Hillsdale College
Commencement
May 11, 2019
General Robert B. Neller will deliver an address at the 167th Commencement exercises of Hillsdale College on Saturday, May 11, 2019.
The Commencement live stream will begin at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Speakers
General Robert B. Neller
Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
General Neller serves as the 37th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. He previously was commander of Marine Forces Command and Marine Forces Central Command; deputy commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom; assistant division commander for 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions; and president of Marine Corps University. He also served in the Policy Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Casteau, Belgium, and as director of operations of the joint staff in Washington, D.C. General Neller began his career in 1975 when he was commissioned after graduating from the University of Virginia. He served as an infantry officer in command of Marine Security Force Panama during Operations Just Cause and Promote Liberty, 3rd Light Armored Infantry Battalion during Operation Restore Hope, 6th Marine Regiment, and 3rd Marine Division. He is a graduate of the Armor Officer Advanced Course, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, NATO Defense College, and the Armed Forces Staff College and also holds a master’s degree in human resource management from Pepperdine University. A native of East Lansing, Michigan, General Neller’s son, Brett, graduated from Hillsdale College in 2006.
Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale College
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.
Ryan Kelly Murphy
2019 Class President
Ryan Kelly Murphy is a senior politics major hailing from Temecula in Southern California. She is a George Washington Fellow, secretary of Kappa Kappa Gamma, news
director at Hillsdale College’s radio station, and co-host of a weekly political talk show. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering at her church, baking, and beekeeping. After graduation, Ryan hopes to work as part of the President’s staff and eventually pursue a career in political commentary and campaign management. Ryan was the first place recipient of Hillsdale College’s 2017 Edward Everett Prize in Oratory
Class of 2019
Outstanding Senior Man
Samuel Roberts
Outstanding Senior Woman
Nicole Ault
Class Officers
President – Ryan Kelly Murphy
Vice President – Marcus Koperski
Secretary – Kathleen Russo
Treasurer – Carrie Williams
Social Chair – Faith Witkowski
Vice President – Nicholas DeCleene and Andie Chandler
Academic Honors
Those wearing white stoles are honor students—graduating cum laude 3.4, magna cum laude 3.6, or summa cum laude 3.8 GPA. The valedictorian and salutatorian of the Class of 2019 wear gold honor stoles. Honor cords worn by graduates signify membership in discipline-based organizations or academic honorary societies.
Top Academic Honors
Valedictorians
Catherine Bodnar, Marina Bostelman, Gill West
Salutatorians
Nicole Ault, Hope Jonker
Rebecca Carlson, Kathryn Duhadway, Ellen Friesen, Rebecca Kaiser, Chloe Kookogey, Daniel Maisonville, Amanda Marra, Samuel Roberts, Jessica Skoudis, Abigail Trouwborst
Alma Mater
Proudly we sing of college halls gracing a hilltop high,
Proudly our tower and ivied walls point to an azure sky,
And may that spirit long remain, bringing distinction true,
Noble pride in our Hillsdale’s name endures ’neath the white and blue.
Here we for greater knowledge strive, here lasting friends acquire,
Here may we keep our dreams alive, as we to heights aspire,
Here may our youth a challenge meet, building our hopes anew,
Faith in life becomes complete ’neath banners of white and blue.
Words and melody by Bess Hagaman Tefft, Class of 1937
Harmonized by R. L. Bowers, former professor of music, Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College Mission Statement
Hillsdale College is an independent institution of higher learning founded in 1844 by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings” resulting from civil and religious liberty and “believing that the diffusion of learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.” It pursues the stated object of the founders: “to furnish all persons who wish, irrespective of nation, color, or sex, a literary, scientific, [and] theological education” outstanding among American colleges “and to combine with this such moral and social instruction as will best develop the minds and improve the hearts of its pupils.” As a nonsectarian Christian institution, Hillsdale College maintains “by precept and example” the immemorial teachings and practices of the Christian faith.
The College also considers itself a trustee of our Western philosophical and theological inheritance tracing to Athens and Jerusalem, a heritage finding its clearest expression in the American experiment of self-government under law.
By training the young in the liberal arts, Hillsdale College prepares students to become leaders worthy of that legacy. By encouraging the scholarship of its faculty, it contributes to the preservation of that legacy for future generations. By publicly defending that legacy, it enlists the aid of other friends of free civilization and thus secures the conditions of its own survival and independence.