The object of the Center for Commerce and Freedom will be to advance the study of the crucial role of commerce in human flourishing. Any study of commerce that does not consider freedom a prerequisite to its success is inaccurate and incomplete.
At Hillsdale, the study of business is presented within the context of the liberal arts. It is not merely job training. At the Center, students will be able to examine commerce not only in economic but also in historical, philosophical, cultural, and political contexts. This will allow them to knit together the elements of a free society: commerce, property rights, education, and self-government.
“I want the people of America to be able to work less for the Government … to have the rewards of their own industry. That is the chief meaning of freedom.”
Since its founding, the object of Hillsdale College has always been to perpetuate the blessings of liberty in America by means of sound learning.
The College’s Department of Economics, Business, and Accounting has pursued Hillsdale’s mission with virtue, vigor, and distinction for more than 50 years. In recent times, the Department has grown rapidly. Its economics component, heavily influenced by the Austrian School, has an excellent record of sending students to top graduate schools. Because of Hillsdale College’s liberal arts core curriculum, its graduates are uniquely equipped to relate the principles of the free market to the institutions of free government, especially as they exist in America.
The business component of the Department has also grown. Like Ronald Reagan, Hillsdale faculty and students understand that “unleashing the energy and individual genius of man” is the only path to freedom and prosperity. There are two alternatives in the modern world: the commercial society and the despotic society. Hillsdale College has always been committed to the free and commercial society. To animate its pursuit of these high aims, Hillsdale College will expand its Department of Economics, Business, and Accounting by establishing the Center for Commerce and Freedom.
Best Regards,
Larry P. Arnn
Hillsdale College President
President Larry P. Arnn
“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.”
Winston Churchill considered “government interference in trade matters” to be “nearly always a crime, and invariably a blunder.” Hillsdale College, being of similar opinion, does not accept one penny of taxpayer-financed government aid. As such, the Center for Commerce and Freedom will, like the College itself, rely entirely on the generosity of Hillsdale’s friends and supporters for its funding. To provide for the program in perpetuity, its operations will be endowed at a total cost of just under $16 million. Naming opportunities are available for the following:
Please consider supporting the Center for Commerce and Freedom with a gift toward one of these areas. Hillsdale College’s business curriculum stands as a model of the role of commerce in human flourishing. Through the efforts of the Center, Hillsdale students, as well as citizens, will be equipped to understand the proper role of commerce and equipped to defend freedom and commerce in America.
Support the Center Today
CHARLES N. STEELE
DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR COMMERCE & FREEDOM
csteele@hillsdale.edu
Charles Steele has taught economics at the graduate and undergraduate levels in China, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, and has also worked in private consulting. At Hillsdale College, he teaches a variety of upper division economics courses, among them a two-semester sequence in History of Economic Thought, Environmental and Resource Economics, Mathematical Economics, and Austrian Economics II. His research interests include environmental and resource economics, economics of space development, and economics of institutions and institutional change. Outside of economics, his interests include trail running and running ultramarathons, mountaineering, and other outdoor activities.
Questions on the Center:
DAVID DANFORD
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS & INDUSTRY
ddanford@hillsdale.edu
(517) 607-2682
David Danford served for over 15 years in the U.S. military and, along the way, was blessed to attend Hillsdale College for graduate school. David and his wife fell in love with the place and the College, and wanted to return and raise their family and help Hillsdale in any way they could. David now works to build up Hillsdale’s network in the world of business and industry to advance the mission of the College.