The college dedicated the Stanton Foundation Center for American Classical Education at a ceremony Feb. 6. Formerly an elementary school, the center houses Hillsdale’s K-12 Education Office and serves as home base for the college’s educational outreach efforts.
David and Laura Stanton funded the renovation through the Stanton Foundation, which they co-founded in 1998. Members of the Stanton family attended the dedication.
The dedication ceremony in the Searle Center included remarks by College President Larry Arnn, Assistant Provost for K-12 Education Kathleen O’Toole, and Professor of Education Daniel Coupland.
“It was an abandoned school for 10 years,” O’Toole said. “What a terrible thing — an abandoned school. So it seems right to me that we’re working there now. It’s good for the people in the building to be in a school. We’re all teachers, and we’re used to going to school every day. It’s a little funny to us that we work in education, but we’re not in school. So it makes us happy to be able to go to school to go to work. It also makes us happy to be part of bringing back some of the seriousness and the joy and beauty that was present in American education a few generations ago to American public schools.”
Katie Sorenson, the college’s proposal and stewardship manager, attended the dedication.
“I do some of the grant writing related to our K-12 initiatives, so I’ve seen a lot of what comes out of the Stanton Center and what they’re doing,” Sorenson said. “I think the space will give them a lot more capacity for teacher training and headmaster training and school board training, which are some of the big things we have to offer that not a lot of other institutions in the classical educational world do.”
Dale Kopas, a friend of the college, attended the dedication while attending the Center for Constructive Alternatives. According to Kopas, America needs more classical schools similar to Hillsdale.,
“I think this is one of the few places in the country where that kind of education is fostered and encouraged, and I think it’s very important for the students and the country itself that that takes place,” Kopas said.
The building also houses the marketing department and WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale which will move into the Stanton Center next fall.
Director of Marketing Content Monica VanderWeide said she feels blessed to be in the new building.
“Our creative team has much more space; previously we had been packed into a small area in Moss Hall,” VanderWeide said. “The layout of our office space in Stanton is much more conducive to focusing on my work. I love that there are still elements of the former elementary school present, which makes for a unique and quirky environment!”
Following the dedication, guests attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Stanton Building.
“We’re very grateful for the Stantons’ generous gift,” said Special Events Planner Erika Gehrke. “I know everyone who works here is happy to be working in a bright renovated space and appreciate the sort of history of the building as well.”
