Liberal arts in action: Release the raids – Hillsdale Collegian

Students from Galloway Residence pose with Niedfeldt Residences old homecoming banner before trading it for their flag. Courtesy | Seth Ramm

It is my intention to prove once and for all that Hillsdales male dormitory raid culture is necessary for a liberal arts education. I would like to begin by saying (keep your shirts on Simpsonites), that inter-dormitory rivalries are at the heart of student culture and campus will be worse off if raids and the events leading up to them are done away with for good.

Hillsdale College boasts one of the most unique academic experiences in America, and it is fitting that the student culture is just as unique. Though to some, the time-honored traditions of flag stealing, petty pranks, and meeting on the quad to beat each other senseless with foam-insulated PVC may seem childish and unnecessary, I would argue that behind this apparent childishness is hiding a complex and positive culture that fosters community and improves the spirit of campus.

There are many things more harrowing than your first few nights on campus (asking someone on a dining hall date, for instance), but being alone in a strange place filled with strangers is a difficult adjustment. This was the beginning of my freshman year, 2019. Like most others in my dormitory, I went to Welcome Party. I spent about an hour making small talk and participating in something that vaguely resembled dancing. It was not until I returned to the dormitory that the night got interesting.

I was informed that some nefarious actors had crept their way into Galloway Residence, my dormitory, and absconded with all our pillows. Every. Single. One. Left in their place was a cryptic notean apparent riddle that would reveal the location of our wayward pillows. Within five minutes, there were 20 to 30 people crammed wall to wall in the first-floor lobby of Galloway, all desperate to decipher the note and retrieve our pillows. I dont remember how long we spent racking our brains, consulting with upperclassmen, and trying to apply what little knowledge of Hillsdale we had to solving the problem.

We eventually did find our pillowssoaked in perfume and stuffed in contractor bags on the carpeted floor of the Olds Residence lobbybut most importantly, we found friends. That night, a simple prank brought the freshman residents together for a unique and unforgettable night.

It wasnt long after the pillow theft that I was introduced to raid culture. Simpson had of course engaged in their customary saber rattling the first week back on campus. Everyone knew that something was going to happen, but exactly when and what was a mystery.

That all changed on a dreary Friday night.

When word broke that a legion of Simpsonites was expected to march on Galloway, the night was transformed. Galloway men went to general quarters. Guys armed themselves with raid weapons stashed in various storage closets and rooms. The situation room was filled to the brim with Resident Assistants and upperclassmen analyzing intelligence and creating a defensive strategy. Someone was blaring John Williams Duel of the Fates from a speaker. The mood was electric.

Having no weapons of my own, I volunteered to join then-junior Philip Andrews on a reconnaissance mission to Simpson. Feeling like two spies sent on a death-defying, top secret mission, we stealthily approached Simpson, concealing ourselves in the bushes by the Searle Center. Though the headlights of passing cars illuminated our pasty faces, we somehow observed Simpson unseen. Even as the rain began to fall, we remained at our post, looking for anything that could confirm that Simpson was in fact preparing an attack. Though I believe that night did not end in a climactic battle (my memory could be wrong), just the threat of a Simpson raid created an unforgettable night.

It is fitting to conclude this defense of raid culture with a discussion of what happens when foam swords clash, when flags are stolen, when glory is earned, and when legends are made. The world of raiding is a curious one, filled with traditions, pageantry, and unwritten rules (which may not always be followed, but thats a subject for a whole other article). At least one opinion article has been written deriding such momentous displays of gallantry and courage as The Battle of Kappa Lawn and Land Battle. I was among those who valiantly took part in Land Battle last year. I was one of those whose behavior was considered by some to be childish, outrageous, uncouth, and (most heart wrenchingly) unbecoming of a potential future life partner. Allow me to condemn these slanders as untrue, unfounded, uninformed, unsubstantiated, unaccommodating, unadulterated, and above all false.

Yes, in the simplest, most elementary terms, Land Battle is simply a bunch of college men meeting to pummel one another with baby-proofed plumbing. But it is simultaneously so much more. There is a nearly universal thread that ties men together. It is a desire for competition, for glory earned. Its a desire to overcome overwhelming odds and achieve greatness.

To steal a term from the class Great Books I, men want kleosthe ancient Greek word meaning your renown or glory. Even in a simulated, controlled, low-stakes scenario like Land Battle, there exists kleos. There is a reason why movies such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones resonate almost universally with boys. Boys innately crave adventure. Boys want to be Indiana Jones; they want to be Luke Skywalker.

In a political climate where boys are told from kindergarten that they should behave more like the girls, to be quiet and studious, and to sit down and dont fidget, Hillsdale is a refreshing alternative. It is a place where boys are ablefor at least one nightto participate in an exercise of the masculinity that society is trying desperately to extinguish.

I can guarantee that I have never felt more alive than I did when I returned to my dormitory after Land Battle. It was already well past midnight and I had a calculus quiz in the morning, but I didnt care. I stayed up for hours after the event, reveling in what had happened.

The memory of that night will forever be in my consciousness. It is an experience unlike any other, and I believe it would be a disservice to the current and future freshmen of Hillsdale if they are never able to experience it.

Nick Treglia is a sophomore studying applied mathematics.

Read more:

Liberal arts in action: Release the raids - Hillsdale Collegian