Staying in Town: Spotlight on Ashlyn Landherr
Written by Gordon Behr
While Ashlyn Landherr, ’16, watched her teammates and friends move away from Hillsdale to begin their post-graduate lives, she prepared to assume her role as assistant director of student activities at the same place she’d studied for the last four years.
“The job kind of fell in my lap,” Ashlyn said. “Student life was always something I wanted to do but couldn’t really experience when I was an athlete.”
Ashlyn, who studied marketing and played for the women’s basketball team during her time as an undergraduate, enjoyed creating experiences for students as assistant director and even took over as head director of student activities one year later. Now she not only plans student events but supervises the Student Activities Board, organizes club events with Student Federation, and manages the Grewcock Student Union.
All this work has not gone unnoticed. If most students don’t realize who is taking the lead in these events, they have certainly noticed the upswing in activity these past few years– trivia nights at the local Mexican restaurant have been packed, and students still talking about last year’s Centralhallapallooza.
Although there is not one class that can prepare a student for this kind of job, Ashlyn has enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to manage all of the moving pieces. Still, watching her classmates spread out in all different directions after graduation wasn’t easy.
“It’s hard transitioning from being a student to then staying at the same place as a staff member. Friends move on, and I’ve stayed at Hillsdale to help run the events I used to go to.”
The unique transition into the working world may have been atypical, but Ashlyn has appreciated it and all that it has taught her.
“This job has shown me a lot about myself and has given me a lot of incredible opportunities to serve others,” Ashlyn said. “I hope to take the Hillsdale culture with me wherever I go next.”
Gordon Behr, class of 2019, studies politics and economics. He also plays for the Hillsdale College Men’s Basketball team.
Published in November 2018