How Can You Help Hillsdale?

Written by Doug Goodnough

Another Homecoming is in the books. This year, we had more than 1,000 alumni and their guests “raise their hand” and let us know they were on campus for our annual celebration.

If you’re looking for perspective, last year we had about 620 who registered, so quite a jump from the previous year.

We had a couple of special occasions that coincided with this year’s Homecoming, including the Chi Omega Centennial Celebration and the Phi Sig Pavilion dedication. The Alumni Tailgate area was hopping, and it was great to see so many familiar faces back at the ’Dale.

And if you did not attend the Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet, you missed some of the most emotional and heart-grabbing acceptance speeches from this year’s inductees. It was a great day to be a Charger.

Now that Homecoming is in the rearview mirror, let me ask you a simple question: What can we do to engage you more with the College?

Some of you may attend events from time to time, either on campus or one of our many Alumni National Tour and other outreach events around the country. And it is nice to see alumni at those events. We just had an alumni event in Chicago with a room full of alumni who met and networked with about 10 current Hillsdale students. Watching those interactions was truly memorable.

We enjoy hosting our alumni at every opportunity and giving them the special treatment they deserve. However, I have a request: To paraphrase a former president, “Ask not what Hillsdale College can do for you, but what you can do for Hillsdale College.”

What do I mean by that? We have approximately 15,000 living alumni, give or take. That’s not a lot. By comparison, Penn State University has more than 700,000 living alumni, and even Notre Dame has more than 150,000.

We are certainly small-but-mighty when it comes to name recognition. If you are out wearing your Hillsdale gear, you know what I’m talking about. People recognize the name.

Since returning to work for the College nearly three years ago, I have told more than 100 alumni stories and am continually amazed at the accomplishments of our graduates. And I’m sure I really haven’t even scratched the surface.

Let me be blunt: We need your help to further the mission of Hillsdale College. Our alumni giving rate hovers around 15-16 percent. That’s OK, and we’re grateful for every gift we get. But it can be better. Princeton alums give at more than 45 percent, and a smaller institution like Middlebury has about a 29 percent alumni giving rate.

Hillsdale is blessed by having so many non-alumni donors who believe in what we are doing and support the College in so many ways. But, if you haven’t noticed, there’s not many institutions like Hillsdale out there, and we are fighting the good fight to not only help educate our students, but the rest of the country as well.

Some may even call it being “too political.” I call it educating people to learn how to think for themselves. It’s what I was taught here, and what I hear from many alumni everywhere I go when they talk about their alma mater.

With the giving season upon us, I ask you to think about how you can help Hillsdale. Maybe it is a donation, or even bringing a friend to a Hillsdale event as an introduction to the College. Of course, if you know a great high school student who may be a good fit for Hillsdale, let our Admissions Office know.

Our office staffing has increased to help alumni engage with the College. We now have regional chapters, occupational affinity groups, and class ambassadors who are helping alumni connect with the College and with their classmates. And there is more of that on the way.

How can you help Hillsdale? We are here to help you answer that question. All you have to do is ask.

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

Published in October 2024