The Hillsdale Collegian 9.19.19

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Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Vol. 143 Issue 4- September 19, 2019

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Pence pays surprise visit to Hillsdale Constitution Day Celebration By | Emma Cummins D.C. Correspondent

Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to Hillsdale College’s Constitution Day celebration in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Pence had positive words for Hillsdale, offering his and President Donald Trump’s support to the college and its efforts. “They’re training the future leaders of America,” he said of

the school. The vice president took to Twitter following the dinner to say he was honored to spend Constitution Day with friends of Hillsdale College. He also said that the college is “an institution that has been a beacon of liberty for 175 years.” Junior Dennis Fassett, who is currently in D.C. for the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program and interning for Atlas Network, spoke with

the vice president and even took a photo with him. “It was a complete surprise to everyone when he walked in the room,” Fassett said. “Even the students working the event didn’t know he was coming. After a brief speech, he walked through the crowd for a bit and I got to meet him. I didn’t know I would be meeting the vice president at a Tuesday night Hillsdale event, but it was one of the most incredible experiences

I’ve had to date. It just goes to show that Hillsdale’s reach is far greater than just the sleepy Midwest town we call home.” Julia Huebner, a senior interning for Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, also witnessed Vice President Pence’s visit. She echoed Fassett’s impression. “He just dropped by to make an appearance and give an impromptu speech,” Huebner said. “It was amazing, we were starstruck for

hours. Even when I woke up this morning it was so surreal. That’s not something that would’ve happened for most other schools.” After Pence’s surprise visit, attendees gathered for dinner where they listened to remarks from Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn and Myron Magnet, editor at large for City Journal and author of “Clarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution.” Arnn’s remarks touched on

the importance of the Constitution, and learning as a way of educating the soul. “The form of the Constitution is a strict thing,” Arnn said. “It’s not that hard to understand, but it affects everything if you live under that. It makes you think differently about how you protect your own children or who has the right and authority to teach them. And that means

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College opens graduate school in DC

Hillsdale College students pose with VP Mike Pence. Dennis Fasset | Courtesy

By | Regan Meyer News Editor Washingtonians now have the option of pursuing a master’s degree from Hillsdale College. The college officially announced the opening of the Steve and Amy Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17. The graduate program can be completed within three years, according to a press release. The graduate school is geared toward

working professionals. Matthew Spalding, vice president of Washington operations and dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, said no graduate program in D.C. offers quite what Hillsdale will. “Most graduate programs in D.C. are really designed to teach you how to accommodate to the status quo,” he said. “What’s different about our program is we want to teach them how to think about politics, so they can then actively participate in current politics.

That’s a very different thing. We’re not going to teach Health Care Policy 101. We’re going to teach about political thought, American politics, and statecraft.” The first formal class will begin courses in January 2020, but the school is offering lectures and courses for a select group this fall, according to the press release. Spalding said the new

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WSJ leaves Hillsdale out of college rankings By | Victoria Marshall Assistant Editor

‘Local Eatery’ to open in Palace’s former location By | Amelia Teska Collegian Freelancer The “Local Eatery,” which is located at the former location of the Palace Cafe, will open its doors for business toward the end of September. This past May, Jason Walters and his wife, Dena Walters, purchased the former Palace Cafe. Since then, they have been renovating the restaurant. The Walters said they felt inspired to purchase the space because of its history. “My grandparents used to own this,” Jason Walters said. “My grandpa built the booths that were in here, so there was some connection. My dad has been here the most and even worked here as a child. My aunt and uncle also owned it. My wife and I wanted to do something together and we are now third-generation owners.” Jason and Dena Walters will comanage the restaurant. The Local Eatery was initially scheduled to open

during the summer, but the Walters hit an obstacle they couldn’t have predicted. “It would have been done a lot sooner, but the day after we closed on this, we found out that my wife had a brain tumor,” Jason Walters said. “We ended up pushing pause and were taking care of that for two to three months.” The couple makes for an ideal team, combining Dena Walter’s bachelor’s degree in business and experience from working in the food industry with Jason Walter’s entrepreneurial spirit. They received a $10,000 grant to open the Local Eatery as part of Tax Increment Finance Authority’s goal to improve business development downtown. “The money from TIFA can be used for anything that cannot be moved,” Jason Walters said. “It has to be a permanent part of the restaurant. That includes the wall coverings, paint, light fixtures, these booths that will be pinned down, the breakfast bar, the bathroom,

and the flooring. All the stuff that you see that cannot be picked up and moved was eligible to be reimbursed by TIFA.” Hillsdale Zoning Administrator Alan Beeker said the Walters received an attraction grant, which is a three-year forgivable loan. “If they stay in business for three years, it is essentially a grant, it’s just forgiven,” Beeker said. “And if they go out of business in those three years, then they have to pay back a prorated rate.” The Local Eatery has the potential of becoming the new hot spot of the Hillsdale community. “My hopes and plans for this community are that the people are proud of this place because it is kind of a staple for the downtown and I want them to like it,” Jason Walters said. “I will make sure that we are sponsoring things, being a part of things, and participating in the local community.”

totaled about $41,000. That emergency fund, according to Student Federation President James Millius, would ideally only hold between $10,000 and $15,000 dollars at any given time. The surplus added about $31,000 of usable, discretionary funds to Student Fed’s budget for this school year, as $10,000 had to remain in the emergency fund. This is in addition to the $15,607 that was already budgeted for discretionary funds each semester, bringing the total amount of money available for dispensation

to clubs and student groups throughout the year to more than $62,000, twice the typical amount the federation can spend each school year. The money that constitutes Student Fed’s budget comes from student fees. “Functionally, we have about $31,000 that can be put toward discretionary funds over the next several semesters as we see fit,” Millius said at the beginning of the Federation’s Sept. 12 meeting. “A recommendation was made

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U.S. News and World Report released its list of the 100 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges on Sept. 9, and Hillsdale College ranked 64th, a 12-point jump from last year’s rankings. On Sept. 5, the Wall Street Journal released its national college rankings, and Hillsdale was again excluded from that list.

The Wall Street Journal does not consider Hillsdale College in its rankings because Hillsdale “does not participate in the federal student aid program,” the Journal’s Senior Director of Communications Steve Severinghaus told The Collegian last year. Because Hillsdale does not accept federal funds, Hillsdale College student data is not listed in the Department of Education’s “College Score-

card” website, a data tool that lets users compare schools and where WSJ draws its rankings. “Hillsdale has not been included in the WSJ rankings because they require data on financial aid, indebtedness, and graduate salaries which are drawn from the College Scorecard, which only ‘sees’

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Whit Wat Way’s wing eating team cleaned up the competition. For Homecoming coverage, see A2.

Cal Abbo | Collegian

College expands programs Student Fed discovers $40,000 in surplus funds on preventing sexual assault By | Virginia Aabram Collegian Reporter

Just three weeks into the school year, the Student Federation is now operating with an unexpected, large surplus of funds worth more than $40,000, in addition to its regular budget. Over the summer, administrators reviewing the Student Fed account discovered extra funds, the result of an emergency fund that was left untouched for several years. Each semester, the federation stored $5,000 in an emergency fund, which Follow @HDaleCollegian

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By | Nolan Ryan Editor-in-Chief

The student affairs office is providing Hillsdale College students with new programs on sexual assault and its prevention this school year. College administrators have added the content to their existing series of informational sessions for students. The expanded training comes after a group of students, staff, security personnel, and law enforcement members convened last semester to discuss student safety on and off campus, including sexual

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assault. The goal of these efforts, Dean of Women Diane Philipp said, is to provide additional education to students and to maintain a safe, healthy environment on campus. She emphasized that dealing with sexual misconduct and other inappropriate behaviors ultimately needs to be a partnership between students and staff, a partnership, she said, in which each person works together to strive for what is morally right and good. “We have to work together to solve problems,” Philipp

said. “Everyone wants students to be safe, healthy, and happy.” Over the summer, the deans also spoke with a number of students about “ways they could further educate students on safety and security in particular” and “review the sexual misconduct policy and reporting procedures,” according to Dean of Men Aaron Petersen. These programs also work in conjunction with the college’s new student booklet on proper conduct,

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