Senior Brendan Burnham misunderstood a joke his freshman year and attended his 15th CCA last week.
Courtesy | Augustine McCormack
Some students wish they didn’t have to attend any CCAs. Senior Brendan Burnham has attended 15 — and he’ll complete his 16th next month. He won’t have missed a single CCA during his four years of college.
During Burnham’s freshman year, one of his RAs said students could earn a Center for Constructive Alternatives minor if they attended all 16 of the lecture series during their time at Hillsdale. Though intended as a lighthearted jest, Burnham took it seriously.
“I think everyone understood it was a joke, but I totally missed that,” Burnham said. “After a couple CCAs, they were like: ‘Oh, you’re actually doing it? We were joking.’”
Learning that his dormmates were joking didn’t squash his desire to attend four CCAs a year for four years.
“I was like, ‘I’m still going to do it because it’s funny,’” he said.
Burnham quickly realized that, as an accounting major, he actually needed the credits to graduate. Hillsdale’s core requires students to complete one CCA during their four years as well as write a paper on the seminar’s topic, equalling one credit.
“I realized I needed the CCAs for my 150 credits to get my CPA certification. So it actually worked out super well,” he said.
Matt Bell, executive director of programs for external affairs, says Burnham is the first student to do this that he is aware of.
“After reviewing our records and checking with the registrar, I’m fairly confident in stating that no other student has taken all 16 CCAs during his time at Hillsdale College,” Bell said
Burnham has only one more CCA to attend — called “1776” in celebration of the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, which runs March 1-4 — before reaching the 16-CCA milestone.
“We may have to create a Burnham Award for future students who do it,” Bell said. “Congrats to the Meriwether Lewis of the 16-CCA journey.”
Burnham said he has found enjoyment in attending the CCAs.
“They’re a nice way to get a credit and learn a little bit about a new subject,” he said. “We’ve had some really cool economics lectures and we even had Robert F. Kennedy Jr. my freshman year for the Big Pharma CCA.”
Burnham said his favorite lecture series was “Classical Greece and Rome,” in the spring of 2023. It explored “the history, philosophy, and literature of classical Greece and Rome,” according to the college’s website.
His least favorite was last spring’s “The Myth of Artificial Intelligence: Why Computers Can’t Think the Way We Do.”.
“The AI one was rough because a lot of it wasn’t related to AI,” Burnham said. “But there was this one guy — I think he was the sixth lecturer — who looked like Jack Black. He had a cool hat and was insanely knowledgeable.”
Burnham said in a situation like his, where he will graduate with exactly 150 credits, every CCA was crucial.
“If I were to offer a blanket statement of advice to people on how to take CCAs, it would be that you’re probably going to be more engaged with the seminar if you like the topic,” he said.
Senior Joey Buff said he’s been good friends with Burnham since their freshman year. He’s witnessed Burnham’s perseverance firsthand, and not just in attending CCAs.
“Our freshman year, we had a couple Taco Bell runs,” Buff said. “He would always challenge himself to see how many bites he could eat a burrito in, and eating a whole burrito in two bites is very impressive.”
According to Buff, once Burnham sets his mind on something, no one can stop him.
“Brendan is like the penguin — sometimes he chooses to do things that no one understands, but he does it anyway,” Buff said. “He perseveres and he finishes what he starts.”
