In the waning days of Christmas Break, an article in The Detroit Free Press splashed across our Facebook newsfeeds: “Tiny Hillsdale College in Michigan is a powerhouse in U.S. conservative circles.”
The title got it right. The article got it wrong.
It’s indisputable that Hillsdale College is a powerhouse in U.S. conservative circles; Hillsdale grads are known as being interested in ideas, cautious about the corruption of power, and familiar with great books from Homer to McCarthy.
In that sense, Hillsdale is definitely a power player among U.S. conservatives.
When it comes to politics, though, the record is less definitive.
In fact, the Detroit Free Press story perpetuated the most typical misconceptions people have about Hillsdale.
It conflated conservatism with a specific political agenda: the Republican platform.
Hillsdale College does boast a large number of Republicans. But it doesn’t bring the party line into the classroom. Hillsdale teaches conservatism — not Republican doctrines. In fact, the two are often in conflict, and our professors aren’t afraid to say that (we’re looking at you, Dr. Pongracic).
The article said professors and students here are “seeking political truths.” That’s true — in part. Hillsdale College students and professors seek truth in all things, including art, music, philosophy, history, theology, politics and a host of other disciplines. We aren’t all members of College Republicans and we don’t all watch Fox News, but we’ve all been taught to honestly seek the truth. And for those of us who head to Washington after graduation, that means seeking the truth about America’s political circumstances.
It’s easy to understand why people often assume Hillsdale teaches the Republican party line. After all, most students leave with Republican leanings. But that’s not because of an all-school indoctrination of policy.
We learn ideas here, not platforms.
The difference in the two could not have been missed more than by the Detroit Free Press’s story. Students who learn about ideas must decide if they are true or false. A policy is not true or false; it is merely effective or ineffective. That’s an often-overlooked distinction, but an important one.
And it’s part of the reason we have the Alan P. Kirby Center in Washington D.C. — to continue the discussion of those ideas in a context where they matter more than just the fine print on Congressional bills.
The Detroit Free Press said most Hillsdale students “are at Hillsdale because of its conservative politics.”
That’s not true.
The only government our mission statement mentions is self-government. Hillsdale College is a bastion of conservatism, but not of the Republican party line.
And that is precisely why decided to go here.
