Coming Home to Hillsdale

Written by Doug Goodnough, ’90

Who said you can’t go home again?

After departing the Hillsdale College campus nearly 30 years ago for a long and winding road in journalism and marketing, I am back at the ’Dale.

If you haven’t heard, I am Hillsdale’s new director of Alumni Marketing. To say it is a dream job is an understatement. In fact, it gives me a chance to use my English major and my history minor to connect with my fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.

In true Hillsdale fashion, I got a chance to jump in feet first: On my second day on the job, the Alumni Office staff asked me to tag along to the alumni reception in Grand Rapids.

And it was a grand time in Grand Rapids for nearly 100 Hillsdale College alumni. Held at the downtown New Holland Brewing Co., the Hillsdale Alumni Office hosted what is the largest gathering to-date on its Alumni National Tour.

There was food, fun, and fellowship, and we provided a venue that allowed alumni to help cultivate the Hillsdale legacy in the Grand Rapids area. Here are some of my personal highlights:

Being able to connect with a former baseball teammate is always special, and it was certainly a treat to reconnect with Dr. Doug Doyle, ’88. The former southpaw pitcher is now an ophthalmologist in the Grand Rapids area. The father of six recently celebrated the marriage of two of his daughters, and he and his wife, Shawn, are expectant grandparents later this year. And he looks like he could still pitch an inning or two!
I had a chance to reconnect with two former classmates—Kevin and Polly Wilson Johnson (both Class of 1990). Kevin has been employed with Ferguson Enterprises for more than 30 years, while Polly teaches French at Cedar Springs Public Schools. They have lived in Rockford, Michigan, for the past 18 years. Kevin made a point to connect with Hillsdale’s Career Services team, who were in attendance, about possible Hillsdale student internships with his company.
Jim Shuster, ’85, was hard to miss. The former Hillsdale basketball star is now the owner of Warmington Industries, a consolidating distributor. He shared some stories about his time on campus, which included playing for legendary coaches Bill Morse and Rod Halstad. In fact, he scored more than 1,000 career points “without ever having a play run for me.” He said he is thrilled with the direction of the men’s basketball program, and two of his children, Kaleigh Shuster Brohl, ’13, and Nick Shuster, ’16, are also graduates.
Does Bob Barss have stories! The 1977 graduate was a member of the fabled Hillsdale club hockey team coached by NHL legend Ted Lindsay. Barss, who was a family friend of Lindsay, said he helped bring the former Detroit Red Wings star to Hillsdale when a coaching vacancy occurred. Lindsay, known as a hard-nosed player, was the same as a coach. He expected his players to wear a coat and tie to games, and also to have their hair cut short. With the “wild” hair era of the 1970s, Lindsay’s latter “request” was met with some pushback by the players. What was Lindsay’s response? “You don’t have to cut your hair…but you can’t play for me.” Hair cut. Problem solved.
Finally, two current Hillsdale staff members made the night special for me. Jeff Lantis, ’86, who recently celebrated his 34th year as an employee of the College, always brings an energy and excitement to the room. As the director of External Relations for the Athletic Department, I can’t think of anyone better to represent Charger Athletics. Sharon Kinsler Kahn, ’90, returned to Hillsdale a couple of years ago as the assistant director of Career Services, and she brought a contingent of students to the alumni reception to help them network with the many alumni present. It was great to see her friendly face again!

This is only a sampling of the stories from that evening. If you’re debating about coming back to campus or attending one of our alumni events—don’t!

We have an ambitious event schedule, including the upcoming White & Blue Weekend from May 19-22. Stay in the dorms, take a class, party like it’s 1999 (or whenever you attended) and bring your family!

It’s good to be home.

Doug Goodnough

Published in March 2022