Shotgun wins third consecutive national championship Chargers take D-III title, place third out of all divisions. A10
SAT tests allign with Common Core Junior Paul Mittermeier argues that the college should reconsider using the SATs for admission. A5
Vol. 139 Issue 22 - 7 April 2016
Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Faucets in several campus houses and dorms run yellow after water main break
By | Kaylee McGhee Collegian Reporter
Water flowing in the Alpha Tau Omega house ran yellow, as did water in several other facilities on campus after a water main break on Hillsdale Street. Denton Williams | Courtesy
College residents both on and off campus experienced discoloration in their tap water Tuesday and Wednesday due to a water main break on Hillsdale Street. Although college administration has not told students to avoid drinking the water, many in affected buildings have allowed the water to run until clear or boiled the water to a degree of clarity. The Suites Co-House Director Casey McKee ’15 sent an email to residents informing them of the water break and advised students to be careful with the discolored water. “I encourage you all to use discretion, when it comes to using the water in the Suites,” McKee said in the email. “If it looks questionable, I would suggest buying some bottled water instead.” Mauck was “largely unaffected” by the issue, and the water cleared up for residents by the early afternoon, Mauck Student Director Deborah Ste-
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Albion’s April Fools’ Day prank attracts national media attention
Muddy waters By | Philip H. DeVoe Assistant Editor
Campus receives paintings by victorian-Era artist Hillsdale friend Anne Natvig donates two works by Cecilia Beaux to the college. B1
venson said. “Only one resident reported seeing any water discoloration,” Stevenson said in an email. “She said the water in her shower ran yellow starting Tu e s d a y night and t h e n b r o w n We d n e s day morning but cleared by the early afternoon.” The water main break was fixed before 2 p.m. Wednesday, according to Environmental Health and Safety Manager Leah Martin, yet some students are still experiencing discolorations. Sophomore Denton Williams, a resident of the Alpha Tau Omega house, first noticed the water Tuesday night but continued to see it until around 8 p.m. last night.
“Tuesday, when it happened, it was only yellow for a few minutes and then turned clear after I let it run, so I drank it,” Williams said. “This morning, it was really yellow from both faucets, and now it’s on and off.” A T O residents were not advised about the w a t e r ’s safety, but after drinking some from the tap, Williams said he felt no side effects and tasted no difference. Junior Jada Bissett, a resident of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house, said she and her fellow residents were advised not to drink or shower until the water cleared, which happened around 5 p.m. at the Kappa house. Bissett said she and her sorority sisters were
“If anyone is wondering why the Kappas didn’t look like straight 10s today, it’s because we couldn’t shower!”
in good spirits, however, even though they were unable to shower. “If anyone is wondering why the Kappas didn’t look like straight 10s today, it’s because we couldn’t shower!” Bissett said. Whitley Head Resident Assistant Grace Hertz said one resident saw “dirty water” within the past 24 hours, and some residents of Benzing reported seeing yellow water. The women of Pi Beta Phi reported an obvious color change in their water, to the point that maintenance came by to check up on the water. “I got up yesterday morning, and by the time people were getting ready for their earliest classes, the water was running brown,” Pi Beta Phi President junior Rosie Ellison said. “Our water cleared up by 10:30 a.m., though.” The water issue has affected students living off-campus, as well. Senior Anders Kiledal, a resident of 157 Hillsdale St., said his w a t e r See Water A3
Albion College’s student newspaper, The Pleiad, apologized Sunday after running a fake story saying Hillsdale College would close for administrative and financial reasons. The story ran on April 1. The article, which ran in the April Fools’ Day edition of the paper known as The Plebian, said Albion College would absorb the majority of Hillsdale’s students after the closure and drew concern from Hillsdale alumni, friends of the college, and a prospective student. The article has since been retracted and replaced with an official apology. The Pleiad’s managing editor, Alex Carey, who wrote the article, said one of the Pleiad’s staff writers suggested the idea. “The idea came from a current situation, actually,” Carey said. “One of the middle schools near Albion is closing, so we took that idea and asked, ‘What if a college near us closed?’” Carey said the story was not intentionally printed to target a conservative school or to cause problems. Considering
Hillsdale’s proximity to Albion, it made sense for them to choose Hillsdale, Carey said. For the most part, students at Albion and at Hillsdale saw the article for what it was — pure satire. “Most of us know people from Hillsdale, so we all thought it was humorous,” said Albion senior Kate Casebeer, sister of Hillsdale sophomore Sarah Casebeer. “We figured that Hillsdale students would find it amusing, as well.” Hillsdale’s Senior Director of Admissions Zack Miller said the admissions office saw the article online and knew that it was not meant to be factual. Despite this, Miller said he did receive a call from an admitted student who inquired about whether or not the story was true. “There were a very small number of concerns,” Miller said. “Most people understood it was satirical.” Not everyone at Hillsdale found the story to be amusing. Matt Schlientz, vice president for marketing, said the story did cause confusion for some. “Because of that, we did reach See Albion A2
“We didn’t think that it would get seen. We definitely didn’t anticipate this much attention.”
Michigan College ‘Old student union’ to get facelift Republicans attempt to audit Hillsdale chapter membership By | Sarah Chavey Collegian Reporter
By | Breana Noble and Vivian Hughbanks Assistant Editor and News Editor The state organization governing College Republicans chapters in Michigan attempted to audit Hillsdale College’s chapter last month, claiming it has an artificially inflated membership. Chapter membership determines the number of delegates a school can send to the Michigan Federation of College Republicans’ state convention. “It seemed to me every member of the credentials committee agreed that it was suspicious that roughly one third of the student population of Hillsdale College was on the list as active members,” said Aleks Oslapas, a member of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans’ credentials committee. On March 26, the 465 members of Hillsdale’s chapter received an email from Oslapas requesting they participate in a survey to determine the level of their involvement. According to the MFCR constitution, membership in College Republicans is determined by individual students providing the chapter with their contact information. The chapter president is also required to recognize those on its membership list as active members. Additional specifications of membership are Follow @HDaleCollegian
not required except by a twothirds majority of the state federation’s executive board. Hillsdale College Republicans’ leadership say the audit singled out Hillsdale’s chapter. “We were uncomfortable because it was really more of the fact that we were the only school,” Hillsdale College Republicans Trustee senior Sam Holdeman said. “In many ways, it felt targeting.” Later the same day, Holdeman responded to the email, instructing members not to participate. MFCR’s constitution requires approval from the executive board before adding membership requirements — approval which was not given before the credentials committee contacted Hillsdale, Holdeman said. Because the audit was not completed and Hillsdale’s membership is so large, the school was awarded 39 percent of the total delegates for the April 3 convention. Many students who received the audit email said they do not consider themselves active members. “I’m not an active member by any stretch of the imagination,” senior Elisabeth Wynia said. “I haven’t gone to any events and don’t really consider myself a member, even though I’m on their email list. They were going around asking to sign people up for their email list, and I felt too bad to say no.”
A.J.’s Café and Jitters won’t be the only non-cafeteria food on campus when Hillsdale College renovates the Knorr Student Center, according to the tentative plans offered by Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé. In addition to adding both a bistro and a new A.J.’s-like café, the renovation plans to Knorr include transferring the career services office and writing center upstairs, creating a space for the radio studio, and including a number of interview rooms and technologically-advanced rooms, such as those equipped with smart boards, to enhance the business-learning experience and increase interactions between guests of the school and students. “There are so many ways
that career services and academic services support our student body, but we also see a myriad of ways that those can grow,” Associate Dean of Women Rebekah Dell said. “We ask, ‘How can we create a dynamic office space in career services that would service the changing needs of students today so a student is prepared to go out today and work in a dynamic environment? What are some of those key things that are hallmark of an office space?’” This is the third component of the Knorr renovations, the first and second being the Searle Center and expanded Phillip’s Auditorium, respectively. Like the chapel and auditorium, the renovations do not have a determined end date. “All that’s a little over a five-million dollar project,” Péwé said. “Just like anything
else, when we get the money for this, we’ll start it.” As Péwé and other administrators continue to develop
“The hope is to have a pub of sorts.” plans, the tentative designs increase career and academic services traffic by moving them upstairs and making them more accessible. The redesign also will enable students to connect with faculty and guests. Renovations will extend outside, too. They include building a pergola creating sit-
ting areas on both sides of the main entrance. This outdoor covering will allow students to use a large outdoor fireplace during all four seasons. Immediately inside, visitors would find Hillsdale’s radio studio WRFH 101.7 FM to their left furnished with a green room, a control room, a program space, and an office. To the right, visitors will find the bistro — an ideal place for students, faculty and staff, parents, alumni, and other visitors. “The hope is to have a pub of sorts,” Dell said. “It’s another great way to support and service our off-campus guests coming but also to create that environment for faculty, students, and guests to interact. It’s definitely more of a business-learning hub, where the Grewcock Student Union is the social hub.” Beyond
See Dow A3
Knorr Student Center’s tentative designs for the renovations for the show space for the WRFH 101.7 FM radio station and areas for students, faculty, and visitors to gather. Sheila Butler | Courtesy
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