Hometown Hillsdale: Nick Rorick, ’01
Written by Stephanie Gordon
Nick Rorick, ’01, might be new to planting his family’s roots in the city of Hillsdale, Michigan, but he has loved Hillsdale’s small-town feel since he was a student. The dentist and Fort Wayne, Indiana, native spent many years living and working around the country and also spending time overseas in the military. For Nick and his family, the close nature of the community and the College has helped them call Hillsdale home.
The biology major’s path to Hillsdale College was simple. Nick desired to attend a small school and run cross country. “I met the great Bill Lundberg and it was a done deal,” he said. “I believed in the College’s mission and I believed in Bill Lundberg. The rest is history.”
Nick participated in cross country and indoor/outdoor track all four years for the Chargers, earning 2nd Team All-GLIAC honors in 1999. He fondly recalls running with Bill Lundberg and Dr. Gary Wolfram every day, saying that spending extended time with the two was impactful.
Outside of his running career, Nick was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and Beta Beta Beta, a society dedicated to biological study. Dr. Bob Miller, now professor emeritus of biology, encouraged Nick to spend a summer in the College’s LAUREATES Program. The program piqued his research interest, which led him to study cleft lip and palate and obtain his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
“It was a good experience,” he said of his graduate studies at the University of Iowa. “I was in contact with others who were dentists, surgeons, and orthodontists, and I found myself gravitating toward the patient care side of things. I made the change after completing my Ph.D., and I was accepted into the University of Indiana’s School of Dentistry.”
Nick received funding for dental school from a health professional scholarship program through the U.S. Navy. In turn, he owed a few years of service commitment to the military branch. “I was in Norfolk, Virginia, for one year, and then spent two years on the U.S.S. George Washington in Japan, and ended my service at Parris Island in South Carolina.”
While Nick knew of his wife, Elizabeth Rhinehart, ’02, at Hillsdale, they didn’t date until the Thanksgiving after Liz’s Hillsdale graduation. Both were in grad school in different cities, but they hit it off after meeting with a mutual Hillsdale friend and began a long-distance relationship that turned into a marriage.
He and Liz welcomed their three children—Grayson, Mara, and Henry—during Nick’s dental school years. After his military service was complete, the Rorick family moved back to their former hometown of Fort Wayne to be near family, where Nick opened his own dental practice, Sycamore Hills Dentistry.
Fast forward to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Nick explained that his children’s former school was becoming completely technology forward. Concerned about the state of their education, both Nick and Liz evaluated their possibilities, and returning to Hillsdale was one of them.
Headmaster Mike Roberts (also Nick’s former track teammate) informed the Roricks of student openings at Hillsdale Academy. “We asked ourselves what it would look like if the kids went to the Academy,” said Nick. “We asked ourselves, ‘Is it a big enough sacrifice for their education, or are we sacrificing their education by keeping them in Fort Wayne?’”
Ultimately, the Roricks excitedly moved their family to Hillsdale. Even with the move, Nick still practices dentistry a few days a week in Fort Wayne. “We live on a great street in town,” he said, “and I’ve been able to grow my practice to the point where I can adjust my schedule so I’m home for our children’s events. It’s been a great move for us.”
Liz currently teaches first grade at Hillsdale Academy, and the Roricks enjoy watching their children participate in various sports. “I don’t have to worry about our children’s education, and I love that our children can just go play with friends in the neighborhood,” Nick said. “I love the quaint nature of Hillsdale. It’s the close nature of everything, and I get to build strong relationships and rekindle old college friendships. We all come from different circles, but we’re all good people here.”
From being students to becoming members of Hillsdale’s community, the Roricks have come full circle. They plan to build their own home in Hillsdale in the near future. “We want a home we can retire in, and a place the kids can come back to,” Nick said. “We enjoy it here and consider Hillsdale home. Having a college like Hillsdale in our town has been an added fun perk of small-town living.”
Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Virtue and Valor: The Official Blog of Hillsdale College. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children – Eloise, Flora, and Jack. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys paleo baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, and breaking a sweat at the gym.
Published in February 2024