There is a story in the news today about two colleges. One is the oldest college in America, having been founded before the American Revolution. It is also perhaps the very most elite of the Ivy League. It is the goal of most children of the elite in America, which is the closest we have to an aristocracy; “legacy”, or the children of its graduates, are still given a major “leg up” when applying to go there. Its researchers in many fields, from economics to literature to medicine, are the recipients of billions of dollars of government grants. It recently lost a Supreme Court case which found that it discriminated against a very large class of applicants, of a particular ethnic group which has been known for its high test-scores and parents who shepherd their kids through “gifted and talented” programs across the country. It has also been in the news due to extensive “demonstrations” on its campus by people who support the terrorists of Hamas in their efforts to destroy the State of Israel. The college president lost her job after testifying before Congress that she couldn’t say whether the anti-semitism of those demonstrators was a beneficial or detrimental sentiment.

The other college is a small liberal-arts school in south-central Michigan, dating from 1844. It was founded by Free-will Baptists, and from its inception was known for accepting all races, classes, and religions of students. It admitted women starting at its founding, when most other schools did not, including the one described above. It had very high standards, both of academic achievement and societal participation of its students. Its population of male students almost uniformly enlisted in the Union Army at the Civil War, as they knew that the United States was worth fighting for. Below is a memorial to those student fighters on the campus.

By now, you probably know that the elite Ivy League college is Harvard, and the small midwest school is Hillsdale College. Hillsdale highly values its independence, and it discovered that, if it accepted federal money in any form, that the government applied very strict rules to that money, basically asserting that IT ran the college, and not the administration of the College. Hillsdale fought that control, all the way up to the US Supreme Court, and it lost. The Court basically ruled that the old saying “He who pays the piper calls the tune” applied to government money in any form, including research grants and student loans from all levels of government. So Hillsdale made the difficult decision to refuse all government funds, from any source.

This decision has cost it dearly, since many students could not attend any college at all without student loans and scholarships. Since the college made the decision to refuse all government support, it instituted an extensive program of private fund-raising, asking its supporters to donate money to the college for loans and scholarships. That endeavor has been wildly successful, bringing in millions of dollars from private donors (like myself and my husband), for endowed scholarships, grants, and loans. Corporations and individuals have donated to every area of the College, and they have a thriving Shooting Sports program, as well as all the other programs you would expect from a liberal-arts college. All done without a cent of government funds.

Today’s story involves the President, Dr. Larry Arnn, whose statements about the dilemma that Harvard finds itself in with the Trump Administration pulling its federal funds, have made the headlines. Harvard is unrepentant in its determination to engage in discriminatory behavior, and it is reaping what it has sown. Here’s some of what Dr. Arnn has to say.

“We all have a right to free speech, but if you join the academic community, you don’t get to say whatever you want. You can’t go to physics class and talk about English Lit. Also, you can’t spit on people because they’re Jews or denounce them… because that breaks down the friendship that is necessary to the partnership of a college,” Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“Now, having said that, of course — you shouldn’t say ‘dirty Jew.’ It’s perfectly legitimate to say, ‘I don’t agree with it.’ But to say, ‘Israel took that land, and they don’t have a right to it,’ and the response would be, ‘OK, see if you can prove that.’ That’s an academic undertaking,” he said.

Harvard is getting a taste of its own medicine, continuing to allow its students and faculty to disparage Jews and Israel. It has lost outside funding from wealthy alumni like hedge-fund mogul William Ackman and others. Now, the Trump administration is hitting them where it hurts, in the pocketbook. Dr. Arnn of Hillsdale suggests that Harvard could get along without that government money, by tapping its huge endowment, but of course they resist that. Hillsdale has its own endowment, but not nearly the size of Harvard’s. Hillsdale’s donors have much skin in the game, and they take an active part in the college community. We have gone to Hillsdale National Leadership Seminars all over the country, and we are not just passive donors. We have visited the lovely campus many times, and expect to visit more once I fully retire.

The administration of Harvard should not take Hillsdale lightly, because the quality of instruction and life there is rapidly approaching the value of Harvard and the entire Ivy League. Hillsdale values all viewpoints, and its students and faculty are fully prepared to argue any point that anyone chooses to bring up. But Hillsdale, with its Honor Code, does all argument in a civil way. You will never see any kind of demonstration or riot on the Hillsdale campus, just happy, smiling and studious students and faculty. Dr. Arnn even teaches courses every academic year, and each student has the opportunity to benefit from his erudition. Donors and friends of the College have an open invitation to come to campus while school is in session, and attend classes if they wish.

Another of Hillsdale’s claims to fame is its extensive catalog of Free Online Courses, available for anyone to access at any time. More courses are added every year, and they are video lessons taught by Hillsdale faculty and guest professors. They range from Western Civilization, American History, Great Books, and Economics, to the Book of Genesis and C.S. Lewis. And the courses are absolutely free for anyone to take.

This little conflict between Harvard and Hillsdale is instructive, and forces people to consider what they and their children value in a college education. We have all seen, at all educational levels, that the Left has turned many schools into indoctrination centers, teaching from a leftist perspective which does not value the greatness of America as founded. You can be sure that Hillsdale is not among them, and its students receive a real education.