This semester, the Man Up series resumes with an on-campus silent retreat. The event will begin Friday, Jan. 31 at 5:20 p.m. and last until Saturday, Feb. 1 at 10:00 p.m.
Associate Dean of Men Jeff Rogers said he structured the event in three tiers for students who couldn’t commit to the full time. If a student chooses the first tier, he will stay at the retreat the entire time, including meals. The second tier commits to most of the event with a few exceptions, and the third tier will only join the group at specific times, like when the group prays.
Last semester, as a part of the Man Up series, Rogers took students to Fort Custer, a military post near Battle Creek, Michigan, where students participated in “manly activities” like marching, scaling ladders, crawling under barbed wire, and getting around other difficult obstacles.
This time around, Rogers said he wants to emphasize the other part of manliness. “Now, we’re training your interior fortitude, your soul,” he said.
Assistant RA and junior Jeremiah O’Brien will attend the event as a third-tier participant. “It’ll be a new experience for me and a lot of the guys attending,” he said. “I think it will be a nice break from the constant grind of school.”
“Do you feel a distance from God?” the flier reads. “Is there something in you that wants to take a time-out from everything to truly listen, pray, and reflect?”
O’Brien said he thinks the retreat is a good way for Hillsdale’s men to participate in more religious activities and get away from the world’s distractions. “Hopefully, it will allow guys to contemplate and deepen their relationships with God.”
Rogers said this silent retreat is meant to engage men in a conversation with God. According to him, the modern world is just too busy. Phones and media take up too much of our time, and we don’t spend enough time in silence, reflecting, and praying, he said.
According to Galloway Full RA and senior Ethan Visser, Rogers relies on the male RA teams to recruit students for the Man Up events.
“They talked about the importance of spiritual life in being men and how a big part of spiritual life for the Church fathers is silence and solitude,” he said.
Visser pointed to passages in the Bible which suggest that silence is an important aspect to hearing God’s voice.
To Rogers, the silence featured in the retreat allows men to wade into “deeper waters” in their walk with God.
“We all need to pray more,” he said. “Do you ever feel like the silence is too loud, so you put something on in the background? God speaks in that silence, and now you can hear from him.”
Later this semester, the Man Up series will switch back to physicality with a wrestling tournament, similar to past Man Up events.
Students can RSVP for the silent retreat by scanning the QR code on the event posters.
