WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Truman and Claire Like People: Elizabeth Troutman

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

In this episode, we sat down with Elizabeth Troutman, Editor-in-Chief of the Hillsdale Collegian, to discuss terrible articles, Calvinism, and getting hit by cars. 

I'm Truman and I'm Claire. And we like people. Today we like Elizabeth Troutman, who is the editor-in-chief of the Hillsdale Collegian. She is a member of Chi Omega. And she's getting hitched pretty soon here, June. Elizabeth is also the first guest we've had on the podcast that I haven't really known before. Although, Elizabeth, I was thinking back, were we in the same orientation group back in freshman year with, like, Carson Brown and Emma Kruga and Patty for We sure were. I remember that orientation group very clearly, remember we sat and had boxed lunches at a picnic table. I remember Carson Brown vaping during that group and good time.

I forgot about that part. And then I think Vinny Hill was in the group as well. And then his old roommate, Aidan Murtaugh, rest in peace, he transferred out after our freshman year. Gone, but, you know, we would never forget Aiden Mertau. So, Troutman, let's start off strong. What do you hate the most about poorly written articles for the collegiate? My biggest pet peeve is editorializing. People think that the reader wants to hear their opinion on the latest SAB event and they don't. Can you expand more on this as someone who may have written some opinion pieces that leaned into editorializing? If you write an opinion piece, you absolutely should editorialize. Claire, the opinions editor here would know that is the place for your opinion as long as it is backed up by something, at least in most cases. If you're talking about your favorite ice cream flavor, you don't really need evidence, but it's a political thing. You can't just throw things out there without proof. But if you're writing a news article, a steady news article, a sports article, for the most part, don't put in your opinion about the issue.

Okay. So I can't say like, man, Hillsdale really needs to get a better tight end than Ben Hinrichs or something. Like, that wouldn't apply? That would not apply unless it was a quote that you were putting in your article. But so many times I've actually read that. People throw that into football. articles all the time. I hate Ben Henricks. We have to remove it constantly. I've heard that too, and it's understandable, but still not very nice. And again, not professional for the standards of the Hillsdale Collegian is the main point. Journalistic integrity is violated by that. It could be absolutely true, but still, you know. All right. Well, Elizabeth, who do you think is your favorite Collegian staff member ever, like during all four years? Ever. My favorite Collegian staff member

Claire is giving Elizabeth a look from across the room. So many of these questions I write down and then I'm like, oh, they're going to, no hesitation, I'm their favorite Hillsdale couple. I'm the favorite collegiate staff member. It has yet to be the case. I feel like there's someone who looms large in all of our minds, and that has Ben Wilson, I think. He'll always loom large for all of us. He was really fun. Often, maybe not the most efficient, but that did not matter because of how much fun we all.

all had with Ben Wilson. So I might have to look back on the glory days. He brought the women of the Collegian together because all of us had a crush on him. He was, he was the best. Sure did. Are you still planning on going into journalism? Post-graduation? Has the Collegion totally soured you on this? What's your future looking like there? I think that I will definitely be going into journalism. I think that Mr. Miller would be very disappointed if I did not, but that I want to anyways. It's very fun. Speaking of Ben Wilson, previous Collegian Wonderboy, who's now left journalism seemingly for good. He's doing real estate now?

Doing real estate in South Carolina. So that definitely is a heartbreak to JJM. And I could not do to him what Ben did. I just, I can't put him through that pain. Speaking of what Ben Wilson did to John Miller, you're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale at 101.7 FM. Switching gears a little bit from Ben Wilson to Alex Mitchell, your real fiancé. Can you tell the listeners, maybe Inspired Truman and I, what do you think is the best, most ideal date you can construct in Hillsdale? The best most ideal date you can construct in Hillsdale, I'll give our first date as the example, is to go to the gas station and buy a lottery ticket. $0 and just lose money because you just bought a lottery ticket. Then go to the Kroger, the local Kroger, on Carlton Street or something like that.

I'm familiar. Next to the market house. Oh, that one. And get some chocolate peanut butter cups and some cubed mango. It's a very bad deal, but good nonetheless. Go to the Bobby's Lake, go for a walk on the lake, on the frozen lake. You walked on the lake? We walked on the frozen lake.

we did not fall through like all the scary movies. We ate our peanut buttercups. We scratched off our lottery tickets and had a very harmonious time. So that's my recommendation to all those young folk out there. And then you'll get married too. That's how it works. And have a very happy life. Yeah.

So how's wedding planning going for you? It's going really well. It's really fun to plan. You want to finish mine? Yeah. I definitely was really excited about planning a wedding. Like the details of it are like really fun to me. Definitely is a little easier.

when you have more time on your hands, but I like the whole, like, artistic aspect of it with the colors and everything. That's fun. So, Elizabeth, did you feel a little bit like just Hillsdale stereotype Normie when you got engaged? Yeah, I definitely did because seems like almost half of the senior class has ended up engaged at this point. And I am now like the other people for this one, which is a little difficult for those of us who want to be different. But the thing I try to keep in mind is that compared to the rest of the world, this is very, very different. So that's how I can justify my ring by spring situation and status. Is it important to you to feel different than everyone else? I would say that that is not something that I value super highly, but it is something that I value.

Okay. Well, you're just naturally not like other girls and you like, you know, sports and hanging out with the guys. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So you don't really have to try. Really like the color pink, which most girls don't actually. Big fan of flowers, which is really rare. So, yeah.

Switching gears a little bit. You know, I was just at the Kyle Omega Crush Party last night. I think you both were as well. Who is your favorite Kyle Mega on campus? That's a tough question. I just have so much love for every single Kai Omega who, in the whole world, really, at every chapter. Sisterhood is a deep, deep bond.

So it's hard to come up at the first place But I'm just gonna I'll just give a little shout out to the girl who sits before us today Because she said that she wanted that Um To Claire Goday here Who me? Martha. Oh gee, guys.

I remember when Claire received her snap bid Because Claire joined Kayo because I was in it probably because I was in it beforehand. So like when she got her snap bit I was like this girl's like kind of wild like I've heard some crazy stories from her own mouth like I don't know But the more I got to know her I realized that we're not so different after all. We have hearts deeply connected by some bad situations that we've been in together, particularly in Washington, D.C. So I'll give a little shout out to Claire, who's been with me in my lowest moments. Trauban and I, I feel like out of everyone in Cairo that I've become friends with, like, through the sorority specifically, I think that you're the most shocking close friend that I have in terms of we're vastly different people. All right, so, Elizabeth, what are some of your pet peeves, if you had to name a couple?

I have some pet peeves that come to mind immediately. Okay, you answer that very quickly. In the parentheses when I wrote this question, I said, she's insane, she'll have good answers. So I have two that I'd like to share, if you don't mind. My first pet peeve is going to be backseat drivers. They stress me out. They make me drive really bad, and then I need a backseat driver.

Like, if I feel criticized, I will drive much worse. So to keep that in mind if you ever ride with me. Don't comment if you can help it, unless there's about to be something really bad happening. But otherwise, prefer no comments. Well, do you think that it should be legal for women to drive, though? I think that it should definitely be legal for women to backseat drive. Okay. Just women.

Yeah. Just women. And then, but obviously we don't want, you know, mansplaining illegal. So women backseat driving. Maybe not driving. But yeah, so that's how it goes. Okay. And then.

Yeah. For me, it's just like if a woman is driving, I don't feel safe. Great. Honestly, I don't approve of that take, typically. but I do prefer not to drive. I prefer to be driven, so I really can't criticize you too much for that. I drive Truman home after the shows,

so I'm going to be outed. Truman's a bit of a passenger princess in my truck. So I'll make sure to drive really safely so you feel better today. Yeah, I don't want to. Okay. My other pet peeve, that's probably definitely the stronger one, would have to be,

I'm going to reveal a bit of a secret, something I don't like to share with many people here on the air today with Olive Hillsdale, that I am an only child. And I hate only child jokes. I really like for people to assume that I'm not an only child, which happens often, I would say. People say they're surprised that I'm an only child.

But if someone does make a dig at my only childdom, they're out. They're dead. She'll kill them. An opt for life. To say what the quote Ben Inericks. Do you feel like you've benefited from being an only child? Um, no, not really. Oh.

Okay, I hope your parents are listening. Charmin's parents, they're not the biggest fans of mine, so I'm hoping that this will change. Yeah, my parents think Claire's column is a little bit negative. Oh. I actually have a story to share about someone making an only child joke if you're, if you're interested. You just get to beep out the names. Go ahead. Um told me that I'm not as good if an only child as...

Buh. Because... Wait, is it... Is that a... We're going to beep that out anyway. We're keeping a... And told me that my parents did not raise me as well as her parents did because she is more confident.

That was memorable. Happened. Freshman year first semester. What the hell? It's still in here. Pet peeve unlocked. And now he's an op for life. What's your least favorite style of engagement ring?

I really don't like the ones with the really thick bands. And, like, the huge circular diamond that, like, fills up the, like, thick band. I think it might be called, like, cigarette or cigar style. I don't know, whatever it is. But I think it's kind of a newfangled thing, and I don't like it. Troutman does not like newfangled things. But absolutely no disrespect to anyone out there listening who has one of these. I'm sure it's very beautiful.

Okay, so Troutman, it seems like you are a very opinionated person. What do you think is your hottest tick? I got to think about this. You don't like swearing. Oh, yeah. I don't like swearing. Really? Another reason why it's weird that we're friends.

Okay, so wait, is this like, like on a moral level you don't like swearing or in a personal level? You're like, yeah, it's just, I don't vibe with it. It's not as much on a moral level as due to my rather sheltered background. It kind of makes me shudder a little bit sometimes. But I don't mind it if done well. That's how I feel. I will say I love it when you swear. You're my favorite person to hear swear because it's never when you think it will be.

the first time I ever heard you swear, you like just, I don't know, you touched a door wrong or you hurt yourself in like some teeny tiny, itty-bitty way and you go, oh, fuck. That has been known to happen. Elizabeth, would you consider your upbringing to be sheltered? I would. Okay, so were you homeschooled or just like general evangelical world or expand more on that? Yeah, I grew up Southern Baptist going to a very small classical Christian. school.

We're at? In Winter Park, Florida. It's called the Geneva School. Awesome school. How I recommend the Geneva School. Oh, wait, did you go, did the Forrester's and Jack Graham? Yeah, Mr. Forrester was my senior year English teacher. And then Jack Graham was on my moot court team.

And so I was in class with Kiri all the time. Yeah. Great people from Geneva also. Yes. So did you expect to go Greek when he came into Hillsdale? I did. My mom was a Kayo at a liberal arts school in Florida. And so I heard about it my whole life.

heard about the secrets at a young age and... Oh, so your mom broke ritual? She sure did. So she has to be shot now. If Nationals is listening to this, you got to come arrest Lisa Troutman. But yeah, I kind of always thought that I would. I definitely went back and forth on it and yeah.

Do you think that you would have gone Greek outside of Hillsdale? I doubt it. And I would not have... Looking back, I would not have gone Greek. Like, I would go independent or Kaya would be the choices for me. Yeah. Speaking of choices, you made the choice to listen to Truman and Claire like people on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.

So I personally am not a fan, but I'd be curious to know, are you like a four-point Calvinist or something? Like, what's your take? I'm a five-point Calvinist, Truman. Okay. Yeah, that's five points. Okay. The reason that I think that Calvinism, that's another hot take, is actually perhaps the most persecuted religious opinion on the Hillsdale College campus. There is a lot of negativity towards Calvinists.

Well, that's because it sucks. A lot of misunderstanding about what it really is. Have you heard about the Jews, Troutman? What do you mean by that? In terms of the most worst. Oh, you said religion on Hillsdale's campus. Not in general. Not in general. I would never say that. That's crazy to say through.

That would be a horrible take. Don't make it look like I said that on the air. Have you personally experienced any persecution due to your Calvinist, i.e. cringe, tendencies. Yeah, I was just called cringe for it just like a second ago. People just generally have a really negative view of it. And I think really that comes from a lack of understanding.

I once saw a great meme that said, wait, actually I don't really remember what it said, but the point was, the point of the meme was that what is something that everyone believes in but doesn't know what it's called or like doesn't believe in, once they know what it's called, they no longer believe in it. And that is Calvinism.

Wait, so what specifically do people not understand? I think there's a common misconception that people think that Calvinist believe that a lot of people are predestined to hell. Okay. That God wants people to go to hell. And that's really not the case. The Bible is clear that God wishes that nobody perish. But I think it's just a clear logical thing that if God is sovereign, which all Christians believe, he knows who is going to go to heaven. And so if he knows who's going to go to heaven, he predestined them to go to heaven.

Okay. It just seems like kind of a logical thing. It's in the Bible as well. check out Ephesians, Romans, amongst other passages. But it's just kind of a logical argument to me. Well, I personally think that everyone listening should take the Molinism pill. That's my take. All right.

So we're going to move on to Armenianism is bad too. So we're going to move on to the Rapid Fire section. Who's your favorite couple on campus? A favorite couple of mine is Isabella Sheehan and Nicholas Affle I think that they are very sweet together. That was Ben's favorite too. Really? Yeah.

Everyone loves them. They're just very wholesome, very wholesome sweet people, and I'm very happy for them for how happy they are. Who's your favorite fundy on campus? I like a lot. I just feel like the line between what's a fundy and what's not is just different for so many people. There's a great documentary on that. Yeah, I feel like there's this YouTube video that everyone should look up

made by the man who would later become Homecoming King. My favorite fundy. I don't want to be offensive. I don't want to call anyone of fundy. I like all fundies, really. I'm very pro-fundy. Okay, that's good. Jesus says that we're supposed to love everyone,

which we do, obviously. Who do you love the least on campus? We got to keep that in. Michael Bachman told me to ask you about escape rooms and whether you actually like them or if that's a Haley Strak, fake news. I love escape rooms.

Escape rooms are the opposite of my pet peeve. I love them. But Haley did say that I was an escape room fanatic in the Collegian, which though a bit extreme is true. So I really have nothing to disprove here. I really love escape rooms. Something else he told me to ask you about was the time that you got hit by a car. Because he said that he could just like imagine how you would get hit by a car as well. Yes, I was hit by a car. I was on a run from my house and I was at that intersection by the Norton houses and ATO, if you're familiar. Claire would be.

Yep. Okay, that's always struck me as a dangerous. Yes. And I was running, just enjoying a beautiful day in Hillsdale. And I ran into a car. I'm just going to be honest. I hit it more than it hit me. And the car was being driven by Lea Toney.

And I think she was greatly more traumatized by it than I was. So really the person who should be pitied here is Leotuny. it was really entirely my fault. I used to be embarrassed, but now I think something I learned from Claire is that embarrassment isn't real. You can just speak your truth. Yeah. You're a survivor. I'm a survivor.

What two dorms would you make co-ed? Yeah, I'm going to do Waterman. My former residence. I'm going to do Waterman with the sweets because I just think that would really freak out both. Yeah. I did live in Waterman. A fun fact about me, actually, I'm the only Kai Omega who's ever in our time. I'm here one homecoming because I was in Wittwatt way sophomore year.

Oh wait. I was in Wittwaway. We won homecoming. We won't. Whoa. I did not realize you in Waterman. Oh my gosh. I'm so glad that we made this connection now.

I know. Did Kyo just not want to have a same that year? No, I was, it was before I got my snap in. Oh. I got my snap in that spring. And so I snuck in a homecoming win under the wire. Wow. Well, I'm, I didn't realize we had this in common.

I know. Elizabeth, what is the worst grade you've received at Hillsdale? It's a B-plus. I hate the people that we have on the show so much. Why are they all smarter than me? It was Western Heritage. With who? Gamble.

It was a real gamble taking that class, huh, Stroudman? That was really hard for me as a perfectionist to receive that B-plus, but I'm okay. Do you feel like that was good for you to receive it, like, your first semester? I think it was definitely good for me because it removed the fear of getting a B-plus, because it had already happened and nothing happened. bad after it. Can we get a dumb person on next week? Yeah.

I want someone to lower GPA than me. Whoever comes on next week, you heard it here first. You're just, you're our stupid guess. That's going to be your thing. Troutman's editor-in-chief. Ben plays football. You're stupid. Well, oh, my guess, we're at like half a minute.

Okay. Well, all right. Claire, on a scale of 1 to 10, just a basic rating, what would you give, what would you give Troutman? I would say I'm a little biased on this one because as I've mentioned Troutman and I are good friends

outside of this recording studio I would say I give this interview ignoring my personal connection to Troutman I would give it an 8.5 I was going to give it a 9.2 Wow Truman likes you

Yeah Thank you Truman I'm not used to being interviewed due to the collegian, I'm kind of the interviewer, so I hope that I haven't been boring here today. It's been an honor, truly. Yeah. Well, okay.

Who should we have next week? Do you want me to say someone you're going to have to be bad or someone that you can put on? Whatever you want and we'll make the call. I guess I did say whoever it would be, it will be stupid. I'm going to suggest something Michael said to me

is that Michael, Ben and I all kind of know each other and he suggested that the next person is more of like a branch out who the three of us don't hang out with as much. And so I think I'm just going to suggest my fellow Geneva school student who's really awesome of Keri Forrester. She's really funny, really smart, so that it might not be what you're looking for. But she's really great. She's really good at knitting. She's knitted some amazing Star Wars characters.

Started that in eighth grade. I remember seeing that happen. And it was really cool. So I'm just going to recommend Kiri. Today we've liked Elizabeth Troutman. And I'm Truman. And I'm Claire. And we like people.