How this tiny Christian college is driving the right's nationwide war against public schools
How this tiny Christian college is driving the right’s nationwide war against public schools
Exclusive: In the full-scale conservative assault on public education, Hillsdale College is leading the charge
By KATHRYN JOYCE
PUBLISHED MARCH 15, 2022 6:30AM
This is the first of a three-part investigation of Hillsdale College, its charter school network and its connection to the national struggle over education.
(Salon) The mood in Costa Mesa on Feb. 2 was more love bomb than fire bomb: yet another school board meeting packed with impassioned parents. But this time they'd come out, on a mild Southern California evening, not to let the board know how angry they were, but how delighted.
The parents who rose to speak at the monthly meeting of the Orange County Board of Education weren't shouting about mask mandates, vaccine requirements, trans kids on sports teams or books about racism. They didn't have to. Instead, mother after mother, with young children in tow or on their hips, came to the podium to say that their kids used to cry before going to school, but now were filled with confidence and wonder; that they had found a transformative community among the school's other moms; that the teachers were giving their children "the best education in the entire country."
One former homeschooler said she'd always sworn to keep her kids out of public school, but the one they attended now had changed all that. One father was moved to talk about sunsets in explaining how the school's mission was uniquely equipped to guide children toward goodness, beauty and truth. From the dais, the board members beamed back at the parents, and when a lone trustee protested that they should address a conflict of interest that appeared to undermine the entire proceedings, the audience burst into laughter and the trustee's colleagues, amid jokes, voted her down.
The school under discussion that night wasn't a regular public school. It was a recently-launched charter called the Orange County Classical Academy (OCCA), which is funded with taxpayer money but follows a private school-like curriculum centered "on the history and cultural achievements of Western civilization" and an ambiguous mission to instill "virtue."
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But OCCA isn't only a school, or even a network of schools. It's just one facet of a national movement driven by the vision and curriculum of Hillsdale College, a small Christian school in southern Michigan that has quietly become one of the most influential entities in conservative politics.
In an era of book bans, crusades against teaching about racism, and ever-widening proposals to punish teachers and librarians, Hillsdale is not just a central player, but a ready-made solution for conservatives who seek to reclaim an educational system they believe was ceded decades ago to liberal interests. The college has become a leading force in promoting a conservative and overtly Christian reading of American history and the U.S. Constitution. It opposes progressive education reforms in general and contemporary scholarship on inequality in particular. It has featured lectures describing the Jan. 6 insurrection as a hoax and Vladimir Putin as a "hero to populist conservatives around the world." ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2022/03/15/how-this-tiny-christian-college-is-driving-the-rights-nationwide-against-public-schools/
= new reply since forum marked as read
seriously the info. in Salon's article and more about the school's policies, agenda, activism, think tank affiliations, focus on liberty and the U.S. Constitution as noted in this New York Times article.
- Reagan statue on the Liberty Walk at Hillsdale College that plays an active role in conservative thought and policy.
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- 'In Hillsdale College, a ‘Shining City on a Hill’ for Conservatives.' NYT, Feb. 1, 2017. - Excerpts, Ed:
.. It is no coincidence that Justice Clarence Thomas, an advocate of strict “originalist” interpretation of the Constitution, delivered the commencement address last spring, likening Hillsdale to a “shining city on a hill” for its devotion to “liberty as an antecedent of government, not a benefit from government.” Conservatives are also entranced by its decision to forgo any federal or state funds so as to be “unfettered” by government mandates. In 1984, in Grove City College v. Bell, the Supreme Court ruled that even Pell grants for needy students or G.I. Bill money for veterans subjects a college to federal regulations, so Hillsdale students are not allowed to accept such funds (most receive institutional grants).
As a result, the college does not follow Title IX guidelines on sex discrimination and the handling of sexual assault cases and it has refused to engage in the otherwise required reporting on student race & ethnicity, let alone develop an affirmative action plan. Not surprisingly, the school’s “race blind” admissions policy results in an overwhelmingly white student body. Hillsdale's most popular free online course, Constitution 101- 10 weeks of lectures by faculty members, with recommended readings- has been taken by more than 800,000 & has offered intellectual ballast to Tea Party activists. “By educating millions of Americans on our founding principles of liberty,” the college writes of its goals, “America can begin to turn around & restore lost liberty.”
In Washington, Hillsdale plays an active role in an ecosystem of conservative thought and policy. It joined with the Heritage Foundation to run a fellowship program for congressional staff members.
Its D.C. outpost, the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies & Citizenship, runs a lecture series & serves as a base for Hillsdale undergrads who are interning at conservative think tanks or publications. Aiming to nurture its vision of classical education, the college has also helped establish K-12 charter schools across the U.S. - After election night 2016, the campus did not see weeping, nor wide rejoicing. A survey of students found that just 49% had voted for Trump; others voted for third-party candidates or did not vote; 4% voted for Hillary Clinton. By comparison, 90% of students voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. Hillsdale attracts students from across the country (only 1/3rd from MI), and they don’t wind up there by accident. Many said their parents received Hillsdale’s newsletter, Imprimis, featuring speeches by conservative thinkers. They were also attracted by the moderate cost.
The school is well financed with private donations, & college officials said 95% of students this year received grants averaging $17,206, to offset the $35,722 for tuition, room & board. Tara Ung chose Hillsdale because of the classics emphasis. A political science major “with a Latin minor for fun,” she particularly enjoyed her internship in Washington with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, & was now helping to form an undergraduate chapter of the Federalist Society. At Hillsdale, students like to form clubs. One that does not exist there is an L.G.B.T.Q. organization. Openly gay or lesbian students are a rarity, & The Princeton Review consistently ranks it among the 20 least L.G.B.T.Q.- friendly campuses. A public furor erupted in 2015 when the chaplain sent a campuswide email calling for prayer against the “evil” & “ugly” possibility that the Supreme Court would legalize same-sex marriage. College leaders admonished him for his tenor, though not the message...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/education/edlife/hillsdale-college-great-books-constitution-conservatives.html