Benjamin Hinrichs and Helen Schlueter were selected as Outstanding Man and Woman of the Class of 2024. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Ben Hinrichs

Why did you choose Hillsdale?

There were three schools I was looking at. The first was a beautiful college on a mountain next to the ocean in California. The next was an academic school like Hillsdale that consisted of four years of core study, but it was not a christian school. Neither school offered football. Hillsdale did, and I visited here last. At the time I had all but decided that I was going to attend the school in California, but when I visited by myself during a drizzly week in February of my senior year, I noticed that the only complaint from the students was that everyone always worked so hard. I was drawn to the rigor of Hillsdale’s curriculum and the friendliness of those students I met when I visited. Football was an awesome bonus.

What are some ways in which you have encountered faith on campus?

A way that faith here is different from other places is how people of all faith backgrounds understand the necessity and beauty of following God. They all show each other a great amount of kindness in that pursuit even though there are so many small disagreements along the way. I see this kindness in conversation all over campus and in the way people treat one another.

What was your reaction to being named Outstanding Senior Man?

I was shocked at first. I am not as academically inclined as some of the other candidates, so I thought it was a great honor that the professors saw something outstanding in me. I loved the college before it ever loved me so I am excited about the chance to give back.

What piece of advice from a professor has stuck with you? 

In capstone this year, Dr. Martin said, “When you see the forces of evil arrayed, grimacing in front of you like orcs and other monsters; and when you feel them on the inside, you must think: ‘We shall give them battle nonetheless.’”

Taylor Swift: Yay or Nay?

Nay! Thumbs Down. 

Which character from “The Chronicles of Narnia” has had the greatest impact on the way you live and why?

Puddleglum. He has taught me to see through cynicism and darkness and understand that there is light in the world.

Helen Schlueter

What is something about campus culture that surprised you?

I knew when I was a senior in high school that Hillsdale would be intellectually rigorous. I wasn’t sure what quality of friendships I would find. I was not prepared for the depth and range of friendships that I would find here, both in class and outside of class, from clubs and activities. 

How have friendships here impacted you?

I was drawn to the academic life of Hillsdale, and I came to realize that the friendship side of Hillsdale was something I had to work for almost as much as my classes. We are tempted to wrap ourselves in our work here, but there was a point during my sophomore year when I realized that what I was learning from my class texts needed to be translated into my social life.

What is one thing you’d like underclassmen to know?

The Hillsdale education ultimately shows you how to build culture and how to feast. I am drawing a lot from a book called “Leisure: The Basis of Culture” by Josef Pieper. He says that the idea of resting in things that are good in themselves is man’s end. That is an encounter with the divine. He connects culture and leisure. As Hillsdale students, we have those things before us, but we also have the responsibility to own that and take it with us and give back to campus.

Lord of the Rings books or movies?

Books for sure.

Reflecting on the past four years, how you have grown, how you have matured, and who you have become?

Fundamentally it comes down to the friendships that surround intellectual life. I have been blown away by the way in which the things we read become ensouled in conversation. And for that, I will be forever grateful.