is an independent, conservative, co-educational, nonsectarian, post-secondary liberal arts institution located on the north side of the city of
Hillsdale in central southern
Michigan . Its 200 acre (0.8 km²) campus contains multiple instructional and office buildings, thirteen residence halls, six Greek houses, an athletic complex, music hall, arts center, and an
Arboretum . Two state of the art classroom buildings, Kendall and Lane Halls, were completed in December 2005 and construction of a new student center, on the site formerly occupied by the Carr Library, is set to be completed in
2006 .
As of 2006, Hillsdale's student body consists of 1,300 students, almost evenly divided on the basis of
Sex , with slightly more females enrolled than males. The college currently has more than 100 full time faculty and offers a variety of liberal arts majors, pre-professional programs, a teacher education program, and a journalism certificate program. Hillsdale's most popular major is history.
The College also has a variety of sports teams that compete on the
NCAA Division II level, including
Baseball , men's and women's
Basketball ,
Football ,
Softball , women's
Swimming ,
Track And Field ,
Cross Country , and
Volleyball . The college also has club teams in both
Ice Hockey and
Lacrosse . The Chargers, as the Hillsdale athletics teams are known, compete in the
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference .
Hillsdale College was established in
1844 and was the first American college to prohibit in its charter all
Discrimination based on race, religion, or sex, thus making Hillsdale the first American college to be chartered on the principle of nondiscrimination. Hillsdale's Founders were determined to uphold the principle of equality articulated by the Founders of America who had declared in
1776 that "all men are created equal." Hillsdale was founded by
Freewill Baptists , and in the nineteenth century, Hillsdale and
Bates College in Maine were the only American colleges affiliated with the denomination. Hillsdale no longer has any denominational affiliation.
Because of its dedication to the principle of equality, Hillsdale quickly emerged as an early agitator for the abolition of slavery and for the education of black students. Blacks were admitted immediately after the
1844 founding and the College became the second in the nation to grant four-year liberal arts degrees to women.
Many Hillsdale students served in the
Union Army during the
American Civil War . A higher percentage of Hillsdale students enlisted than from any other non-military college. During the war, male enrollment at the college was nearly nonexistent. Of the more than 400 men serving, half became officers. During the conflict, four Hillsdale students won the
Medal Of Honor , three became generals, and many more served as regimental commanders. For the more than sixty that died, a monument in their honor, which now stands between Kendall and Lane Halls, was created.
Hillsdale's non-discrimination policy remained controversial throughout its history. Hillsdale reports that its students refused to segregate their troops in the Army during
Tangerine Bowl when the committee refused to allow the team's black players to join the white players on the field, forcing the committee to select
Juniata instead.
Hillsdale College's commitment to non-discrimination again came under fire in the
1970s following the enactment of
Affirmative Action legislation. Because some of its students were receiving federal loans, the federal government declared it could require Hillsdale College to submit Assurance of Compliance forms mandated by
Title IX as a condition of the continued receipt of federal financial assistance by two hundred Hillsdale students. Hillsdale refused compliance on the grounds that its own policies were less discriminatory than those the federal government would impose. Hillsdale also contended that it was not required to comply because it was a private school not receiving federal aid. However, the federal government argued that although the school was not funded directly, some students were receiving federal aid.
In 1979, this continuing battle with the
Department Of Health, Education, And Welfare (HEW) began to intensify. The College filed a petition for judicial review in the
Sixth Circuit Court Of Appeals in
Cincinnati , asking the court to overturn a previous decision by the Reviewing Authority, Office of Civil Rights of HEW.
In December 1982, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Hillsdale's refusal to sign the compliance forms, but it also ruled that government aid to individual students could be terminated without a finding that a college actually discriminated.
In February 1984, in a related case, ''
Grove City College v. T.H. Bell, Secretary U.S. Department of Education'', the
U. S. Supreme Court made a decision regarding arguments first made by Hillsdale College. It required every college or university to fulfill federal requirements because its students received federal aid.
As a result of the court's decision, students at Hillsdale can no longer receive federal student aid. Also as a result of this decision, parents of Hillsdale students are ineligible to take any federal education tax credits or deductions for expenses they incur to send their children there. Thus the entire operating budget (estimated at $46 million per year) of the college, including scholarships ($10,117,047 for 2005), must come from private funding sources.
Due in no small part to its refusal to accept funds in return for government mandates, the College raises enough extra revenue to pay the equivalent of the federal loans that it refuses. As the ''
Detroit Free Press '' stated on January 25, 1981:
:Hillsdale after all, is famous as the little college that fights for rightness and independence. From the unlikely location of south central Michigan, it gained its national recognition by drawing its sword against the federal government. No trespassing, it told HEW; we'll hire, promote, subsidize, educate and influence with no interference from you.
Hillsdale has been the home to several eminent faculty members, including English professors Dr. David Whalen and Dr. Stephen Smith; economists Dr.
Richard Ebeling and Gary Wolfram; historians Dr. John Willson, Dr. Bradley Birzer, Dr. Burt Folsom, and
Sir Martin Gilbert ; political scientists Dr. Robert Eden, Dr. Mickey Craig, Hon. Stephen Markman, and Dr. Nathan W. Schlueter; and sculptor Tony Frudakis.
As of 2004, Ebeling is on a leave, heading up the ''. Frudakis, regarded as one of the best living American sculptors, sculpted the life-size statue of
George Washington which stands near the administrative building Moss Hall and the statue of
Socrates which sits in the library. In 2004, both United States Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas and eminent classicist
Victor Davis Hanson served short terms on the faculty, teaching seminar courses to select groups of students.
Hillsdale College often features prominent speakers at its Center for Constructive Alternatives (CCA) seminars. These have included former President
Ronald Reagan , activist Rev.
Jesse Jackson , former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher ,
Green Party presidential candidate
Ralph Nader , and Justice Thomas.
Since 1981, Hillsdale College has presented National Leadership Seminars nationwide on issues of politics, economics and culture. To date, more than 19,000 community, business and media leaders around the country have attended these seminars. Past speakers include
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick ,
George Will ,
Winston Churchill II ,
Steve Forbes ,
Colin Powell ,
Margaret Thatcher ,
John Stossel ,
Benjamin Netanyahu ,
Tony Snow ,
Dan Quayle ,
Midge Decter , and
Caspar Weinberger .
The College publishes the ''Imprimis'', a free-subscription speech digest with over 1.2 million subscribers.
Hillsdale currently ranks 104th in the ''
U.S. News & World Report '' listing of best American Liberal Arts colleges, but ranks number one in the
Princeton Review 's listing of colleges where students are "most nostalgic for Ronald Reagan."
Hillsdale College operates a K-12 liberal arts school,
Hillsdale Academy . The Academy's rigorous teaching methods are respected nationwide.
In the late
1990s , the Hillsdale community was roused by the suspicious death of Lissa Jackson Roche, the daughter-in-law of then-president
George Roche III . A former
Flint School student, her body was discovered in the college's
Slayton Arboretum . It was alleged that she had admitted to having an affair with George Roche III. Controversy still rages over whether she committed suicide or was murdered, and a book was written on the tragedy. Roche no longer works for Hillsdale College. Despite this incident, which inspired an episode of
NBC s
Law & Order , Roche's labors to improve the college remain respected, and the college's sports complex, built during his presidency, bears his name.
Dr. Larry P. Arnn serves as president of the college. Arnn has studied at
Oxford University in
England and worked with Martin Gilbert (now Sir), the official biographer of
Winston Churchill . Before coming to Hillsdale, Dr. Arnn served as president of the
Claremont Insitute . Dr. Arnn, who leads the private college in Michigan, had a base salary of $331,773 in 2003-04, with benefits of $145,157, putting his total compensation at $476,930.
In
2002 ,
Chris Chocola , a Hillsdale graduate, was elected to the
United States House Of Representatives , joining another Hillsdale alumnus, Representative
Phil Crane (who served until 2004) as a member of the influential
House Ways And Means Committee .
