Guidelines Regarding the Mission and Moral Commitments of Hillsdale College

Relevant Excerpt

As occasioned by questions from students concerning the moral requisites of sexual activity, the administration and Board of Trustees of Hillsdale College have established in recent years guidelines to direct campus policies. These guidelines derive from the essential commitments of the College as given in the Articles of Association and Mission Statement. In particular, they bear upon student conduct, organizations, College events and activities, but they bespeak as well the essential moral understanding of human nature to which the College is dedicated. It is understood that individuals attached to the College may differ with these guidelines or with the moral principles that give rise to them, yet it is also understood that the guidelines are institutionally binding.

1. As a place of liberal learning, Hillsdale College has always welcomed thoughtful inquiry and civil debate.
2. Since the founding of the College, natural law principles, which support rational inquiry and civil and religious liberty, have been central to its work. From the College’s start, the moral tenets of Christianity as commonly understood in the Christian tradition have been essential to the mission of the College.
3. Thus the College has always understood morally responsible sexual acts to be those occurring in marriage and between the sexes. This understanding has been unwavering, undergirds its policies regarding student conduct, and informs its institutional practices.
4. The College cannot therefore lend itself or its approbation to organizations or activities that contravene this commitment.
5. The College welcomes all, regardless of their personal beliefs, who understand its good faith commitments and are willing to work in that collegial context. Ideological pressures or actions that press the College to abandon its commitments or disrupt its good order, however, are inconsistent with both its independence and its purpose.