Academics and Athletics: The Perfect Combination for Alison Roberts Bates

Written by Doug Goodnough

What do swimming and Latin have in common? For Alison Roberts Bates, ’11, the two were the perfect combination at Hillsdale College. The former member of the Chargers swim team said she learned about Hillsdale from a high school classmate and her teachers at Highlands Latin School in Louisville, Kentucky.

“And when I found out that they had a swimming program, and it was NCAA Division II, I got excited about that possibility,” she said. “But it wasn’t swimming initially that attracted me to Hillsdale. That ended up being a really great coincidence.”

She was part of a freshman class under first-year Head Coach Kurt Kirner and said the experience couldn’t have been better.

“I remember as a freshman, it was difficult for the team. Some of the juniors and seniors on the team decided to walk away with a coaching change, and he really had to build trust,” she said of Kirner’s transition to Hillsdale. “From day one, I just loved him, and I could tell that he was going to be great. He was going to be our biggest advocate and our biggest fan, and I always felt so supported by him.”

Although she wasn’t one of the team’s “headliners,” she was a key component of several successful relays, as well as a strong contributor in the sprint freestyle and breaststroke.

“I was certainly never an MVP or an all-star of the team,” said Bates, who served as team captain her senior year. “I would get a chance here and there on relays to be with those who were the fastest and the most competitive on our team. And those were always so much fun. I was competitive, and I was proud of my swimming career.”

In high school, she thought her best days as a swimmer were behind her. However, during the conference meet her senior year, Bates swam the best times of her career.

“I was breaking 56 seconds in the 100 [meter] free for the first time at Hillsdale,” said Bates, who actually took a year off from swimming in high school due to burnout. “I had this opportunity in Hillsdale to actually improve and get better and swim some of the fastest times I have ever swam.”

In the classroom, she majored in Latin and minored in English with the goal of teaching in a classical school.

“Dr. [David] Jones in the Classics Department was definitely a favorite,” Bates said. “There are other great institutions out there, but not often paired with the kind of community that Hillsdale has, where you can develop these personal relationships with professors.”

After graduation she moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to teach middle school Latin at Great Hearts Academy. It was there that she met her husband, Jesse, and they eventually moved to San Antonio, Texas, to help start a Great Hearts school there. A couple of years later, Jesse had the opportunity to found his own network of charter schools in Austin. He now is the CEO of Valor Schools, which has five Texas locations. Alison works part time for Valor as an instructional aide, with her full-time job being mother to four children ranging from 10 to 3 with another on the way in October.

She eventually wants to get back into the classroom, and she had a chance to coach swimming briefly before motherhood took precedent. Bates was part of a master’s swimming program a few years ago but now focuses on her oldest daughter’s budding swim career.

“She likes it if I work out with her and give her private lessons, so it’s nice to get back in there,” she said.

An avid reader, Bates is the president of a local chapter of the Well-Read Mom book club, which means hosting meetings once a month.

“It’s great because a lot of the faculty of our Valor community participate in that,” she said.

She said her Hillsdale friendships, especially former roommates Clara Leutheuser Black, ’12, and Hannah Lutheran Jebb, ’12, are lasting.

“Those two still remain my best friends,” Bates said. “I’m in Texas and they’re in Michigan, but we make an effort to see each other in person every couple of years. Clara is my oldest daughter’s godmother, and one of Clara’s oldest children is my goddaughter. Hillsdale is such an amazing place for fostering those kinds of friendships and forming those lifelong bonds.”

Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.

Published in April 2025