like the U.S. News and World Report and Princeton Review — both of which reach out to individual schools not in the database for information. As a result, Hillsdale is included in the
U.S. News’ Best Colleges list released this week — ranking 76th among national liberal arts colleges — but doesn’t appear in the Journal’s. Hillsdale does not accept federal funds and is thus not required to submit information about students’ race, ethnicities, and genders to the Department of Education. It is also not tied to Title IV guidelines, which determine federal financial aid — a factor the Journal requires for a four-year school to be considered. Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn said this policy has “worked well” for the college and has been in place for 60 years. “It is the reason we are able to recruit, admit, and teach as if everyone who comes here is a student, an individual, a free person, and not a representative of a group,” he said in an email.
Even if Hillsdale sent data not readily available via the Education Department directly to the Journal, Director of Institutional Research George Allen said the Journal would still not consider Hillsdale “because non-Title IV schools are ineligible to appear in their rankings.” Provost David Whalen called this methodology “clumsy.” “Hillsdale merits inclusion because of the obvious strength of the education here,” he said in an email. Allen said the Journal also requires information Hillsdale could not provide, like federal loan repayment rates and the ethnic profiles of its students and faculty. Until this methodology changes, he said, Hillsdale will not appear in the Journal’s ranking, though Severinghaus said the Journal “hopes to include Hillsdale in
the future.” Unlike the Journal, U.S. News and Princeton Review do not request information that would compromise the mission of the college. Allen said the data other college information services request is “wide-ranging,” and includes information on “admissions, academics, athletics, extracurriculars, faculty, facilities, finances, financial aid, graduates, students, and staff.” Professor of History Paul Rahe said the Journal’s exclusion of Hillsdale was not done out of “malice,” but rather, out of “slovenliness.” “The answer is laziness,” he said. “It’s a common enough human fault.” Rahe, who wrote about the Journal rankings in a recent article for Ricochet, said Hillsdale’s freshman class is in the 95th percentile, placing the college “a cut below” the
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University of Michigan. Hillsdale’s class of 2022 boasts an average ACT score of 30.16 and an average 3.89 GPA, compared to University of Michigan’s freshman class, which had an average ACT score of 31 and an average 3.80 GPA, according to its admissions page. Whalen said Hillsdale competes against many of the Journal’s top schools, like Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University, in terms of “cross apps,” meaning students often apply to both Hillsdale and high-ranking Ivy League schools. Hillsdale even swipes the occasional student away from these schools, Rahe said. Rahe, who previously taught at Yale, said Hillsdale’s academic rigor is easily comparable to that of schools like Harvard and Yale. The only
“real difference” he said he’s noticed is Hillsdale students’ tendency to shy away from being “intellectually aggressive.” When compared to students at high-ranking schools, Rahe said Hillsdale students “don’t think enough for themselves.” “They don’t know how good they are,” he said. But even that, he said, is changing. “My freshmen this year have been quite aggressive,” he said. “They’re asking questions and pushing back. My sense is we’re getting there.” And after four years of a rigorous liberal arts education, Rahe added, Hillsdale students are well prepared to compete against graduates from the Journal’s top schools. “We do an astonishingly good job educating our students,” he said. “And they should think big.”
Hillsdale students and faculty gather near Central Hall to honor the victims of 9/11. Christian Yiu | Collegian
Chargers overcome Cedarville, remain perfect in conference By | Regan Meyer Web Content Editor “Somebody check that ball for splinters,” announcer Dave Sharpley exclaimed after a particularly impressive kill from the Charger side of the net in their game against Cedarville. Tuesday night was a big night offensively for Hillsdale, three Chargers notched double digit kills and two achieved career highs. Sophomore setter Lindsey Mertz and senior right side hitter Paige VanderWall delivered the big performances for the Chargers. Mertz set a career high with 56 assists in a four-set match. VanderWall exploded with a career high of 23 kills and also executed her 1,000th career kill in the second set against the Yellow Jackets. “It’s an interesting milestone, considering it takes a pretty long time,” VanderWall said. “But I think it represents how lucky I’ve been to be on three teams that have all seen a success. This is just a tribute to everyone I’ve played with.” VanderWall joins fellow senior Kara Vyletel as one of 10 Chargers to record 1,000 career kills. “This accomplishment is not achieved by many and having two of them at the
feated in conference play with their win over Cedarville. The match, however, wasn’t without its challenges. After losing 25-23 in the second set, Gravel gave his players what he called “a little reality check”. “He basically told us that it was unacceptable,” senior setter Taylor Bennett said. “How we were performing wasn’t up to practice standards much less game standards. It was a challenge to us. It was very much, ‘If you’re not going to perform, I have someone on the bench who will’.” The Chargers easily handled Cedarville in the first set, winning 25-12. Bennett said she believed the loss came from a lack of urgency. “It’s really easy, when you kill a team, to get really complacent,” she said. “We start over at 0 every set. You definitely have to maintain that sense of urgency and bring the game to the other team every set. We’ve struggled with that this season and we definitely struggled with that last year.” Prior to Tuesday’s match, the Chargers beat Malone University on Sept. 7. “It was a hard fought match,” Gravel said. “They played outstanding defense, really made our offense work hard. We also made a lot of
Senior Kara Vyletel goes up for a kill against Cedarville Tuesday night. Regan Meyer | Collegian.
same time is even more of a rarity,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “We are very proud of this great milestone in their continuing careers. As a team and coaching staff, we acknowledge and move on very quickly when it comes to individual accomplishments. The ultimate accomplishment is what we do as a team.” The team remains undeFollow @HDaleCollegian
great plays too.” Vanderwall said Malone’s defense was impressive, but the Chargers were able to answer with good defense of their own. “They were all over the court,” Vanderwall said. “I think Lindsey did a great job moving the ball around on
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‘In Defense of Andrew Jackson’: Birzer publishes new book By | Alexis Nester Assistant Editor Bradley Birzer, professor of history and Russell Amos Kirk chair in American Studies, released his sixth biography, “In Defense of Andrew Jackson,” on Tuesday. After working out a contract with Harry Crocker of Regnery Publishing in April 2017, Birzer ordered all of Jackson’s published papers and began to read. With the support of his wife, history lecturer Dedra Birzer, he wrote five to eight hours a day and completed a manuscript four months later. “It’s the fastest book I’ve ever written, for better or for worse,” Birzer said in an email. Since arriving at Hillsdale in 1999, Birzer has taught many classes on American history, including Jacksonian America, the American Founding, the American West, and U.S. Economic History. “I’ve been interested in the time period as far back as I can remember,” Birzer said,
Birzer said the era was important for many reasons — from the first railroads and start of industrialization, to westward expansion and disagreements over slavery, and revivals in American art, literature, and religion. Senior Brooke Sabina, who is double majoring in English A first-edition copy of Professor of History Brad and history, Birzer’s new book “In Defense of Andrew is currently Jackson.” Alexis Nester | Collegian taking Birzer’s Jacksoni“but I only recently became an-era history class. Sabina intensely interested in Ansaid Birzer has a “tremendrew Jackson as a person.”
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dous memory for interesting details” about this period in American history. “Birzer is passionate about that period,” Sabina said. “He has a beautiful excitement and joy sharing everything that goes on during that time — from the 3,500 miles of expansion to the battle of New Orleans.” According to an article Birzer wrote for The Imaginative Conservative, he received many negative reactions after releasing the book’s title. “He’s the symbol for the whole age, and since he first emerged on the public scene in the late 1790s, Americans have either hated him or loved him,” Birzer said of Jackson. “He was as brutal as he was honest. And he was very brutal.” History Department Chair Mark Kalthoff said Hillsdale’s history department releases an average of three books per year, however Birzer’s book marks the fourth they have
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