Vol. 141 Issue 13 - December 7, 2017
Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
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The Student Activities Board held anornament-decorating event earlier this week. Regan Lasch | courtesy
College may avoid endowment tax, despite exemption loss By | Breana Noble Editor-in-Chief Hillsdale College still may avoid the Republican revenue package’s endowment tax, despite removal of a provision that would have exempted any college that refuses federal funds, such as Hillsdale, from the proposed tax. Senate Republicans had amended the bill last week to increase the endowment size qualification for the 1.4 percent excise tax on private, nonprofit colleges and universities from the $250,000 per student threshold set by the House of Representatives to $500,000 per student. Hillsdale’s endowment is about $364,000 per student, making it too small to be taxed under the Senate’s revisions. College President Larry Arnn said he had hoped to see the complete removal of the endowment tax from the bill. “It does not make sense to me for the Congress to add a tax on to something that it is subsidizing so heavily,” Arnn said in an email. “If it does not like the way the colleges
are using their endowments, it should reduce the subsidy to them.” The Senate passed its tax bill early Saturday morning and, on Wednesday, sent it to a conference committee where members of both chambers will meet to reconcile the differences in their two bills. If the committee includes the endowment tax with a threshold lower than $364,000 per student, Hillsdale could have to pay up to $700,000 in taxes on its $548-million endowment’s income, according to Patrick Flannery, vice president of finance and college treasurer. When asked how soon Hillsdale could grow its endowment to $500,000 per student, Flannery said he is waiting for the bill’s final language to comment further. An amendment written by Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, however, would have exempted any college that refuses federal money from the tax. “The idea here,” Toomey said early Saturday morning on the Senate floor, “is that
Student fed approves funding for March for Life By | Emma Cummins Collegian Reporter The Student Federation approved the allocation of $4,000 to the Students for Life club, passed a variety of amendments, cleaned up its club list, and swore in new Student Federation President junior Natalie Meckel on Nov. 30. The Students for Life club travels each year to the March For Life in Washington, D.C. This year, the club asked for $4,000 to cover the cost of the bus trip, an increase from the previous year. The federation approved the request and gave full funding. Students for Life President junior Kathleen Russo expressed her appreciation and described the great favor the federation did for the students. “We don’t want to have to ask students to pay a large amount, because it is a service trip,” Russo said. “They’re going to serve their country by advocating for public policy that does good for human rights and such. To be able to keep the costs at such a modest amount is incredible for the cause and for students, and it’s something we want to be able to do for them.” On Monday, the federa-
Toomey agreed that he believed Hillsdale would be exempt but added that other schools in America do not accept federal money and any institution could choose to do so and still receive the exemption. There are at least nine schools other than Hillsdale that do not receive federal funds right now, including Grove City College in Toomey’s home state, which the senator mentioned on the floor prior to the vote on the amendment’s repeal. By the time of the debate, however, the Republicans had already amended the bill to increase the endowment tax threshold from $250,000 to $500,000 per student. The exemption, then, would not have covered Hillsdale nor any other school that refuses federal money right now, because their endowments currently are too small to qualify to be taxed. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, then proceeded to ask Toomey if he knew whether or not Education Department Secretary Betsy DeVos has donated to Hills-
dale College. “Do you know who the biggest donor was to the Hillsdale College endowment?” McCaskill asked Toomey. “Would that be the DeVos family, by any chance? ...It feels like this is a very limited provision written for a very special person.” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, made similar remarks later, stating Hillsdale may be receiving the exemption because it “happens to be funded by one of the wealthiest families in America because they happen to be a Republican donor.” Toomey said he did not know if the DeVoses donated to Hillsdale College. Although the DeVos family does have connections to Hillsdale, there appears to be no public proof that the Grand Rapids-based billionaires Dick and Betsy DeVos have donated to the school in recent years. John Cervini, vice president for institutional advancement, told The Collegian that the college does not name donors without their express permission.
According to forms submitted to the Internal Revenue Services, the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation have given to numerous colleges, including Calvin College, Cornell University, Davenport University, Ferris State University, Rollins College, the University of Michigan, and Wake Forest University. The foundation, however, did not list Hillsdale as a recipient in recent submissions and did not respond to requests for comment in time for print. Betsy DeVos’ brother Erik Prince — the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater Worldwide, now named Academi — graduated from Hillsdale in 1992 and spoke on campus in October. Additionally, Richard DeVos, Betsy DeVos’ fatherin-law, co-founded Amway Corp. with Jay Van Andel. Van Andel’s son, Steve, was a 1978 graduate of Hillsdale and serves as Amway’s chairman with plans to retire at the end of 2018.
See Tax A2
Freshman Logan Baer and sophomore Charlie Adams ring the bell for Salvation Army, while freshmen Austin Coe and Issac Spangler donate. Stefan Kleinhenz | COllegian
tion held a fundraiser with the proceeds from specialty drinks and hot chocolate at A.J.’s Cafe. The federation donated half of the proceeds to Domestic Harmony, a domestic violence shelter in Hillsdale,and the other half to the family of junior Julia Bosco, whose brother lost his sight in a shooting accident. “I think these are two great causes as one benefits the Hillsdale community and the other recognizes our service to the student body,” Student Fed Vice President senior Maria Theisen said. The federation also swore in junior Natalie Meckel as next semester’s federation president and freshman Brett Anger as the new Sigma Chi representative. Meckel said she is ready to take the helm as the group’s leader but is thankful for the work that the federation has done this semester. She said she’d like the federation to become more professional. “I know Andres Torres, a junior, did a fantastic job improving the campus image of Student Federation introducing more formal business procedures, professional behavior in our meetings, upping the dress code, things like that,” Meckel said. “I’m excited to keep promoting that,.” Pixabay
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any college that chooses to forego federal funding for its students chooses not to be a burden on taxpayers that way, it is reasonable for us to respond by sparing that college of the tax on the endowment fund.” Upon noticing the provision, Democrats latched onto it, making it a “metaphor” for the special-interest favors throughout the tax package, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Friday night. As a result, “Hillsdale College” was trending early Saturday morning in the United States on Twitter, while inaccurate statements about the school were made on the Senate floor and on social media. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, was the first to bring up on the chamber floor that Hillsdale College would be the only school benefitting from the amendment. The allegation earned the provision nicknames on social media, including the “Hillsdale handout,” “hustle,” “earmark,” and “carve-out.”
Hillsdale showing early viewing of Churchill film ‘Darkest Hour’ By | Michael Lucchese Senior Writer Hillsdale College students will have the opportunity to attend an early screening of the new film “Darkest Hour,” starring Gary Oldman and directed by Joe Wright on Dec. 15. In the film, Oldman plays Winston Churchill. It follows his early days as prime minister, including the fall of France and Churchill’s decision to continue the fight against Nazi Germany. “It’s a film that captures the essence of Winston Churchill and the way he led his countrymen through their darkest
hour and into their finest,” said Soren Geiger, a research assistant in the president’s office. “People, I think, are drawn to these types of films, because they want to see what greatness looks like when up against the worst of perils — the invasion and devastation of one’s homeland.” The screening will be followed on Dec. 16 at 11a.m. by a panel featuring College President and Churchill scholar Larry Arnn, the film’s producer Douglas Urbanski, and Gary Oldman. “World War II is the greatest of the wars, and war is a characteristic human
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phenomenon. It reveals things can be seen nowhere else,” Arnn said. “The most important thing, in my opinion, is for people to understand that great turning points of history do not have inevitable outcomes.” Since 2012, Arnn has directed the Churchill Project at Hillsdale College, which continues the work started by the late Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill’s official biographer. “My favorite thing about the manner or way of the film is that it shows Churchill in action, able to move and think quickly, much afflicted and yet keeping and using his
wits,” Arnn said. “Too often he is played as a lumbering growler.” Tickets to both the screening of “Darkest Hour” and the panel are free and open to faculty, staff, and students, Geiger said, but reservations are required. Those interested in attending should email Geiger at sgeiger@hillsdale.edu. “One can see in ‘Darkest Hour’ that if you change this thing or that, everything would have been different,” Arnn said. “Hitler’s progress was arrested by human beings who made choices, who suffered, who fought bravely and narrowly prevailed.” Look for The Hillsdale Collegian