165th Commencement
May 13, 2017

Anthony M. Esolen is professor of English at Providence College. He received his A.B. from Princeton University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A senior editor for Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, he is a regular contributor to Crisis Magazine, Catholic World Report, Public Discourse, and Magnificat. He is the author of several books, including Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child and Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture, and the editor and translator of several more, including Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura and Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Larry P. Arnn is the twelfth president of Hillsdale College, where he is also a professor of politics and history. He received his B.A. from Arkansas State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School. He also studied at Worcester College, Oxford University, where he served as director of research for Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill. From 1985 to 2000, he served as president of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy. He is the author of three books, including, most recently, Churchill’s Trial: Winston Churchill and the Salvation of Free Government.

Jacob Thackston was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, the oldest of five children. He will receive a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy, with a minor in politics, from Hillsdale College and continue on to Harvard Law School. While at Hillsdale, Jacob led a group dedicated to service in the community called “A Few Good Men.” He was active in student government and also a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honorary. Jacob intends to practice law at the civil appellate level and hopes to one day become a judge.