One black cheerleader, woohoo!
So, BIDER readers may know, that I frequent the conservative talk talk radio stations to infiltrate and report back. But, I am a liberatarian, so I am sometimes impressed by the shows. Other times, I want to vomit from the amount of ignorance and hate conservative talk radio propogates. I actually heard something that made me smile yesterday and I had to do a little digging to find out if its true. Have you heard of Hillsdale College? Until yesterday, nor had I. Well, the pitch on Rush's show was "A college that encourages conservative financial values by not accepting federal loans. Please call and donate so that we can provide loans to needy students." WOW, says I. That's great. It's a school taking a stand on federal loan monies.... but that begs the question; why? In my world, where Queen Angel reigns supreme, federal loan money would be available to those students that pursue worthwhile degrees (ones that will lead to good employment) and schools that can't shape their curriculum to reflect the needs of the job market will close the doors from lack of "customers". But, I could never imagine a scenario where the school does not want "free" federal money. So, I was a bit suspicious. Is it really a decision that Hillsdale made because of its belief in conservative financial values?
A quick perusal of the school's website tells a different story:
Hillsdale's modern rise to prominence occurred in the 1970s. On the pretext that some of its students were receiving federal loans, the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare attempted to interfere with the College's internal affairs, including a demand that Hillsdale begin counting its students by race. Hilldale... responded with two toughly worded resolutions: One, the college would continue its policy of non-discrimination. Two,"with the help of God," it would resist, by all legal means, any encroachment on its independence.
Following almost a decade of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court decided against Hillsdale in 1984. By this time, the College had announced that rather than complying with unconstitutional federal regulation, it would instruct its students that they no longer bring federal taxpayer money to Hillsdale. Instead, the College would replace that aid with private contributions.
Hmmm... This sounds more like a race thing and less like an encouragement of fiscal responsibility. I was ready to promote Hillsdale as a place to exercise your own "fiscal conservative policy," but they couched this argument all wrong. Why is it so hard to provide your stats???? How many blacks, asians, Hispanics does this school have enrolled there? I guess we'll never know. And with a whopping tuition (plus room and board) of $28K, they are hardly giving anything away or fiscally conservative.
I wish I lived near this college. I would love to see what they are hiding.
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