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<!DOCTYPE html><html data-wf-domain="ccf.hillsdale.edu" data-wf-page="65414ca8878df0a8df4f22d8" data-wf-site="65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d" data-wf-status="1" lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"/><title>Home | The Center for Commerce and Freedom | Hillsdale College</title><meta content="The object of the Center for Commerce and Freedom will be to advance the study of the crucial role of commerce in human flourishing. Any study of commerce that does not consider freedom a prerequisite to its success is inaccurate and incomplete." name="description"/><meta content="Home | The Center for Commerce and Freedom | Hillsdale College" property="og:title"/><meta content="The object of the Center for Commerce and Freedom will be to advance the study of the crucial role of commerce in human flourishing. 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CONTACT: <strong>DAVID DANFORD </strong>| ccf@hillsdale.edu| (517) 607-2682</div></a><a href="https://secured.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale/support-commerce-freedom" class="w-inline-block w-clearfix"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f2331_gift.png" loading="lazy" width="60" alt="Support Hillsdale College" class="image-11"/></a></div></div><div data-animation="default" data-collapse="medium" data-duration="400" data-easing="ease" data-easing2="ease" role="banner" class="hdnavbar w-nav"><div class="container w-container"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65d4eb62800adb040105214d_CFF2.png" loading="lazy" width="313" alt="Center for Commerce and Freedom logo"/><nav role="navigation" class="nav-menu w-nav-menu"><a href="/" aria-current="page" class="navlink w-nav-link w--current">Home</a><a href="/conferences-faculty" class="navlink w-nav-link">Conferences & Faculty</a><a href="/media" class="navlink w-nav-link">Publications</a></nav><div class="w-nav-button"><div class="w-icon-nav-menu"></div></div></div></div></header><div><div data-delay="4000" data-animation="cross" class="heroslider1 w-slider" data-autoplay="true" data-easing="ease" data-hide-arrows="false" data-disable-swipe="false" data-autoplay-limit="0" data-nav-spacing="3" data-duration="500" data-infinite="true"><div class="mask w-slider-mask"><div class="slide-3 w-slide"><div class="heroslidercontainer w-container"><div class="item-line red"></div><h1 class="heroheading"><strong>The Center for <br/>Commerce & Freedom</strong></h1><h2 class="herosubheading"><em class="subherotext">Advancing a Flourishing Society Through Business</em></h2></div></div><div class="slide4 w-slide"><div class="heroslidercontainer w-container"><div class="item-line red"></div><h1 class="heroheading"><strong>Pursuing Our Mission with Virtue & Vigor</strong></h1><div><h2 class="herosubheading"><em class="subherotext">Perpetuating the Blessings of Liberty</em></h2></div></div></div><div class="slide-4 w-slide"><div class="heroslidercontainer w-container"><div class="item-line red"></div><h1 class="heroheading"><strong>Advancing the Study of Commerce in Human Flourishing</strong></h1></div></div></div><div class="w-slider-arrow-left"><div class="icon w-icon-slider-left"></div></div><div class="w-slider-arrow-right"><div class="icon-2 w-icon-slider-right"></div></div><div class="w-slider-nav w-round"></div></div></div><div class="section-4"><div class="container-3 w-container"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231a_librety_bar2.png" loading="lazy" alt="Item line" class="image-20"/><h1 class="pageheading"><strong class="pageheadin">The Center for Commerce and Freedom: Purpose and Principles</strong></h1><p class="pageparagraph">The object of the Center for Commerce and Freedom will be to advance the study of the crucial role of commerce in human flourishing. Any study of commerce that does not consider freedom a prerequisite to its success is inaccurate and incomplete. <br/><br/>At Hillsdale, the study of business is presented within the context of the liberal arts. It is not merely job training. At the Center, students will be able to examine commerce not only in economic but also in historical, philosophical, cultural, and political contexts. This will allow them to knit together the elements of a free society: commerce, property rights, education, and self-government. <br/><em></em></p></div><div class="container-10 w-container"><blockquote class="block-quote">“I want the people of America to be able to work less for the Government … to have the rewards of their own industry. That is the chief meaning of freedom.”<br/></blockquote><div class="text-block-8">-Calvin Coolidge, <em>The Mind of the President</em></div></div></div><div class="section-11 _8"><div class="container-4 w-container"><div class="columns w-row"><div class="column-13 w-col w-col-6"><h2 class="heading-2"><strong class="featuretext">The Center for Commerce and Freedom</strong></h2><p class="paragraph-66 _3">Since its founding, the object of Hillsdale College has always been to perpetuate the blessings of liberty in America by means of sound learning. <br/><br/>The College’s Department of Economics, Business, and Accounting has pursued Hillsdale’s mission with virtue, vigor, and distinction for more than 50 years. In recent times, the Department has grown rapidly. Its economics component, heavily influenced by the Austrian School, has an excellent record of sending students to top graduate schools. Because of Hillsdale College’s liberal arts core curriculum, its graduates are uniquely equipped to relate the principles of the free market to the institutions of free government, especially as they exist in America. <br/><br/>The business component of the Department has also grown. Like Ronald Reagan, Hillsdale faculty and students understand that “unleashing the energy and individual genius of man” is the only path to freedom and prosperity. There are two alternatives in the modern world: the commercial society and the despotic society. Hillsdale College has always been committed to the free and commercial society. To animate its pursuit of these high aims, Hillsdale College will expand its Department of Economics, Business, and Accounting by establishing the Center for Commerce and Freedom.<br/><br/>Best Regards, <br/>Larry P. Arnn <br/>Hillsdale College President<br/></p><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c547ba0b9ef3031f382dd_sig.png" loading="lazy" width="195" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 83vw, 195px" alt="Larry P. Arnn" srcset="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c547ba0b9ef3031f382dd_sig-p-500.png 500w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c547ba0b9ef3031f382dd_sig-p-800.png 800w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c547ba0b9ef3031f382dd_sig-p-1080.png 1080w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c547ba0b9ef3031f382dd_sig.png 2472w" class="image-21"/></div><div class="column-14 w-col w-col-6"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65c3e248cc866bf2f310ae37_Arnn2.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Dr. Larry Arnn speaking at a podium. " width="449" class="image-9"/><p class="paragraph-75"><em>President Larry P. Arnn</em></p></div></div></div></div><div class="section-7"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c5faa9bf741b914d1a068_AdobeStock_281007804.jpg" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" srcset="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c5faa9bf741b914d1a068_AdobeStock_281007804-p-500.jpg 500w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c5faa9bf741b914d1a068_AdobeStock_281007804-p-800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c5faa9bf741b914d1a068_AdobeStock_281007804-p-1080.jpg 1080w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c5faa9bf741b914d1a068_AdobeStock_281007804-p-1600.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/659c5faa9bf741b914d1a068_AdobeStock_281007804.jpg 1920w" alt="A view of financial district skyscrapers from street level." class="image-22"/><div class="container-4 w-container"></div></div><div class="section-13"><div class="columns-4 w-row"><div class="column-7 w-col w-col-5"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65a96b62ab80a76924fd96a9_sowell2.jpg" loading="lazy" width="584" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 100vw, (max-width: 767px) 83vw, (max-width: 991px) 38vw, 39vw" alt="Economist and political philosopher, Thomas Sowell." srcset="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65a96b62ab80a76924fd96a9_sowell2-p-500.jpg 500w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65a96b62ab80a76924fd96a9_sowell2-p-800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65a96b62ab80a76924fd96a9_sowell2.jpg 900w" class="image-13"/><blockquote class="block-quote-3">“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.”</blockquote><div class="text-block-10">-Thomas Sowell, <em>The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy</em></div></div><div class="column-8 w-col w-col-7"><h1 class="heading-15"><strong>Support the Defense of American Commerce and Freedom</strong></h1><p class="paragraph-76">Winston Churchill considered “government interference in trade matters” to be “nearly always a crime, and invariably a blunder.” Hillsdale College, being of similar opinion, does not accept one penny of taxpayer-financed government aid. As such, the Center for Commerce and Freedom will, like the College itself, rely entirely on the generosity of Hillsdale’s friends and supporters for its funding. To provide for the program in perpetuity, its operations will be endowed at a total cost of just under $16 million. Naming opportunities are available for the following:</p><div class="w-layout-grid grid-2"><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c544-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">Endowed Operations to Name Center:</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c546-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">$6,800,000</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c548-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">Endowed Annual Conference:</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c54a-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">$1,000,000</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c54c-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">Endowed Post-Doctoral Fellowship:</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c54e-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">$1,500,000</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c550-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">Endowed Benjamin Franklin Fellowship Program:</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c552-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">$1,200,000</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c554-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">Endowed Faculty Chair (2):</div><div id="w-node-_51ddf191-1a5c-379a-4ced-f332c5a7c556-df4f22d8" class="text-block-7">$4,500,000</div></div><p class="paragraph-77">Please consider supporting the Center for Commerce and Freedom with a gift toward one of these areas. Hillsdale College’s business curriculum stands as a model of the role of commerce in human flourishing. Through the efforts of the Center, Hillsdale students, as well as citizens, will be equipped to understand the proper role of commerce and equipped to defend freedom and commerce in America.</p><a href="https://secured.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale/support-commerce-freedom" class="button-2 w-button">Support the Center Today</a></div></div></div><div class="section-12"><div class="container-11 w-container"><h6 class="heading-10">TO AID US IN THIS wORK, CONTACT: <br/>DAVID DANFORD<br/><a href="mailto:ddanford@hillsdale.edu?subject=Business%20and%20Instry%20contact" class="emaillink">ccf.hillsdale.eduu</a> | (517) 607-2682</h6></div></div><div class="sectionhighlight"><div class="div-block-17"><h1 class="pageheadin-copy">Learn How to Support the Mission</h1></div><div class="columns-5 w-row"><div class="column-15 w-col w-col-6"><div class="div-block-8 w-clearfix"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65c3de85b43b6ad12589d887_Untitled-1.png" loading="lazy" width="100" alt="Dr. Charles Steele" class="image-10"/><p class="paragraph-2 _122"><br/>CHARLES N. STEELE<br/>DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR COMMERCE & FREEDOM<br/><a href="mailto:ddanford@hillsdale.edu?subject=Business%20and%20Industry%20Contact" id="email" class="emaillink">csteele@hillsdale.edu<br/></a></p></div></div><div class="column-16 w-col w-col-6"><p class="paragraph-2">Charles Steele has taught economics at the graduate and undergraduate levels in China, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, and has also worked in private consulting. At Hillsdale College, he teaches a variety of upper division economics courses, among them a two-semester sequence in History of Economic Thought, Environmental and Resource Economics, Mathematical Economics, and Austrian Economics II. His research interests include environmental and resource economics, economics of space development, and economics of institutions and institutional change. Outside of economics, his interests include trail running and running ultramarathons, mountaineering, and other outdoor activities.</p></div></div><div class="w-row"><div class="column-15 w-col w-col-6"><div class="div-block-8 w-clearfix"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f232f_DD.png" loading="lazy" width="100" alt="David Danford Hillsdale College" class="image-10"/><p class="paragraph-2 _122">Questions on the Center:<br/>DAVID DANFORD<br/>DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS & INDUSTRY<br/><a href="mailto:ddanford@hillsdale.edu?subject=Business%20and%20Industry%20Contact" id="email" class="emaillink">ddanford@hillsdale.edu<br/>(517) 607-2682</a></p></div></div><div class="column-16 w-col w-col-6"><p class="paragraph-2">David Danford served for over 15 years in the U.S. military and, along the way, was blessed to attend Hillsdale College for graduate school. David and his wife fell in love with the place and the College, and wanted to return and raise their family and help Hillsdale in any way they could. David now works to build up Hillsdale’s network in the world of business and industry to advance the mission of the College.</p></div></div></div><footer id="footer" class="footer"><div class="w-container"><div class="footer-flex-container"><div class="div-block-2"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65d4ed0a5b188d3d350c43e2_CFF4.png" loading="lazy" width="250" alt="" class="image-4"/></div><div id="w-node-_07afc9ef-1041-b9b5-49cd-01ff55de5602-ea0dfb51" class="footertext-block">Hillsdale College<br/>33 E College Street<br/>Hillsdale, Michigan<br/>49242<br/>‍<br/><a href="mailto:ccf.hillsdale.edu?subject=Business%20%26%20Industry%20Office" class="footerlink">ccf.hillsdale.edu</a><br/></div><div id="w-node-_54e9d1fd-7c59-3152-deb2-acdada869c39-ea0dfb51" class="footertext-block"><a href="tel:5176072682" class="phonelink footer">(517) 607-2682</a><br/></div><div id="w-node-a4458da3-20ec-8ba1-6c0d-f5cf0fe5d2b1-ea0dfb51"><a href="https://www.hillsdale.edu/privacy-policy/" target="_blank" class="ftlink">Privacy Policy</a></div><div id="w-node-_6a0f23aa-dcdf-a899-b266-0799dbb5d639-ea0dfb51"><a href="https://secured.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale/support-commerce-freedom" target="_blank" class="ftlink">Make your tax-deductible gift to Hillsdale College</a></div><div class="div-block-3"></div><a id="w-node-d87abe42-b664-ecf1-27b4-eb2ee2829dff-ea0dfb51" href="https://www.hillsdale.edu/" class="w-inline-block"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f2311_HillsdaleLogoHorzREV.png" loading="lazy" width="250" id="w-node-f40ba135-0064-d096-b92b-3e4fa2f1230c-ea0dfb51" alt="Hillsdale College" srcset="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f2311_HillsdaleLogoHorzREV-p-500.png 500w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f2311_HillsdaleLogoHorzREV-p-800.png 800w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f2311_HillsdaleLogoHorzREV-p-1080.png 1080w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65414ca8878df0a8df4f231d/65414ca8878df0a8df4f2311_HillsdaleLogoHorzREV.png 1208w" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 100vw, 250px"/></a><div id="w-node-ef439b90-8a7c-dc4e-73b6-6ef1b3e1c4fc-ea0dfb51" class="rich-text-block-2 w-richtext"><p>‍</p><p>Copyright © 2024 Hillsdale College. 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