Posted on 02/01/2017 8:38:57 PM PST by TBP
Hillsdale, a private college of 1,400 students in southern Michigan that describes itself as “nonsectarian Christian” and dedicated to “civil and religious liberty,” is scarcely known in many circles. But among erudite conservatives — think progeny of William F. Buckley Jr. — it is considered a hidden gem.
What they admire is the college’s concentration on the Western philosophical and literary canon (sometimes disparaged as the Great Books of dead white men) and its reverent treatment of the American founding documents as the political culmination of that tradition — a tradition that scholars at Hillsdale say has been desecrated by a century of governmental overreach, including the New Deal and Obamacare.
It is no coincidence that Justice Clarence Thomas, an advocate of strict “originalist” interpretation of the Constitution, delivered the commencement address last spring, likening Hillsdale to a “shining city on a hill” for its devotion to “liberty as an antecedent of government, not a benefit from government.”
Conservatives are also entranced by Hillsdale’s decision to forego any federal or state funds so as to be “unfettered” by government mandates. In 1984, in Grove City College v. Bell, the Supreme Court ruled that even Pell grants for needy students or G.I. Bill money for veterans subjects a college to federal regulations, and so Hillsdale students are not allowed to accept such funds (most receive institutional grants). As a result, the college does not follow Title IX guidelines on sex discrimination and the handling of sexual assault cases and it has refused to engage in the otherwise required reporting on student race and ethnicity, let alone develop an affirmative action plan.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
UC Berkeley diametrical opposite.
A small beacon through the storm clouds of liberalistic indoctrination gripping higher education.
I would have loved to see Larry Aaron nominated for secretary of education.
I sent my oldest daughter to Thomas Moore College in Nashua NH. It was the same sort of school as Hillsdale but deeply Catholic and there was visiting back and forth. Daughter and two colleagues visited with Russell Kirk at the Hillsdale Campus. MIL kvetched for 4 years that no one ever heard of Thomas More and she would never get accepted to a grad school. She went from TM to LSU for her MBA and the registrar clerk had, indeed, never heard of the place. Daughter seemed to be pretty familiar with history and philosophy and had Greek and Latin so the registrar asked for phone numbers. Next day the clerk jokingly asked daughter where she wanted her reserved parking space.
and if I understand correctly, they take NO government money, whether in tuition/research grants or government cheese. There is no way to let the camel get it’s nose into the tent, in other words??
I was expecting condescension or snark from the NY Times, but didn’t see it in this article.
I had hte privilege of getting to know Dr. Kirk while I was there, and he is perhaps the most brilliant person I have had the honor of knowing.
Correct. Student could take federal student loans at one point until the Feds said if you have students with fed student loans you have to bow down to Washington. So they created their own student loan program.
Good point, but I didn’t read more than what was posted here.
I went back and read the whole thing.
The article remained level headed all the way through. There may have been some tinges of snark in the area talking about diversity, but it wasn’t over the top by any stretch of the imagination.
You were right.
Let only Hillsdale graduates run the Education Department with a promise to quit after 4 or 8 years-when the Department is gone. Big bonus afterward.
They’d probably do a darn good job.
Like Irish monks after the fall of Rome, Hillsdale may be the institution that saves western civilization.
Thankfully I stumbled upon, and enrolled in their FREE online courses. They offer things every American should know: The Constitution, The Federalist Papers, The Founders, all online at no cost. Too bad so many people in this country are ignorant of history. That probably is the biggest factor on why there are so many lib-tards among us.
I used to dream of ivy league admissions for my children. Now I wouldn’t send them there if it were free, and I have a new dream (Hillsdale).
As a senior in high school, my nephew, an all state hockey player (and class valedictorian) in Michigan was recruited by all the ivy league biggies. He turned his back on them and went to small Williams College in Mass..........He never regretted it.
I never attended Hillsdale College but was fortunate enough to live in Hillsdale, Michigan for a time when I was younger. An absolutely beautiful little town!
As a family, we are creating a perpetual scholarship at Hillsdale. I think it is one of the best legacies that we can leave the future. The current cost of a full year scholarship is in the mid $400ks but once started, the scholarship is endowed once the 2 year total exceeds a given amount (has changed since we started it!)
Check with Hillsdale directly if you are interested.
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