I had a unique opportunity to visit Hillsdale College in lower central nowhere, ah hum, Michigan, a week ago. They held a conference on economic freedom and the American economy. Quite interesting.
The first thing I noticed in walking the campus was that everyone I passed, the faculty, the students, they all said hello to me. They were all friendly and cordial. In contrast, it always amazes me that as Madison has grown, it has grown apart. People at our airport or walking in the parks don’t even acknowledge each other as they pass anymore.
Hillsdale is a conservative Christian college (kind of like a mini Notre Dame located not far away). They teach from a classical perspective, i.e., they teach the classics, reading the great writers of history. (Yes, they teach other stuff, too.) I sat in on a class and felt handicapped by the public university education I received even though I attended catholic grade school and high school; those also didn’t teach me at that same level either.
I even got to meet Dr. Arnn, the president, and many of the top management. They were all very nice. Very smart and hard working. The best part is that they don’t teach that woke, politically correct DEI claptrap. They focus on teaching the whole person, expect a lot from their students, and want their students to be happy. And students there are happy, and most of all, they’re not afraid of the world. So many young students at public universities are either taught to be afraid of the world or taught to hate their country and protest. At Hillsdale, it’s refreshing to see that students can express their faith and patriotism. They unapologetically say the pledge of allegiance at the start of their conference and other events.
Unlike at public universities, like the UW, where other students and I felt afraid to speak our minds or disclose the love of our country or even mention God, at Hillsdale, students and teachers can talk their minds. There’s no censorship, no brainwashing. They can speak their minds and talk about their differences.
One lesson I took away is gratitude. They talked about having gratitude for the life we live, and that being grateful leaves us happier because with gratitude, there is an absence of envy. Whereas in Madison, a city I grew up in and love, there is so much hate. There’s so much pitting one group against another. There is so much tearing down of each other, in particular, anyone who tries to be successful. In Madison, as one liberal told me, while they speech-a-fy about not hating, they teach us to hate, and it’s so sad.
Hillsdale is so refreshing. Students focus on learning, are challenged (not coddled), are treated like adults, and are assumed to master difficult studies. They don’t make excuses for them. What a great place. What a great school.
