I discovered Hillsdale College through a Google search. The specificity of the search – “the top ten conservative schools in the United States” – fell to my love of superlatives, and it was directly followed by “what are the top ten liberal schools in the United States?” I was directed to the Young America’s Foundation and the Huffington Post, respectively.
Of the two colleges featured on these respective sites, neither seemed particularly interesting. I was, however, drawn to the idea of a “dale,” and Michigan seemed exotic. This was my reasoning behind adding another underdog to the “Mighty Ducks” portion of my college list, while abandoning Hampshire College and the dream of majoring in Peace and World Security.
From here, my story is everything you expect and less. Hillsdale College didn’t market itself until I arrived on campus for an admissions visit, and it stopped the moment I left. It was compelling while it lasted and even sufficient to convince me to trade my vague, undefined notions of East Coast elitism for the dark winters of the Midwest.
But the moral of the story is that it took a little search engine magic to get me to Hillsdale. The Internet forces colluded that day to direct me to this institution, turning my abstracted love of superlatives into a liberal arts education.
The unfortunate bit is that my high school guidance counselor never mentioned this place, and when I reflect now on the automatically generated list of 100 colleges that fit my interests and standardized test scores, Hillsdale is noticeably absent. Our institution is buried in the dark right corner of the misty cyber world where organizations like Young America’s Foundation and The Blaze reign supreme.
The perplexing thing is that I’m not sure that our college is responsible for such a limited, politically charged image. At this point, the college’s free online classes function as a cornerstone of our marketing. Until last night, I assumed that these classes on the Western Heritage and the Constitution were different from the classes I took as a freshman; I presumed that the lectures catered toward potential donors by indulging in a political rhetoric that encouraged partisan dogmatism.
I was wrong. The talks introduced the listener to the context that underscored the American experiment of a democratic republic. From what I saw, the lectures were fair and encouraged informed citizenship and responsibility.
Still, I was prompted for a financial gift as soon as I registered, and this suggests I was right about at least one thing: This was meant for donors. Yet for a school that rejects federal funding and still manages to keep its tuition and board at roughly $25,000 below comparable institutions, perhaps this approach is sensible. Couple this initial financial onus with the meager 14 percent of Hillsdale students who give to their alma-mater upon graduation and suspicion skirts to the peripherals.
Hillsdale consistently markets itself as a place of formation, both for the heart and the intellectual furniture of the mind. A place where humility is taught to be man’s essential posture and learning stands simultaneously as a foundation and an end in itself. The dilemma is that the main recipients of this message doesn’t seem to listen very carefully. Usually, their curiosity is piqued, but they have already made up their minds.
Jay Nordlinger called us “the conservative Harvard” in his recent article in the National Review, and this is emblematic of the sort of bizarre statement that encourages an existential crises for Hillsdale students: those outside the college are kind enough to remind us that we’re a Christian school with a love for all things red, and we are left startled by these comments and wondering if anyone is actually interested in the liberal arts. Presently, it seems that the world lacks a name for what we’re doing and Republican and conservative stand as worthy alternatives.
The result is that high school kids only know Hillsdale as the number one option on YAF’s list of the top conservative colleges in America. And not everyone will find Michigan exotic.
Education is the way out. For starters, I would suggest an online class on the great books directed towards high school students. Give prospectives the opportunity to participate in liberal education, because what they’re hearing is not what they’re getting.
