More write-in votes after ballot recount After vote totals from Nov. 8’s general election reflected no write-in votes cast, officials recounted the ballots, finding 18 write-ins. A6
‘Death of a Salesman’ Tower Players perform one of the masterpieces of American theater Thursday through Saturday. B1
Posters on campus Award-winning alumnus puts his graphic design skills to use and shares his talent through the posters he designs and classes he teaches. B4 Grace DeSandro | Collegian
Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 140 Issue 11 - 17 November 2016
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How is Hillsdale feeling post election? Arnn for Secretary For whom did you vote?
How satisifed were you with the results?
Grace DeSandro | Collegian Wikimedia Commons | Courtesy
Majority of students ‘satisfied’ with Trump victory By | Thomas Novelly and Breana Noble Editor-in-Chief and News Editor While numerous college campuses are holding counseling sessions and protests in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, a majority of Hillsdale College students said they were satisfied with the results. Of 457 students, 49 percent said they voted for the Republican candidate, though 38 percent of respondents said they were “satisfied” that he won and another 20 percent reported being “extremely satisfied.” Although Trump supporters increased from The Collegian’s Oct. 20 poll of 493 students, it remained far below the 90 percent Republican nominee Mitt Romney secured from Hillsdale students in 2012. Trump gained 6 points from the October poll. Democrat Hillary Clinton dropped from 6 percent to 4 percent. Profes-
sor of Politics Thomas West said when it comes to actually voting, they have to choose the better option. “You don’t vote for the candidate you like,” West said. “You vote for who will do the better job.” Although Trump won the most support of all the categories, the second largest was students who didn’t vote at all this election with 20 percent of the vote. Another 2 percent said they voted down ticket but not for president. In the October survey, only 11 percent said they weren’t planning on voting for president. Many college students use absentee ballots to vote, and several students said they didn’t vote because their ballot didn’t make it to them. The choice in candidate, however, could have played a factor, as well, Professor of Politics Thomas West said. “People thought, ‘He says so many bad things,’” West said. “‘He’s kind of a racist. He does these things to women.’ But
then, Hillary may be the most corrupt candidate ever in history.” As a result of the decrease in Hillsdale participation in the election, third party and independent candidates suffered. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson went from 20 percent support to 11 percent. Independent Evan McMullin fell from 11 percent to 8 percent. “That’s a normal thing,” politics department chairman Mickey Craig said. “Third parties lose traction the closer you get to election day. Look at Ross Perot. He was higher in the polls than when he won on election day. As crunch time comes, people flock to one of the two major candidates.” Finishing out the election results, the Constitution Party’s Darrell Castle received 2 percent, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Natural Law Party’s Emidio Mimi Soltysik earned less than 1 percent. Others received 1 percent of the survey votes.
As for satisfaction of the election results, junior Noah Weinrich said he was surprised by the results. “Some people might have opposed him because of what he said for personal and moral reasons,” Weinrich said. “But they’re happy that the Republican won and have Congress, too.” Not everyone is happy with the results, though. More than 20 percent said they were “neutral” on the presidential election results, 13 percent “dissatisfied,” and 8 percent “extremely dissatisfied.” Overall, however, students appear to be keeping an open mind for a Trump presidency. “I’m very satisfied, and I’m very relieved that Hillary Clinton won’t be president,” Craig said. “This is the happiest I’ve been after an election since 1980. Just like it was removing Carter, it is a relief to not have the Clintons back in the White House.”
Knecht puts finishing touches on Hillsdale career By | Emily Blatter Collegian Reporter In the art studio, students may listen to music through earphones, if it helps them concentrate. But junior Kylie Diehl said she sometimes leaves the earphones out, so she can hear the master work with his students. “He has all these interesting tidbits about art history and technique suggestions,” she said. “He taught me everything I know about painting.” Students have relied on Professor of Art Sam Knecht’s encouragement and expertise for 38 years, but Knecht is retiring from his full-time teaching position at Hillsdale College at the end of the fall semester. He said he plans to focus on his career as a visual artist. Although Knecht said he hopes to teach a class or two every semester, he will be far less involved with the department. Knecht has taught more than 1,500 students — many who are now college professors or influential in the 2D and 3D arts — and 18 different classes during his time at Hillsdale. That, he said, gives him more pride than any of his other achievements. Those include earning awards from the Portrait Society of America, the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Butler Institute of American Art, and the Michigan Water Color Society. He also almost singlehandedly expanding the art program into the fullfledged academic department it is today, he said. “My vision for the department from the beginning, which I was confident would resonate with the greater college, would be to direct and grow the department in a diFollow @HDaleCollegian
rection that not only taught traditional skills in studio classes but also would continue and enhance art history teaching,” Knecht said. Professor of Music Melissa Knecht, his wife, said the department was limited and had a heavy focus on ceramics before her husband became involved. “He’s quietly built that art program from just kind of a craft featuring ceramics to a serious program,” she said. “He designed the curriculum, he hired everyone that’s on the faculty, and all of them are highly successful.” Despite resigning his fulltime position, Knecht will still teach one or two classes each semester to make his retirement as seamless a transition as possible, he said. He passed the art department chairmanship onto his colleague, Associate Professor of Art Barbara Bushey, three years ago, as his
“The best realist art holds up a mirror to the beauty of nature and humankind and has a power to tell stories.” first step toward retirement. Knecht said he teaches a unique, “counter-cultural” realist style of art that fits with Hillsdale’s philosophy. It is something other universities have largely forgotten in favor of “individual experimentation,” he said. “The best realist art holds up a mirror to the beauty of na-
Professor of Art Sam Knecht paints a portrait of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman in his home studio. Sam Knecht | Courtesy
ture and humankind and has a power to tell stories,” he said. “I really love art that celebrates human existence and the beauty of the world.” That is what he aims to teach his students to appreciate, Melissa Knecht said. “His art is to capture a moment in time and let the person feel the essence,” she said. “You can’t get that with a photograph the same way you can with an oil painting. There’s a richness and excitement with the brush. You can feel the moment.” But beyond his students, Sam Knecht has also loved working for the college itself, his wife said. “His first priority is his job at the college,” Melissa Knecht said. “He really loves this place. He understands its philosophy, and he spends a lot of time talking about it to donors.”
Sam Knecht has painted many of the art pieces that decorate Hillsdale, including portraits of donors and his wife’s violin students. His most famous contribution is the “Signing of the Constitution” that hangs in the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. It also adorns the cover of the Constitution reader. After he retires, Sam Knecht said he plans to use the extra time to focus on painting similar projects. “I would love to do another historical or religious painting that involved a similar intensity of research planning and execution that would serve a high cause, something that would be perhaps narrative, that would challenge all aspects of my painting skill,” he said.
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of Education?
Speculations increase as president-elect fills Cabinet By | Thomas Novelly Editor-in-Chief As President-elect Donald Trump started filling his cabinet last week, speculation has grown around Hillsdale’s own President Larry Arnn as a potential pick for the secretary of education. In an email exchange with The Collegian, Arnn confirmed that his name has been one of many suggested to fill Trump’s administration with qualified individuals, but he declined to give any specifics. “[Trump] has a lot of jobs to fill,” Arnn said. “Names fly around at light speed. Mine is one of the minor names. This is not the first time this has happened to me.” Arnn said in a follow-up email that he is unsure of the specifics regarding if he was on an official shortlist but promised that he will keep the college’s best interests at the forefront of the decision. “Some people of influence would like for me to do it,” Arnn said. “They are not the people who would decide. If those people decide to ask me, then I will make a decision. I will make no decision that I think would harm the college
or result in my permanent separation from it.” A variety of sources have also confirmed on background that Arnn’s name was floated as a potential pick for secretary of education. A congressional staffer confirmed to The Collegian that in a conversation, top Trump adviser Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, expressed that Sessions was sympathetic to the idea of Arnn as a potential secretary of education. A Michigan-based Trump campaign volunteer said Arnn’s name has been considered and is on a shortlist of candidates. On Wednesday, numerous tweets increased speculation that he is a finalist. “Just told LARRY ARNN of Hillsdale is finalist for Secretary of Education,” tweeted Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment, a conservative-based 501(c)(4). In addition, conservative political commentator and radio personality Rush Limbaugh discussed it on his show on Wednesday, stating that he was thrilled at the prospect of Arnn taking on a role in Trump’s
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Douglass statue unveiling set for commencement
Madison tribute will go to Kirby Center By | Breana Noble News Editor
Hillsdale College’s Freedom Walk is expanding sooner than expected — and to Washington, D.C. Although the college originally expected a fall 2017 dedication for its statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, based on the sculpture’s progress, Hillsdale is confident he can join Abraham Lincoln in Kresge Plaza at commencement in May, Chief Staff Officer Mike Harner said. Additionally, the college announced it’s plans for a statue of James Madison for the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., because of Madison’s work in writing the U.S.’s founding document. “The Constitution is the chief subject at the Kirby Center,” President Larry Arnn said in an email. “Mr. Madison had something to do with that.” Harner said the Douglass statue is progressing as scheduled. The award-winning artist — Bruce Wolfe, who also sculpted Hillsdale’s Margaret Thatcher statue — completed a half-scale maquette of the piece in mid-October. He is now working to refine and enlarge it in clay to be 7 feet tall, for casting in early January, Harner said. “Mr. Wolfe has made great progress and projects completion in April, so the commencement date works,” Har-
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke at Hillsdale College in January 1863. Hillsdale Library and Archives | Courtesy
The James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has a statue of Madison. Hillsdale is planning a statue of its own at its center in the city. Wikimedia Commons
ner said. Douglass will stand across from Lincoln in the southeastern section of the plaza. “It’ll be in a very prominent spot,” Péwé said. “We’re excited about the possibility, though it takes time for an artist to do their work.” Wolfe’s sketch of the statue depicts Douglass at the height of his oratory powers when he was 43, the age he would have been two years before speaking at Hillsdale College for the first time on Jan. 21, 1863. “We are proud that Mr. Douglass came here twice,” said Arnn, who, with his wife, is helping to fund the statue. “He represents fundamental things about the purposes of the college.” Wolfe and college administrators discussed several postures for Douglass, including the one in the photo of him taken at Hillsdale College in which he is sitting. For the statue, however, he will be standing like Lincoln and holding a book. As for Madison, details are still being discussed for the first statue in the Freedom Walk not on Hillsdale’s main campus. His installation would go in the Kirby Center’s front courtyard, likely on the building’s right side, Péwé said. The college hasn’t yet selected the artist and statue, said Matthew Spald i n g , See Statues A2 Look for The Hillsdale Collegian