Instant and Lasting Impact: Tennis Brings Brazilian Silvia Siqueira to Hillsdale College
Written by Doug Goodnough
Silvia Siqueira, ’93, KKG, said Hillsdale College helped launch her career in international business.
The former Charger women’s tennis standout came to Hillsdale as a Brazilian foreign exchange student, and turned down several NCAA Division I offers to sign with the Chargers.
“I came because of tennis, truly. It was an opportunity to play tennis,” Siqueira said.
However, she stayed for the Hillsdale educational experience. She said professors like Dr. John Willson of the History Department and economist Dr. Charles Van Eaton helped shape her view of America and made her realize what a unique place it is. For example, she said simple concepts of philanthropy and privatization are commonplace in America, but not so much in the rest of the world.
“Having been raised in Brazil until I was 15 years old, I came (to Hillsdale) with a worldview that didn’t really understand what conservative meant, because my lived experiences were very different,” she said. “So, this is what is so unique about America. Most Americans don’t get it because they don’t have the external perspective.”
On the tennis court, Siqueira made an instant impact. She was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player as a freshman, and won multiple conference honors during her career. She said playing doubles with fellow GLIAC MVP Kathy Heimbuch Heckert Caldwell, ’92, was a thrill.
“And we always had fun on the different road trips,” she said.
In fact, on a trip to the Upper Peninsula, head coach Alice Hullhorst did not want to drive over the Mackinac Bridge. So Siqueira stepped in.
“I remember I drove (the team bus) across the bridge,” she said. “We had so much fun.”
After graduating from Hillsdale, she worked as an auditor and consultant for Arthur Anderson in her native Brazil. She then accepted a position with Hilti, a family-owned construction company based in Liechtenstein. After a long career in finance and sales, she has spent the past few years in diversity, equity, and inclusion positions with Hilti and Capital One. Siqueira started in August of 2022 as the assistant vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Federal Reserve’s 11th District Bank of Dallas. Now living in the Dallas area with her husband and two children, she is also currently completing her Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas.
“You need to give grace to people, and that’s where I’m focused,” she said.
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in August 2023