Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 143 Issue 21 - March 5, 2020
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The women’s Track and Field team overcame a 50 point deficit to win the GMAC championship. Calli Townsend | Collegian
Women’s Track and Field wins GMAC Championship By | Kate Pipher Collegian Reporter The two-day GMAC Conference Championship for the Hillsdale College Women’s Track and Field team was a heated competition that came down to what head coach Andrew Towne called the buzzer-beater of track and field: the 4-by-400m relay. “We went into that meet
down about 40 or 50 points on paper,” Towne said. “We just hadn’t shown exactly who we were yet.” Throughout the meet, however, the Chargers kept proving to themselves and the competition who they really were. Going into the final two events of the meet, the Chargers were second to Tiffin, the host of the meet and the
defending NCAA Division II team champions, by scary 24 points. But the Chargers rose to the challenge in the 3,000 meter run. They dominated the event, placing four girls in the top five spots and not allowing Tiffin to score. Senior Arena Lewis led her distance crew with a second place finish and a time of 10:07.81. She was followed by junior Maryssa Depies who
By | Cal Abbo Features Editor After a series of setbacks with Hillsdale College’s newly acquired Monticello replica, the college will move forward with its plan to establish the property as the Blake Center for Faith and Freedom. Last year, Prestly Blake, co-founder of Friendly’s restaurant chain, and his wife, Helen Blake, donated a large part of their estate in Somers, Connecticut, to Hillsdale College. A replica of Monticello, the famous home of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, sits at the heart of the property. Hillsdale General Counsel
Robert Norton visited the Blakes’ estate last semester. Norton emphasized the beauty of the estate and said Hillsdale’s new facility will try to preserve it. When the college announced the donation last
February, Mike Harner, chief of staff for the college president’s office, told The Collegian the property would be used as an educational center. He said it would hold lectures, events, and training for local students and educators.
ended third (10:10.57), junior Christina Sawyer in fourth (10:10.77), and freshman Gwynne Riley finished fifth in 10:12.91. “It was an exciting race because I led for awhile and then my teammates passed me,” Sawyer said. “It’s scary when you see you’re getting passed, but then when you see it’s someone in blue, you know you can play off each other.”
This performance by the Chargers earned them 23 points which put them only .66 points behind Tiffin heading into the final event. The women’s 4-by-400m relay, made up of sophomore Alanna O’Leary, and freshmen Judith Allison, Jillian Roney, and Dakota Stamm, just had to beat Tiffin to seal the victory — and they did by four whole seconds ending in
3:58.04. “We kept the focus on our performance and it came down to the last leg of the last event,” Towne said. “When Roney handed off to Stamm, we were right there. And then Stamm just broke that girl.”
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Hillsdale works to open Blake Murphy wins Center for Faith and Freedom annual oratory In a January 2019 meeting with the Somers Economic Development Commission, the Blakes proposed a Hillsdale satellite campus called “The Prestley and Helen Blake Center for Business, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship.” They invited Hillsdale officials to visit the property, kicking off the process of donating it to the college. Since the property sits on Hall Hill Road, in a residential area, operating a facility in this way requires zoning changes. The Somers zoning commission revealed updated regulations at an April 2019
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Hillsdale acquired a replica of Monticello last year. Courtesy | Wayne Dumas
competition
By | Regan Meyer News Editor Answering the question “How to be a good neighbor in a divided world,” junior Taryn Murphy won the 20th annual Everett Oratory Competition for the second year in a row on Tuesday afternoon. Five finalists (seniors Michelle Reid and Molly Buccola, juniors Connor Daniels and Taryn Murphy, and freshman Ethan Tong) competed in Plaster Auditorium before three judges (Jana Daley, Don Tocco, and
Larry Arnn) and an audience of CCA attendees, students, and faculty. Reid took second and Daniels third, respectively. Kirsten Kiledal, Rhetoric and Public Address Department Chairman, who is in charge of coordinating the competition said that she thought the competition went very well. “We didn’t have any no shows for the preliminary competition which is truly a first in 20 years,” Kiledal said.
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College preps for Daily News editor coronavirus cases replaces Monastiere By | Victoria Marshall Assistant Editor With the U.S. death toll at 11 as of Wednesday night, COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, has states and municipalities scrambling to respond. Hillsdale College “is developing additional strategies for combating coronavirus,” in the case the disease makes its way to Hillsdale County, Director of Health Services Brock Lutz said in an email. COVID-19 is a disease caused by a strain of the coronavirus family connected to the SARS and MERS viruses. The illness is believed to have emerged from a seafood market in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Last Friday, Lutz sent out a campus-wide email with health reminders for
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students and faculty on ways to minimize the spread of viruses. “With the situation of the coronavirus, we would like to remind everyone about how to minimalize the spread of any virus,” Lutz said in the email. “We ask that if you do not feel well, visit the Health Center, so we can test you and continue to keep close track of all those who are ill. Our Maintenance Department continues additional cleaning efforts of areas where students and staff are residing and working as well as other public spaces throughout campus.” Lutz added that the college itself does not have a test for the coronavirus as of now. “Infection for the coronavirus may appear 2-14 days after exposure,” Lutz
said. “Hillsdale Hospital has a clear response and treatment protocol in place for the coronavirus and students will be referred and taken there. Parents will be contacted if a student is suspected of carrying the coronavirus virus.” At the end of the email, Lutz asked students to notify Linda Snoes at the Health Center if they are planning on traveling out of the country over spring break. Provost Christopher VanOrman sent an email this week to faculty and staff regarding travel concerns.
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By | Rachel Kookogey Assistant Editor The Hillsdale Daily News’ former sports editor and Hillsdale College alumnus James Gensterblum ‘12 replaced Brad Monastiere as Hillsdale College’s new Director of Media Relations for Athletics on Mar. 1. As Monastiere steps down, the Hillsdale College Athletic Department will undergo a shift in job positions. Gensterblum will join the team to increase the written media material released by the department. Gensterblum said he is excited to step up to the challenge of filling Monastiere’s role. “Monastiere won multiple awards for his work and he has built an amazing foundation,” Gensterblum said. “So it’s exciting to step into a place
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where the groundwork has been laid for me, but it’s also a challenge to live up to that standard.” Gensterblum will primarily be managing and writing for the athletics website, keeping track of all athletics statistics, and dealing with media outreach. Director of Athletics Don Brubacher said Gensterblum’s background in journalism made him a prime candidate to aid the department in increasing the amount of written media material. “James is a good writer and he understands the mission and goals of Hillsdale College very well,” Brubacher said. “It’s quite a large, complex job he is moving into, but we’re excited to structure the position to show his strengths.” Gensterblum started
his writing career with the Hillsdale Daily News when he was a senior in high school. At that time, Gensterblum wrote for the Daily News as a freelancer for $25 per story. “I’ll never forget I walked into the office and I was expecting an interview process and that I would have to show a bunch of writing samples,” Gensterblum said. “But the editor at the time saw me walk in and he says ‘you’re the guy, here’s a recorder, the game’s at seven, good luck.’” Gensterblum then went to Hillsdale College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History in December of 2011 before going on to several sports writing and
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