from Washington, D.C., delivered to your living room. This event is timed to coincide with Constitution Day (September 17), and will celebrate the brilliance of our Constitution -- the greatest charter of liberty in human history. This educational event on September 16 and 17 will feature . . .
- The official opening of Hillsdale College's new Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. -- just blocks from the U.S. Capitol;
- Two days of lectures, panels, and debates on America's founding principles and prospects for restoring constitutional government in America (attended by policymakers, educators, and the news media); and
- An online webcast of lectures, panels, and debates on the Constitution (the debates will be between conservatives and progressives) through which we hope to reach hundreds of thousands of Americans.
I expect this two-day educational event and celebration of our Constitution to get major media attention.
We hope and expect that (with your help and support) the opening of Hillsdale's Kirby Center will prove to be a landmark event for America -- an event that will be instrumental in America's return to the Constitution and to the founding principles that have made us the freest, most prosperous nation in history.
We want this event to put the spotlight on how far America has drifted away from the principles of limited government established by our Constitution.
Our government today bears no resemblance to the government established by America's Founding Fathers.
That's what we hope to show with Hillsdale's Constitution Day Event and webcast that we will be holding in Washington, D.C., on September 16 and 17.
The focal point of this event will be the opening of Hillsdale's new Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies near Capitol Hill.
The 16,000-square-foot Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship will . . .
- Serve as a headquarters for Hillsdale students who are serving as interns in government, the media, and think-t anks in Washington, D.C., and a place where they will study the Constitution and America's founding principles;
- Hold educational programs on the Constitution and America's founding principles for elected officials and other policymakers; and
- Provide educational resources to citizens on how we can go about reviving limited government.
Hillsdale is also making its educational programs on liberty available to all Americans via the Internet.
In fact, more than 55,000 Americans signed up to watch and listen to Hillsdale's first "Constitution Town Hall" Webcast.
Our goal for 2010-2011 is to have 5,000,000 Americans participating in Hillsdale's online educational programs on the Constitution and America's founding principles that will be held at the new Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship. I hope you'll sign up for the Constitution Day Celebration webcast right now.
But the only way this can happen is with the help and support of hundreds of thousands of patriotic Americans (such as you) who value liberty and share our dismay at the direction in which our current political leadership is taking our great nation - a direction that ignores and violates our Constitution.
Well-known friends of Hillsdale College, such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, helped promote our last Online "Town Hall" on the Constitution. We hope that, with their help , our event on September 16 and 17 will be even bigger.
In the weeks leading up to this historic event, all three hosts will be reminding their listeners to sign up to view this FREE webcast featuring speeches, panels, and debates about the Constitution.
By the way, Rush Limbaugh is so impressed with Hillsdale's curriculum on the Constitution and America's founding principles, he actually announced on his radio show that he plans to take a Hillsdale course on the Constitution.
Frankly, we have been stunned by the amazingly strong response we're been getting to Hillsdale's educational outreach programs on the Constitution from America ns all across the country.
There is clearly a new sense sweeping the country that liberty is endangered and will be lost if we fail, as citizens, to defend it.
For nearly a century now, our political leaders have mostly ignored the Constitution.
Many have never even read the Constitution. And of those who have, many just see the Constitution as a hindrance to their agenda of expanding government power.
Under President Obama, the federal government has extended bureaucratic control over about one-third of the total U.S. economy.
He has extended bureaucratic control over our health care system, and most recently over our financial system, and the U.S. auto industry.
Now he seems to want to shut down or take over our energy industry.
All of this is unconstitutional.
Of course, our federal government has been exerting more and more control over our lives and acting outside the bounds of the Constitution for almost 1 00 years. But it is now reaching a crisis point.
We are right now on the brink of bureaucratic despotism (or worse).
That's why the opening of Hillsdale's new 16,000 square-foot Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship near Capitol Hill is so important.
With this Center, we're going to educate Americans and help ensure that their political leaders read and understand the Constitution, and that they realize that limited government is vital to civil and religious liberty.
And through our Webcasts on the Internet, we hope to reach millions of Americans with our educational programs on the Constitution and the principles of liberty, because only an informed citizenry can keep our government in check -- and eventually return our federal government to operating within its constitutional limits.
That, in summary, is the mission of the Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship -- which is officially open ing on September 16 and 17 of this year.
But we very much need help from you and many other friends of liberty to make this educational outreach an enormous success.
Hillsdale College is committed to educating a new generation of American leaders who cherish and defend liberty.
You should also know this about Hillsdale . . .
Unlike almost all other colleges and universities, Hillsdale refuses all federal taxpayer subsidies, even in the form of student grants or loans.
We do this because we don't want the government dictating who we must hire or who we must admit for enrollment (especially if they don't meet Hillsdale's tough academic standards) . . . or what we are allowed to teach. We also do it because we think the federal interference with education is unconstitutional.
This means that 100% of Hillsdale College's funds must come from student tuition and contributions from Americans like you and me who care about liberty and the future of our nation.
Contributions from those who believe in liberty help keep tuition affordable for Hillsdale College students. Hillsdale does not want expense to be a barrier for any qualified student to attend. And by the way, Hillsdale's tuition is less than half the tuition at many other prestigious schools, even though the College accepts no federal taxpayer subsidies.
You can see the Hillsdale difference in the motto of the College: "Pursuing Truth and Defending Liberty Since 1844." Unlike many colleges in America, Hillsdale teaches its students:
- That the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are the greatest charters of liberty ever written, and are responsible for America quic kly becoming the freest, most prosperous nation in human history;
- That the free enterprise system is essential to American freedom and prosperity; and
- That faith in God, far from undermining liberty as many ACLU-style liberals claim, supports liberty. As Thomas Jefferson wrote:
"[C]an the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?"
As you well know, these ideas are no longer taught at most American colleges.
Students at most colleges graduate with little or no understanding of what makes America unique, free and prosperous. If anything, students are taught to distrust free markets, fear religion, and be ashamed of patriotism.
Hillsdale College, by contrast, believes that a central purpose of education is to equip America's future leaders to uphold and defend the principles of liberty upon which America was founded.
Hillsdale, unlike many colleges, teaches why America is exceptional in human history. Every Hillsdale student comes to understand how the Constitution is responsible for America becoming a beacon of liberty and prosperity for the world -- what President Reagan liked to call "a shining city on a hill."
As you can see, Hillsdale has major plans for expansion this year, including...
- Making Hillsdale's educational programs on liberty and the Constitution available to millions of Americans on the Internet;
- Completing the build-out of the interior of Hillsdale's new Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.;
- Conducting more and more educational programs on liberty and on the Constitution for students and policymakers through the Kirby Center; and
- Most immediately, making sure Hillsdale Constitution Day event on September 16 and 17 is a successful launching of this mission to help return America to constitutional government.
But we can't continue to expand Hillsdale's educational programs on liberty without contributions from those who, like you, believe in limited government and share our alarm at the statist and unconstitutional direction President Obama and the current Congress are taking America.
I am enormously encouraged at the outpouring of interest in Hillsdale College by Americans who never attended Hillsdale, but understand the importance of education in shaping the minds of our future national leaders.
Historically, liberals have understood this truth far better than conservatives -- which is why the Left has succeeded in hijacking education in America at every level.
But here's the good news . . .
More than 55,000 Americans signed up to participate in Hillsdale's first online "Constitution Town Hall" seminar. I hope you'll join our Constitution Day webcast here.
Americans really are waking up to the danger to their liberties.
There is a hunger in America to understand our nation's founding principles and how we have strayed so far from them, so we can rescue liberty from those who continue to transform America into something alien to what our Founding Fathers established in 1776 and 1787.
We Want This Event to Have a Major Impact on Rallying and Educating Millions of Americans, and Encouraging Them to Insist on Restoring Constitutional Government to America
Hillsdale's Constitution Day event on September 16 and 17 will mark the official launch of Hillsdale's campaign to help restore constitutional government in America.
I뭢 very much hoping to see hundreds of thousands of Americans participating over the Internet in Hillsdale's Constitution Day programs on September 16 and 17.
But we need your help to make this event the enormous success I know it can be, and to strike a blow for liberty and a return to cons titutional government in America.
So can I count on your contribution?
I don't know your financial situation.
I know that some of Hillsdale's benefactors can send gifts of $1,000 or even more, while other friends of Hillsdale are making an equal sacrifice by sending gifts of $25 or $50.
But if your contribution is $500 or more, you become eligible to have your name (or the name of a loved one you would like to honor) engraved permanently in a brick on the Liberty Walkway of Honor on the Hillsdale Campus.
This Liberty Walkway of Honor serves as a reminder to our students to be thankful to our supporters and benefactors who help keep tuition affordable with donations.
Only you know what is the right contribution amount for you.
What's most important is for you to contribute what you can . . . because I consider every dollar we receive in donations here at Hillsdale as a vote of support f or what we are doing here - providing an institution of higher learning that defends liberty and that can compete credibly for the best professors and students with America's most prominent colleges and universities.
So I hope I can count on you to respond to my email today with your best contribution.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale College
Pursuing Truth and Defending Liberty since 1844
P.S. I am sure you're heard Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin talk about Hillsdale in favorable terms on their radio shows. And remember, in the weeks leading up to this historic event, all three hosts will be reminding their listeners to go to sign up to view this FREE webcast featuring speeches, panels, and debates about the Constitution.
Our focus right now is to make sure that the two-day Constitution Day event Hillsdale is holding in Washington, D.C., on September 16 and 17 has the impact I know it can have with your generous help and support.
Specifically, we are aiming to have hundreds of thousands of cit izens participating in this educational program on the Constitution via the Internet on the live Webcasts of the lectures, panels, and debates regarding the Constitution we'll be holding on those two days.
That's why Hillsdale needs donations to fund the Kirby Center's educational crusade to restore limited, constitutional government in America. As soon as you make your donation, we will immediately put it to use to help. . .
Further improve and expand Hillsdale's on-campus facilities and educational programs to raise up a new generation of American leaders who cherish and defend liberty.
- Make Hillsdale's Constitution Day educational programs on September 16 and 17 a successful launching of this mission to return America to constitutional government;
- Complete construction of Hillsdale's new Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies (blocks from Congress); and
- Allow hundreds of thousands of Americans to participate in Hillsdale's online Town Hall lectures and seminars on the genius of our Constitution.
Thank you so much for responding to my email and for doing everything in your power to rescue liberty in America through your support of Hillsdale College.
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