Campaigning for capital

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Campaigning for capital

Hillsdale College has raised $1.1 billion since it began its 40­year fight against state and federal regulations. Three completed capital campaigns, led by Presidents George Roche III and Larry Arnn, have successfully endowed the security of Hillsdale’s academic liberty.
This past October, the college launched its fourth campaign, The Rebirth of Liberty and Learning, intended to raise $472 million over the next 10 years.

The first capital campaign, “The Freedom Fund,” was launched by the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees in 1976. Symbolized by the Victory Bell, which now sits enshrined next to Central Hall, the campaign successfully raised more than $32 million in less than four years. The purpose of the campaign, which was to avoid dependence on state and federal aid, struck a chord with the national media, dignitaries, and thousands of individual donors.

Hillsdale’s Goliath: the threat of Title IX
In October 1975, the Board of Trustees published a resolution which openly resisted The Higher Education Amendments of 1972, an act signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The trustees’ resolution stated that the new restrictive regulations imposed by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare were an attempt to impose Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 on colleges and universities.
The regulations reclassified independent colleges and universities as “recipient institutions.” This classification meant that any independent institution with enrolled students who received government financial aid was obliged to comply with regulations of Title IX.
Title IX mandated that no person could be excluded from participation, denied benefits, or discriminated based on sex under any educational activity supported by federal assistance. Despite the college’s historic non­discriminatory mission, “to furnish all persons who wish, irrespective of nation, color, or sex, a literary and scientific education,” Title IX threatened the college’s autonomy by attempting to regulate college athletics, admissions, and activities. Hundreds of media outlets including Time, The New York Times, the New York Daily News, and The L.A. Times covered Hillsdale’s battle for academic autonomy, elevating the college’s national profile. Numerous articles compared the college’s faith and moral courage to the Biblical account of David and Goliath, such as one written by John Hiner of The Jackson Citizen Patriot.
“Hillsdale is known as the David that kept Goliath government off its back,” Hiner wrote.
In March 1976 a letter sent by Martin Gerry, acting director of the Office for Civil Rights, informed

Hillsdale College President George Roche III that students enrolled at Hillsdale College were participating in a number of government funded programs. Gerry concluded that such participation would require the college’s compliance with regulations outlined in Title IX, should they keep accepting funding.

“There is no question but that the regulation as it stands does cover colleges such as Hillsdale,” Gerry wrote in the letter.
Contrary to Gerry’s opinion, Roche sought to challenge The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s accusation. Roche argued that the college did not have to comply with the specified regulations because the direct recipient of funds was not the college but the students. Acknowledging that HEW would maintain a different opinion, Roche and the Board of Trustees sought a new strategy.

“If the expansions of federal authority under Title IX are now to use such individual funding as a means of assaulting the independence of Hillsdale College as a whole, we reserve the right to re­evaluate the programs involved,” Roche wrote in a letter to HEW.
Recognizing the tough battle ahead, the Board of Trustees reevaluated the source of student financial aid. In 1976, it launched a three­year campaign, the Freedom Fund, which planned to raise $29 million as an endowment to replace the expected loss of government aid previously given to enrolled students.

Endowing a future of independence
Roche understood that in order to resist federal encroachments and secure the college’s independence, a sufficient amount of financial and private support would need to be raised. Such a task would require a campaign strategy that would endow the college’s future with secure financial independence and the ability to weather unexpected contingencies.
“We’re going to tell this story loud and clear in the widest forum on the assumption that we are in the right, and that the more people who know we are in the right, the better,” Roche said in a speech to college parents in October 1975.
Before launching the Freedom Fund, the college sent 40,000 letters to sympathizers and supporters in an attempt to tell its story. Their story gained momentum, receiving national attention from dignitaries such as Congressman Phil Crane, William F. Buckley Jr., Russell Kirk, and Secretary of the Treasury William Simon. Many congressional representatives outspokenly supported the colleges efforts. Colorado Congressman James P. Johnson publicly rallied for the college’s campaign to remain independent.
“I appreciate the dilemma you face,” Johnson said. “It is refreshing to find an institution whose dedication to independence is so resolute that it is willing to forego the tempting lure of federal assistance.”
In order for the college to perpetuate its independence, it needed to secure an endowment for student financial aid and other projects.
Director of Financial Aid Rich Moeggenberg explained that in 1986, the college officially stopped accepting federal gift assistance.
“It was at that time that we started replacing federal aid,” Moeggenberg said. “Instead, we started funding the independence grant program for the first time.”
In 1986, Hillsdale officially instituted several new programs to assist with student financial aid. Endowed scholarships, budgeted scholarships, institutional loans, independence grants, and

loans replaced other previous federally­funded options.
In 1985 the college dedicated more than $2.5 million in academic financial awards to students. 30 years later, the college annually funds $22.5 million in student financial awards.
According to a press release from the Council for Aid to Education, Hillsdale College ranked ninth in academic institutions for the most money raised per student annually: $41,506.
This increase in available funds is a direct result of three successful capital campaigns and a fourth currently in progress: The Freedom Fund (1976­1980), Freedom Quest ’90 (1987­1996 ), The Founders’ Campaign (2001­2012), and Rebirth of Liberty and Learning (2013­2018)
Based on numbers acquired from the department of Institutional Advancement, The Collegian calculated that the four capital campaigns have raised and endowed more than $1 billion in buildings, faculty chairs, and financial aid. Despite the college’s current endowment, valued at $386 million, additional funds are continually being fundraised.
“It has been a process and it has taken time to get the endowment to that point,” Moeggenberg said. “In the year 2014 we are still not at a point where we have endowed funds to fully fund what is necessary.”
The never­ending campaign
The story of Hillsdale’s fight for independence is unique among academic institutions. The increase in private support is a testament to the compelling story of Hillsdale’s independence. Imprimis, the college’s publication, has increased its number of subscriptions from 1,000 in
1972, to 2.7 million in 2014.
Over the past 40 years, the college has continued to protect the college’s independence through numerous capital campaigns. Roche and the Board of Trustees believed that the fate of the college should not be affected by the strength of the government, but the college’s value of liberty.
“The benefits to Hillsdale College will be far­reaching. In the years ahead, many students and a great deal of funding will come from those who have now been introduced to the college,” Roche said. “Even more important, the enhancement of our own academic reputation which this provided will be a great help for the college and for all those who hold Hillsdale College degrees.”