Barrett Moore and Taryn Murphy were named this year’s outstanding senior man and woman on Feb. 17.
Moore, a double major in history and Spanish, said he was “very honored and very humbled” when he heard he won.
Murphy, a philosophy and religion double major, said the honor was even more special, given her four-year friendship with Moore.
“I felt very humbled,” Murphy said. “The most exciting part about it for me was that I got to share it with Barrett and we could represent the senior class together.”
Both students are deeply involved in the Hillsdale community. Moore is head resident assistant of Simpson Residence, a member of the Hillsdale Shotgun team, a member of the Catholic Society, and a student ambassador. Murphy is head resident assistant in New Dorm, a Center for Constructive Alternatives Student Assistant, and volunteers with A Few Good Men.
“Barrett is a very gentle but strong leader,” Murphy said. “He’s not in your face when it comes to being a leader. He doesn’t boss other people around, but he always embodies very admirable qualities and he just makes people want to be like him. He has always been the most gentle, respectful friend and I’m really glad he’s being recognized. He may not be the loudest person in the room, but he is an example for people by his character and friendship, and his love for God. So I’m really happy for him.”
Moore had high praises for his female counterpart.
“It’s an honor to win with Taryn. She is a very good woman and an even better friend,” he said.
The two seniors said they have immense love for their school and the growth that has come through four years at Hillsdale.
Moore said that Hillsdale felt like home when he first got to campus in 2017.
“You were immersed in this sense of this love that people had for each other and a shared love of what they were doing here,” Moore said. “That was what attracted me to Hillsdale.”
Murphy said her time at Hillsdale has broadened her understanding of what learning should be.
“I realized that the beauty of going to a liberal arts school is that we’re not here to study one thing to get a job that we’re going to do for the rest of our lives,” Murphy said. “And so I felt the freedom to be able to study what I was really excited about, opposed to what I thought was gonna get me a job.”
Both of the winners said they have gotten to know the faculty well on campus.
Professor of Ancient History Kenneth Calvert, who had Moore in several classes, said that he respects Barrett a great deal.
“He has a sharp mind and a keen willingness to learn,” Calvert said in an email. “In my classes, Barrett speaks little, but when he does he has something substantial to add.”
Moore said Calvert is someone he looks up to.
“I really admire that he strives to put Christ first and that allows him to love everybody else around him,” Moore said.
Assistant Professor of Spanish Todd Mack had Moore freshman year in Spanish 101.
Mack said in an email that he was “impressed at how Barrett wants to do good and be good. He has some specific career plans, but regardless of what he chooses to do, I know that he will do it well and it will help make the world a better place.”
A couple of weeks ago, Mack was very late to class because of a meeting, he recounted. The following class, Moore was also very late.
“I thought he was trying to get back at me, but he had just risked a pre-class nap that ended up getting away from him,” Mack said. “He was pretty embarrassed, but I thought it said a lot about his character that he would wake up and come, despite being so late.”
Murphy said Associate Professor of Philosophy Lee Cole has been a significant influence on her during her time at Hillsdale College.
“It was definitely Cole who made me excited about philosophy,” Murphy said in an email. “He was so clear and practical and inspiring. I had always thought that philosophy was kind of goofy, but he was able to show our whole class why it was fundamental to all the questions we were asking.”
Cole said that Murphy “weds intelligence with a rare degree of diligence and attention.”
“Her disposition in class is really exemplary. Everyone has days where they don’t feel at their best, but you’d never know that with Taryn,” Cole said. “She always gives you her full attention.”
Murphy said she admired Cole’s humor and ability to make the class engaging.
“I appreciated that there was a professor that acknowledged that it didn’t have to be serious all the time, and was able to engage our interests, through his humor and his love for the topics that we were discussing,” Murphy said.
Overall, Murphy said her four years were about “realizing that I’m learning new things every day, and I’m constantly challenging and refining the beliefs that I’ve had for 18 years before I came here.”
The 18 years before she came to Hillsdale still taught her valuable lessons, Murphy said.
“I come from a family that is very much about being self-starters,” Murphy said. “They’re all entrepreneurs. That taught me growing up, that you have to be someone that takes initiative and responsibility. The first step to even try something, the effort is 75% of the success.”
Murphy shared some advice for the rising seniors.
“Fall semester of my senior year, I was grieving the fact that I knew I had to leave Hillsdale. And I think that comes from adults telling us that college is the best four years of our life,” she said. “But I think Hillsdale actually teaches us the exact opposite.”
The four years students spend at Hillsdale prepare them to thrive after college, Murphy explained.
“I would say to rising seniors, you don’t have to mourn the fact that you’re going to be leaving Hillsdale soon because this is the beginning of a life well lived,” she said.
In addition to Murphy’s wisdom, Moore said he wanted his senior class to be remembered as “doing what was right for the right reasons.”
“You look around and you notice that Hillsdale is different. It’s not like the rest of the country. The way people treat each other and our understanding of life is just different,” Moore said.
Moore credited Hillsdale’s unique environment for shaping him and Murphy into the people they are.
“Iron sharpens iron,” he said. “Taryn and I wouldn’t be who we are without everybody else.”
