The Economics, Business, and Accounting department is developing the Center for Commerce and Freedom, offering an annual conference, fellowship program, public lectures, and a publication paper series, aimed to promote Hillsdale College’s approach to education in business and economics, according to Associate Professor of Economics Charles Steele.

Hillsdale also plans to hire two additional professors in business and to offer a post-doctoral position for a Hillsdale graduate with a Ph.D. in economics or business, according to Steele.

“Hillsdale has a unique approach to education and is promoting vital ideas that are being neglected by other schools,” Steele said. “EBA has a particular contribution here — entrepreneurship and commerce are how free people provide for themselves and others. I think many people in business and in education are disturbed by current trends and want an alternative. We will provide it.” 

Steele said the center will develop two fellowships, the Ben Franklin Fellowship and the CCF Fellowship. The Ben Franklin Fellowship will be open to Hillsdale students of any major and includes a year of lectures on business, commerce, and economics, culminating with a trip to a commercial city for tours of business and economic institutions. The CCF Fellowship will provide scholarships for students who work events for the center.

Steele said Hillsdale is unique amongst many business schools which promote woke policies focused on social engineering rather than capitalist markets.

Associate Professor of Management and Marketing Ronald Rivas, who began teaching at Hillsdale in the fall, said the modern approach to business and marketing lacks the historical perspective of the purpose of the firm. For Rivas, a firm produces a product to help consumers flourish.

This classical view of the market adopts Aristotelian philosophy of the end goal of happiness in its perception of leadership and society, Rivas said.

“Classical education of the institution of business can create a better future,” Rivas said. “The prevalent model of adding more restrictions to create an ethical system misconceives the firm’s proper role. All these forces of government centralization and interference distract companies from helping individuals to flourish, and the overall result is decline.”

Steele said the study of business at a liberal arts college is not a disconnect but rather a perfect integration of the two fields.

“Some people seem not to understand that economics and business are also wrestling with difficult intellectual questions, and that the study of these subjects is a worthy intellectual pursuit by itself,” Steele said. “We think people need to understand these kinds of  things if they are really to be liberally educated for self-government.” 

Senior Luke Hollister said his study of economics at Hillsdale has trained him to find important truths in financial documents and business strategies just as with great books.

“Because economics studies what people do, they are a fitting complement to the humanities, which often study why people do what they do,” Hollister said. “Some great philosopher once said that the liberal arts train students to be ‘highly skilled hunters of truth.’ I’m glad that Hillsdale trains its hunters holistically.” 

For Steele, the hope is the center will elevate Hillsdale’s business program reputation by strengthening the department and offering access for all Hillsdale students to lectures on important topics.

Senior Charles Frazee, who is studying financial management, also said he hopes the center will grow Hillsdale’s business department.

“The CCF is a great initiative that will hopefully open the doors to a lot more students not just at their time here at Hillsdale, but as they go beyond and go to grad school or to the various firms they begin to work at,” Frazee said. “Hiring in more professors so the department staff is not overworked will allow for each of the various classes to benefit from receiving more attention. Additionally, having a program like the CCF will improve the legitimacy of Hillsdale’s business program.”

The CCF’s first conference will be April 5 on Hillsdale’s campus. The day will feature speakers and panels addressing business in the woke era, with a dinner, followed by a closing speech from Veron Smith, Nobel Prize laureate in economics.

“I would encourage students to participate in the center because, in the real world, going to Hillsdale College won’t always be the only merit needed to get a job,” Frazee said. “It can help, but it also can be a detriment. Having a solidified business program that creates new opportunities for students will be majorly beneficial when looking to enter the job force.”

Rivas said he thinks Hillsdale’s CCF holds potential for great enterprise and inspiration as a drop that breaks the dam. 

“I feel that there is a tide coming up,” Rivas said. “I’m happy that I’m in the right place at the right time.”