Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 142 Issue 27 - April 25, 2019
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Sajak to take the helm on board of trustees By | Kaylee McGhee Opinions Editor After decades of faithful service to Hillsdale College as its Chairman of the Board of Trustees, William Brodbeck ’66 is stepping down and will be replaced by Vice Chairman Pat Sajak. Unlike Brodbeck, Sajak — who is famous for running the TV show “Wheel of Fortune” — did not attend Hillsdale, though he’s served as Vice Chairman of the Board for 15 years. But Brodbeck said Sajak’s lack of a degree won’t hamper him at all. “Pat is a brilliant mind. He brings a sound knowledge of the school,” Brodbeck said. “He can dramatically move Hillsdale forward, both on campus and around the country.” And that’s what Sajak plans to do: He intends to keep Hillsdale on the path shaped by Brodbeck, Arnn, and the rest of the board, improving the “physical plant” of the school through renovations, and monitoring the academic standards it has set. Sajak said he would like to see Hillsdale’s national reach continue to expand. “Our funding comes from people who have never stepped foot on campus,” he said. “And that’s the challenge: the outreach.”
As Brodbeck prudently led the Board of Trustees for many years, Arnn said Sajak will do the same, with, perhaps, one difference: he’ll bring his wits. “Pat is a man of calm and steady judgment, possessed also of a wicked wit. He is a man of selfless service, famous and yet not interested in celebrity, hilarious and yet serious. He knows the purposes of the college and is devoted to them,” Arnn said. Brodbeck said he decided to step down from the chairmanship because he felt his time had come. “I don’t want to be in the way,” he said. “It’s time for me to go and let Pat have this opportunity. And I can do it knowing he will fulfill his duty well.” Brodbeck’s service to Hillsdale is one of inestimable worth, Arnn said. “I have discouraged this successfully for a couple of years, but now he says, ‘It is time,’” Arnn said. “Of course he has lost his sight. In the face of that sore trial, he has been the brave and cheerful man, the high-minded and self-deprecating man, that I have known these 19 years. I think he makes but one mistake about his blindness, which is to think that it causes others inconvenience. It does not. Rather it gives others opportunity to repay in some
small way the large kindnesses he spreads about himself wherever he goes.” Sajak said he is thankful Brodbeck will continue to serve on the board, adding that he will continue to look to him for “wisdom and guidance.” Brodbeck said he isn’t planning on going anywhere, noting that he and his wife, Jan, will still live in Hillsdale and contribute what they can to the school. “Our intent is to stay here as long as we’re useful,” he said. “We deeply adore this place.” This transition has been about a year in the making, according to Sajak, who has spent more time on campus, sitting down with staff and students, to get a “closer look” at the school and better understand its “daily ins-andouts.” Since returning to Hillsdale to serve on the board in 1996, Brodbeck said he has seen the school grow and transform in tremendous ways. When former President George Roche III stepped down, Brodbeck spearheaded the effort to bring Larry Arnn, then the president of the Claremont Institute, to Hillsdale. Brodbeck guided the school through the transition and has since been apart of major changes on campus and around the country. Under Brodbeck’s direc-
Known for hosting the “Wheel of Fortune” game show, Pat Sajak, vice chairman of Hillsdale’s board of trustees, will serve as the next chairman after Chairman William Brodbeck ’66 steps down. External Affairs
tion — though he credits the board’s action and Arnn’s vision — Hillsdale has renovated and built dozens of buildings on campus, developed the Washington D.C. Kirby Center, expanded the school’s online courses as well as Imprimis’ reach, which now arrives in the homes of nearly 6 million people nationwide. “There’s no aspect of the school that hasn’t improved under their watch — under the vision of Arnn and the
passion of Bill,” Sajak said. Arnn recalled the day Brodbeck called him to ask if he’d come to Hillsdale, and said he wouldn’t have accepted if anyone else had asked. “It matters very much to my life that he was the one who called me about this job,” Arnn said during his remarks at an event honoring the Brodbecks. “At a good college with a beautiful idea behind it, being the president is unique. And it would not be so except
for the service of Bill Brodbeck.” The number of chairmen at Hillsdale College, in its 175 years, has been small, and Sajak said it is the honor of a lifetime to be among them. “I’m in an industry where we’re always patting each other on the backs for different awards we’ve won,” he said, “but this one is at the top of my list.”
Mollie Hemingway to join Kirby Center teaching staff By | Alex Nester D.C. Correspondent Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at The Federalist and Fox News contributor, will join the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Statesmanship staff next fall as a journalism professor. As part of the ongoing project to expand Hillsdale’s campus in Washington, D.C., Hemingway has been hired to teach journalism classes for students in the Washington-Hillsdale Internship
Nicole Ault | Collegian
Smith’s Flowers celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. See A5 for coverage.
O’Toole selected as assistant provost of K-12 education By | Brooke Conrad Features Editor Five years ago, Kathleen O’Toole took the helm of what was then a brand-new Barney Charter School in Texas: Founders Classical Academy of Leander. Having received her doctoral degree and taught politics for a short time at Morehead State University, she agreed to run the school, with more than 400 children enrolling in the first year. “They just walked in our doors, and we figured out how to have a school,” she said. This summer, O’Toole will come to Hillsdale to take the position of assistant provost of K-12 education, a new administrative role created for the purpose of pulling together all of Hillsdale’s K-12 initiatives, including Hillsdale Academy and the various Barney Follow @HDaleCollegian
Charter Schools, under the provost’s office. The Barney Charter School Initiative formerly fell under the external affairs department. When O’Toole’s father, Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, created the new position, he said he had not even considered his daughter as a potential candidate. Instead, he allowed Provost David Whalen and Board Chairman William Brodbeck to take over the hiring process upon their request. “I confess I had not thought of her as someone to run it, partly because it would be complicated to hire my daughter, but also because I really hadn’t thought of it — she likes what she’s doing,” Arnn said. Whalen and Brodbeck had originally asked O’Toole to apply for the position of Hills-
dale Academy headmaster last year, but after interviewing her, they decided to have her stay at the Texas school for that year and then later offered her the opportunity to work at the college. Brodbeck said he found O’Toole well-suited for the position, due to her prior experience at one of the Barney Charter schools. “Frankly she reminds me of her father,” Brodbeck said. “She’s amazingly intelligent and has done an exceptional job down in Texas at that school. I’m confident she’ll be exceptional in this position.” O’Toole’s husband, Daniel O’Toole, who is currently finishing up his doctorate at the University of Texas, is going to work as a Hillsdale College fellow next year, teaching and
See O’Toole A2
Program. This gives students, including those working toward a journalism minor, the opportunity to take journalism courses for credit while in Washington. “I’m excited to help students figure out career opportunities,” Hemingway said in an email. “Of the many changes in life, transitioning from one’s studies to professional life can be particularly challenging. I’m so appreciative of those who helped me with that process, and am glad I can help others.”
Hemingway, a senior editor at The Federalist and a contributor at Fox News, graduated from the University of Colorado in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Hemingway began her journalism career at Radio & Records, a publication specializing in the radio and music industries. Along with her work for The Federalist, Hemingway has been published in many national papers, including the Wall Street Journal,
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Restoring liberty: Paul Ray ’08 revises government regulations By | Joel Meng Collegian Reporter “I think I have the best job in government,”said Paul Ray ’08, recently appointed acting head of the Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs. After graduating from Hillsdale College, Ray earned a J.D. from Harvard
Law School. He has clerked in the U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit and for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. In July 2018, Ray Joined OIRA as deputy administrator. In March 2019, Ray assumed the duties of acting administrator. “OIRA’s role is, in essence, to ensure that agency regulations embody the
president’s policies and that the regulations are lawful and warranted by strong economic analysis,” Ray said in an email. “Under President Trump, we’ve focused on working with agencies to rescind or revise regulations that unduly restrict the liberty of the American people or that are not authorized by statute.” See Ray A9
State approves funding for Dawn Theater project By | Josephine von Dohlen & Julia Mullins City News Editor & Assistant Editor
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Strategic Board fund approved the Dawn Theater project Tuesday, giving the Hillsdale Tax Increment
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Finance Authority the green light go ahead with the rehabilitation project. “It means everything,” City of Hillsdale Zoning Administrator Alan Beeker said. “It means we can actually finally get started. Everything has been on hold until we heard from them.” According to Beeker,
TIFA is hopeful the project can begin in June. “We are optimistic that we will be able to start at the beginning of June,” he said. “Now that we have the grant, we will move forward pursuing contracts with architects and contractors.”
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