New welcome signs spark criticism at council meeting

Home City News New welcome signs spark criticism at council meeting
New welcome signs spark criticism at council meeting

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The people of Hillsdale are not ready for the town to become the “Home of Hillsdale College.”

This became evident at a City Council meeting on Sept. 6, during which several citizens voiced their concerns about the council’s recent decision to replace the motto on all of Hillsdale’s welcome signs, changing “It’s the people” to “Home of Hillsdale College.”

“I think it’s great that the college offered to pay for some new signs, but I have a big issue, as I think a lot of people have with ‘It’s the people’ getting taken off,” Hillsdale resident Penny Swan said. “‘It’s the people’ includes everybody. It includes the college people, the radio station, all of us out here — we have a really special little town, and it’s the people that make it that way.”

Swan said “It’s the people” applies to all of Hillsdale, uniting the town and the college.

“I watched the convocation speech from the College and the first student that spoke actually brought that up,” she said. “When she came to town she saw that on the sign and really didn’t understand what that meant. But after being in Hillsdale for four years, dealing with the college folks, dealing with the city folks, she really understood what that meant. And she was proud of the ‘It’s the people.’”

Local business owner Julie Games also voiced concerns about the city’s decision.

“We have to remember that it’s the people that make this town great,” she said. “My husband and I first moved here because of the college, but we’ve stayed here 31 years because ‘It’s the people.’”

Games produced a hand-drawn sign proposal and asked the city council if it was possible to include both “Home of Hillsdale College” and “It’s the people” on the new signs.

City Councilman Matthew Bell declined her request.

“The signs are completed. They’re just waiting for installation,” he said.

City Councilman Bill Zeiser asked if the council would consider finding a way to include the city’s old motto on the already-completed signs.

“I think the signs are beautiful and I think it would be very nice if we were to add on something that says ‘It’s the people’ in quotation marks,” he said. “The slogan obviously means a lot to people of all walks of life in the town.”

Zeiser said these new signs could ultimately be a way to foster a closer relationship between the city and the college.

“I think the new signs are great,” he said. “If you look at any college town, they have pride in their relationship with the school. I think a melding here would be a good thing.”