You’ve heard all about it by now. Vice President Pence traveled to Hillsdale College in Michigan over the weekend to cheer on the conservative college’s commencement. So here’s our question: Why don’t the locals mention Hillsdale’s peculiarities?
…no controversy here…
After all, neither Hillsdale nor Pence seemed reticent about the conservative particulars of the school. Pence called Hillsdale a “beacon of liberty and American ideals.” He praised the college’s aggressive leader, Larry Arnn, for grounding students “in the traditions and teachings that are our greatest inheritance in America.”
Hillsdale, too, regularly brags about its conservative stances on curriculum and funding. All students enroll in a great-books curriculum and no students receive any federal funding. In case anyone misses it, the campus includes statues of conservative icons such as Ronald Reagan.
Ronnie relaxin on campus…
So why don’t the locals seem to care? On the local news about Pence’s address, absolutely no mention was made of the conservative nature of the college. Pence’s speech was stripped of any ideological meaning. Graduates talked about their jobs and their hopes for the future, a future pointedly stripped of any mention of taking over Washington DC with a new, Hillsdale-inspired conservative vision.
Is this simply Midwestern politeness? Local-news inoffensiveness? Or do they just not care about the central mission of their local university?
I Love You but You're Going to Hell 
Agellius
/ May 15, 2018Well, why don’t local newspapers comment on the liberal leanings of the majority of schools when reporting on their commencement exercises? I would guess that it’s because they’re trying to report facts and not editorialize. Either that or they take liberal leanings for granted and therefore don’t find them newsworthy. Why do you assume that the conservative nature of a college that is well known to the local populace would be newsworthy?