HILLSDALE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Hillsdale College celebrated the groundbreaking for its new Diana David Spencer Graduate School of Classical Education. The building will house the college’s graduate program in classical education, which first held classes in August 2022.

“We are going to study and learn here together. That’s our job,” said Dr. Larry P Arnn, Hillsdale College President. “And the fruit is that we are going to teach others to engage in that activity and then take that activity elsewhere … [and] we are proud to be partners with the Spencers in this work.”

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According to the school’s website, the Master of Arts Degree in Classical Education is a professional program for students who plan to teach in, administer, or found classical schools. The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, named for its journalist and philanthropist founder, provided a leadership grant for the classical education program’s scholarships and its new building.

“Hillsdale College does not just talk about quality K-12 education, it is heavily invested in it,” said Dean of the Graduate School of Classical Education Daniel Coupland. “The new Graduate School … will be the epicenter of our effort to train up future leaders who will meet the challenge of forming an educated citizenry.”

Samuel Musser, one of the program’s first graduates, said that one highlight of his experience was the
opportunity to rediscover the literature he remembered from his undergraduate days but had never
fully appreciated.

“When you read these books, you connect with something universal, something that’s deeply touching,”
Musser said.

Since graduating, Musser is now a legislative analyst for the Classical Learning Test, an alternative college entrance exam for students with interest in “private, liberal arts, or faith-based colleges.”

The new building will be constructed beside the college’s Dow Hotel, a single-story building that borders central campus. The process will take about a year and a half, according to Associate Vice President for Curriculum and Professor of English David Whalen. This new building is among the first steps in a master architecture plan for the college.

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“This master plan includes adding onto the backside of Central Hall, front addition to the library, and possibly the front addition of Grewcock Student Union,” said Provost Christopher VanOrman. “These potential additions have not all been funded at this point.”