9.15.16 Hillsdale Collegian

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Perfect weekend for Charger sports Football, volleyball, and women’s tennis teams go undefeated in a winning weekend. A10

Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Wiman week Renowned poet Christian Wiman comes to campus. The Collegian reviewed two of his works, “Every Riven Thing” and “Once in the West.” B1

Vol. 140 Issue 3 - 15 September 2016

Hillsdale airport filled with airplanes, classic cars, and helicopters in remembrance of victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks. A7

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Hillsdale drops in national rankings By | Breana Noble News Editor For the first time since 2013, Hillsdale College’s rank, according to U.S. News & World Report, dropped. The 2017 list for the best National Liberal Arts Colleges released this week shows Hillsdale at No. 83, 16 places lower than last year. Preliminary reviews of the ranking’s data and methodology indicate a lower graduation rate in 2015 contributed to the drop in rank after the college suspended a larger-than-average group of freshmen in the 2009-2010 academic year, and they never returned to school, Director of Institutional Research George Allen said. “We are still between 50 and 100 on the list of the best liberal arts schools,” Allen said. “Rankings, however, are primarily a tool for admissions and marketing. They are not an indicator of institutional health, institutional mission, I would even say quality of education.” Hillsdale College’s six-year

graduation rate in 2015 was 77 percent, down from 82 percent in 2014. Since in previous years, the college’s graduation rate was higher, U.S. News predicted the rate to be 82 percent again. Average first-year retention stayed consistent at 96 percent. Graduation and retention rates account for the largest section of the college’s score. Alone, they make up 20.5 percent of it. The difference between the actual graduation rate and U.S. News’ prediction accounts for 7.5 percent of it. Allen said he did not know if the decreased graduation rate alone could account for the nearly 20 point drop. “That’s the only data in the preliminary look that you see or data suffering,” Allen said.

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said he remembers in the 2009-2010 academic year, more students, especially men, dropped out than what is typical. Of the 168 freshmen who entered that year, 27 did not complete their education

After leaving campus for the spring semester, many chose not to return, he said. “Whe n I suspend them, the door is always open for return,” Petersen said. The dean said the class was an anomaly, dropping the first-year retention rate from 90 percent to 87 percent. The year after, however, rewhile only 15 of the Grace DeSandro | Collegian tention rose to 94 percent, a 170 women did not. Although some of the stu- new high for the school at that dents left due to illness or be- time. That class, which entered ing a poor fit for the school, Hillsdale in 2010, had a sixPetersen said he had to sus- year graduation rate of 83 perpend 15 students, mostly cent, which U.S. News will use freshmen, because of drug use. in next year’s rankings. “If retention of upperclass-

men remains strong, we can expect to see numbers to increase,” Petersen said. Although rankings are a valuable public relations tools, they don’t represent the “soul of the college,” Allen said. But because Hillsdale is reliant upon public perception for admission of students and financial support, it remains of interest, he said. Senior Director of Admissions Zack Miller said the college continues to strive to provide the best liberal arts education in the country. “Hillsdale is still offering the same education,” Miller said. “Prospective students are looking for the right fit. Once they get to know us, who we are, and why we do what we do, they are usually excited.” As for the college itself, President Larry Arnn said the rankings will not change Hillsdale’s mission. “It means that we will continue and have college again next year,” Arnn said in an email.

‘The people’ make final push to stop new sign installation By | Thomas Novelly Editor-in-Chief Despite the removal of the 20-year-old beloved “It’s the people” signs this week, students and residents from Hillsdale are making a last-ditch effort to stop the installation of the new college-themed signs. Although the city said the new signs are constructed and scheduled for installation next week, a letter obtained by The Collegian to resident Penny Swan from councilman Brian Watkins said if residents make a showing at the Hillsdale City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, there is a potential to stop the installation. Citizens and students who wish for the old sign to stay would need to lobby the council members to add the signs to the Sept. 19 agenda. In addition, they would need to make a strong showing at the meeting to make a statement. “If you’re serious about fixing this, you need to round up 10-20 people or more to fill the chambers and speak at the meeting,” Watkins said in an email to Swan. “Request that the council stop the progress of the installation and set a public hearing on the matter. This is the only way it can be fixed.” City Clerk David French said no city officials have made a motion to make the signs an order of business at Monday’s meeting. For the public to comment on stopping the installation of

the signs, the council would need to add it as an item on the public agenda. Otherwise, residents and students could only speak during the public session at the end of the meeting. “In my mind, there is no way to get the installation of the signs stopped, unless they add it to the agenda and there is serious public outcry before the meeting,” Swan told The Collegian. “If they add it to the agenda and we get enough people to show up, we could change it.” In 2014, Hillsdale College approached the city council offering to pay for new entrance signs leading into the city from M-99 on the north and south sides of town. The city and the college collaborated on a design, which removed the “It’s the people” slogan that has been on the sign for more than 20 years. The new signs would replace it with a college-centered message reading, “Welcome to Historic Hillsdale: Home of Hillsdale College.” After the issue of the new signs gained attention from the community, a local Facebook group, Hillsdale’s Hot Debates, posted a poll asking residents what they thought about the removal of “It’s the people.” Of the more than 270 respondents who voted, approximately 200 elected to keep the slogan on the sign. Hillsdale junior Matthew Wylie was one and said he believes it’s crucial to fight for the sign. “A sign that says ‘Home of Hillsdale College’ emphasizes nothing about the town or the

college town,” Wylie said. “‘But ‘It’s the people’ has always said something that’s very true of both the town and the college. I would go to that meeting. That slogan is something that connects upperclassmen to lower classmen and students to alumni. We’ve all taken pride in that sign, and losing it would be a shame.” Many members of the community as well as a crowd of students claimed on the Facebook page that the city wasn’t transparent with the town on the new change and said they felt the new signs took away a segment of the town’s identity. Swan wrote another email concerning the signs to City Manager David Mackie. In response to Swan, Mackie clarified that the city made the new sign designs public on several occasions. “The original vote on the sign was held Jan. 20, 2014, in public session,” Mackie said. “The vote was on a design very similar to the one presented publically during the July 18, 2016, city council meeting. During both the Jan. 20 and July 18 meetings the picture of the proposed sign and wording was included in the city council packets, and no opposition from either the city council or public was voiced, so the sign was constructed.” Even if the city signs aren’t added to the agenda for Monday’s meeting, and the lastditch effort to block the installation of the signs fails, Mackie

See Signs A6

The city of Hillsdale tore down its welcome sign on M-99 Tuesday, after Hillsdale College agreed to design and purchase new signs. Greg McLogan | Courtesy Follow @HDaleCollegian

Junior Razi Lane defends conservatism, while junior Brendan Noble argues for libertarianism, in a debate held by the Fairfield Society Tuesday in Lane Hall. Madeline Barry | Collegian

Libertarians vs. conservatives

Fairfield Society holds student debate on competing political philosophies

By | Josh Paladino Assistant Editor Hillsdale College’s Fairfield Society took on one of the most discussed topics on campus: conservatism vs. libertarianism. About 70 people filled a classroom Tuesday for a debate the Fairfield Society held between juniors Brendan Noble and Razi Lane. Noble represented libertarianism, and Lane argued for conservatism. Junior John Gage, president of the Fairfield Society, said the issue is a hot topic on campus and deserved time for discussion. “I think the depth of this debate is much greater than typically understood,” senior Chuck Ahee said. “And tonight shed light on the vast differences between these two philosophies.” Their major topics of discussion included the philosophical foundations of their ideologies along with foreign and social policy. Since Noble and Lane said they largely agreed on economic issues, favoring the free market, they passed over them. Noble and Lane debated about military spending, regime change, and the National Security Agency. In terms of social issues, they discussed marriage and immigration at length. Although Noble pointed out that immigration is large-

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ly an economic issue, Lane accused libertarians of supporting open borders, which he said undermines American society. “Rule of law and culture is important when determining immigration policy,” Lane said. Striking at libertarian philosophy, Lane said it takes the field of economics and masquerades it as a political philosophy, adding that the conservative approach looks at history, philosophy, and politics comprehensively. Noble said this doesn’t discredit libertarianism because all political questions involve economics. “Conservatives go through history like a buffet and pick out the ideas that they like,” senior Nate Hollern said. “Libertarianism is superior because it correlates to the praxeological nature of man.” Freshman Celina McGowan disagreed: “I think Razi’s description of libertarians as primarily focused on economics is accurate. It’s dangerous to ignore important social issues.” Noble’s discussion of non-interventionist foreign policy and the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate drew his most applauded line of the night. “Gary Johnson is defeating Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump among

veterans in the polls,” Noble said. “It’s because they don’t want to send people around the world and get their family members killed.” Lane said he rejected the idea that the United States’ contemporary foreign policy is conservative. “Much of what is considered conservative foreign policy is actually progressive,” Lane said. “If attacked, then the United States must absolutely destroy the enemy’s ability to make war against them.” The audience indicated by a show of hands that it was evenly split between libertarianism and conservatism before the debate began. Sophomore Garrison Grisedale said Lane’s arguments resonated with him more. “I agree with Razi in that libertarianism is utopian, while conservatism deals with politics as the art of the possible in light of man’s fallen nature,” Grisedale said. Sophomore Andrea Wallace said she sided with the libertarians and thought the exact opposite. “Razi argued more generally and abstractly, while Brendan argued in the realm of practicality,” Wallace said. Gage said he was ecstatic about the turnout and thought both sides defended their positions well.

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