^^It’s not really a Christian school I guess is what people are trying to tell you. It’s not even affiliated with any church. It is a politically conservative college in the classicist sense. Christian colleges in Michigan would be Hope College and Calvin College predominantly with Calvin requiring a faith based statement by faculty and students and staff and I think people get that mixed up about Hillsdale generally for some reason.
Romani, I didn’t mean to generalize your statement, just to offer another perspective. I apologize if my post came off as dismissive. I just don’t want anyone to look up Hillsdale on CC and come away with the impression that only stauch Christian Republicans need apply, which is definitely not the case.
Best to you!
https://www.hillsdale.edu/campus-life/spiritual-life/
And while the school supports religious freedom and has no mandatory religious elements, it’s worth noting that it also doesn’t have a Buddhist, Hindu, or Muslim student faith organization. Coincidence?
kypdurron, hillsdale is an awesome school , with a very proud tradition and they stood up for what they believed in against the federal bureaucracy who tried to control them and they won. that is amazing. the school is awesome. don’t let those who dislike hillsdale because hillsdale is "different’ in their philosophy bother you with their comments. be proud that you are attending a very unique independent thinking college.
@marvin100…way to edit LOL the media would love it. Here’s the entire statement:. Almost every LAC in the US has it’s “roots” in one of the Christian or Catholic doctrines.
I have many friends with many belief systems. I know a few Hillsdale grads, and they are very fine people. They are conservative … they’ll debate points, but they don’t tell me I will go to h*ll if I don’t agree with their beliefs (like others I know). They are intelligent, have well-thought-out points of view, and have never put me down for my beliefs. The school does not accept federal aid, because they really do want to be free from federal regulation - and this is not new or in response to any particular regulation - they have figured out how to help their students with their own funds, so that they can run the school as they see fit. A current administrator at Hillsdale is a former coworker (and a Hillsdale grad) - he is a very, very ethical person who is not racist, bigoted, against women’s rights, etc. Just my two cents - it wouldn’t be the place I would want to go to school, but it is not what some might want people to believe.
I went to a similar college. It’s good for some, but I wouldn’t do it if I got a do over. I’m glad there are options out there for everyone.
@momofthreeboys - I didn’t “edit” anything. I used a direct quote. That’s a false accusation and dead wrong. I expect an apology, although I doubt I’ll get one.
here is the “about” statement from the hillsdale website
no mention of religion or religious affiliation.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/about/
do not worry …one tiny school with 1400 students will not have any effect on the orthodoxy of thought that has a stranglehold on 99% colleges.
I really do not see a storm of criticism on this thread. At least not of Hillsdale!
While I was reading the article I was asking myself what the difference was between this school and St. John’s (a place I considered applying to back in the day). Anyone?
^^ Here is my understanding of why Hillsdale is different than a higher education school, such as St. John’s.
Hillsdale is different than other schools because if its emphasis on the Constitution, Founding Principles, and the belief that inalienable rights are in fact granted by a Creator, not by man-made government. Therefore, all students must learn the Constitution, as an original textual governing document.
The Constitution is not taught as some malleable document, but a set of rules upon which the power of the people can effectively restrain and control government. In short, Hillsdale revers individual freedom, as enshrined in the Constitution, and it teaches those principles are sacrosanct.
For example, an activist judiciary that changes laws to fit the judges’ social beliefs would not be something one would learn is acceptable at Hillsdale. The proper way for such changes is through the people’s representatives, the Congress.
The students are free to debate everything, but as far as the governing philosophy of the school, it is definitely pro-individual rights, pro-Western values, pro-Western philosophy, and pro-limited government. Therefore, if one questions Western values/philosophy and the governing supremacy of the Constitution, then Hillsdale may not be for you.
I did hear the president of Hillsdale on a radio show this past week, and for the record, he actually like the NYT’s article. He said it was an accurate and fair representation of the school.
EDIT: I just saw that there is a Hillsdale student on here, so he can chime in if he thinks I am off-base in my assessment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/larry-arnn-dark-ones-hillsdale_n_3691839.html
Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn Under Fire For Calling Minority Students ‘Dark Ones’
.Oh good grief…haters can hate as the kids say …here are the residence hall policies for parents or students that are interested and there are plenty of parents that would quietly applaud Hillsdale’s policies around the dorms and alcohol on campus (it’s not allowed in the dorms, but is allowed in the fraternity and sorority houses who have national charters that don’t prohibit and apparently at campus functions, see below) and gasp I don’t think you need “permission” to leave campus LOL. You can get into plenty of mischief until 2 in the morning in the suites dorm. Back in the day my undergrad college had similar rules and I lived (by choice) in all women housing and believe me it didn’t stunt my parties or impede my sexual life.
http://www.constitution.hillsdale.edu/campus-life/residence-life/residence-halls/policies#Visitation
One of the recent seminars was Beer Science https://www.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale-blog/academics/beer-science-styles-sampling/
[quote]
After about half an hour of lecture about the science of beer, we get to the fun part of the class. Dr. Hamilton breaks out four or five different beers of a given style (IPA, Hefeweizen, Pilsner, Porter, etc.) and we all taste each one, writing down our comments on the aroma, appearance, flavor, and texture, comparing them to standards set by the Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP).
This is probably the most fun I’ve had in a class at Hillsdale. I have gotten to learn more about beer than I thought was possible, I’ve made new friends through a “field trip” to a brew-pub nearby, and I currently have 50 bottles of homemade beer finishing in my off-campus house.
And yes, we did get carded on the first day of class.[/quote}
Why would a non-religious school be so homophobic? How could a school with the horrifying scandal Hillsdale went through still be holding itself up as some sort of “family values” standard-bearer? Why would the school chaplain send an anti-gay marriage screed to gay alumni? (Or, perhaps even worse, why would he assume there are no gay alumni?).
As some have written before, Hillsdale’s biggest problem is its allegiance to two unrelated ideologies: A very evangelical Christian-friendly “family values” paternalism and a more (US-style) Libertarian-friendly “Constitutional originalism.” There are no inherent connections between these ideologies–in fact, their only real connection at all is they represent precisely the deal the GOP made with evangelicals in the 80s–and they come into conflict quite frequently, just as they have for the GOP over the years. Fiscal/“Constitutional” conservatism and social/“Christian” conservatism are uneasy bedfellows.
Timing is everything, a Hillsdale commercial just came on our area network station right after Lady Gaga. The timing is just too funny…my H and I were remembering everyone we know from our generation and our kids generation who graduated from there.
IMO Do be aware, if you want to study ancient Greek philosophy at such a place, you are going to get some great scholarship - but if you want to study American history, you are going to get a lot of pseudo-historical propaganda.
Edited out political verbiage
ED
“psuedo-historical propaganda”-- like I said before at 99% of schools you get the liberal version of the world and tons of
pseudo-historical propaganda. are you aware of the pure nonsense taught at lots of schools.(most i should say)
so again …one little school with a different perspective should not cause so much angst for you. you should be much more concerned with the utter nonsense and indoctrination at most schools and the big brother enforcement of those cult like beliefs and fake history. hillsdale is not the issue of concern.
Not sure why @marvin100 has such an ax to grind. Let’s do some fact-checking.
Re: dorm life.
TRUE: The dorms are single sex and dry, most dorms have house moms, and there are visitation hours for the opposite sex.
HOWEVER you’re never treated like children. Visitation hours end at midnight or 1 AM four nights per week. The other three nights, men are permitted in the lobbies/common areas of the women’s dorms but not back in the rooms. The vast majority of students actively support this policy as a good balance of social time and privacy.
House moms are literally the best ever. Seriously. They serve as mentors for the RAs and moms for the entire dorm. My house mom drove me to the hospital when I got an awful infection and then to the pharmacy to help me get my prescription. And she never searched my room. Neither did my RAs. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Re: the “dark ones” comment.
TRUE: the quote happened.
HOWEVER I’m really not sure why this was blown so out of proportion. Dr. Arnn was speaking of state bureaucrats who wanted diversity statistics for Hillsdale. Because Hillsdale practices race- and gender-blind admissions, those statistics aren’t collected. So a group came to “observe” the diversity of campus. I think Dr. Arnn was pointing out that in trying to promote diversity by merely looking at skin tone, the state officials were being more narrow-minded than Hillsdale.
Even if you’re still offended by the remark, it’s one phrase taken out of context during an interview. The Hillsdale administration hardly makes a practice of calling minority students “dark ones”. Furthermore, an apology was issued immediately.
(The race/gender blind admissions is a controversial point on CC, but I won’t debate it here. The point is that Hillsdale is not and has never been discriminatory. The claim is somewhat ludicrous to make against the school that was the first to prohibit, in its charter, discrimination based on race, religion, or sex. And the second to grant a four-year degree to a woman.)
Re: the Roche scandal.
TRUE: there was indeed a scandal involving an ugly affair of the former president.
HOWEVER it had literally nothing to do with the school itself and did not involve any students or faculty. It was the personal life of one man. The president resigned immediately and a new president was found. Also, this happened 18 years ago and the school hasn’t been shaken, either in terms of attracting students or in size/growth of endowment.
Hillsdale isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. So get coffee instead. Or a coke. Have a beer, if your heart desires. But don’t try to spit in a great cup of tea.
I am pro choice. I don’t care where anyone else decides to go to college or their reasons for choosing a certain college. It’s none of my business.