Ingrid Jacques, `02 Hillsdale College graduate, did not write for The Collegian when she was an undergraduate student. She did not, however, let that keep her from pursuing journalism professionally.
Jacques is the deputy editorial page editor for The Detroit News. An English major and Pi Beta Phi sister, Jacques currently takes on issues from gun control to education and more.
“That is one of the more enjoyable parts of this job, to feel like we have some influence over decisions in legislature,” Jacques said. “Our paper is one of the few in the country that has a conservative editorial page.”
According to Nolan Finley, Detroit News editorial page editor, lawmakers follow her articles to form their ideas, particularly on education. He says if you see an editorial on education, Jacques wrote it.
“In December 2011, the legislature was close to passing legislation to lift the cap on charter schools, but there was a lot of pressure on lawmakers not to vote for the measure,” Jacques said. “So I was writing several times a week to encourage lawmakers to go for it.”
Several lawmaker sources informed Jacques that they copied some of her editorials and handed them out to the legislature.
“Sometimes I’ll hear back from the governor’s press secretary about an editorial they liked,” she said. “It is interesting and encouraging to know that they are reading what we write.”
Before Jacques’ journalism career took off, she majored in English at Hillsdale, worked in the admissions office, and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. However, she did not even write for The Collegian.
“Ingrid was a highly intelligent student who—though fairly quiet—had an intense love of literature,” Provost David Whalen said. “She relished great poetry, and her care for language carried over into her profession.”
After graduation, Jacques worked at a weekly newspaper called The Brooklyn Exponent. She gained basic reporting experience and fed her love for writing.
Jacques traveled to D.C. for an internship at Human Events, a leading conservative publication. Then she came back to Michigan and began working at The Daily Telegram in Adrian. It was then that she received a call from her alma mater.
Hillsdale College offered Jacques a position as the Assistant to the Director of the Dow Journalism Program. Jacques accepted and taught journalism classes while serving as the advisor for The Collegian.
“It was pretty challenging at first, but it turned into a really wonderful experience,” Jacques said. “I found advising The Collegian to be especially rewarding.”
Jacques worked for The Detroit News for a summer and Finley hired her on full-time just a few months later.
Now she combines her writing ability with her beliefs to change culture and policy in Michigan and the U.S.
“We are coming from a largely fiscally conservative point of view,” Jacques said. “Largely, I’ll pick what I want to write about and I know what our position will be. We are very consistent in what our point would be.”
