Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
www.hillsdalecollegian.com
Vol. 147 Issue 20 – February 29, 2024
Quad construction to begin next week for at least two years
Rendering shows the college’s plans for the quad. Courtesy | Tim Wells
By Elizabeth Troutman & Jacob Beckwith Editor-in-chief & Collegian Reporter Construction on the north quad will begin March 9, as the college breaks ground on the Diana Davis Spencer Graduate School of Education, according to Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé. A fence will surround the construction site for at least two years, with an expected
completion in March 2026, Péwé said. “By the time students return from spring break, [the quad] will be fenced up to protect students, staff, faculty, and visitors from any construction,” Péwé said. “Everything south of the fountain for the most part will not be available.” During construction, a gate at the south end of the library between Central and Delp halls will be closed at times to allow for deliveries by construction
vehicles, Director of Facilities Dave Billington said in an all-campus email. “Do not open the gate when it is closed,” Billington said. “Construction personnel will open the gate when it is safe to pass through.” Senior Operations Manager Tim Wells added that even when deliveries occur, the plan is to get students across with minimal delays. “The bulk of the excavation should happen in the next sev-
eral months, which will be before students return at the end of August,” Wells said. “Construction activities, however, will continue throughout the duration of the project.” The building will feature two stories with high ceilings, 17 faculty offices, a number of different sized classrooms with a total of 290 seats, and a big entry rotunda with a view of the quad. “Even though we call it the masters of classical education
Campus reacts to Trump’s victory in Michigan primary By Jackson Casey collegian Freelancer Former president Donald Trump cruised to victory over Nikki Haley in Michigan’s presidential primary election this week. As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, Trump received 68.1% of the vote while Haley took only 26.6%. “Uncommitted” votes and those cast for other candidates only made up about 5%. Freshman Bradley Haley said he felt the primary confirmed the public’s expectations about the electoral environment this cycle. “At this point, everyone is bracing themselves for a Trump-versus-Biden showdown in November,” Haley said. “Trump’s victory in the Michigan primary wasn’t a
surprise, and serves as another reminder that he has a decisive hold on the Republican voting base.” President Joe Biden won Michigan’s Democratic primary with 81.1% of the vote, but 13.2% of voters — more than 100,000 total — cast “uncommitted” ballots. Haley said the success of the protest vote is evidence of extensive disunity among progressives. “It was interesting to see Democrats voting against Biden by voting ‘uncommitted.’ Considering the enormously unified cultural and political push in the 2016 and 2020 elections to elect Biden, it’s intriguing that factions of the left-wing are not toeing the line of support for Biden,” Haley said. “It’s interesting to see
factions that are more loyal to the victim-victimizer narrative than to any prominent member of their party.” Senior and College Democrats President Avery Noel said he disagrees, and that he thinks Biden still holds some degree of authority over the party. “While there was a strong showing from ‘uncommitted’ organized by progressives seeking to shift president Biden’s policy on Israel and Palestine, the president still received huge vote totals and an overwhelming percentage of the vote,” Noel said. Noel also said he thinks this primary signals more trouble ahead for Trump than it does for Biden. “It seems as though Trump has a huge problem within his own party with that selection
of Haley voters that will refuse to vote for him,” Noel said. “I saw one poll which indicated that 59% of her supporters who consider themselves Republicans won’t vote for him in the general, which would seem to indicate there’s somewhere between 15-20% of Republican voters who won’t plug their noses this time around.” A mid-January poll conducted in part by NBC News found more than half of Haley’s likely Iowa caucus supporters would not support Trump in the general election. Trump performed best in rural counties. He took 76.3% of the vote in Hillsdale County, as opposed to 50.2% in Washtenaw County, where Ann Arbor is the county seat.
See Primary A2
County support for Trump outpaces state By Thomas McKenna Sports Editor Former president Donald Trump won Michigan’s Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, carrying 76.3% of the votes in Hillsdale County and 68.3% statewide. Nikki Haley, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor, took second with
18.4% in Hillsdale County and 26.6% statewide. The Michigan primary victory was Trump’s fifth of his primary sweep, following Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. “Michigan gave President Trump his strongest victory of the primary season so far,” said state Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater. “Hillsdale County came out particularly strong for him.”
The difference signals the pro-Trump bent of Hillsdale County, said state Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe. The former president outperformed President Joe Biden in 2020 with 73% of the vote to Biden’s 25%. “Hillsdale is all-in on President Trump,” Bellino said. “With numbers like this, it’s pretty apparent Hillsdale wasn’t buying what Mrs. Haley was selling.”
Trump won 12 of the 55 delegates up for grabs in Michigan, while Haley won four. The remaining 39 delegates will be awarded at the state convention on March 2 in Grand Rapids, where Trump is expected to have a strong showing, according to Politico.
See County A6
building, or the Diana Spencer Building,” Péwé said, “it is still going to be utilized for the entire campus — undergraduates throughout the day, and then in the evening, it will mostly switch over to graduate classes.” The Margaret Thatcher statue will remain in its current location, while the Ronald Reagan statue will be temporarily moved to the John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Center, according to Péwé. After construction finishes, Reagan will be relocated to a more prominent spot on campus. “For now we’re going to put him out there at Halter where he’s safe and seen and appreciated,” Péwé said. But more construction could extend the quad’s closure, as the college hopes to add on to the library, construct a classical portico, and build a new welcome center once funding is available. Wells added that keeping certain construction trades in Hillsdale and staggering the projects could maximize efficiency and would help to avoid disrupting the quad multiple times with construction activities. But regardless of the length of the total project, Wells
doesn’t expect classes to be disrupted. “Central Hall and Strosacker should serve as a partial sound barrier, so the noise from construction should have a lessened effect on the classrooms,” Wells said. Péwé said some student leaders met with the deans this week to discuss other possible green spaces for students to enjoy. The goal is to have new green spaces available by the start of the 2024-2025 school year. “We’re looking at the East Lawn, and certainly, when we get the pavilion over the summer, [across from] Broadlawn,” he said. “That green space will be flattened out and irrigated. It’ll take a while for the grass to come in nicely, but that will be another space.” The college is also considering adding fire pits, Adirondack chairs, and maybe even some new structures for students to enjoy during the years of construction on the quad. “I will definitely miss the sunny afternoons out on the quad,” junior Michael Angelbeck said. “But I’m excited to see how other spaces will be developed and used after spring break.”
Hillsdale places third in math competition
The six students who participated in the Putnam Competition stand in descending score order from left to right. Courtesy | David Gaebler
By Eleanor Whitaker Collegian Reporter Math students smashed school records and ranked third statewide in the 84th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. The Putnam is a six-hour long exam, taken in two sessions, held on the first Saturday of December at institutions around the country. It consists of 12 math problems, worth up to 10 points each. Students are ranked both nationally and statewide on individual and team scores. Hillsdale College ranked third in Michigan below Michigan State University and the University of Michigan with a team score of 66 points, breaking the school team’s record set in 2018 of 39 points. Freshman Andrew Schmidt surpassed the previous individual school record of 18 points set by Ben Becker ’21 in 2017, with a score of 41, ranking 176th nationally out of almost 4,000 participants. All six students who participated in the competition
solved at least one problem and scored at least 9 points. According to David Gaebler, associate professor of mathematics, most Hillsdale participants have not solved any problems. “In the past during a typical year at Hillsdale we would have three or four people compete,” Gaebler said. “Maybe one person got 10 points or one problem, but most people walked away with a zero. This year all six participants got a problem, which is something to have fireworks about.” Schmidt said he was thrilled to solve four problems on the exam. “I was hoping to lock in one problem in both sessions,” Schmidt said. “That was my ‘I’ll be happy with that’ goal. And then to get two per session was my audacious goal. So I was really happy when I hit my audacious goal, and then I was super excited to get the score and to have it on paper.”
See Math A2