Alumna releases third novel “Salt to the Sea,” the latest novel of alumna Ruta Sepetys ’90, gives voice to the victims of a World War II maritime tragedy. B1
Michigan’s oldest college newspaper By |Macaela J. Bennett Editor-in-Chief Stephen Casai, age 64, died of a brain tumor Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. at the Hillsdale Medical Center. Known fondly by the Hillsdale College community as “Saga Steve,” Casai ’74 became a beloved figure on campus through his 35 years of working in food service. Always dressed in a suit, his constant smile and cheerful greetings impacted many over his career, as evidenced by the outpouring of love since his hospitalization last September. Within days, his hospital room was flooded with flowers and cards from students, staff, and alumni. “Steve was a godly man,” Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers said Wednesday. “He really blessed people, and not so much with his words, but his actions, his kindness, and his smile. He had a service heart, and he did everything in a way that was graceful.” Though Casai left an impression on so many, few knew him well, and he preferred it that way, his longtime friend Bud Vear said Wednesday night. “The students have become
his family through the years. He’s a very people-oriented person in some ways, and yet he’s a very private person,” Vear said. “He deals beautifully with people, but you’re not going to have a long conversation with him — that’s true even with me. As a student and then coming back to work here, Hillsdale really changed his life and made him into the wonderful person that he has been, and I think he wanted to leave his life before behind.” Senior Klara Holscher, who worked with Casai closely for two years, attested to his caring nature that fostered a close friendship between them even though he shared few personal details. “He didn’t say a lot about his past,” Holscher said. “I think it was filled with a lot of sadness.” Despite Casai’s privateness,
Broad street to feature male dancers In an attempt to make the city of Hillsdale a destination spot, Broad Street presents the world-famous Thunders with Excitement. A
Vol. 139 Issue 16 - 18 Feb. 2016
The m
an we all knew
Holscher said they shared many conversations about books, her family, music, theater, and his life advice. When he grew close to people, she said, he would tease them, too,
and he admitted that he didn’t like being called “Saga Steve.” “He was a particular person, and I don’t think nicknames were his thing, but he was the type of person to still
Alumna prepares for Olympic trials Kayla Caldwell ’13 qualified for the 2016 Olympic trials in pole vaulting last month.
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www.hillsdalecollegian.com smile anyway,” Holscher said. That smile at first took Heather Tritchka ’98, off guard, but it later formed the foundation for another dear friendship. “When I was a college student, I came from California, and he was always friendly, which I wasn’t used to,” Tritchka said. “I came to like it, and later he invited me to a Right to Life talk at the college — that was one of the first things I was invited to in college. We struck up a friendship after that since I always saw him at the cafeteria.” After Tritchka graduated, Casai invited her to a Right to Life of Hillsdale County event, on whose board he served for more than three decades. His passion for the organization inspired Tritchka to invest in the group’s mission, too.
“He was always so focused and passionate about doing work for Right to Life, which was really motivating,” she said. “That’s something I will always remember.” For the past two weeks, Casai had been mostly unresponsive, Gloria Vear said, and he completely quit talking. When Rogers heard this, he organized students to visit Casai. Wednesday afternoon, a couple hours before his death, Holscher and her sister Rebecca visited Casai with Rogers to read him Bible passages, sing, and pray for his pain to be taken away. “I suspect they probably prepared his way out with hymns,” Vear said. Although Casai did not respond to their presence, and they didn’t know if he could hear them, the three finished by singing “Going Home.” “He died shortly after they left,” Vear said. “We figured they sang him into heaven.” The college is coordinating a memorial service to be held on campus. Details will be finalized in the next few days. Casai is survived by his brother, Richard Valentine. Complete obituary to follow next week.
Lady Chargers rank first in the nation By | Jessica Hurley Collegian Reporter
Anders Kiledal | Collegian
The women of the Hillsdale College Track and
Field team have soared from third to first in the nation in NCAA Division II after the Big Meet held at Grand
Valley State University this weekend. This ranking is the result of yet another broken record and several more individually ranked athletes on the list for the national meet. The Big Meet is always essentially split into two meets — invitational and open — over Friday and Saturday. On Friday — the invite day — Hillsdale was well represented in the distance medley relay, the 400, the 5000, and the 4x400 relay. The DMR is comprised of a 1200 meter, a 400 m e t e r , an 800 meter, and a 1600 meter, in that order. This weekend it was run by junior Molly Oren, junior Sarah Benson, sophomore Hannah Watts, and senior Emily Oren respectively. After winning the race with a time of 11:38.19, the group is now ranked second nationally. They have also ensured themselves a spot at the national meet. The Chargers have consistently led the nation in this
event for the past three years. Head coach Andrew Towne, however, focuses on how the athletes perform when it counts, not how they are ranked. “We could break the national record,” Towne said. “To be totally honest, I don’t care about that because that doesn’t give me any more points anywhere.” In the 400 meter, senior Corinne Zehner finally had that race that clicked that she said she has been waiting for as she placed fourth on Friday, running a time of 55.89 seconds. This performance puts her in first in the GLIAC and puts her on the provisional list for nationals. In the 5000 meter, Emily Oren broke another one of Amanda Putt’s records, running a 16:24.36. This beat the previous record by five seconds as well as met the automatic mark for the national meet. Sophomore Hannah McIntyre came in second with a provisional time of 16:37.02. Senior Kristina Galat and ju-
nior Molly Oren also met the provisional standard, placing fourth and fifth, running times of 16:57.21 and 16:58.56. McIntyre, who represented Hillsdale in the 5000 meter at the national meet her freshman year, has consistently contributed to the team. She attributes this to having seasoned teammates to push her during practice. “I’m really trying to take advantage of this semester because the seniors are the people who have really helped me get ahead of that learning curve and intensity of training. I’ve come into that foundation Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died Saturday, Feb. 13 at the and I have a lot more confi- age of 79. Collection of the United States Supreme Court | Courtesy dence this year and I think that has played out well,” McIntyre said. The 4x400, run by sophomores Tori Wichman and Fiona Shea, junior Allison Duber, and Zehner, placed third on Friday, running a 3:48.40. This By |Natalie C. McKee ganizing the speech if he can met the provisional standard change his topic and discuss and is just off the school reSenior Reporter Scalia and the vacancy left by cord. O n U.S. Supreme Court Justice his death. Whalen said he felt an Saturday, See Track A9 Antonin Scalia died at the age “emotion of sadness” when of 79 on Saturday of natural causes at a hunting resort in he heard the news that Scalia West Texas, according to Pre- died. “It’s an emotion I continue sidio County Judge Cinderela, who pronounced him dead to feel and will for a long, long time,” Whalen said. over the phone. Whalen said he distinctly Soon after the news broke, Hillsdale students, faculty, and remembered how Scalia’s face alumni turned to Facebook to would tense up like a muscle while he was reasoning his mourn Scalia’s death. Ryan Walsh ’09 majored in way through the challenges American Studies and served of a case up until the moment as Scalia’s clerk from 2013- when he figured it out. He added that Scalia’s clerks 2014. had the best but toughest job “Like all of us, the justice had biases. Yet, unlike most because they had to determine of us, the justice was often what was logically right, not transparent about those bias- just write whatever happened es, and those biases could al- to be their boss’s opinion. He ways be overcome by reason,” said he would turn in a draft Walsh wrote on his Facebook with what he considered to timeline. “If the justice were be “clever, Scalia-like phrases” inclined to disagree with and then watch Scalia craft us about a case, he not only them into something “so much would welcome a fight — he better.” Hillsdale Professor of Poliwould expect it.” tics Thomas West said he loved And Scalia would change Scalia’s opinions. his view if he thought the “I appreciated his over-theclerks’ arguments were better top rhetoric full of nasty zingthan his own. “Law was not politics to ers toward stupid opinions,” Justice Scalia. Nor was it mere West said. “They are fun.” West said Scalia was the will. Law, to Justice Scalia, was law,” Walsh said. “Forget the second best on the court as cynics. Agree or disagree with far as being consistent and an his jurisprudence, Justice Scal- originalist, giving the top spot to Justice Clarence Thomas. ia was the real deal.” Whalen said he appreciated Ed Whalen served as ScalScalia’s approach to relationia’s clerk from October of 1991 to July of 1992 and will speak ships and ideas and how they at Hillsdale on March 30. He interact. Board member Hazel Hare has resigned from the Hillsdale College “He said he hopes to ask those orBoard of Trustees. Victoria Bergen | Courtesy w a s See Scalia A3 www.hillsdalecollegian.com Look for The Hillsdale Collegian
Thank you, Hazel Hare Hillsdale trustee resigns after ALS diagnosis
By | Thomas Novelly Assistant Editor After faithfully serving on the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees for more than three decades, board member Hazel Hare sorrowfully resigned after being diagnosed with an advanced case of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. College President Larry Arnn emailed the Board of Trustees on Tuesday afternoon shortly after conversing with Hare and said he was immensely saddened by the news. “We had a tearful conversation. She is surely the sweetest woman alive,” Arnn said in the email. “She says that the college has been the best thing that happened to her since her husband died and has given meaning to her life.” Hare is currently at her home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, and her niece is helping with her treatment. Hazel Follow @HDaleCollegian
said she was shocked by the diagnosis but is grateful for the time she was able to give to Hillsdale. “This has been an amazing journey in the past 30 years,” Hare said. “The board was able to bring some amazing buildings to campus. From the student center to the music building, there was such a great satisfaction in bringing everyone together.” Hare joined the board of trustees in the spring of 1985 at the request of Arnn’s predecessor, George Roche. Hare said she was skeptical of joining and asked her mother if she should take the offer. “I didn’t know anything about dealing with higher education,” Hare said. “I told my mother that I didn’t think I was qualified. She told me, ‘They wouldn’t have asked you unless they thought you could contribute.’ So like a good daughter, I listened, and it has been the most pleasurable as- See Hare A3
Remembering Justice Scalia