Hillsdale College Press expresses college mission to millions

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Hillsdale College Press  expresses college  mission to millions

Hillsdale College may be a tiny school in the middle-of-nowhere Michigan, but millions of people from across the nation have discovered the mission of the college because of Hillsdale College Press.
In 1974, the Hillsdale College Press published its first book — the first volume of “Champions of Freedom,” which was a collection of speeches from the first Ludwig von Mises Lecture Series, held on campus in January 1974. Since then, the press has gone on to publish materials such as our course readers for classes such as Western Heritage, American Heritage, and Constitution. The books are printed off-campus at book printers located in the Ann Arbor-Saline area.
“Current Hillsdale College Press publications include course readers, the official biography of Winston S. Churchill, and our ‘Champions of Freedom’ series. Other books still in print include books by President Arnn and Professor Emeritus of History Arlan Gilbert, and two Imprimis anniversary collections,” Associate Vice President for External Affairs Timothy Caspar said.
The Hillsdale College Press is a limited operation. Although many of our professors publish books, they do not do so through the Hillsdale College Press, but through larger academic and commercial publishers.
“It is not a traditional academic press,” Caspar said, “The press does not seek out books to publish. Nor does it accept manuscript submissions.”
The two ongoing series of books that the press has published are President Arnn’s official Churchill biography series and “Champion of Freedom” series. These series have reached the shelves of hundreds of bookstores across the nation, further spreading the aim of the college. Many people outside the college also purchase the course readers, both directly and through Amazon.
Imprimis is another publication released by the college, though it its own entity. Published ten times a year, Imprimis arrives in the mailboxes of nearly 3.5 million homes, in hopes that they will support the College and its mission.
“Imprimis is usually an insert of different speakers’ speeches, whether they were on campus or not,” List Management Coordinator for Imprimis Wanda Oxenger said. “It publishes the type of speakers and messages that the college likes to publicize,” Over the past few years, Imprimis has reached a growing number of people who support the mission of Hillsdale College.
“It appeals to those who agree with its conservative message,” Oxenger said, “especially since that’s not often heard. People either love it or hate it. There’s no in-between.”
The press is being used primarily to publish the official Churchill biography collection.
“The main work of the press currently is to complete production of the official Churchill biography, and to keep all of the volumes of that biography in print,” Vice President for External Affairs Douglas Jeffrey said. “There are no plans to expand operations of the press.”
As with all of the College’s activities, the Hillsdale College Press is meant to further the teaching mission of the college. Through the publication of the Churchill biography collection and our course readers, the press, in part, spreads the recipients of Hillsdale’s intellectual tradition from 1,400 students to 3.5 million households.