WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Collegian Week in Review: September 11th, 2025

Episode Date: September 14, 2025

On this episode of the Collegian Week in Review, hosts Catherine Maxwell, Alessia Sandala, and Megan Li first talk to Ty Ruddy about President of the College Larry Arnn's recent anniversary, then Moira Gleason about the death of Charlie Kirk, and finally Sydney Green about the recent developments with Camp Hope. 

Welcome to the Collegian Weekend Review on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Here are your hosts, Alessia Sandela, Catherine Maxwell, and Megan Lee. Welcome to Collegian Weekend Review, where we give you an inside look into Michigan's oldest college newspaper. We're your host's Megan Lee, Catherine Maxwell, and Alessia Sandella. And today we'll be talking with Ty Reddy about Dr. Larry Arns, 25th year as college president. Mora Gleason about campus's reaction to the death of Charlie Kirk and Sydney Green about a local homeless shelter. I'm Megan and first up we have culture editor Ty Ruddy talking about his piece on Dr. Larry Arne who is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the president of Hillsdale College. Two days and 25 years ago on September 9th was his inauguration.

Ty, could you tell us a little bit about where President Arne was before he came to Hillsdale? College. Yeah, he was at the Claremont Institute out in California. Before that, he was working on a long-form biography with the great Churchill scholar, Martin Gilbert, as his sort of research assistant. Did he talk about what about Hillsdale College drew him to this position? Yeah, he actually, he did. So he mentioned that at first he did not want to come. And he took a lot of sort of beckoning for him to come from the administration who was facing a scandal at the time and they were really looking for someone to take over and kind of not only fill the shoes of the president but also bring the college to the next level. And he told me that what convinced him to come to Hillsdale was actually the

bylaws of the school and the constitution of the school. He said there was money involved. There was all these things. But when he realized why Hillsdale College was founded and the kind of thing that it was supposed to be in typical doctorine fashion. That's what convinced him. It says here that he moved from California to rural Michigan, which is quite the distance. What did he think about first coming to Michigan? Yeah. Well, he's from Arkansas. So he told me that he and his wife Penny, who was from England, both grew up in small towns. And so they were,

retracted to the idea of coming to live in a small town again. He said that they don't particularly love the weather in the Midwest. They said it's too, too dark and gray. Most of the year, not most of the year. He said it's too dark and gray, but that's only three months is what he said. And he also said, who cares about the weather anyway? He said the people in the Midwest are great. The people in Hillsdale are great. His kids were able to handle the transition perfectly fine. And he now has grandkids who live here. Three of his four children live here. They've, they're a Hillsdale Michigan family now. Yeah. That's lovely. I'm sure a lot of students often see Arn't giving lectures, but don't have the opportunity to have a personal conversation with him. Would you say,

what would you say Arn is like in person? I would say he is as scary as he seems right until he opens his mouth. And then usually the first thing he says is a combination of something that will break the ice to get you sort of involved in the conversation or get you comfortable in the conversation. At the same time, it will almost always, and almost certainly be something that will yeah, he's very fond of saying kitties or it's, it's something that will kind of push back on you a little bit of fun. He's willing to, he's willing to have a little bit of fun. But once he opens his mouth. It's good. He's always, he's always willing to teach. And I think he's always willing to learn, too, which is really humbling coming from the president. That sounds like Dr. Arn. It says here,

Rich Payway, our chief administrative officer, says his motto is, do the same thing over again, only better. How has Arn seen Hillsdale change over the years? And what are his thoughts looking back now, 25 years later? Yeah. Well, physically, the campus has changed a lot on campus right now, People will find tons of construction, but it's going to look really nice when it's done. Multiple new buildings coming to campus. But behind that, obviously, are the funds that made it happen and the organizing and the planning that went into that. I'm not sure Hillsdale really had that kind of infrastructure for, like I said, fundraising

the kind of money that Arne has been able to do. I remember I had a professor my freshman year who's, been here since the mid-1980s. And so he's seen, I think, three different presidents at Hillsdale now and said that far in a way, Arn just has that talent to bring people together. And he's very mission-focused. And so he knows that in order to build a good college, we need to have good people supporting it. Has Arne told you how long he plans to continue as president of Hillsdale? He did not give me a time frame. He said the deal that he has with the bosses is He's going to be the president of the college for as long as he's the best person.

That is great news. Yeah. Yeah. Around the time of his inauguration 25 years ago, he did an interview with the Collegian in which he said he wanted Hillsdale College to, quote, save the nation. Did he talk about where that plan is now and what progress has been made? Yeah, a little bit. I mean, I don't think Dr. Arne would say that we have saved the nation, but I think he probably thinks we're on our way.

He mentioned the online courses that we've been able to get out to the public and all the events that we hold across the country, as well as the kind of people who come here, are young people just really eager and really ready to learn. So I think that's very encouraging. That's what he told me. So Dr. Arne really made Hillsdale what we know today. How did he go about doing that? How did he transform Hillsdale into what it is now? I think it's part of the way that he's able to build relationships with people. And part of the way that he sort of has an entrepreneurial eye, I think.

He's able to organize events and fundraise in such a way that people want to support the college. But also, he is very genuine about the fact that the college is a partnership and that the college college is not trying to be some sort of technical institute that's going to rage engineers. It's the college is trying to teach young people what kind of person they want to be, not what they want to do when they grow up. And so I think he's both genuine about that and really good at selling it to future students and friends of the college who will support our work. That was culture editor Ty Ruddy talking about Dr. Arnd's 25th anniversary as Hillsdale College

is president. Thank you so much, Ty. Thank you guys. You're listening to the Collegian Week in Review. I'm Catherine Maxwell, and today we're talking to executive editor, Mora Gleason, about her coverage of the campus reaction to the death of Charlie Kirk. Mora, briefly, what happened to Charlie Kirk? Yes, yesterday afternoon, Charlie Kirk, who is the The co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, a youth conservative organization was speaking at a university in Utah when he was shot in the neck by an assassin. Kirk was rushed to the hospital. There were 30 minutes to an hour when mixed reports were coming out on Twitter, but he passed away pretty shortly afterward. We got the news, and Kirk is a friend of the college. so we immediately knew it would be relevant to us.

You mentioned that Kirk is a friend of Hillsdale. What has been his relationship with Hillsdale in the past? He's known for being skeptical of colleges, but really likes Hillsdale and has met Dr. Larry Arne. What was that relationship like? Dr. Arn was actually very good personal friends with Charlie Kirk, which I was not aware of until all of this happened. But they aren't met Kirk when he was 19.

Kirk was 31. So they've known each other for more than a decade. Charlie Kirk spoke openly about how much he valued Hillsdale. He constantly was doing the online classes, talking about how great they were promoting them. He came to campus a few times, spoke very highly of Hillsdale students, and said that Hillsdale College

the exception to the rule when it comes to the value of a college education. What did Arne say about Kirk in response? I know Arn issued a statement, and he spoke highly of Kirk in the past, but what did he say in response to this? I think it would be appropriate if I just read the quote. He put out a pretty brief statement on social media and in a press release, I believe, responding to the murder. He said, I am shocked and saddened.

by the murder of Charlie Kirk. He was my friend. I met him when he was 19, a sharp young man full of questions. I watched him grow into a good man and a great American. We pray for his family. Charlie's virtues were many and his work for this country will endure. This murder has obviously shaken the conservative sphere in America and it's impacted Hillsdale as well, obviously. What was the campus reaction? And what have people done in response to this? It was pretty shocking for everyone here. And as soon as we found out that Kirk had passed away,

an email went out. Some students involved with the student ministry board organized a prayer vigil in the chapel. Very short notice, 8 o'clock last night. Just come to the chapel, pray for Kirk's family, for the future of our nation. And I went, I was shocked at how many people came on such short notice. It's a big chapel and I had trouble finding a place to sit when I walked in. So it was just, it was beautiful in a way just to see everyone brought together for not only for Kirk and his family,

but just for to pray for our nation and what this means for the future of how we approach politics. Some students have worked for Turning Point USA or established Turning Point USA chapters at high schools. What's been some of their reactions to Kirkstaff? For this piece, I spoke with three students, all of whom had either worked for Turning Point, started a Turning Point chapter or attended a conference. there were several more that I did not get the chance to talk to, but each of them really spoke to Kirk's kindness to everyone and his civility to everyone that he encountered, and the way that he valued conversation and specifically conversation with college students.

I think they were all shocked at the act of violence. which really went against the kind of work that Kirk was trying to do, pushing dialogue above violence and brutality. I spoke with one student, Nathan Furness, who founded a turning point chapter in high school. And I think his perspective was especially important because we don't know for certain what the motives of the killer were. we can only assume that they were politically motivated. And Fernes said, I think the most important thing before trying to address all the issues in our country that are highlighted by this tragedy is that we remember and mourn Charlie Kirk. No words can describe the shock and sadness we feel for losing a man who was actively changing our lives one college campus at a time.

And I think that really speaks to just focusing on the man and honoring his life before. spinning the story into something else. That was executive editor, Mora Gleason, talking about the campus response to the death of Charlie Kirk. Mora, thanks for joining us. Thank you. Dr. Arne also recorded a video statement responding to Kirk's death. Here's a segment from his statement.

I want to express the condolences of my wife and me and of all of Hillsdale College to the family. and the children of Charlie Kirk. Charlie was a friend of mine. The way he became a friend tells something not so much about what he achieved, which is famous, but how he achieved it, how he deserved to achieve it.

I met Charlie when he was 19, he was already becoming famous. So I asked him what he did, and he said he did Turning Point, and I said, what is that? He said he's going to improve the culture on college campuses. He had this curious mind. He wanted to improve it. He wanted to grow. He had the humility to know that it was important to know and that he didn't.

And he had the confidence and assertion to seek to know. And what did he want to know? He wanted to know all the basic things on this earth. And he wanted to know how they reach up to heaven. Where he must be now. He was a believer, the Almighty God, and a faithful servant of him. I'm Alessia. And today we're talking to Collegian Reporter,

Sydney Green about Camp Hope, a makeshift shelter in Hillsdale. So, Sydney, can you give us some background on Camp Hope? What has been the situation? Yeah, so Camp Hope was founded in 23 by Missy Desjardin. And this was kind of founded in a reaction to the city's decision to ban camping on public grounds. And so it's by, Hillsdale Community Thrift, and it originally started out as a shelter with 17 tents, but then the city ended up telling her that she could have a max of four tents in order to not be considered a campground. So she ended up deciding to just have one large tent, and it houses about 25 people right now. So what happened after she changed to one tent, and how many

or I guess what happened with the city, there's some tensions there. So there was a lot of confusion as to what can be considered a dwelling place. So she had, it's all started, I believe what she told me was in November of 2024. There was a lot of back and forth about zoning regulation and safety concerns of the tent. they were originally going to try and have her remove the tenants in the winter, but she was able to convince them to give her until spring. But by the end of the deadline of May 30th, she still hadn't moved the tenants out. So at that time, she was issued a district court ticket, and she went to the hearing on September 2nd and was kind of given an ultimatum of she could either have 14 days to get. her tent up to code or have the city take down the tent altogether. And that deadline is September

16th, correct? Yes. And so what is the city saying about Camp Hope? What is their view of the situation? Yeah. So I talked briefly with city assessor Kim Thomas. And I think from my understanding from the conversation, she was, she really admires what Desartan is doing with the Shelton. but I think her concern is she just wants to make sure that it's done legally. So she really applauds the efforts and, you know, the good things that Desjardin is doing for the city, but she just wants to make sure that the residents are safe and the people in the city are safe as well. Sydney, I know you talked to one woman who's currently living at the shelter and she said

she was looking to move out soon. What sort of people are currently at the shelter have come and gone? Yeah. So about 300 people have come and gone through the camp since they opened in 2023. And right now they're housing 25 people. They have a family of four there currently, which is the lady that I talk to. but most of the people stay there for a couple months and then end up finding permanent housing. Did Desjardin talk about how she plans to deal with this upcoming deadline, any ideas that she has what thoughts are going through her head right now? Yeah, so currently at the thrift store, they have a former packaging storage building that she wants to convert into a transitional dwelling facility. So right now they're just working on getting that up to code for, you know, safe living conditions for the residents there. I think she's hoping to have multiple sets of bunk beds.

And I think she's hoping to be able to house around 18 homeless people in the building. But it's going to be a lot of work to kind of get that up to code. Great. Thanks for coming on, Sydney. You're listening to the Collegian Week in Review. You've been listening to The Collegian Week. and review on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm Alessia Sandella. And I'm Megan Lee. And I'm Catherine Maxwell. You can find the Collegian Weekend Review online at cwir.transistor.fm. You can find more news at Hillsdalecollegian.com and at our Instagram at Hillsdale Collegian.

Once again, you've been listening to the Collegian Weekend Review on Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM.