An Interview with Amanda Bigney, Director of Student Activities Office
Written by Monica Brandt
What is there to do in Hillsdale?
At first glance, it might seem like coming to Hillsdale College would be really boring. The town is not exactly known as being a college town, and it costs money to drive to the bigger cities in Michigan. It is easy to think that the only thing to do on the weekend is watch Netflix. Hillsdale College, however, created the Student Activities Office to organize fun activities for the students to do.
“We try to put on events throughout both semesters to keep students distracted from all of the schoolwork that they have to do all day, every day,” director of Student Activities Amanda Bigney said.
The office is broken into two divisions: the Student Activities Board and Campus Health and Recreation.
The Activities Board puts on live music, bands, and parties. Each year the Board puts on two dances: the Garden Party in the fall and the President’s Ball in the spring. They also have two annual parties: the Welcome Party, which takes place right before classes begin, and Central-Hall-a-Palooza, which takes place at the end of the year. These events have food, bands, and entertainment, such as a photo booth or inflatable games.
Campus Health and Wellness tries to find activities for the students to do, such as triathlons and a color run. They have also started adding off-campus activities, such as a ski trip to the Bittersweet Ski Lodge in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Bigney said the activities are a mix of annual events and new ideas that students come up with each year.
“This is a campus dedicated to their students,” Bigney said. “Even though the town around the college might not have as many attractions and things to do on a Friday or Saturday night, the campus tries to bring entertainment to the students by having offices like this to try to create an atmosphere on this campus basically catered to the students. There are tons of things to do, even though it does not look like it on the outside.”
Monica Brandt is a sophomore from Utah, pursuing a major in Economics and a minor in Journalism. She writes weekly for the sports section of the Collegian. Her freshman year, she also competed on the Forensics team.