#### Written by Monica VanDerWeide, '95 Head Swimming Coach Kurt Kirner likes to tell his students a tale of two fast food restaurants in his hometown of Sauk City, Wisconsin. Both opened about the same time, and while one restaurant put quantity first, which led to sloppiness, the other focused on quality, taking the time to get the orders right and know its customers. Within a few years, the first restaurant failed while the second restaurant became a successful national franchise. “That’s the kind of team you want to be on,” he said, “one focused on quality and doing things the right way.” The Chargers Swimming program has certainly been doing things the right way during Kirner’s nearly two decades at the helm of the program, consistently finishing as a team near the top of the G-MAC—including a “title wave” of conference championships from 2020-2022—and garnering numerous individual honors as well. It’s a combination of recruiting swimmers who embody strong character and a growth mindset, along with Kirner’s passion for teaching and getting things right. “A lot of swimmers come in with technical flaws and don’t realize they are doing things ineffectively even though they’ve experienced success on a high school level,” he said. “So, we break down their strokes and analyze what they’re doing. I have them do it slowly to build new motor patterns. Sometimes, it helps to have them try their strokes the wrong way so they get the feeling of what they’re doing wrong. “I’m looking for hard workers who aren’t afraid to fail,” he continued. “It’s not about perfection; it’s about striving for excellence.” **Joining a Familiar Face at Hillsdale** Kirner began his coaching career at the age of 15, volunteering his time coaching for a summer club working with 10-and-under kids. His paid position was as a lifeguard, but he eventually took over the head coaching position there after just a few seasons. “I developed a passion for coaching then, but I never thought it was what I wanted to do for a living,” he said. “I consider myself a teacher first.” Kirner earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and his master’s degree from New Mexico State University. He began work on a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, intending to become a college professor. He competed on the swim team as an undergrad and continued to coach club teams on the side during his schooling. However, as he was working on his Ph.D., he began to get low on money. “I loved coaching and realized I could make a living doing it,” he said. In 1991, he got a coaching job at Division III Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, still intending to complete his Ph.D. But when his Ph.D. advisor left the university for the private sector, he decided once and for all to abandon that “pipe dream” and continue doing what he loved. Kirner spent 16 successful years at Lawrence coaching both men’s and women’s swimming, not intending to leave his home state. But in 2007, one of his coaching colleagues, fellow Wisconsin native John Tharp, left Lawrence to take the men’s basketball head coach position at Hillsdale. “John called me a few months after he had started at Hillsdale,” Kirner recalled. “He asked me if I was interested in coming to coach at Hillsdale. He thought it would be a good fit.” When Kirner visited Hillsdale, he liked what he saw. “The school’s mission aligned with my beliefs, and I liked the athletes,” he said. He was hired and took the reins of the swimming program beginning with the 2007-2008 season. He inherited a young team with no seniors. “They were just looking for leadership,” he said. “They were looking to be challenged but in a way that was more autonomous.” **A Wave of Accolades** Kirner’s coaching philosophy is guided by three words: Deliberate. Intentional. Purposeful. It all goes back to breaking down each stroke, analyzing the technique, and doing it slowly in order to master the movement. His coaching began to bear fruit in his second year at the helm; in 2009, four Chargers competed at the Division II national meet. In 2011, Linda Okonkowski, ’12, received the first All-American honors for a Hillsdale swimmer in nine years. Since then, honors have continued to roll in, with the Chargers earning multiple All-American honors, G-MAC Freshman of the Year honors, and G-MAC Coach of the Year honors four times for Kirner. Equally impressive for the program is an honor given outside of the pool. For 18 consecutive seasons, the swimming team has been named a Scholar All-American Team by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America. This honor is given to teams that achieve a 3.0 or higher grade-point average. “I believe the academic success of the team has to do with self-motivation and autonomy,” Kirner said. “Most collegiate swimmers swim six days a week and more than 10 months a year. It takes incredible commitment and drive to be a swimmer. It wires your brain a certain way, and that drive carries over into the classroom.” Kirner continues to spend a lot of time in the classroom, teaching a full slate of Sport Studies classes. Years ago, he developed the Physical Wellness Dynamics course that is part of Hillsdale’s core curriculum. He has also taught kinesiology, methods of physical education, and sport psychology courses, as well as some independent studies. His love of reading fuels his teaching; in his spare time, he reads everything from historical fiction to sports psychology. Teaching and coaching don’t stop for him during the summers, either. He’s the longest-standing Nike swim camp director currently holding these camps at Hillsdale. Additionally, he heads up the technique track at University of Michigan swim camps each summer. With retirement just a few years away, Kirner reflected on Hillsdale’s swimming program. “Character is the most important trait I look for in recruiting,” he said. “We recently exemplified that at a meet. A competitor from a rival team had broken her goggles. One of our Charger women happened to be there and loaned her a pair of her goggles for that event. Then she cheered on that rival swimmer in that event. That’s the type of role model we wish to embody. I want our competitors to think, ‘I wish I were a part of that team’ because of the behaviors they exemplify.” Kirner may not have earned the Ph.D. he sought in his younger days, but he has earned a lifetime of fulfillment in doing a job he loves with students and colleagues he enjoys and respects. “Each job I’ve had has lifted me to another level and challenged me,” he said. “God has really blessed me here.” * * * Monica VanDerWeide is Director of Marketing Content for Hillsdale College. She graduated from Hillsdale in 1995 with a degree in English and German. * * * _Reposted from the fall 2025 issue of Arete._ The post A Teacher First: The Pool is Kurt Kirner’s Classroom appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by James Gensterblum, '12 The first time Ben Haas, ’26, visited the Hillsdale College campus, he was told he had the raw potential to be a national champion someday. Four years later, Haas made that potential a reality. The junior thrower on the Hillsdale College men’s track and field team delivered the program’s first NCAA DII national championship on the men’s side in a decade by capturing the weight throw title with a mark of 22.89 meters at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in Indianapolis in March. Just two months later, in May, Haas added an unprecedented second national title at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships in Pueblo, Colorado, taking the hammer throw crown with a throw of 66.31 meters to become the first double NCAA champion in men’s track and field at Hillsdale since the Chargers moved from the NAIA in 1998. Both titles were huge moments for both Haas and Hillsdale College Associate Head Coach Jessica Bridenthal, who had told Haas he had the makings of a future national champion during Hillsdale’s summer track camp while Haas was still in high school. “I think to hear Coach Jess say that I had the potential to be great; it changed my mindset a little bit,” said Haas, a two-sport star in high school at Clarkston who was originally leaning toward playing college football. “Having a coach tell you that you could make that kind of difference as an individual made me really consider track and field as something I could have a future in as well. I trusted that she could develop me in a way that would make that happen.” In watching Ben throw in that first camp, Bridenthal, a past NCAA DII national champion in the weight throw herself at Ashland under legendary coach Jud Logan, immediately saw rare traits in Haas she knew she could work with. “Ben had the athleticism, explosiveness, and frame necessary to get to a high level, and beyond that, he had two characteristics that I knew would give him a chance,” Bridenthal said. “First, Ben’s very coachable. He has a great kinesthetic awareness of his own body and knows how to translate feedback immediately from coaches into adjustments in his form. “The other thing was his competitiveness. We had another really strong throwing recruit in his group, and Ben beat him in every session and rep. When you can combine athleticism, coachability, and competitiveness into a single package, that gives you a real shot to be a champion.” Haas hit the ground running at Hillsdale during his freshman year with strong performances in his first two indoor meets, but he quickly encountered adversity in the form of a broken foot that derailed his initial campaign. After recovery, Haas broke the same foot again in the summer, hampering his preparation heading into his second season with the Chargers. “It was definitely a huge blow to my confidence, especially the second one, because the doubt creeps in about whether you’re really going to be able to stay healthy,” Haas said. “With the help of our training staff and Coach Jess, I tried to flip that doubt on its head and turn it into motivation to make up for lost time; I wanted to prove the potential I showed before I got hurt was real.” Fully healthy entering the 2022-23 campaign, Haas exploded onto the national scene, capturing the G-MAC title in the weight throw and placing third in the nation in the event at his first national meet. He took another step forward in the following season, breaking Hillsdale’s weight throw school record set by past national champion Jason Stomps, ’10, and earning All-American honors in both the weight and the hammer throw. That set the stage for this spring, where for the first time in his career, Haas entered the Indoor Championships not just as a contender but also as a massive favorite to win the weight throw title, entering the competition with the best mark in the nation. That put added pressure on Haas to deliver, but Bridenthal felt he was ready to seize the moment. “Something that Jud [Logan] used to talk to me about when I was an athlete was, every kid that shows up to the national meet is big and strong and athletic and puts in a ton of work to be great, so how do you find that extra three percent that separates you from that elite group and gets you to the top of the podium?” Bridenthal said. “Throughout the year, Ben had found that edge. I felt confident that he was going to get it done because I had seen everything that had come before, and I knew what it meant to him.” When the order of throwers was revealed at the championship, Haas was excited to see he would be the first competitor up in the top flight of the event. “I looked at that and thought, ‘Okay, if I can put down a really big mark on my first throw, a personal best or close to it, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on everyone else,’” Haas said. Haas executed his plan to perfection, putting down a 22.89 meter mark on his first attempt that was not only a personal best, but also the fourth-best throw in the history of NCAA DII competition. In effect, the competition was over almost as soon as it started, and the title was his. Not content with one title, Haas added another in May. In a much closer competition in the hammer throw, Haas came through in the clutch with a big fourth throw to claim a second crown. “The hammer throw crown was really special to me because I started doing the hammer throw much later than the weight throw, and throughout my college career, my weight has always been ahead of my hammer,” Haas said. “To win a national title in the hammer really shows I can be an elite all-around thrower and not just a specialist in one discipline.” The silver lining of Haas’ freshman year injury is that it will allow him to compete for a fifth year in college in 2025-26 and to potentially add more records and awards to an already historic resume. In the process of becoming an elite thrower, Haas also has helped Bridenthal transform the men’s throws group at Hillsdale College from just two other athletes in Haas’ freshman year to a squad that’s now in the double digits. With the rapid improvement some showed this season, it’s possible that Haas will be joined by teammates at the national meet next season. As a leader and mentor, Haas has played a role in the accelerated development of his teammates, Bridenthal said. “I think Ben’s legacy at Hillsdale is going to be not just the national championships and All-American honors he himself wins, but the national championships and All-Americans that are won after he’s graduated by throwers that learned from him and followed in his footsteps,” Bridenthal said. “He does a great job of setting an example for his teammates and giving them advice and coaching from his perspective when they ask for it. “You can already see the impact it’s having on some of our freshmen and sophomores and how fast they are reaching a very high level. Ben is laying a foundation for success not just for himself, but for this program that I think will pave the way for more great throwers to emerge from Hillsdale over the next several years.” * * * James Gensterblum is the Director of Athletic Communications at Hillsdale College. A 2012 graduate of Hillsdale College, James worked in print journalism as a sportswriter and editor in Michigan and Indiana for eight years prior to returning to Hillsdale, winning numerous awards for sportswriting and photography from the Michigan Press Association and the Associated Press. * * * _Reposted from the fall 2025 issue of Arete._ The post Hammer Time: Thrower Ben Haas Wins Double National Championships appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Nolan Ryan You cannot lead students to love something that you don’t love yourself. This is a key principle in classical education, and Hillsdale’s Diana Davis Spencer Graduate School of Classical Education aims to help deepen teachers (and future teachers) in a love of our cultural heritage and Western tradition. The residential program provides graduate students with a strong foundation in history, philosophy, and literature, while also giving them greater experience in pedagogy, curriculum, leadership, and school culture. For the students, this training comes back to love and friendship: love of ideas within a community of friends. Students will engage with works throughout all of Western educational history, from Plato to Mark Van Doren, which means a wide variety of reading during the two years of the program. In their first year, students read an essay, “On Running After One’s Hat,” in which G.K. Chesterton writes that “an adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” The rigorous reading and writing requirements might seem like an obstacle to overcome, but when students read from a place of wonder and leisure, they get to sail home with Odysseus; they get to wrestle in conversation with Plato and Aristotle. On the course readings, Aidan Jones, ’26, M.A., said they are both a great challenge and a great delight—a point echoed by many of the students. By the time undergraduates leave Hillsdale, they are used to hearing Hillsdale’s motto “Virtus tentamine gaudet.” The opportunity to rejoice in the challenge, however, is not unique to the undergraduates; the students are well acquainted with challenges during their two years on campus. But students get to meet these challenges in community. The love of great ideas and great stories does not exist in a vacuum. If you ask a student in the residential program what has had an impact on their experience, they will mention not only the rigorous readings but also the community. Camaraderie and friendship among the students are born inside and outside the classroom. Caitlin Filep, ’27, M.A., recalled a moment at the end of a class when a professor asked each student to share a favorite book and why it was a favorite. This moment helped her make connections between the classroom and community: “Maybe teaching is just love for the things we’re teaching and love for one another.” The residential program is built around a cohort model in which an incoming group of students takes largely all of the same classes. The small and intimate cohort model is a gift, Jones said. While it takes time for people “to get to know one another, to open up and share life together,” the cohort helps this happen much more quickly. Students can expect to know each other well by the end of their first year, especially since they take the same classes together that year. In their second year, students have more room to choose electives and may not share all of the same classes, but they still take required courses as a cohort. Filep added that the cohort model creates a tight-knit community because of—not despite—the various backgrounds of classmates. “We are all committed to the same things,” Filep said. “We have people from different backgrounds: different states, some have families, some are single, and some have teaching experience already. We all came because we wanted to be educated and refined. All of us have some kind of educational experience, and our unique educational backgrounds show what classical education looks like in different contexts.” Students thrive in the cohort when they participate with their classmates wholeheartedly. The model requires you to be intentional about your relationships and getting to know your classmates. The residential program’s orientation sessions highlight the importance of community, though, as Filep put it, you cannot expect community to “just happen” without putting in effort. “These are wonderful people,” Filep said. “They are forming you every day; they are forming your education, as much as the professors are, for two years of your life.” Beyond classes, residential students enjoy one another’s company in a variety of ways. Each Wednesday, for instance, the graduate students and their professors gather together to hear from a visiting speaker or Hillsdale professor on some facet of classical education. This time serves as a good touch point for everyone in the program and allows students and professors to enjoy good conversation with one another. Students also enjoy each other’s company outside of campus life—from dinners to movie nights or studying at the local coffee shop Rough Draft—but the main thing is camaraderie. Students also spend time together through the Paideia Society, a social group that organizes events and promotes community among both first- and second-year students. The cohorts may gather for a scavenger hunt or perhaps some cider and snacks. Around a bonfire, eating good food, the students are equally at home cracking jokes as they are debating the merits of the Socratic method. What happens in the classroom and what happens around the bonfire inform one another. Although reading assignments are necessary, Jones said that, in the moment, reading Lucretius or Aristotle sometimes should be set aside for a conversation with a classmate. This makes sense; reading or learning about a subject is not something humans should do only because they are required. What we learn should have a real effect on how we interact with others. Being a graduate student in the residential program means more than knowing and debating Aristotle. It means learning for the love of learning and for the sake of blessing those around you. * * * Nolan Ryan, '27, M.A., is a 2020 alum and a graduate student studying classical education. He taught English and history at a classical school in Texas for five years before moving back to Michigan. Usually, you can find him reading C.S. Lewis or Augustine at Rough Draft and sipping on a bourbon vanilla latte. * * * Published in December 2025 The post Love for Learning, Love for Others: How Hillsdale Forms Teachers appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Lauren Bixler After nearly two years of the College’s quad being under construction, the work of many jackhammers, drills, and cranes will come to fruition. Reported in the _Collegian_ , the Diana Davis Spencer Classical Education Building is projected to be finished in early 2026, and the additions to the Greekcock Student Union facade will be usable by February 2026. Although construction continues on our beautiful campus, the closing of a new construction era requires reflection on the unexpected blessings that came out of a period of change for the students. One blessing was construction worker and Hillsdale native Dennis Cook, more commonly known among students as “Gate Guy.” His job, as the name suggests, is to man the gate that lines the path through where construction vehicles need to pass, at a point that intersects a highly congested walking path. He stops students when a vehicle needs to cross and engages in lively conversation with passers-by, often greeting students and addressing them by name. He may also be found with a _Collegian_ or other student publication on hand. When off the clock, Dennis can be found with his daughter, ice fishing, hunting mushrooms, or attending College events—sometimes even participating in them. “I’ve been invited to come to a lot of events, and even to incorporate my daughter. As a Hillsdale local, I would have never really thought that the College was open for me,” he said. “And it’s good for me to get out of my shell. I guess I’ve always been a people person, but to do actual events, or to get on stage—I never thought I would do these things, and it’s been wonderful.” Some of these on-stage experiences include his participation in Hillsdale Hot Ones, a spicy chicken wing eating contest, and Simpson Smackdown, a Simpson Residence-hosted event where students and guest faculty do exactly as the name says—smack each other down on a makeshift fighting ring, dressed in personas such as the “Udder Taker,” “Socrates,” and “The Librarian.” In April 2025, Dennis came as “Gate Guy” to Smackdown. Even though Dennis has skyrocketed in popularity and has become a campus character, he said he’s undeserving of that title. “I don’t think I’m a celebrity, and when I do think about it, I definitely don’t believe that I should be.” For Dennis, he’s “done nothing special but say hello and play a few tasty jams” on his speaker. But on campus, the fact that Dennis takes the extra minute to ask students how their day is going while remembering their names, reminds students of the wonderful people who work to beautify Hillsdale. Both students and construction workers are laboring all day for the sake of a better Hillsdale, so Dennis inadvertently serves as a reminder for us to be grateful for our many blessings. Hillsdale students are at an institution that always seeks to make Hillsdale better, and all people who do that, from Dr. Arnn down to every construction worker, are integral in making that happen. Construction is nothing new, either. For some workers like Dennis, building up the College is part of their legacy. “It was a much smaller campus at one time,” said Dennis. “My dad, uncles, cousins, and brother-in-law have worked on a lot of these buildings. So, Hillsdale College is putting a lot of people to work.” Construction is hard work, but the College has extended opportunities to the workers that help make their experience more enjoyable. “Somebody had the forethought and the kindness to allow the construction workers to eat lunch in the campus cafeteria, and that means a lot when there’s nowhere to get lunch that’s very good around here,” Dennis said. “And you know, living out of a lunchbox can be rough at times.” In addition to the affordability and sustenance, Dennis said that lunch for the construction workers—like the students—serves as a time for community and conversation—and in a way that only happens because they’re at a place like Hillsdale College. “You know, at break, we’re able to talk about some things I didn’t know they were interested in and probably wouldn’t ask them about had I not been here on campus, talking about my experiences,” Dennis said. “They’re really happy to be a part of Hillsdale College, because they know it stands for more than just your average college.” Even from the outside perspective, Dennis noted how there’s something different about Hillsdale. In the fall, some professors move class outside to a small amphitheater near the library, which is conveniently located next to Dennis’s gate station. At times, he is a silent observer in class. That, alongside his daily interactions with students, prove to him that the written mission of Hillsdale is also lived-out. “It’s amazing—the joy and the good-heartedness of these students. After listening to a class or two out here in the amphitheater and reading some literature and taking some online classes, I realized that this isn’t a self-centered school where people are just going out to make the best living that they can,” he said. “We all want to have money and be secure financially, but that doesn’t motivate most of the students—not here. They focus on morality, and it is really beautiful to see. And that gives me a lot of hope.” When we talk about the great ideas of the Western Tradition at Hillsdale, it’s easy to leave them in the classroom. It’s much more difficult to live out those ideas. As an outside observer, Dennis has the perspective we students need. He reminds us to look up, enjoy some “tasty jams,” and embrace the construction as it will lead to a more tangible embodiment of the beauty we seek in the classroom. _Banner image courtesy of Charles Hickey, '28._ * * * Lauren Bixler, '27, is studying politics and journalism. A California native, but honorary Midwesterner, she's incredibly grateful for every day at Hillsdale College. In her free time, you may find her crunching her feet in the winter snow, baking brown butter cookies, or grabbing a coffee with a friend at Penny's. * * * Published in December 2025 The post Hillsdale’s Construction Celebrity: “Gate Guy” appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Lauren Bixler Give me an F! Give me an O! Give me an O! Give me a T! Give me a B! Give me an A! Give me an L! Give me an L! That is one of the many cheers led by the Hillsdale College Pep Band that you may hear if you sit in the student section at a home football game. Just like the athletes, the pep band has a significant role in shaping the atmosphere of home football games at Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium. Offensive lineman Ryan Strasser, ’25, said he has “always loved having the pep band there at the games,” and “it creates that college football game-day atmosphere.” Heather Juskiewicz, ’26, who serves as the pep band’s student director, echoed Ryan’s point from the pep band side. “On one hand, the easy thing to do would be to not have the pep band, because then you can turn music on and off with the push of a button,” she said. “But I just find it a little soulless, because part of what makes the pep band so fun is that it is student-led.” Aside from the musical component, Grace Torsch, ’29, said the pep band creates a structure for the crowd’s dynamic. “The pep band pulls the student section back together, and it also encourages people who might not have been interested initially in watching the football game to show up because they get to watch the pep band perform as well.” What the pep band creates is atmosphere, but that is not an easy feat. Many components come together to make game day what it is. First, the pep band meets at the Howard Music Building an hour before the coin toss to transport all manner of drum sets, trumpets, trombones, alto saxes, bass guitars, electric guitars, cymbals, and cowbells to the stadium. After passing through security, the pep band sets itself up in the student section, and instead of warming up muscles, they warm up their instruments alongside the football players. Then, close to the start of the game, Heather receives the game-day script from Game Day Experience Manager Tiffany Treppa—a lifesaver for the craziness of the game. Heather said, “Everything the announcer is going to say, when other athletes come to throw footballs to the crowd—all of that is scripted and pre-planned, sometimes down to the minute, based on the clock.” This script, alongside her earpiece, helps Heather stay in tune with the administrative side of the game. Even though the pep band reports to the Music Department, it still acts as an arm of the Athletic Department on game day. Every moment, Heather is interpreting the game, finding slots where the pep band can play alongside what’s laid out in the script. Ultimately, she’s “trying not to step on any toes and incur fines, because if the pep band plays when the ball is in play, the team may get a penalty, and the College may get a fine.” So the pep band has a lot of pressure to follow the Division II guidelines. But despite that pressure, the music is nothing but fun, and it’s crafted to match the flow of the game. “I try to save the slower songs for the beginning, when it’s not quite as heated,” Heather said. “So that would be songs like “Mambo No. 5” or “Tequila,” which are fun and get the crowd involved, but they’re not as fast, like “Fireball” and “Light Them Up.” So I like to use those fast songs toward the end of the second half where there’s a lot of time-outs.” The intentionality of the music has an impact on the football players as well as the crowd. As a player, Ryan said the pep band makes a noticeable difference, with football being such a momentum-heavy game. “When we score and then you hear the music coming from the pep band, that stuff really helps,” he added. “It uplifts us and maintains our momentum for the game.” In addition to the musical craftiness of the pep band on game day, they also deliver pep through their attire and other sorts of tomfoolery. Heather said she encourages the pep band to dress in theme with whatever the Athletic Department determines for each game. This year, the Homecoming theme was “Space,” so Heather donned a Jedi robe and lightsaber. Grace, who could be seen at this season’s Parents Weekend game in a tutu with red, white, and blue pipe cleaners on her trombone, said she tries to go “all out” for games. After the rigidness of high school marching band uniforms, she told herself that college is a time to “go crazy.” She even foraged through the sale section of Party City, claiming to have “bought everything that was on sale.” But really, she said, “I’m just trying to get the most use out of my tutu that I possibly can, and we’re saving the confetti cannon for the appropriate occasion.” Once the game is over, the pep band reverses its pre-game ritual. They pack up, return the instruments to the music building, and resume their Saturday homework, whether that be biochemistry, rhetoric and media, philosophy, or applied math. As with many organizations on campus, you will find a group of people who, without their shared passion, may never be seen in the same room together. But that condition is what makes the pep band so special. “What I’ve loved most about the pep band is the personalities of the people who make it so fun,” Heather said. * * * Lauren Bixler, '27, is studying politics and journalism. A California native, but honorary Midwesterner, she's incredibly grateful for every day at Hillsdale College. In her free time, you may find her crunching her feet in the winter snow, baking brown butter cookies, or grabbing a coffee with a friend at Penny's. * * * Published in December 2025 The post Let’s Get Peppy: Behind the Scenes with the Hillsdale Pep Band appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Choosing a college is often a mix of emotions and experiences for many high school students. For Kelsey Berlin Neitzel, D.O., ’10, it was more of a scientific process. But not at first. Her older sister, Lindsay Berlin Ogle, ’02, had graduated from Hillsdale College, and Neitzel decided that she was not going to follow in her footsteps. “I wanted to be a science major, and I had my heart set on Pepperdine. I was going to be on the beach,” she said of her early decision-making process as a high school senior. However, her parents insisted on visiting Hillsdale, and here’s where the science part begins. “OK, I will do that,” she recalled. “I’ll go and see Lindsay’s school, and then we can put this to rest.” During her Hillsdale visit, she sat in on an organic chemistry class. “The next thing, the professor comes in and hands out a test,” Neitzel said. When the professor realized Kelsey and her mother were visiting, she walked them over to another class where instruction was taking place. “She was actually the dean of the sciences at the time, and I was just so blown away that she trusted all these 18-year-old kids not to cheat on a test,” she said. “What kind of honorable people were going to school here? And then she cared enough to come back and have a conversation with me. I decided that these are the people that I want to learn from and be around. And then I got a scholarship. I had totally changed my perspective on Hillsdale.” She was glad she did. Dr. Neitzel said Hillsdale’s education helped her reach her goal of becoming a doctor. She is now working part-time as a physician for Kaiser Permanente while she and her husband are raising a family in the Denver, Colorado, area. After attending medical school at Des Moines (Iowa) University, she completed a one-year assignment in Michigan, then a residency in family medicine and fellowship in sports medicine in Wichita, Kansas. “The program that I went to is what we call a full scope family medicine,” Dr. Neitzel said. “I trained not only in outpatient clinic family medicine, but I also delivered babies—250 babies in residency. We did all of our own inpatient medicine as well. We saw our own patients in the hospital and in the ICU, and we did our own inpatient pediatrics. I got a large breadth of medical training.” The Nebraska native met her eventual husband, Kevin, who is an aerospace engineer, during her time in Kansas. The goal was to settle somewhere in the Midwest and raise a family, with Kelsey setting up a family practice. “My ideal job would have been full scope family medicine in a small town—delivering babies, doing some ER shifts, seeing patients in the clinic. Kind of being that old-time family medicine doc,” she said. “It’s not quite the path my life took.” Her husband had a job opportunity in the Denver area, and they decided to settle in Parker, a Denver suburb, in 2018. For the first year or so, Dr. Neitzel worked as a locum tenens (temporary physician) in the area, helping to provide health care for small towns on a temporary basis. “It gave me a lot of flexibility,” she said. “I could pick where I wanted to go and how often I wanted to work. I actually really loved it.” However, after the birth of their first child (they now have three sons), she was looking for a little more stability. Her current position with Kaiser Permanente provides that. She now works about three days a week at an outpatient clinic. “It’s general practice family medicine,” she said of her current role. “I see everyone from a two-week-old newborn to somebody who is in their 90s. There is always a variety. It keeps me in medicine but also gives me a bit more time at home with our family.” Once her children get a little older, she said she is considering opening her own direct primary care practice. “I like that, because it’s capitalism at its best,” Dr. Neitzel said of direct primary care, which doesn’t accept insurance. “You can set your prices. They’re transparent. Your patients know what they’re getting. You’re cutting out all the people who are taking a share.” She and her husband are involved in their children’s youth sports programs, as well as following University of Nebraska volleyball. They host a small group every week for young families and are involved in their church community. Although she didn’t get her beach experience at Hillsdale, Dr. Neitzel said she is grateful for what she received from her alma mater and applies it to her life and career every day. “I really appreciate that Hillsdale taught me to think critically,” said Dr. Neitzel, who was involved in the Pi Beta Phi sorority while on campus and tutored low-income children in the Hillsdale area. “I have so many patients who appreciate having a conversation instead of being told, ‘Well, this is the guideline. You have to do it.’ It should be a risk/benefit discussion specific to the patient. My job as a physician is to give you information and to help you decide what is best for you. It is your job as the patient to make the best decision for yourself.” * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in December 2025 The post Mile High Medicine: Dr. Kelsey Berlin Neitzel, ’10, Provides Health Care through a Hillsdale Lens appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Stephanie Gordon **Decisions and Interests** _“Where should I go to college?"_ was a question Nathaniel “Nate” Stewart, ’95, often pondered when considering colleges. His top choices were Hillsdale College and Grove City College, but it was a game of pick-up basketball with the captain of the U.S. Debate Team at a Summit Ministries summer camp that helped Nate answer his question. _“Go to Hillsdale College.”_ And so Nate did. Nate planned to study journalism at Hillsdale, but that quickly changed as he was exposed to the core curriculum. “I couldn’t decide between English, history, and political science,” he said. “Quite frankly, I liked all three subjects, so American studies was a way to study them all.” He also had an interest in football. With no previous football experience, Nate walked on to the Chargers football team. “I had never put pads on before,” Nate smiled. “I worked hard and learned the sport and figured it out.” But during the second semester of his freshman year, the wide receiver decided to join the debate team. The debate team came with a lot of travel and work, and Nate found it difficult to keep up with the off-season football training program, debate, and his academics. “It was unlikely that I would make a living playing football,” laughed Nate. “I was more likely to make a living debating people, so that was the end of my football experience.” In addition to debate and football, Nate was a member of Phi Mu Alpha men’s music fraternity and spent a semester on the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program (WHIP). “I fell in love with politics in Washington,” said Nate. “The Republicans had just taken over the House of Representatives under Newt Gingrich in 1994, which was right after my WHIP semester. I had made contacts in Washington, and they got me lined up with a job after graduation.” Although Nate didn’t necessarily _enjoy_ his first job in Washington, he stuck it out for a year. “I was working for a think tank,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t just leave because I didn’t want a bad reputation, so I stuck it out and looked for the next opportunity.” **Life-Changing Leaps** ​Before seeking his next job in Washington, Nate learned that his parents and siblings were planning to spend a year in Scotland studying the Bible. “They never expected me to go with them because I looked settled in Washington, but I figured if I was going to be between jobs anyway, I might as well go along and spend a year abroad.” While in Scotland, Nate met his wife, Diana, a schoolteacher from Canada who was also studying in the same program as the Stewarts. After the one-year program at King’s Bible College, the Stewart family returned to Cleveland, Ohio, and Nate and Diana soon married. Nate enrolled at John Carroll University to study theology and bioethics. “I was encouraged to get my Ph.D., but we decided it wasn’t the best decision for our family,” Nate added. “We had two small children at the time, and Diana asked who would hire me— _A tiny college near a cornfield?_ ” Instead, Nate decided to get his law degree from Case Western Reserve University, right down the road. After graduating and clerking on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, he assumed he would land a job with a Cleveland law firm, but when that didn’t happen, it was back to D.C. “I sent my resumé all over Northeast Ohio, but everyone said ‘no.’ I sent my resume to firms in Washington and within 48 hours, I had a job. We decided to move to Washington because we had to eat.” Nate worked for a large international corporate law firm for four years before joining the Department of Justice in 2011. The Washington, D.C., area had become home, but things changed after 2020. **The Move** ​“We had friends in Hillsdale, and Diana and I thought we could move to Hillsdale someday and not feel like we have no one,” said Nate. “So that was on the distant radar. But then, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we were all teleworking from our kitchens in Washington for months, so I asked my boss, ‘Do you care which state my kitchen is in?’” Nate determined he could keep his job with the DOJ and work remotely. In the summer of 2022, the Stewarts and their three children moved into the former Delta Tau Delta house across the street from College Baptist Church. “We looked at the house, and we immediately realized it was an opportunity to restore an old home right on campus,” Nate said. “Homes like this are a small fortune in the Washington, D.C., area, so the house was a dream fit. It was an all-around great opportunity that we didn’t think was going to come along anytime soon.” Nate said his family can breathe in Hillsdale—spiritually and intellectually. “The people in this community have been really great to get to know,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of friends.” **Growth through Fine Art** Art has been a medium to foster some of their relationships. Nate has always had an appreciation for art. “My love of art started as a hobby,” he added. “When I was a student at Hillsdale, I took a one-credit seminar course on R.H. Ives Gammell paintings that came to campus for an exhibition. That may be when I first became interested in understanding art.” During graduate school, Nate became friends with an Ohio artist who helped him understand the art world a little more. “He paints some wonderful landscapes and American scenes with old barns,” said Nate. “I really enjoyed them, but I couldn’t afford them. I told him when I had a real job someday, I would buy one. And in 2010, I was able to make that purchase.” The new painting hung over his couch, and immediately, everything else in the room seemed different. “That led me to need another painting,” laughed Nate. “I reached out to former Hillsdale art professor Sam Knecht because he was unveiling his piece, _The Signing of the American Constitution_ , at the Kirby Center in D.C.”​ Nate came across Knecht’s studies and drawings and purchased one of his charcoal sketches of George Washington. From there, Nate purchased a Knecht original painting and made it his mission to support living artists “who are working in the old masters tradition and who are trying to keep the skillset alive. They’re speaking through their art to the world in a way that conveys truth, beauty, story, and tradition,” he said. “I decided that the effort they were undertaking was one I wanted to support.” Nate enjoys sharing his art collection for others to see and ponder, both in his home and on campus. He worked closely with the College to exhibit much of his collection in the Fine Arts Building in early 2025. He also hosts an annual “art salon” sponsored by the Future Alumni Association, where non-art faculty professors lead discussions with students about paintings. Nate called it “great fun and an honor.” Nate doesn’t have a favorite living artist, and what he looks for in a painting has evolved over the years. “I look for things that tell the human story, that tell me something about human nature, humanity, tragedy, Biblical stories—that give me a new insight into something ancient,” he said. “If an artist can capture an emotion in a way I hadn’t thought about before, that speaks to me.” Three years after moving to Hillsdale, the Stewarts have transformed the Delt house into their home. Nate still works for the DOJ and continues to foster his love of art through events at the College. Diana stays active with friends and family and continues to work with students as a substitute teacher at Hillsdale Academy and other area schools. In many ways, Nate’s path has unfolded through transformative moments shaped by family, education, career endeavors, and art. For the Stewarts, the move to Hillsdale is more than a relocation—it’s the last stop and one that feels full circle. They did indeed happily settle in a small town near a small college next to a lot of cornfields. * * * Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Virtue and Valor: The Official Blog of Hillsdale College. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children - Eloise, Flora, and Jack. She enjoys baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, Detroit Lions football, and breaking a sweat at the gym. * * * Published in December 2025 The post Hometown Hillsdale: Nathaniel Stewart, ’95 appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Here it is, December already. Christmas is on the doorstep. At Hillsdale College, we are gearing up for holiday parties, gift exchanges, and final exams, not necessarily in that order. And we’re also preparing for a college football bowl game. On December 6, the Chargers will play the Upper Iowa University Peacocks in the Albanese Candy Bowl. If you love football and gummy bears, this game is for you. Billed as a match between the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, it is a chance to showcase NCAA Division II football and get in on the bowl season that is usually reserved for the larger publics and privates. The bowl tidbit that caught my attention is that the winner of the Candy Bowl walks away with the prestigious traveling prize—the Leg Lamp Trophy. If you aren’t familiar, this is homage to the now-famous movie _A Christmas Story_. It was the “major award” the father (“The Old Man”) received for winning a newspaper contest. The movie was based on the book _In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash._ The author, Jean Shepherd, grew up in Hammond, Indiana, just a short drive away from the bowl game’s location in Hobart. And the trophy also has a special Hillsdale connection. The director of the eventual movie _A Christmas Story_ happened to be Hillsdale alumnus Bob Clark, ’64. The 1983 film is now a Christmas classic, and Clark’s vision for it has been well documented. However, who was Bob Clark the student? Last spring, I met someone who actually lived with him for a time at Hillsdale. Jim Lucadam, ’65, was just a freshman and did not know he was supposed to sign up for on-campus housing. So he found an off-campus house on Manning Street. One of his housemates was Clark, an upperclassman and football teammate. Lucadam first “met” Clark while trying to tackle the stout fullback during a team scrimmage. It did not go well. “He used to run about a foot off the ground. I went to tackle him, and he just ran me right over,” Lucadam said of Clark. “He jumped up, laughed in my face, and thought it was funny. And I did, too. We became friends.” Clark, who came to Hillsdale from Florida, grew up in the shadow of the Everglades. He had stories to tell and told them well. “Bob told us all of these stories about when he was in high school in Florida,” Lucadam said. “We loved to hear his stories. He was an English major and loved to write.” Some of those stories ended up in the other notable film Clark directed, _Porky’s_. But that’s a story I’m not willing to tell, at least not on this blog. Being from Florida, Clark found Michigan winters to be a problem, especially when returning to Hillsdale from Christmas break. “He came back with a 1952 gray Chevrolet with bald tires,” Lucadam said of Clark. “Cars didn’t come with heaters or anything, so he almost froze to death driving it back. And he never had driven on snow before.” He drove Lucadam and some friends up a snow-covered West Street past Curtiss Dining Hall and slid right into a snowbank. “Everybody [in Curtiss] was up there laughing,” Lucadam said. “So we realized we had to do something.” They took him out to a frozen Baw Beese Lake and taught him how to drive on the snow and ice. “He had no clue how to do it,” Lucadam said. Clark did know how to scuba dive, and he taught classes in the pool at Stock’s Fieldhouse. “He would teach the class on Sunday evenings, and they would use the [air] tanks,” Lucadam said. “After the class left, there would still be some air in the tanks. So he invited us down to go scuba diving. He didn’t teach us how to do anything. He just had us swim around the pool until the tanks were empty.” So there’s your Hillsdale Christmas Story. If you want more on Clark, you can read a detailed article in _The Collegian_. Have a Merry Christmas, and may there be leg lamps for all, including the Chargers football team. * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in December 2025 The post A Hillsdale Christmas Story appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Brennan Berryhill When we’re children, we assume that our teachers live at school. That’s what makes it so traumatizing to run into them at the grocery store and realize they are normal people. But we “enlightened” college students can fall into the same trap of assuming that our professors simply exist to teach class, even though that only covers a portion of their work at Hillsdale College. It wasn’t until I joined an English course on World War I British Literature taught by Dr. Elizabeth Fredericks, associate professor of English, who explained that she had developed the class during her time on sabbatical, that I gave thought to the “secret lives” of college professors. I asked Dr. Fredericks about her sabbatical during the spring of 2025, and she explained how she used the time to expand her own learning and create new curriculum. Dr. Fredericks’s primary research focus during her sabbatical was a project on “depictions of motherhood in contemporary Irish women’s poetry.” She looked for recent poetic depictions of painful moments in Irish women’s history, specifically the combed-over abuse in the Magdalene Laundries and the Mother and Baby Homes. Dr. Fredericks read through dozens of poetry collections and presented her work on the Mother and Baby Homes at a conference in February 2025. A secondary research focus of hers was drafting an article based on work she had completed in Dublin in 2024 on poet Patrick Kavanagh. Her sabbatical routine settled into letting the dog out, making coffee, and writing for a few hours in the morning (something Dr. Fredericks expressed surprise about, since she had largely been an evening writer in graduate school), before walking the dog and reading Irish poets or World War I writers. She said that one of her favorite parts of the time away from teaching was “the long, unbroken stretches of time to read and really sink into a huge number of texts, something that I can only do in more piecemeal fragments during the semester.” While most of her time was spent at home, Dr. Frederick’s big sabbatical adventure was a road trip to California to see family and visit old friends along the way. Why would you spend January in Michigan when you could be in California, she asked—especially if you’re reading bleak World War I memoirs? The idea for the World War I British Literature class had been fomenting for a while. Dr. Fredericks loved teaching on World War I poets like Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen during her Victorian and Modern British Literature class. A class on World War I literature drew together many of her major interests, including the Irish revolutionary decade, British suffragettes, and literary modernism. “This was a complex class to develop,” Dr. Fredericks said, “particularly since I knew that I wanted it to be multi-genre (not just poetry or prose fiction), and also that I wanted to include windows into experiences that are less frequently discussed, such as the Irish experience, the home front, conscientious objectors, and so on.” She mentioned that she gathered more potential material for the class than she could even read over sabbatical. Many works she read, like Ford Madox Ford’s _Parade’s End_ or May Sinclair’s _A Journal of Impressions in Belgium_ , didn’t make the final cut for the class. By May 2025, she had created a rough reading calendar and submitted her booklist to the bookstore, which helped her determine the major texts for the class. Organizing texts was a beast of a task. The usual tactic of putting the readings in chronological order would send the class “lurching from theme to theme, since many major works about the war were published well after it.” Dr. Frederick’s solution was to structure the readings around “when they were _set_ , rather than when they were _published_ ,” with an emphasis on organizing them in a way that naturally led into one another. For example, Robert Graves’s memoir is easier to read than Edmund Blunden’s memoir, so it made sense to read that first, and both of them were important foundational works to read before David Jones’s seminal work _In Parenthesis_. Dr. Fredericks said that the class covers more writers than any other class she’s taught, but “teaching many authors so closely concentrated over one 20-year span also gives you such a rich and textured sense of the time and the literary culture, as well as a feeling for how these texts build upon or speak to one another.” While it was a challenge to conduct a class with so many texts, including some that she only had the time to go through twice, Dr. Fredericks said that the discussions in class revealed details and ideas she had not thought about when developing the notes. The course has given Dr. Fredericks the privilege of partnering with students in the exploration of these texts in a new way. One of her favorite moments from the class’s test run was hosting her six students at a dinner where they ate a meal prepared from a home-front ration cookbook and discussed R.C. Sherriff’s play _Journey’s End_. As one of the fortunate students participating in the test run of the class, I can say how much I have enjoyed exploring this period of literature and the broad swath of different authors and styles–everything from a dime store thriller to the memoir of a nurse whose life was wrecked by the war to a fictional, tragic love story about a soldier returning home with shell-shock-induced amnesia. None of this experience would have been possible without Dr. Frederick’s tireless commitment to the project over her sabbatical. The “secret lives” of professors are quite important. Even though it pains the student body every time a beloved professor leaves to go on a sabbatical, Dr. Frederick’s work shows that it is a worthy pursuit. * * * Brennan Berryhill, '27, hails from Denver, Colorado, and when he isn't writing or obsessively taking notes, you can find him playing trombone, debating, or nerding out over football. * * * Published in November 2025 The post New Marching Orders: Dr. Fredericks Creates a World War I Literature Class during Sabbatical appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Stephanie Gordon **Softball Paves the Way** At the age of five, Anna Chellman, ’26, picked up her first bat and softball. From that moment, she committed herself to the sport of softball through recreational leagues and travel teams. Chellman was a successful pitcher and all-around utility player in high school and knew she wanted to continue playing the game she loved at the collegiate level. Now a third baseman for the Chargers softball team, Chellman has learned that commitment to excellence takes diligence, even when a possible career-ending injury seems to crush years of dedication. Chellman grew up in Stevensville, Michigan, and attended Lakeshore High School. She helped lead her high school softball team to the 2022 Michigan High School Athletic Association Division II state title as a senior. When it came time to choose a college, Hillsdale seemed like the natural choice. After all, her father and mother, John and Summer, both Class of 1997, are former Chargers athletes. John was an offensive lineman for the football team, and Summer was a pitcher on the softball team. “I was obviously very familiar with Hillsdale and had attended a lot of Hillsdale Homecomings with my parents,” Anna smiled, “but for a while, I didn’t know if Hillsdale was the school for me.” What Chellman wanted was a small college experience that emphasized academic excellence. She also wanted a tight-knit collegiate softball experience. So, she and her parents visited several colleges, and at the end of her search, Hillsdale emerged as her top choice. “My dad’s freshman roommate is my godfather,” she said. “My mom’s two best friends from her Hillsdale softball days are still a huge part of my life. I asked myself, ‘Why wouldn't I want to be like them?’ Having these positive influences in my life really drew me to Hillsdale College, along with the softball program and academic rigor." **Growth Through Challenges** “I popped up a bunt, ran, stopped and twisted, and tore my ACL from the rotation during the last double header of my freshman year season,” Chellman explained. “No athlete wants to go through a torn ACL injury.” For Chellman, the year-long recovery was one of the hardest things she had to do—both mentally and physically. “It wasn’t easy, and it was a mental battle,” she said. “The entire time I told myself, ‘I can do hard things.’ I know it sounds cheesy, but it was what I needed to tell myself. God chose me to go through this journey for a reason. Looking back, it has made me stronger and more appreciative of the opportunities I have through softball.” Chellman focused on her rehabilitation during the summer of 2023. “I took a lot of things for granted before I tore my ACL,” she said. “I see every day as a blessing because I now know what it’s like to not be able to walk or go outside and be active.” During rehabilitation, Chellman never once felt like she was excluded from the softball team. “If anything, the injury strengthened my relationship with the team,” she said. “Coaches Gross and Hess and my teammates were always there for me. My role during my sophomore season was to support the team and be a positive presence for everyone.” And that she did. Chellman continued to show up to practices, travel with her teammates, and cheer on her team at games. “It wouldn’t have been a positive experience if it weren’t for my teammates,” Chellman said. “I wouldn’t want to play softball anywhere else because I love these people so much.” By the end of Chellman’s sophomore year, she was able to pinch-hit in five of the regular season games in the last three weeks of the season. She was even able to cover third base for a few innings. She attributes her success to continued strength and agility training and her positive teammates and coaches. “Coach Kyle Gross is probably one of the best college coaches out there,” Chellman said. “He makes sure that we’re all held accountable, and we, as a team, always put in the most work because that helps with consistency. He cares so much for his players and our well-being. A lot of coaches don’t see the person outside of the player. But he does.” **Stronger Than Ever** Her junior year, Chellman was simply elated to play softball again. “I was so excited to be on the field and to swing a bat,” she said. “Hitting a ball is my favorite thing in the world. Even when I strike out, I learn from my mistakes and adjust and do better the next time.” For the 2024-25 season, Chellman stepped into a full-time starting role for the first time at third base and excelled, starting all 57 games for the Chargers, according to the Athletic Department. She batted .277 and tied for second on the team with 11 doubles while also finishing second with 35 RBIs. Chellman also had 10 multi-hit games and hit the go-ahead three-run home run in Hillsdale’s G-MAC Tournament win over Findlay on May 1, 2025, helping the Chargers advance and eventually claim the G-MAC crown while earning All-Tournament team honors in the process. In addition to her success on the field, she was named to the 2025 CSC (College Sports Communicators) Academic All-District team for her success in the classroom and on the field. Chellman especially enjoyed traveling to Florida and Hawaii for tournaments, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience to grow as a team. “And it wouldn’t be possible without our parent support system,” she said. “That’s what’s different from other schools—our stands are always filled with parents. No matter where we are, they are there for us.” Chellman has learned that softball means three things: growth, loyalty, and trust. “Softball gives me the opportunity to overcome hard things as an individual and as part of a team,” she said. “You have to trust the girls you play with, and they have to trust you. You don’t realize this until you step out on the field and there are high expectations and a lot at stake. You also have to trust your team to be able to succeed. Softball means more than I can put into words.” With nearly two decades of softball experience under Chellman’s belt, she’s no stranger to commitment, challenges, and success. It’s evidence of “doing hard things,” all while keeping her team’s best interest in mind. “That’s what I’ll always try to do,” Chellman concluded. “It’s not just about me in softball. It’s about what I can do to help the team, and where I fit in the puzzle because everyone’s piece is different. It takes time and trust for everyone’s pieces to fall into the right place.” * * * Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Virtue and Valor: The Official Blog of Hillsdale College. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children: Eloise, Flora, and Jack. She enjoys baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, Detroit Lions football, and breaking a sweat at the gym. * * * _Reposted from the fall 2025 issue of Arete._ The post Strength Through a Setback: Anna Chellman Perseveres appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by James Gensterblum, '12 Excelling at one sport in college is a dream come true for most athletes. For Hillsdale College senior Marilyn Popplewell, however, that was just the beginning. Thanks to hard work and taking advantage of chance opportunities, Popplewell made the most of her final school year, making a huge impact in three different sports—volleyball, basketball, and track and field—to become Hillsdale’s first true three-sport athlete in more than two decades. “I’m grateful to be at a school like Hillsdale that’s given me a chance to get an excellent education, and at the same time take advantage of these opportunities to challenge myself and play the sports I love,” Popplewell said. “Every team I’ve been a part of at Hillsdale has brought me relationships and friendships I treasure, as well as so many experiences that have shaped who I am and that will stick with me for the rest of my life.” **Big Moments** A multi-sport star at Mason High School in Ohio, Popplewell was recruited by Head Coach Chris Gravel to play volleyball at Hillsdale College. She made an immediate impact as a freshman, finishing with a team-high 18 kills in Hillsdale’s four-set Midwest Regional Championship win over Ferris State that gave the Chargers their first NCAA DII Elite Eight appearance in a decade. That was Popplewell’s first big moment in a career full of them for the Chargers volleyball team. Over the next four seasons, Popplewell was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American twice while helping lead the Chargers to four G-MAC titles and three more NCAA Tournament appearances. She set the program’s single-match kills record with 28 in an upset of second-seeded Lewis in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and her 1,257 career kills rank eighth all-time in program history. “Marilyn is one of the most dedicated and focused competitors I’ve ever coached,” Gravel said, reflecting on Marilyn’s career. “Her consistency and her work ethic day-in and day-out in practice allowed her to maximize her potential and is why she excels at everything she does.” **Playing in the Big Dance** As Popplewell’s volleyball career drew to a close, she found herself thinking about the path she chose not to take as a dual-sport athlete coming out of high school. “Growing up, basketball was a huge part of my life as well, and with my volleyball career winding down, I thought, ‘Let’s see if there’s an opportunity to play basketball at this level with the eligibility I have left’,” Popplewell said. “I approached [volleyball] Coach [Chris] Gravel and [women’s basketball] Coach Brie [Brennan] with the idea in the spring before my senior year, and both coaches were very supportive.” Brennan, for her part, was intrigued by the idea of adding a proven leader to an up-and-coming team looking to break through in the 2024-25 season. “I knew from watching her on the volleyball court that Marilyn had the athleticism, and I knew from talking to her coaches and teammates what a leader she was and how respected she was,” Brennan said. “I knew that even if it didn’t work out in any other way, that leadership would have a positive impact on our squad.” After the 2024 volleyball campaign wrapped up in early December with another trip to the NCAA DII Midwest Regional, Popplewell was with the basketball team just a week later, already making an impact in practice within her first couple of days. “From the moment she stepped on the floor, Marilyn’s mindset was ‘I’m going to try and win every sprint, every rep, and just put everything I have into everything I do,’” Brennan said. “She came in with an incredible work ethic and humility and worked as hard as she could. It was just infectious on our team, and I could see the intensity of practice change immediately.” Popplewell quickly found herself playing an important role on the court, too. After playing a bit role in January, she stepped up in February after injuries opened up a spot in the rotation, grabbing 14 rebounds in a win at Tiffin and scoring 12 points in two separate contests as a key substitute. Thanks in part to Popplewell’s aid down the stretch, Hillsdale finished with its most wins since 2009 and a runner-up finish in G-MAC play. Just as she had in volleyball, Popplewell concluded her basketball season playing in the NCAA Tournament as Hillsdale made its first appearance in the Big Dance since 2018. **“Probably Pretty Far”** As amazing as Popplewell’s senior year had become, the story wasn’t finished yet. In March, with basketball over, Popplewell happened to be working out in the weight room at the same time as members of Hillsdale College’s track and field team. As she was lifting next to national champion thrower Ben Haas, with Associate Head Track and Field Coach Jessica Bridenthal nearby, the group struck up a conversation. “I asked Ben, not really seriously, how far he thought Marilyn could throw a javelin, and Ben responded, ‘Probably pretty far,’” said Bridenthal. “Marilyn jumped in and said, ‘I’m willing to give it a shot if you want.’” At the time, the Chargers track and field team didn’t have a dedicated javelin thrower, which is how Popplewell found herself trying out for the event despite never having touched a javelin in her life. It turned out Haas was right—Popplewell could throw a javelin pretty far. Just six weeks after that chance meeting in the weight room, Popplewell took runner-up honors in the event at the G-MAC Outdoor Championships, scoring significant points for a Hillsdale team that finished third in the competition. Her best throw on the season—38.92 meters—is the sixth-best throw in the event in program history. “My mindset was, if I’m able to perform at a level that helps the team and helps Hillsdale, then why not?” Popplewell said. Many of the same traits that helped Popplewell stand out on the volleyball and basketball court helped her excel as a first-time competitor in the javelin, Bridenthal said. “Marilyn is a stellar athlete, which really helps,” Bridenthal said. “More than that, she is driven to excel at what she does and is so coachable. “She’ll do extra reps outside of practice, and she’s always hungry for feedback and ways she can improve. She’s just a joy to work with, and her success this year is a real testament to who she is as a person.” Playing three sports in the same school year didn’t come at the expense of Popplewell’s academics. The senior graduated in May as one of the top students in her class, with a 3.94 GPA and a double major in biology and Spanish. She plans to attend medical school to become a doctor. Popplewell credits her coaches and her experience at Hillsdale for giving her the tools she needed to excel at a high level across multiple sports and in the classroom simultaneously. “One thing I learned from being in athletics was how important it is to put your whole self in whatever you’re doing so you can get the most out of it,” Popplewell said. “So whatever I’m doing—playing sports, studying, being with teammates—in that moment, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got, and then, when I’m doing something else, I’m putting everything else aside and giving that everything I’ve got, too. “If you can do that consistently, you’re never going to short-change yourself on what you could have done or could have been. That mindset has helped me a lot, and it’s why I can leave Hillsdale with no regrets.” * * * James Gensterblum is the Director of Athletic Communications at Hillsdale College. A 2012 graduate of Hillsdale College, James worked in print journalism as a sportswriter and editor in Michigan and Indiana for eight years prior to returning to Hillsdale, winning numerous awards for sportswriting and photography from the Michigan Press Association and the Associated Press. * * * _Reposted from the fall 2025 issue of Arete._ The post Triple Threat, No Regrets: Marilyn Popplewell Excels in Three Sports appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough A summer trip up north after her sophomore year at Hillsdale College changed everything for Paige Howell O’Leary, ’93. While driving to meet her family in Horton Bay, Michigan, O’Leary and her then-boyfriend were involved in a serious car accident. “The car flipped five times, and I was pulled out with the Jaws of Life,” she recalled. She sustained a serious head injury that eventually ended her playing career as a member of the Chargers women’s basketball team and threatened her academic standing at Hillsdale. In fact, her doctors recommended that she leave school and live at her South Lyon home during her rehabilitation and recovery. She refused. “After that [accident], I couldn’t walk and chew gum,” O’Leary said of her slow recovery. “I just lost all my coordination and had memory issues.” But she was determined to stay in school and stay at Hillsdale—even against her doctors’ advice. “If I don’t go back, I’m never going to finish,” she recalled of her decision to stay at Hillsdale. “It was super important to finish my degree at Hillsdale.” Although her basketball career was over, she worked through her memory issues to earn her degree in five years. O’Leary credits Hillsdale’s faculty, staff, and students for helping her make it through. “I slept a lot. I missed a lot of classes. But the professors worked with me, and I had some really good friends who helped me,” said the business major. “You know, everybody was very accommodating based on the circumstances.” She said then-Head Women’s Basketball Coach Phyllis Cupp and the Athletic Department allowed her to keep her athletic scholarship. She served as a student coach for the program during her remaining time at Hillsdale. “It was the people and the relationships with my professors,” O’Leary said of the reasons for being able to complete her degree. “When I was struggling with the academics and when school became very hard and I couldn’t remember a lot, they worked with me and supported me.” O’Leary continues to use that determination to succeed in both her professional and personal life. After graduation, she worked for Paine Webber setting up seminars and radio advertising. She next moved into sales, working for various companies in the Detroit area. When she met her eventual husband and married, they decided to build a home on a golf course in Charlevoix, Michigan, where they still reside. She moved into real estate, where she had success until she and her husband decided to start a family. Wanting to spend more time at home, she opened a small marketing and graphic design company, which she ran for 16 years. By this time, she had been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. In 2018, she opened a pottery studio in downtown Charlevoix. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she ended up closing the storefront. However, she restarted Cottage Pottery as a “roving” business model, teaching “paint your own pottery” classes around the area by request. “I just decided to go mobile,” she said of the pottery business. “Now I go to local restaurants and bars. There are a lot of wineries and breweries up here where I teach classes.” Part of her business model is fundraising for nonprofits and charities. “We raise money for people in need,” O’Leary said of her efforts. “I put on big programs for groups that are near and dear to my heart.” Three years ago, she and her husband bought an established restaurant in Charlevoix and are now the owners and operators of the Happy Troll Deli and Pub. “We’re both 55 now, and even in our 20s, we said we should open up a restaurant and do breakfast and lunch,” she said. “We had always joked around about opening a business, and then this downtown business became available.” Her husband, Dennis, now retired from a long corporate career, runs the restaurant, with Paige helping where she can. “We gutted the whole thing and put in a huge bar,” she said of taking over the restaurant. “We put our marketing skills to work, and we’ve increased business by 35 percent. I do all the marketing, social media, and the graphic design on the menus.” Two of their three daughters also work at the restaurant, which features a “massive” menu of handcrafted sandwiches, hamburgers, and some of the best prime rib around. “We pride ourselves on serving fresh meat that’s never frozen,” O’Leary said. “We slice all of our vegetables every day.” She had a chance to visit the Hillsdale campus a couple of years ago and has fond memories, in spite of the adversity she experienced. “A lot of it had to do with the people I met on my journey there,” said O’Leary, who also was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority at Hillsdale. “The biggest thing I learned at Hillsdale is to be determined. Never give up and keep moving.” * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Determined to Finish: Paige Howell O’Leary Overcomes Serious Injury to Complete Degree appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Have you ever thought about the impact our alumni have on the world? I have. In fact, I see it almost every single day. Austin Gergens, ’21, is an interesting guy I met a couple of years ago on campus when he started the master’s program in classical education. One thing I noticed is he had a very Western look and feel to him. The bolo tie he wore was a little unusual for the fashion scene in Hillsdale. At the time I thought it was just an interesting footnote to our meeting. Recently, I was reading _The Collegian_ (of course I’m biased, but I believe this is the best student newspaper in America) and noticed an article featuring Gergens and the movement he has started on campus: Texas Tuesday. In what has been called a “phenomenon,” each Tuesday he dresses up cowboy style, and now others have followed his lead. Note that he is not from Texas; he just loves the style and culture. Recently a group of College students from Texas organized a Lone Star Club on campus and have at least partially attributed the move to Gergens. You can read more here about this fun story of the Texas Tuesday movement on campus. What’s the point of all this, except an entertaining read? This is a terrific, albeit unconventional, example of the “Ripple Effect” Hillsdale College alumni have on the communities around them. One of the joys of my job is being able to go out “into the field” to meet alumni and see the impact they are making on the world. Recently, we had a chance to connect with a few alumni at a couple of College events in Colorado. Between events, Executive Director of Alumni Relations Colleen McGinness, ’04, and I try to meet up with alumni in the area who are doing amazing things. They are doctors, lawyers, teachers, homemakers, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders. All have a story to tell, and I am always grateful to be able to tell it. One trip in particular was memorable. Colleen and I braved the altitude and the mountain tunnels of the western Rockies to visit the mining town of Leadville, Colorado. With a population hovering around 2,600, the remote locale features an elevation of more than 10,000 feet and not one but two amazing alumni couples living within its borders. We stopped for a quick visit with Jamie and Amy Sayers Peters, both 2001 grads who are on staff at Lake County High School. Amy is the athletic director, while Jamie has been teaching mathematics for more than 20 years. Jamie may have the best classroom view in America, with the Rocky Mountains just a few miles outside his window. Seeing their dedication to their students and community was impressive. But we weren’t done. Just down the street lived 2009 grads Paul and Kathryn Williams Mueller, who spurned life in Washington, D.C., and New York City for a higher calling—and elevation. They have turned a former Catholic convent into a bed and breakfast that is the epitome of community living. Paul was also recently named the chair of the local Republican Party, and they are both active in their church while raising their six children. Look for more of their amazing story in a future _White & Blue_ e-newsletter. I continue to marvel at Hillsdale College alumni who are creating that Ripple Effect in their communities. Small community. Big impact. * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in November 2025 The post The Ripple Effect appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Roy Wetzel, ’56, may have retired from NBC News more than 37 years ago, but his passion for broadcasting and politics remains. In fact, his Ann Arbor-area apartment looks more like a newsroom, complete with TV monitors, computer, printer, and charts. He is currently analyzing data from the 2024 election, as well as data from the 35 U.S. Senate races that will occur in the 2026 midterms. “Well, I’m not actually polling,” he clarified. “I’m reading other people’s polls. I evaluate the current races, and I will continue to update this.” The 90-year-old who has worked with television news legends such as John Chancellor, David Brinkley, and Tom Brokaw began his career in broadcast news as a student at Hillsdale College. After being recruited by former Admissions Director Harriet Hale, he enrolled at Hillsdale in 1952, coming from the small town of Pleasant Ridge north of Detroit. In high school, Wetzel was introduced to audio tape recorders, which was new technology at the time. He taught himself how to edit audio tapes and quickly developed an interest in radio. During his freshman year at Hillsdale, he and one of his Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brothers, Jim Lewis, ’55, began a radio studio on campus in the basement of the former Worthing Hall. “There was one room occupied by the yearbook staff, and another room next to it occupied by the newspaper,” he recalled. “But there were a couple of empty rooms, and we turned one of those rooms into a control room and the larger one into a studio.” Helped by Hal Munn, ’47, who owned and operated a radio station in nearby Coldwater, Michigan, Wetzel would record programs on campus and then drive the tapes to the station to be played over the air. “Once a week, we would drive a batch of them over, because he broadcasted them every afternoon,” Wetzel said. Munn visited campus at the start of Wetzel’s sophomore year and came up with a better idea. “He climbed up to the attic of Worthing Hall and took a look west and saw that there was nothing but farms between him and his tower,” Wetzel said of Munn. “So he installed a very high-frequency transmitter up there so that we no longer had to make that half-hour drive. We could now be wired down to our little studio in the basement.” After getting an FCC license to operate the high-frequency transmitter, Wetzel sent their programs directly to Munn’s station. He said that experience really was a springboard to his future career. “I was the chief engineer and the chief announcer,” Wetzel said of his radio studio role. “And we had pretty good luck in getting the faculty to agree to [the station].” However, after two years at Hillsdale, he entered the U.S. Army, where he contracted polio and spent most of his active duty doing office work before being discharged 18 months later. During his time recovering, he decided he really wanted to pursue broadcasting and enrolled at the University of Michigan, which had one of the better programs in the country. After completing his journalism degree, Wetzel started his career as a newsroom director at a television station in Rochester, New York. His general manager was trying to compete with the Gannett-owned newspapers in town and told Wetzel he wanted to increase the station’s political coverage. “We just started covering everything that moved,” said Wetzel, who had a chance to follow former New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaign. “We started doing live broadcasts from city council. Any time a politician said anything or moved, we made sure we were there to cover it. That was unusual at the time, almost unprecedented.” That experience landed him a job in the broadcast news division of _Washington Post Newsweek_ in Washington, D.C., where he got his introduction to national politics. He was eventually hired by NBC News. His first day on the job with NBC was President Richard Nixon’s inauguration on January 20, 1969. As a deputy manager for the Washington bureau, he worked for the radio news operation. However, his stay in D.C. lasted less than a year, and Wetzel accepted a role as deputy bureau chief at NBC News in Chicago. In 1971 he was named bureau chief and news director of NBC’s affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio, and remained there until 1974. When President Nixon resigned in August of 1974 due to the Watergate scandal, Wetzel was moved to New York City to observe NBC’s election unit. “I was supposed to be an observer before taking it over at the end of the year,” he said. “Before two or three months, they were so overwhelmed that they had me assembling all of the coverage for the House of Representatives. The Senate and the House were both blazing stories that year.” Eventually, Wetzel took over NBC’s entire election coverage, and his first presidential election was Jimmy Carter versus Gerald Ford in 1976. He said he focused on the Democratic primary in Iowa and helped make Carter a national figure. “I turned it into a national story. We did a national broadcast that night. It was the first time that had been a national thing, just because I was precocious and insisted on going out there and turning it into a story,” he said. “Some people might say I gave Jimmy Carter a much bigger boost than he deserved. But I didn’t give a damn about that. What I gave a damn about was making a big, national story.” At the time there was not anything known as exit polling. However, Wetzel heard that news organizations like ITN in Great Britain were doing something similar in their election coverage. He was intrigued. “I went over there, and I got a chance to go on one of their election days,” he said. “I went several times and got very friendly with the people who were running the [ITN] news. They said, ‘We’re going to have an election in Wales; why don’t you come along and watch?’ So I did. I took a fast train out from London in the morning and went around Wales and watched how they did it. And I realized quickly that although they were really onto something, their methodology wasn’t going to work for us. But I loved the idea and how they were doing it. So I changed it when I came back. Instead of going to 12 or 15 locations, we went to 1,500 locations all over the United States.” Using his newfound exit polling data strategy, he said out of the 1,300 or so elections over 13 years, NBC made a total of six mistakes in calling a winner. “And I was pretty proud of that,” said Wetzel, who made the final call on each and every one. “I hated every single one we called wrong. I felt like I’d gotten hit across the chest with a two by four when I realized that we were [wrong].” He retired in 1988 after the George H.W. Bush vs. Michael Dukakis presidential election. “I had done everything I was going to do,” he said of his decision to retire. “There was no sentimentality about it.” Wetzel and his wife, Joanne, met during their time at the University of Michigan. He said they enjoyed living in urban cities such as New York, where they were season ticket holders for the Philharmonic for many years. They moved back to Ann Arbor in 1993, where they continued to relish the music scene until her passing in 2024. How serious was Wetzel about his profession as a journalist? To maintain his objectivity, he has not voted in a presidential election since 1964. He said he “regrets” the current state of television news. “When I see that there’s a large part of the population that prefers to get its news through a conservative filter, and there’s another big chunk of the population that prefers to get its news through a liberal filter, I really, truly regret that,” Wetzel said. “I think people would be better off if that weren’t the case.” Although Wetzel didn’t complete his degree at Hillsdale, he has warm memories of his time on campus. “Hillsdale in 1952, and ’53, and ’54—those were the glory days for me,” he said. “And there was hardly anybody on campus in 1952 who gave a hoot about national politics.” _Banner image courtesy of Pexels._ * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Polling Pioneer: Roy Wetzel, ’56, Revolutionized NBC News’ Election Coverage appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Tim Homan, ’08, saved his best for last. During the first three years of his Hillsdale College men’s basketball career, the sharpshooting guard averaged around 12 points a game. After a head coaching change and a summer where he did not focus on basketball, Homan headed into his senior year unsure of his future on the court. However, as the only senior on new Head Coach John Tharp’s first team, he thrived, earning first team all-conference honors and becoming one of the leading scorers in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He remains the most accurate career three-point shooter in program history (making nearly 45 percent) and finished with more than 1,400 career points. “He expected a lot out of you,” Homan said of Tharp, whom he credited for his senior year resurgence. “He brought a lot of energy. He is just one of those guys who genuinely cares.” Homan said he adopted his former coach’s philosophy of team and energy when he started his business, Stealth Arms, in Saint Marys, Ohio, near his hometown. “We build 1911 style firearms,” he said of his business, which is about 12 years old. “The 1911 originates from when John Browning designed it. It was in World War I and in World War II. It’s this iconic American pistol that’s been around for 100 years.” However, Stealth Arms incorporated a little ingenuity into the 1911 that makes it unique in the market. Stealth combined the accuracy of the 1911 and the functionality of the Glock. “We took that [Glock] magazine, which holds 17 rounds, and adapted it to the 1911,” Homan said of his new creation. “This is something that people talked about for years on forums, but nobody ever did it. And we did.” The result was the Platypus, named after the mammal with a beaver tail and a duck bill. Homan said the term has stuck despite their initial doubts. “For the life of us, we could not think of anything else,” Homan said of his custom 1911 pistol. “We went with it, and it turned out to be marketing genius.” Sales for the distinctive American-made Platypus have been brisk. Homan said a key is a website that provides customization not found anywhere else. “It is the very best gun-build website,” he said. “We built this website in-house. It allows for unparalleled customization options. There are literally millions of configurations the customer can choose from. And once you place the order, we build the gun. There is nothing else like this in the world.” He said customer service is a top priority, and since his wife, Jess, recently left her teaching job and joined the company, it has gotten even better. “It is the best thing that ever happened, except for the birth of our kids,” he said of his wife joining the business. “Now she helps at the shop every single day. It’s just great.” Homan said his boyhood hobbies were firearms and airplanes. Now, his business allows him to combine those interests. He owns both a plane and a helicopter, which allows him to travel around the area to conduct business. Stealth Arms has another important point of pride. “We don’t do any sales or marketing at all,” Homan said. “We just put out a damn good product. And people come to us because they trust us, and we don’t let them down. They come back and they tell their friends.” Homan, who is involved in coaching their three children (ages 13, 11, and 8) in youth athletics, said he appreciates his Hillsdale education now more than ever. “I think it developed me,” said Homan, a speech communication major who entered Hillsdale with plans to become an airline pilot. “Hillsdale gave me a little confidence to do what I do now, which is lead. Now, I’m an advocate for freedom. I appreciate all the things that I learned.” In fact, while recently developing a new product, he remembered the concept of price elasticity he learned during his economics class with Dr. Gary Wolfram. He also remains grateful to his former coach for the lessons he acquired on the court. “It was always there for me to lead the league in scoring,” Homan said. “The other years I was there, I just didn’t know how good I was. [Coach Tharp] brought out the best in me.” * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Bringing Out the Best: Homan Succeeds in Basketball and Business appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Tyler Cortright believes the phrase “Hillsdale College doesn’t teach students _what_ to think, it teaches them _how_ to think” also applies to the care of its student-athletes. As the College’s assistant athletic director for Sports Medicine and Performance, he is convinced educating Hillsdale’s student-athletes is the key to preventing injuries and optimizing performance. "What we do well is teaching,” said Cortright, who started at the College as an athletic trainer in 2016 before being promoted to his current position. “We only see our student-athletes about 8-20 hours per week, but we can educate them about the many things they can do outside of their required time at practice and in the weight room to make sure they are well prepared.” Cortright leads a team that includes head trainer Dan Hudson, and athletic trainers Lynne Neukom, ’91, Mikayla Kemp, Kevin Kosiorek, and Jordyn Dubina, who oversee care for student-athletes in all 14 of Hillsdale’s varsity sports. Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Mitchell Schoenborn and Medical Director Kam Mueller are also part of the team that keeps the Chargers in peak physical condition. And that team does its job very well. In 2023-24, Hillsdale’s Sports Medicine and Performance Department was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year. It was the second time Hillsdale was recognized by its peers with the honor since 2019. The award criteria included hospitality toward visitors; host preparedness with supplies, equipment, and services for visitors; care for injured student-athletes from visiting teams; and overall staff preparedness for emergency situations. “We’re really grateful for winning that award. There’s a lot of different indicators of success with our team,” Cortright said. “Number one is, what kind of impact are we having on these kids? Number two is when kids have issues on campus, they know that they can trust in us on developing an adequate plan of care.” Cortright said former Athletic Director Don Brubacher and current Athletic Director John Tharp have been supportive in increasing the size of the training staff, which is crucial to building continuity with the team. When Cortright arrived in 2016, the staff consisted of just him and Neukom. The Chargers now have six full-time trainers. “He saw the importance of work/life balance,” Cortright said of Brubacher, who promoted him to his current role in 2018. “You want to keep good athletic trainers on a college campus. If you don’t create a good schedule, then you’re not going to keep people very long.” Cortright, who interned with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers for two years while a student at Hope College, knows burnout. Before coming to Hillsdale, he worked as a trainer and strength and conditioning coach in the Jackson and Lansing area for several years, working with multiple high schools and colleges. In 2014, he had to step away because of what he called “burnout.” Now, with a wife and two children under the age of 5 at home, he said the team approach Hillsdale provides strikes the necessary balance. “I tell my wife and kids our schedules are at the mercy of a team’s schedule,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we can’t control. But what we do really well as a team is help each other out. I like to think our staff is genuinely happy.” Cortright said having a diversity of expertise on his staff is critical to the operation. Because of his background in both training and strength and conditioning, he can help identify potential injuries before they happen just by watching the movements of student-athletes. “We have other athletic trainers who are good with their hands,” Cortright said. “Dan Hudson is great with shoulder rehabilitation and shoulder evaluation injuries. He’s worked in baseball for a number of years.” And whether it’s dealing with student-athletes, parents, or coaches, there is one common denominator: communication. “Communication is extremely important,” he said. “I always tell our athletic trainers, no matter who you’re working with, whether it’s a student-athlete, a coach, or a parent, try to empathize with the position that they’re in. If you’re not doing that, it’s hard to communicate in the right way.” Sometimes the training staff needs to work on the mental and psychological side as much as the physical with recovering student-athletes. “What I’ve noticed over the years working in the college setting is that you are kind of a mom or dad away from home,” Cortright said. “Students may have something going on in class or in their personal lives. It’s not just a knee injury or shoulder injury. Sometimes you’re doing a rehab session with them and a lot of other things come out.” He said his team’s goal is to look out for a student-athlete’s best interest, both now and in the future. “We want to help that student-athlete get back on the field to help the team,” he said. “I don’t want to see athletes leave our Athletic Department at the end of their careers and they can’t walk well, or they are headed down the road of poor health. We want to educate and guide them so when they leave here, they can lead a happy, healthy life with their families.” * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * _Reposted from the spring 2025 issue of Arete._ The post Far From Basic Training: Sports Medicine and Performance Team Recognized as Conference’s Best appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by James Gensterblum, '12 The first month of college for a freshman is supposed to be a time of transition and adjustment to new responsibilities and a new life. It’s not usually a time to be bringing home trophies. However, a trio of precocious men’s golfers at Hillsdale College—Oliver Marshall, Ryan O’Rourke, and Robert Thompson—defied the odds and celebrated their first month at Hillsdale with a team title in their sport, kicking off a banner first year with the Chargers in the 2023-24 season. Now second-year players at Hillsdale, the trio forms the core of a group that’s challenging to bring home the men’s golf program’s first spring conference championship and to reach the NCAA Regional round for the first time in four years—and just the third time in program history. “Once these three players were signed in November of 2022, it was easy to take a step back and see the potential of what they could do together,” Hillsdale Men’s Golf Coach Matt Thompson said. “They’ve been able to do it faster than we could have hoped, but from the start, we felt like we had the foundation of something special.” When Marshall, O’Rourke, and Thompson entered Hillsdale in August of 2023, it quickly became apparent that they weren’t going to be sitting and learning behind their older teammates for very long. All three came to Hillsdale with extensive high-level golf experience in the junior golf ranks, including top-level talent development circuits like the American Junior Golf Association and the Junior PGA. That meant they were no strangers to the stacked fields and small margin for error in college golf. It’s common practice in collegiate golf for teams to hold a qualifying event before their first official competition, with the results playing a big role in determining the five golfers who take the lead in subsequent invitationals. In Hillsdale’s first qualifier of the 2023-24 campaign, Marshall, O’Rourke, and Thompson took the top three spots, beating out every returning golfer on the Chargers’ squad and cementing their presence in the lineup. “That first qualifier really opened our eyes that we were ready to compete at this level, and that for our team to reach the goals we had set, we had to step up,” Marshall said. “That made me want to work even harder, and I could tell the other guys in my class felt the same.” With its freshman trio leading the way, Hillsdale exploded out of the gates in the 2023-24 season. The Chargers captured the team title at the season-opening Malone-Glenmoor Invite in September 2023, Hillsdale’s first team trophy at an invitational since 2019. Marshall, O’Rourke, and Thompson all finished in the top 10 as individuals to help lock up the trophy. For the rest of the 2023-24 campaign, the freshman trio played in all nine events for Hillsdale, and all three excelled, combining for eight top-10 finishes with Marshall and Thompson each earning All-G-MAC honors. For the trio, it was a quick adjustment to the team aspect of collegiate golf. Team play is somewhat unusual at most levels of golf, which is often considered an individual sport, but that facet is something all three have come to enjoy for similar reasons. “When you’re part of a team, it gives you extra motivation on the course,” O’Rourke said. “When you’re just playing for yourself in a tournament, if you start with a bad round, it’s tempting to just go through the motions the rest of the weekend because you no longer have a chance to win. “Here, even if you have a bad start, you can still help your team with your score by bouncing back and playing well the next day. I love that, because every time you tee off, it means something for your team, and you have a chance to make a difference.” Another benefit of the team environment at Hillsdale, all three players say, is the spirited competition in practice and on the course that comes with being surrounded by other passionate golfers working every day to hone their craft. “Obviously, all three of us are competitive people, and like every golfer, you want to see your name at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day,” Robert Thompson said. “From a team perspective, that’s only a good thing, because if all three of us are battling at the top of the leaderboard, our team score is going to be great. “It’s the same thing in practice. We’re each working hard to be the best we can be, but we know that for us to do what we want to do as a team, it’s going to take all of us playing at an elite level. We reach that point by pushing each other to excel.” With the first half of the 2024-25 season in the books, Hillsdale has put itself in a good position to make the NCAA Regional. Although Marshall missed the fall season due to an injury, Thompson and O’Rourke both played sensational golf to help lead the Chargers, while another pair of impact freshmen, Jackson Piacsek and Aryan Sharma, also made huge early contributions. With Marshall slated to return for the second half of the season this spring, Hillsdale looks poised to make a run. The team will have an added boost with the completion of an indoor training facility that opened in December—the brand-new Salmans Golf Performance Center at Hayden Park that includes an indoor practice green and four hitting bays. The new building, funded by generous donations, will make it easier for the Chargers to stay sharp and continue improving over the winter. A more skilled team should make a spring push to return to the NCAA Regional easier. “Previously, when the snow hit, we had one indoor simulator that we had to share across 11 guys, which made it challenging to get the work done we needed to get done to stay sharp,” Marshall said. “The new building is going to be a game-changer for us. “Now we can have four people practicing at once, and we can continue working on our short game and our chipping even indoors, which is something that usually drops off over the winter months.” Hillsdale will pick up competition again in March, with an eye toward the G-MAC Championships scheduled to take place on April 21-23, 2025, at Belterra Resort in Florence, Indiana. A strong performance there could cement the Chargers’ spot in the NCAAs and continue Hillsdale’s climb. “I think the biggest thing is just to keep grinding and getting better every day,” Robert Thompson said. “We know we have the ability to do it, but now we have to put in the work and develop the consistency to get it done when it counts the most.” * * * James Gensterblum is the Director of Athletic Communications at Hillsdale College. A 2012 graduate of Hillsdale College, James worked in print journalism as a sportswriter and editor in Michigan and Indiana for eight years prior to returning to Hillsdale, winning numerous awards for sportswriting and photography from the Michigan Press Association and the Associated Press. * * * _Reposted from the spring 2025 issue of Arete._ The post On the Ball: Super Sophomore Trio Brings Chargers Golf to the Forefront appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Stephanie Gordon Education and learning have always been a constant for Stacy Bryan Vondra, ’95. So has Hillsdale College. The Boyne City, Michigan, native came to Hillsdale as a student (thanks to a gentle nudge from her high school Spanish teacher) and now teaches students of her own. From head teacher to director at Mary Randall Preschool, to speech pathologist for the Branch County ISD, students have remained at the heart of it all for Stacy. “I’ve been connected to Hillsdale College in some way since I was 18,” smiled Stacy. “The fact that I’ve had a connection to my alma mater for this long, in various roles, is unique.” As a student, Stacy quickly immersed herself in Hillsdale’s culture, both in athletics and academics. She was a cheerleader for both football and basketball seasons, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and a member of the Spanish and education honoraries. She majored in early childhood education and minored in Spanish and English. Because of her early childhood background, Kathleen Connor, ’79, had a significant impact on Stacy. “Kathleen hired me to be a head teacher at Mary Randall Preschool after my graduation, and later as the director,” said Stacy. “We have a special, lifelong connection that started through education and our passion for early childhood education specifically.” That educational passion continued to grow as Stacy taught preschoolers and college students in her new role at the College. “I was making effective changes in the lives of students, and it’s definitely shaped how I teach today,” she said. “I became the director at Mary Randall Preschool in 2005, and the experience was unparalleled.” But a seed for a future in speech pathology was planted in Professor Walt Lewke’s “Teaching the Exceptional Child” class. “We had many conversations and reflections on education,” said Stacy. “He often told me I’d be a good speech pathologist someday.” That seed began to grow at Mary Randall as Stacy supported student and parent goals with speech therapy. Looking for ways to enhance her skills, Stacy went back to school to obtain two master’s degrees in child development and speech-language pathology. “Hillsdale College certainly prepared me well with knowledge and instruction, teaching children, and supporting teachers and learners chasing the pursuit of knowledge and polishing skills,” she said. “But, I decided to go back to school and study speech pathology. I was representing Hillsdale College in a new and different way.” After nearly two decades at the College, Stacy took on a new educational role: speech pathologist for the Branch County ISD. Her home base is at Jennings Elementary School in Quincy, Michigan. “My heart lies in a school setting, so it was an easy adjustment,” she said. “Mary Randall is an unmatched facility, and the fact that I got to be there for 18 years was phenomenal.” Currently, Stacy has four Hillsdale College students shadowing her work and applying to graduate schools for speech pathology. “Working with the students has been such a joy,” said Stacy. “Education is that balance of teaching and continuous learning. My personal research is fostered in an educational setting. I love helping all students learn—we should all be learning. It keeps things exciting.” Stacy stays active with educational research interests, her church (St. Anthony’s), and the College’s Women Commissioners. “As a student who received scholarships, it’s been beautiful to help raise money and provide that gift to other students,” said Stacy. “It’s also been great to get to know the students more intimately and personally.” Outside of the classroom, Stacy enjoys spending time with her husband of 29 years, Shawn, who is newly retired after serving Hillsdale Community Schools for 25 years as a teacher and administrator. Stacy and Shawn have two grown children, Grace and Sam. She said raising their children in Hillsdale was a joy. “When you’re a college student, you may not always see the beauty in the community, but when you’re ready to raise a family, you see the beauty in the community,” reflected Stacy. “I love that I can still go to the grocery store and see students who I used to have in preschool. I’m in awe of the connections that are still in place many years later. It speaks volumes.” With the Vondras invested in their careers and business ventures, Hillsdale will stay home base for quite some time. “I love what I do,” said Stacy. “We have so many ties and connections to this community and the College, and our friendships…. Hillsdale is a really special place.” * * * Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Virtue and Valor: The Official Blog of Hillsdale College. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children - Eloise, Flora, and Jack. She enjoys baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, Detroit Lions football, and breaking a sweat at the gym. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Hometown Hillsdale: Stacy Vondra, ’95 appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Ask Bill Lundberg to sum up his 40 years at Hillsdale College, and he is at a loss for words. For those who know him, it might be a first. After spending his first 27 years as a head coach for the men’s cross country and track and field programs and more than a decade as the head of the Hillsdale College Wellness Initiative, Lundberg retired from the College in May. “I’ve been very honored to have those different roles,” Lundberg said from his office in the clubhouse at Hayden Park. “Just being a Charger through and through, I have loved it. Everything along the way has been special.” The man affectionately known as “Wild Bill” came to Hillsdale in February of 1985 full of vigor and built a powerhouse program. Here are just a few of his career coaching highlights: * 25 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) championships * 17 NAIA or NCAA Division II individual national champions * More than 200 academic or athletic All-Americans * Top three finishes in NAIA cross country in 1992, 1993, and 1994 * 1994 NAIA Coach of the Year * 22 GLIAC Coach of the Year awards However, it was often his impact off the track that people remember. A man of deep faith, Lundberg has dedicated his life to giving back to his community, working closely with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and with several other charitable organizations. His 40-plus-year legacy of living out his faith has made an incalculable impact on the spiritual lives of countless numbers of his students. Surprisingly, running wasn’t his first athletic love. It was basketball, and he was focused on that growing up in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois. “My whole world was basketball,” he said. When his family moved to Jackson, Michigan, in 1969, Lundberg attended Lumen Christi High School and decided to try running in the spring of his senior year. He did so well that college coaches, including those at Hillsdale College, were very interested. After graduation, Lundberg enrolled at nearby Jackson Community College, where his running career accelerated. In fact, powerhouse programs recruited him. He eventually decided to attend the University of Kansas over the University of Michigan. At Kansas, he was one of the nation’s top steeplechasers, competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1976 and 1980. Lundberg was on track to make the 1980 Olympic team before rupturing his Achilles tendon in the U.S. Trials steeplechase final. “I was part of some of the finest track and field programs in our country at Kansas,” he said. Originally thinking he would pursue a career in architecture, he eventually switched his major to education. “There’s an expression that those who can’t do, teach,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s that way at all. I think teaching was always for me. I always thought that whether I taught at the elementary or secondary level, I would like to coach as well.” When his elite racing career ended, Lundberg entered coaching, first at Jackson Community College at the young age of 22, then at Hillsdale, where he was able to teach as well. Upon his arrival at Hillsdale, he inherited a talented group of student-athletes from departing coach Joe Rogers—names like Paul Aufdemberge, Mike Nugent, and John Chandler. Hall of Famers like Ryan Pschigoda, Jim McHugh, and DeShawn Meadows soon followed. “Tradition, excellence, legacy. I think of those words when I remember those runners and the program we built. I’ll never forget those early teams,” he said. He is grateful for the sage advice he received early on at Hillsdale from his fellow coaches, including then-Athletic Director Jack McAvoy and former football coach Dick Lowry. “I look at [student-athletes] like a son or daughter,” he said. “You better care for them like that, because who do you have to answer to? Their parents, who aren’t always right there, and you have to answer to the good Lord, because the students are on loan to us. They are totally His.” Lundberg values his longtime relationship with Diane Philipp, who was his coaching counterpart on the women’s side for many years. “You want to be associated with greatness, great leaders, and excellence,” he said. “Diane’s a big part of that.” He said the camaraderie of the Hillsdale coaching staff is special and continues with current Athletic Director John Tharp. “There’s greatness in my life because of the greatness that was poured into my life,” he said of the Hillsdale College community. “I’m so inspired by the other coaches in the program. I’ve always been grateful for that. I love being a part of something that reflects who I am. We’re part of the Charger family. It’s the best.” A few years ago, the Athletic Department created the “Wild” Bill Lundberg Award, which is given annually to a student-athlete who makes the biggest positive impact in the community. Lundberg and his wife of 41 years, Sharon, raised three children—Steven, ’08, Kate, ’10, and Tommy, ’13. The Lundbergs are also blessed with four grandchildren. Lundberg remains a fixture at Chargers sporting events and also volunteers at many Hillsdale College and area high school track and field meets. His trademark “Wild Bill whistle” will still be heard in the community. “We’re not moving right away or anything,” Lundberg said of his retirement plans. “I think I can assist athletics in different ways. We’re going to fill it with family and with faith.” * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * _Reposted from the fall 2025 issue of Arete._ The post A Wild Ride: Lundberg Retires After 40 Years at Hillsdale College appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Faith Senne On the first day of my sophomore year, I sat in the front row of the classroom for my second-to-last class. Excitement danced up and down my spine. Around me, friends conversed and strangers introduced themselves to each other. At the bottom of the hour, Dr. Benedict Whalen began the first class of Great Books in the British and American Traditions (Great Books II). When I first registered for Great Books II, I was interested in pursuing an English major or minor because of Dr. Justin Jackson’s Great Books in the Western Tradition (Great Books I), but I didn’t think I would end up doing it. Dr. Whalen’s first lecture contained all of the housekeeping items you would expect to find at the beginning of a college class: the syllabus, the academic policy, and an overview of what we would be reading. But Dr. Whalen’s Great Books II class included something that my other first lectures did not: poetry. Handing us sheets of Robert Frost’s “Nature’s First Green is Gold,” Dr. Whalen explained that we would memorize poetry throughout the semester. As we read and analyzed Frost’s poem, I gradually realized the depth and truth of it—how we as humans are thoroughly blessed, and because we are thoroughly blessed, we take so much for granted, such as nature. As I write in Heaven (the main floor of the Mossey Library), I can see the trees outside in their green glory. The leaves are gold in the sunlight, as Frosts points out. But it is a different kind of gold he is thinking of. When one thinks of leaves being gold, they no doubt think of autumn settling in and the coming frost. But this is precisely why, for Robert Frost, we mustn’t take nature for granted: after a long winter, when the first green peeks through the thawing ground, we breathe a sigh of relief. At last, we say, we have made it through the storm, and nature’s first green at this time is gold. But only at this time. Sadly, we become desensitized to nature’s beauty, and the green we rejoiced in becomes an afterthought. Dr. Whalen’s Great Books II also helped me realize we mustn’t take our present circumstances for granted. I Thessalonians 5:16-18 states, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” And so, although I had no intention of continuing my study of English after the two Great Books courses, Dr. Whalen changed my mind. In fact, he made me fall in love with poetry so deeply that I am now minoring in English. I committed my 2025 summer to studying at Oxford University, and I am taking Dr. Stephen Smith’s Shakespeare’s politics and poetry class. Thus, I owe Dr. Whalen credit for making me love English (and my two cents’ worth of philosophical musings that resulted from it). Frost states that nothing gold can stay. Sadly, this is true for a lot of people, but it doesn’t have to be. As students, if we slow down, take a deep breath, and do something that will bring us joy (baking, sketching, laughing with friends, or memorizing poetry), then the gold will stay. For me, adding an English minor brings me joy. I will be busier than ever, but because this is something I want to do, the gold will stay for me, too. And so, I thank you, Dr. Whalen. * * * Trading her southern California natural habitat for a parka and snow boots, Faith Senne, ’27, is a double major in history and German with a minor in English. When she isn’t writing a paper about a niche topic like prudence in Shakespeare’s tragedies, you can find her in line for coffee at Penny’s, practicing lead changes on horseback, or practicing her violin. * * * Published in October 2025 The post How Do I Love English? appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Adam Robbins Hillsdale College has worked to spread classical education on campus and across America with K-12 programs meant to inspire virtue and good citizenry in students of all ages. Hillsdale’s Barney Charter School Initiative helped launch Atlanta Classical Academy (ACA) in 2014. I began attending ACA as a fourth-grade student. The founding members of the charter were parents seeking a quality education for their children, according to their choice. As a faculty member’s child, I can attest that it was a difficult and uncertain endeavor and an exercise in the virtues taught by both ACA and Hillsdale College. ACA encourages its students to pursue several virtues: courage, courtesy, honesty, humility, perseverance, self-government, and service. The students do not have the same honor code as Hillsdale College, but these virtues and the school pledge (stating students will learn the truth, do the good, and love the beautiful) hold ACA’s student body to a similar standard of behavior and academic dedication. As a young student in those early years, I repeatedly heard the word “self-government.” I realized later that it was not just a way of telling a fourth grader how to behave, but also the embodiment of American citizenry. Though the endeavor was uncertain at first, the staff, faculty, parental, and student support have been key to ACA’s success. I had countless opportunities to assist teachers, volunteer at after-school events, and help with community projects. The teachers, faculty, and staff also devoted their time outside the classroom as club sponsors, coaches, and fine arts directors. Both Hillsdale and ACA can exist because of the generosity of their independent donors and the selflessness of volunteers. As a Hillsdale student, I feel the similar virtues and genuine connections to my professors as I did with my high school teachers. But on a more basic level, the education I have received and am receiving makes me want to be a good person. It makes me want to be better than who I was the day before. It makes me wonder about the nature of my existence and makes me curious about the people who have come before me and struggled with the questions of the human condition. A liberal arts education gives you the means to decide how you will live your life and why you choose to live it that way. That is one of the ways in which a liberal arts education makes you “free” and lives up to its name. It is like a compass or map, not a fenced path or singular road. Coming from a classical school, I am more familiar with the objects of liberal arts education. However, I have not mastered or used them to their fullest ability. Hillsdale College is helping me learn how to do that, and it’s one of the reasons I wanted to attend Hillsdale. Hillsdale College’s influence on K-12 students around the country has spread the importance of critical thinking in students and the importance of tradition in education. The endeavor of parents and teachers has created students who understand the value of their education. My education has given me insight into many subjects and histories, but most importantly, it has given me the ability to think freely and rise to self-government. * * * Adam Robbins, '27, hails from Atlanta, GA, and enjoys writing short stories and poetry, reading, and the English language. He plays classical guitar and specializes in Classical, flamenco, and Spanish music. His favorite author is Dostoevsky, and he enjoys studying literary and philosophical works from across the ages. He likes to spend his warm sunny days golfing with friends or going on walks. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Classically Connected: Pursuing Virtue at Hillsdale College and Its K-12 Schools appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Monica VanDerWeide, '95 They come to Hillsdale from distant lands, drawn by the same qualities that attract American student-athletes to Hillsdale: an excellent education plus the chance to compete at a high level in their sports with scholarship support. Hillsdale’s international student-athletes have found that and more—welcoming and supportive teammates, coaches, professors, and friends—while also adjusting to life in small-town America. Here are the stories of three international Chargers. **Filippo Reale, ’25—Men’s Golf** **Rome, Italy** Filippo Reale started playing golf at the tender age of 3 or 4 because, as his dad told him, “American businessmen play golf.” His father was on to something. Now a Hillsdale senior, Reale is set to graduate in the spring with a double major in financial management and applied mathematics. He will likely return to the Italian-owned, Houston-based heavy transport company where he had a sales estimator/cost control internship last summer, an internship that also featured a lot of golf. “My coworkers loved playing golf with me,” he said with a smile. A decorated amateur player in Italy, winning a national under-14 tournament and ranked 33rd among all Italian amateurs and 12th among Juniors at one time, Reale learned of Hillsdale from two Englishmen who helped him research golf programs at American colleges. Playing for the Chargers has opened up experiences Reale never thought he would have, and it’s also changed his perspective. “Before Hillsdale, I played golf for myself,” he said. “Now, I support my teammates. I think this year’s team will be the best yet.” Reale has enjoyed the friendships he’s made not only with his golf teammates, but also with other athletes at the College. “Athletes are a pretty tight group here,” he said. “We share in each other’s experiences and support each other. We’re honored to represent a school with such a high caliber of academics as Hillsdale.” Reale has embraced the challenge of Hillsdale’s academics, especially the core classes. “They really open up your mind to different ways of thinking about things,” he said. He especially enjoyed the class discussions in his Introduction to Philosophy course, where it was “satisfying to think about big questions and hear what philosophers like Aristotle had to say.” Having lived in the U.S. for four years now, Reale has been impressed by American hospitality and how others have welcomed him. “It’s really easy to make friends here,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed visiting my roommates at their homes. I feel really well integrated here and can talk to anyone about anything.” While his competitive golf days will likely end this spring, Reale is grateful for the opportunity to play for four years at Hillsdale. “Golf has given me so much,” he said. “I’ll continue to play it for fun. But I have faith in my capacity to do other things, especially with a degree from Hillsdale.” **Lucia Ruchti, ’25—Women’s Swimming** **Nairobi, Kenya** Lucia Ruchti wanted a challenge. The star swimmer from Kenya started competing at the age of 5 and began her collegiate career at a university in North Carolina. But she felt stuck. “I wasn’t growing academically or athletically,” she recalled. Upon entering the transfer portal, she connected with Hillsdale Head Swim Coach Kurt Kirner. “He told me I would be challenged at Hillsdale,” she said. “I was intrigued.” Ruchti transferred to Hillsdale her junior year and added her talents to an already impressive swimming program. She set personal records in two events and placed in the top ten in two events at the G-MAC/MEX Championships (200 and 50 freestyle), contributing toward the Chargers’ runner-up finish in 2024. “The girls on the team are so ambitious and hardworking,” Ruchti said. “That encouraged me to step up my game and work really hard to help the team.” A biology major, Ruchti had a big adjustment at first since she lacked the foundation that other non-transfer students had. “I’ve definitely been challenged in ways I never would have imagined,” she said. “But my professors took the time to help me and to teach me what I had missed. I started afresh and discovered my strengths and weaknesses.” Ruchti has enjoyed getting to know other international students at Hillsdale, including a few from Kenya. “Even though we’re all from different places, we go through the same struggles. There’s a connection on a deeper level,” she said. Ruchti aspires to become a physician and will apply to medical schools in the U.S. After completing her schooling, she hopes to gain some experience before returning to Kenya to “make a difference.” In the meantime, she looks forward to continuing to compete for the Chargers. “I want to finish my swimming career feeling that I gave it my all, that I have done everything I possibly can before I hang up my goggles and cap,” she said. And she couldn’t be happier doing that while wearing the Charger blue. “We are all one family, striving to represent Hillsdale as best as we can.” **Alejandro Cordero Lopez, ’28—Men’s Tennis** **Madrid, Spain** Alejandro Cordero Lopez joined the most international of Hillsdale’s athletic teams—men’s tennis—which boasts five international players. He began playing tennis at age 7, and soon thereafter took up basketball as well. By age 14, he gave up basketball to focus solely on competitive tennis. “I began thinking about coming to the United States for college and to play tennis,” he recalled. “In Spain, you choose either studies or sports; you can’t do both in college.” Working with an agency that helps Spanish students connect with tennis programs at American colleges, Cordero Lopez discovered Hillsdale and talked with Head Coach Keith Turner. “At first, I was only looking at the tennis program, but as I learned more about Hillsdale’s academics, I realized it would be a really good fit,” Cordero Lopez said. “I liked the small size of the College, the close relationships with professors, and the school’s values.” Once Cordero Lopez committed to Hillsdale, he got an unexpected but much appreciated call from a Spanish student on the Chargers swimming team. “She gave me a good idea of what to expect at Hillsdale,” he said. “That was helpful for my parents, too, who were freaking out a bit about me coming over here!” Those fears were unfounded, though, as Cordero Lopez found a supportive team at Hillsdale. “We’re a young team and going through the same things,” he said. “After one month, we felt like we had been together for a year already.” Men’s tennis has a brief fall season with most of its matches held in the spring. Nonetheless, Cordero Lopez had a strong start to his collegiate career. “I feel like I played some of my best tennis this fall,” he said. “My coaches and teammates are ambitious, and we motivate each other to do our best.” Off the court, Cordero Lopez is adjusting to the tranquility of life in a small town. “It surprised me how you need a car to go just about anywhere here,” he said. “In Madrid, everything is nearby, and you use public transportation.” He finds that his English is steadily improving as he settles into college life. He thinks he may pursue a major in economics or business. “I’ve always been interested in those subjects, and Hillsdale has a strong reputation in those areas,” he said. “I’m looking forward to my studies at Hillsdale and also improving as a tennis player.” * * * Monica VanDerWeide is Director of Marketing Content for Hillsdale College. She graduated from Hillsdale in 1995 with a degree in English and German. * * * _Reposted from the spring 2025 issue of Arete._ The post Passport to Play: International Students Find Land of Opportunity at Hillsdale appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough Elisabeth Meinecke, ’07, has always had a love of sports. Her parents thought enrolling her in dance classes as a child would help give her the coordination needed to be an athlete. They were wrong. “That is one of my tragedies in my life—I have no athletic ability,” said Meinecke, tongue in cheek, about her Hillsdale College athletic career, which consisted of one intramural flag football game. “But I love sports so much.” Although Meinecke couldn’t compete on the playing field, she could do the next best thing: write about those who do. For the past 10 years, she has been the senior editor/producer of _Cardinals Magazine_ , which is the multimedia news site of the St. Louis Cardinals. Now working for her hometown baseball team, she said being able to tell the stories of the Cardinals both on and off the field has been a thrill. “To be able to work for this organization really feels like a dream come true,” Meinecke said of her role with the Major League Baseball organization. “I’m passionate about showing fans a side of these athletes that allows them to be more relatable.” However, her career path to the Cardinals was a winding one. And initially, it did not involve athletics. Entering Hillsdale as an English major, she was getting a cup of coffee on campus when someone approached her from the student newspaper and asked her if she would be interested in covering the football team. Meinecke said yes but eventually started her journalism career writing about track and field and cross country. Eventually, she became editor of _The Collegian_ and graduated from the Dow Journalism Program. “That was a really good grounding in what I would call not just the ethics of journalism, but the nuts and bolts of this profession,” Meinecke said of her Hillsdale education. After graduation, sportswriting jobs were scarce, so she moved into the arena of political journalism, accepting a position as news producer/reporter for _Human Events_ in Washington, D.C. “You have to go when opportunity arises, especially when you are first starting out,” Meinecke said. “I credit Hillsdale for allowing me to get my foot in the door in D.C.” Calling it a “baptism by fire” experience, she said she had the opportunity to cover and interview high-level political figures like Mitt Romney. Eventually, she was named managing editor at _Townhall Magazine_ and said working with well-known journalists such as Katie Pavlich and Guy Benson allowed her to develop the “sticktoitiveness” that she uses today. Despite working full time in political circles, Meinecke was still able to take on some freelance sportswriting assignments in D.C. for a sports blog that covered the NHL’s Washington Capitals. “My day job was in the political world, then in the evenings, I would go cover the hockey game,” Meinecke said of her freelance career. I established relationships with a few people in the hockey community and was able to start learning what it’s like to cover a professional sports team.” In 2014, she decided to leave D.C. and return to her home state of Missouri to pursue her sportswriting career. She covered the St. Louis Blues, the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, and University of Missouri athletics for Fox Sports Midwest’s online site. She occasionally had a chance to serve as a sideline reporter during televised games. “That was a really fun experience,” Meinecke said. “I never forgot the interview we did on the field afterwards. ESPN ended up taking it and putting some of it on SportsCenter. And the way they [edited] it, the first word out of my mouth was ‘Um.’” However, in 2015, the St. Louis Cardinals offered her the opportunity to work for their print publication, _Cardinals Magazine_ , which came out six times a year. Meinecke had a chance to cover her hometown baseball team full time, telling the stories of the current players, prospects, and some of the greats of the past. One of her favorite experiences was meeting Cardinals pitching great and Hall-of-Famer Bob Gibson. “It’s 2017 and I walk up and say, ‘Hi, Mr. Gibson, I’m Elisabeth Meinecke with the Cardinals,’” she said. “He just repeats back to me, ‘Elisabeth Meinecke with the Cardinals.’ And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve never felt so legitimized to work here.’ I really felt like I was truly part of the Cardinals.” Since that time, she has built relationships with many current and former players. She said former star pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright stand out, and she remembers highlighting Wainwright’s budding singing career by organizing a “carpool karaoke” style video segment with him. “That was hilarious,” she said of the piece. “We want fans to feel like they know these players outside of just their performance on the field. They are human beings.” Connecting the fans with the team is her main objective. Occasionally getting to travel with the team, she said she appreciates the grind that players, coaches, and staff experience through a grueling schedule. “You gain even more respect for these athletes being able to perform on the field with the intense travel, because it is such a long season, and there are so many games,” Meinecke said. “You’re not in your comforting environment. You’re in a hotel room.” She is also grateful to Hillsdale for her college experience and journalism career. “My time there was absolutely wonderful,” said Meinecke, who was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and the Tower Dancers while on campus. “I feel like so many times in education, you’re told what to think, not how to think. Being taught how to think versus being taught what to think, to me, is a big difference.” * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Cardinals Rule: St. Louis Native Meinecke Working for Her Hometown Team appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Stephanie Gordon Born and raised in Hillsdale County, Abby Titus Strehle, ’19, grew up in the small farming village of North Adams. Attending Hillsdale College was her dream and ultimate goal as a K-12 student. In fact, Hillsdale was the only college to which she applied. “My story is kind of rare in that I grew up here in Hillsdale County,” Abby smiled. “I grew up in the house I was born in, lived next door to my grandparents, and graduated from Will Carleton Academy in Hillsdale. I didn’t have any family who worked at the College or went to the College, but I wanted to go to Hillsdale College for as long as I could remember.” Calling herself a “book-ish nerd,” Abby loved to read and talk about philosophy as a child. She spent a lot of time with classmate and close friend Judy Moreno, ’19, whose father is Dr. Paul Moreno, the William and Berniece Grewcock Chair in Constitutional History, professor of history, and dean of social sciences. “The conversations were fun, and I enjoyed them,” Abby said. “They fueled my desire to attend Hillsdale even more.” When the College’s admissions team visited Will Carleton, Abby was the only student interested in their presentation. “Most Will Carleton students in recent history hadn’t gone to Hillsdale,” Abby said. “Most locals wanted to leave Hillsdale. Others said I should get out of Hillsdale, but it didn’t matter if I was just ten minutes away when it was the best place to be. And once I visited campus, I was in a completely different world.” Abby received her acceptance letter on a chilly Saturday before Christmas. She calls that experience “memorable, amazing, and the perfect Christmas gift.” The history and politics double major decided to stay home and not live on campus. “My acquaintances told me I wasn’t going to have any friends, but the opposite was true,” said Abby. “It was absolutely wonderful. I didn’t leave my childhood bedroom until I got married. It was only a 10-minute drive to campus, and I never really saw my parents because I would be on campus at 7:30 a.m. and wouldn’t get home until midnight. I always feel like it’s a testament to Hillsdale. I would do it again.” Her Constitution 101 class with Dr. Kevin Portteus was “fabulous” and inspired her to complete the politics major. “His class blew my mind,” Abby said. “I remember sitting there in class thinking that this stuff is so amazing.” Along with her classwork, she enjoyed singing in the College Choir and participating in the tech side of theatre. “I wasn’t too heavily involved my freshman year, as I was trying to get used to the rigor of my academics,” said Abby. “Working with the Theatre Department was among my best memories at Hillsdale College. I loved working with the costumes, quick changes, hair, and makeup. It’s also how I met my husband, Dylan.” Dylan, ’19, and Abby were set up on a blind date by friends during their sophomore year. Both were very involved in theatre and hit it off. The two married in July after graduation and settled down in Hillsdale. “The more Dylan and I parceled it out, the more we decided that starting our lives in Hillsdale after graduation was the right thing to do,” said Abby. “It was interesting to exit college life and enter into community life again. We were around other Hillsdale alumni and had a great social sphere. It just made sense. In reality, I’ve never left Hillsdale, but my experiences have given me a deeper appreciation for where I grew up.” As a junior at Hillsdale, Abby interned for local lawyer Karlye Horton, ’04. After graduation, Abby worked with Horton Law for six years as a paralegal. “The amount I learned was invaluable,” Abby said of her job. “It showed me another side of the greater Hillsdale community, which gave me an entirely different perspective on life.” Abby worked in that capacity with Horton Law until she and Dylan welcomed their first child, Carson. “After I had Carson, it was growing increasingly clear that I couldn’t work full time,” added Abby. Now, Abby works part time as a paralegal in Coldwater, Michigan. Outside of work and motherhood, Abby stays busy with the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Early Pregnancy Loss Association, a local non-profit. “After having a miscarriage, I knew I needed to do something with what I had experienced,” Abby said. “I came on as a board member in 2023 and acted as the treasurer. It’s very fulfilling, and I now have a basic understanding of how a non-profit organization works.” From the small village of North Adams to the city of Hillsdale, the Strehles’ long-term goal is to stay where Abby’s roots were planted. With family in the area, including her husband’s brothers, nieces, and nephews, Hillsdale is and always will be home. “The community that we love is here,” said Abby. “I grew up in this rural setting, and we really embrace it. As I get older, I now understand why people move to Hillsdale. It’s really where we love to be. In a funny sort of way, it really is the people.” * * * Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Virtue and Valor: The Official Blog of Hillsdale College. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children - Eloise, Flora, and Jack. She enjoys baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, Detroit Lions football, and breaking a sweat at the gym. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Hometown Hillsdale: Abby Strehle, ’19 appeared first on Hillsdale College.

#### Written by Doug Goodnough The last time I stepped to home plate as a Charger, it was 1990. We were finishing the regular season at Saginaw Valley State, and my final collegiate at bat was a line out to the shortstop. My college baseball career ended with a whimper, not a bang. Fast forward 35-plus years. It had been nearly 30 years since I actually played in a real baseball game. A few years ago, I took some swings at a local batting cage with a childhood friend, and that didn’t go well. I did manage to dodge a dislocated hip but decided at the time it would be the official end of my “playing” days. Enter Hillsdale Head Baseball Coach Tom Vessella. In May, we met, and Tom said he wanted to start an alumni baseball game that would be played at Homecoming. Of course, I would help promote and organize, since it was part of my role with the College. And as I saw registrations start to come in, I had a thought: Maybe I would make one final appearance as a Charger. Help the program, I told myself. So I registered to play. As Homecoming approached, this was my training strategy: I did nothing. No throwing, no running, no batting. I figured if I was going to be sore, it would be for the least amount of time. When the day arrived, I decided to keep the minimalist approach to warming up for the game. A bit of throwing, a few swings in the batting cage, and a nice spot sitting on the bench for most of the pregame. During pregame introductions, it really hit home that I was again a Charger. The fact that the alumni were allowed to experience playing on the new Lenda and Glenda Hill Stadium and TFO Partners Field turf made it extra special. The seven-inning game featured the current Chargers against the alumni team. Thankfully, there was a great showing from our more recent Hillsdale baseball alumni who were able to carry the load, especially on the mound and behind the plate. That left the more “seasoned” alumni to take cameo roles during the game. After the current Chargers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning, the alumni got a spark from the old-timers in the top of the third. Steve Chiodo, ’84, drew a walk with two outs, setting the table for me. When the pinch runner stole second base on the first pitch, there was a running in scoring position. There I was, in a position I hadn’t been in for more than three decades: a chance to drive in a run. Just for a moment, I could feel those competitive juices flowing again. I remembered my strategy during my Charger playing days: shorten the swing and drive the ball between shortstop and third base. Choking up on the bat, I hoped for an outside fastball. Sure enough, here it came, and my 57-year-old reflexes had just enough to drive the ball over the outstretched glove of the third baseman, careening off his glove and down the left field line, allowing the runner to score. There I was, standing on first base, incredulous, with first base coach and former college baseball coaching legend Joe “Spanky” McFarland, ’76, congratulating me and quickly asking if I wanted a pinch runner. Of course, the answer was yes, so I trotted back to the dugout, experiencing a feeling I thought I would never have again. I had my Hillsdale moment. The current Chargers rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to clip the alumni 4-3 (we did have a no-hitter going through six innings, just saying), but everyone was a winner in this game. My temporary teammates agreed this was fun, and we managed, at least for one night, to turn the crowd against the home team (no hard feelings, Tom). What a blast! It is the kind of experience the College and the Alumni Office hope to provide for our alumni in so many ways. For some, it is playing in an alumni game, or participating in a music reunion, or taking a class from a professor at White & Blue Weekend. But you must take that first step and register. Have you had your Hillsdale moment? Take it from me, it’s not too late. And we’ll do our level best to help you experience it. * * * Doug Goodnough, '90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways. * * * Published in October 2025 The post Have You Had Your Hillsdale Moment? appeared first on Hillsdale College.