Always Home: Weidinger Credits Success to Her Hillsdale Experience
Written by Doug Goodnough
Dana Weidinger’s Hillsdale College softball experience was thrown a couple of curveballs.
When she signed to pitch for the Chargers under then-Head Coach Joe Abraham, Weidinger, ’20, was viewed as Hillsdale’s future pitching ace. The tall right-hander had a strong freshman season, pitching 190 innings and earning second-team all-conference honors.
Battling nagging injuries during most of her sophomore season, Weidinger experienced a coaching change when Abraham left the program after the season in favor of current Head Coach Kyle Gross. Weidinger and her teammates had to adapt to a very different style of coaching that included military-style training. However, the coaching transition was a good one, and success came quickly.
Then, another curveball.
The Chargers were poised for another championship run in 2020, her senior year, when the COVID-19 pandemic ended their season during their spring Florida trip.
“We all just looked at each other like, is this the end of our class?” she said of her senior class. “Is this the end of our softball career?”
The answer was no. After meeting with Gross and the rising senior class, Weidinger and a couple of her teammates decided to return for the 2021 season. The result: an NCAA Division II tournament appearance, a 33-19 record, and first-team all-conference and second-team all-region honors for Weidinger.
“We really wanted to finish this whole picture that we created here. It was honestly a no-brainer for me,” said Weidinger, who completed a minor in financial management at Hillsdale and also began her MBA program during her fifth year. “I wanted to stay at the school I love, and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.”
She completed her Hillsdale career at the top of the career record books, including third in wins (54), second in innings pitched (594), and fourth in career strikeouts (383).
Graduating with her degree in sport management, Weidinger has spent the past four years making a pitch for the American Society of Employers (ASE). Starting as a business development manager in the metro Detroit area, she was promoted in November 2024 to ASE’s director of Strategic Partnerships for the nationwide non-profit organization.
“This is my favorite role thus far, because I get to go to companies and organizations and see if they want to partner with our association in some way,” Weidinger said of her new role, which was created for her. “It’s one of my favorite things to do, just to go out and talk to people and make relationships.”
The ASE provides resources to members, helping with human resource solutions, trainings and compliance, attracting and retaining talent, and proper salary and wage ranges.
She credits her Hillsdale education to the many concepts she is developing at the ASE, including a unique marketing plan.
“Now I’m putting dogs into HR,” Weidinger said of the marketing materials she’s creating. “So two dogs fighting would be a compliance issue. And a dog wearing only a shirt would be a dress code violation. I switched to a marketing plan that’s a little more playful, because in human resources, a lot of people see it as hiring and firing. And honestly, what I’ve been hearing from many HR professionals is ‘I’m tired. I’m exhausted. I just need to go out and have some fun and laugh.’ That’s when I started making the fun with an animals marketing plan. And it landed pretty well.”
Weidinger was recently honored by the Auburn Hills (Michigan) Chamber of Commerce with its “Tomorrow’s 20” award, which recognizes 20 influential professionals aged 40 and younger who are driving change.
“It was such a surprise,” she said of receiving the award. “It was amazing.”
“(Hillsdale) started everything. It opened my mind,” Weidinger said of her success. “If you see me outside of work, I wear Hillsdale (gear) everywhere. I’m a walking billboard. I love the College. I’ll support it until I die.”
Though her competitive softball career is over, she still offers pitching lessons near her Troy, Michigan, home, and enjoys lake life. One day, she would love to merge her career with her passion for cars, which her father nurtured as a collector of vintage automobiles.
“My dad showed me how to change the oil when I was 7,” said Weidinger, who often accompanied her father to car shows as a child growing up in the Cleveland, Ohio, area.
She said her favorite car is either the McLaren P1 or the Bugatti Chiron, adding “I will own one of those someday.” But right now, she is happy driving her Jeep Grand Cherokee back to Hillsdale every chance she gets.
“This college gave me everything. So many lifelong friends that I still talk to this day,” Weidinger said. “And it feels like that every time I come on campus; you feel that warm feeling again, because it’s a community. It’s always home.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in May 2025