Jimmy Criswell. Courtesy | Jimmy Criswell
Hillsdale College welcomed a new director of financial aid last month, as former director Rich Moeggenberg becomes the director of Hayden Park.
Jimmy Criswell has 20 years of experience in college financial aid at schools such as Dallas Baptist University and Criswell College in Texas. He said the biggest difference between Hillsdale and his previous schools is Hillsdale’s refusal of federal funding.
“All the other schools have had federal aid, but that’s one of the big things that attracted me here,” Criswell said. “We came here for a challenge, right? Everybody here, they’re doers, they’re taking their work seriously. The students are taking their education seriously. They take their faith seriously. They’re involved in the community. It’s really been spectacular.”
Moeggenberg will stay in the financial aid office for about six months to help with the transition, Criswell said.
“I’m not going to learn everything I need to know in six months, but it’s a very good starting point,” Criswell said. “And then, obviously, he’s going to be still with the college, just in a different capacity, so I’ll still have him as a resource to reach out to.”
Criswell said he wants to build on Moeggenberg’s legacy within financial aid.
“He’s really done something, and he’s created a culture of gratitude here,” Criswell said. “I want to continue that.”
Criswell said he will also continue Moeggenberg’s open door policy.
“I want students to feel comfortable. We’ve got to operate in the best interest of the student,” Criswell said. “I want to be there for whatever their needs are, to meet them.”
He said the Hillsdale community has welcomed him and his family to the area. When his portable storage containers arrived late, Moeggenberg helped them settle into their new home.
“Mr. Moeggenberg got people to help me unload. He brought some of his personal belongings so that I could sleep on an air mattress in the rental home until the PODS came,” Criswell said. “Look at this guy: barely knows me, willing to give me any personal belonging he has to make me comfortable and feel part of this place. And that’s been my experience here with everybody.”
Moeggenberg has worked at the college for 30 years, spending 21 of them as director of financial aid. While Moeggenberg will continue to assist in financial aid for a few months, he is also taking over as director of Hayden Park following the retirement of “Wild” Bill Lundberg.
“I’m excited to continue to serve the college,” Moeggenberg said. “I’m gonna be down at Hayden and still work with the Student Activities Board and athletics, and still be able to see students who are going to change the world in the future.”
Moeggenberg said he will work with maintenance to manage the park, as well as with the athletic department, club sports, and the Student Activities Office. The position is a good fit, Moeggenberg said, because he enjoys hunting, fishing, and watching sports.
“This is my happy place in that I’m still able to serve the college,” Moeggenberg said. “I feel good about the future of the financial aid office, and I look forward to making Hayden a pleasurable experience and making it run smoothly.”
Although he has not officially started as director of Hayden Park, Moeggenberg said he has been involved in various meetings. He said he should be out at Hayden full time in January.
In the meantime, his priority is helping Criswell adjust, Moeggenberg said.
“He’s a proven leader, a great guy, philosophical fit, strong Christian man,” Moeggenberg said. “It’s a great scenario, but there are a lot of tasks. It’s a unique job here at Hillsdale College, because of the way we’re funded.”
Moeggenberg said he thinks the transition will go well as Criswell adapts to Hillsdale’s financial aid procedures. The biggest change will be adjusting to the college’s lack of federal funding, which Criswell’s previous schools all received.
“There is a learning curve. I had the opportunity to spend a year with my predecessor, who was here for 30 years, just like me,” Moeggenberg said. “Mr. Criswell is brighter than I am. I don’t think this needs that much in transition, and it’s a pretty good situation where, if he needs support, I’m still going to be here.”
Graduate student Gannon Hyland ’14 said he has known Moeggenberg for 15 years.
“Rich Moeggenberg is a phenomenal director of financial aid because he doesn’t see the student or the student’s parents as a source of income,” Hyland said. “He understood his job as stewardship, and he valued each student as a real person with God-given dignity.”
Hyland said Moeggenberg has driven international students to Jackson to take care of government documentation, let students hunt on his property, and has let students stay in his basement if they needed housing.
“Whenever he goes out of his way to help you out, he always says, ‘It’s the least I can do,’” Hyland said. “I’m fairly confident Moeggenberg’s ‘least’ far exceeds the ‘most’ of others. I can’t think of many other people who routinely witness what it means to be a Christian more than Rich Moeggenberg, and I can’t think of a more fitting legacy for him.”
Moeggenberg said he is grateful to continue working for Hillsdale.
“I don’t really know anything else, and I’ll say again, I feel blessed that this is home,” Moeggenberg said. “I love serving, giving fatherly advice. Students give me hope.”
