Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship

Graduate Spotlight | After a successful defense, Dr. Ben Crenshaw presented his dissertation, “The Political Theology of Rev. Jonathan Mayhew,” to students, faculty, and friends of the Graduate School of Statesmanship on November 3.

Rev. Mayhew was a Congregationalist minister in Boston whose defense of resistance to tyranny helped shift American political sentiment in favor of revolution. According to Crenshaw, Mayhew’s political theology was the basis of his argument for resistance to tyranny, as it was the office, not the rulers, that God ordained, and the office was only for the purpose of doing good.

Crenshaw is currently a visiting assistant professor at the University of Mississippi’s Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom and a contributing editor at American Reformer. Congratulations to Dr. Crenshaw on the successful completion of his dissertation! We wish him all the best!

From Dr. Ronald J. Pestritto, Dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College:

“Conservatism is a divided movement today. But if we’re honest, it almost always has been, coming as it did out of the shotgun marriage of traditionalists and individualists. What united the diverse elements of the conservative movement, however, was their opposition to the collectivism and statism foisted on us by the likes of Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. It is a sign of just how precarious our times have become—and of just how badly establishment conservatism has fallen short—that sensible conservatives should now turn for inspiration to those whose principal mission was to overturn the American political tradition and replace it with the modern state.”

Read Dr. Pestritto’s full article at the link below:

The Original Progressives Are No Guide for Today’s Conservatives Only the older American tradition can provide a genuine model for conservatives working to deconstruct the administrative state.

ANNOUNCEMENT | At the end of the year, this page will transition all future content to the main Hillsdale College page, in line with our goal to expand access to opportunities and events happening here at the School of Statesmanship.

If you haven't already, follow Hillsdale College to continue receiving updates from us after the end of the year. Additionally, we encourage you to follow our new LinkedIn page at the link below!

Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship | LinkedIn Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship | 117 followers on LinkedIn. An education rooted in the language of American constitutionalism. | Hillsdale's Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship offers the Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and the Master of Arts in Politics. The principal aim of...

STUDENT LIFE | On Monday evening, the undergraduate politics honorary hosted a panel on Political Violence in America. The panel was composed of faculty from the School of Statesmanship, including (from left to right) Dr. West, Dr. Slack, Dr. O’Toole, Dr. Grant, and Dr. Portteus.

The panel discussed the history and causes of political violence, the state of our present culture relative to political violence, and steps that conservatives can take to respond to the growing culture of political violence, especially on the Left.

The panel discussion was followed by a lively Q&A on how to promote dialogue and engage in political and cultural institutions without compromising on principles.

ANNOUNCEMENT | At the end of the year, this page will transition all future content to the main Hillsdale College page, in line with our goal to expand access to opportunities and events happening here at the School of Statesmanship.

If you haven't already, follow Hillsdale College to continue receiving updates from us after the end of the year. Additionally, we encourage you to follow our new LinkedIn page at the link below!

Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship | LinkedIn Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship | 97 followers on LinkedIn. An education rooted in the language of American constitutionalism. | Hillsdale's Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship offers the Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and the Master of Arts in Politics. The principal aim of....

ALUMNUS HIGHLIGHT | Dr. Ezekiel Loseke successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, "The Antifederalist Party Machine," on August 11 and presented his research on October 31.

Dr. Loseke's research explored the theory of the general mind. He discusses this idea as central to the New York Antifederalist Party Machine patronage system under the leadership of George Clinton, the subordination of the general mind to self-interest under the leadership of DeWitt Clinton, and the destruction of the patronage system by Martin Van Buren to reassert the importance of the general mind in his understanding of political parties.

Dr. Loseke is currently serving as an assistant professor of instruction in political science at Texas State University. The School of Statesmanship extends its congratulations to Dr. Loseke on his successful defense and wishes him the best as he moves forward in his career.

ANNOUNCEMENT | At the end of the year, this page will transition all future content to the main Hillsdale College page, in line with our goal to expand access to opportunities and events happening here at the School of Statesmanship.

If you haven't already, follow Hillsdale College to continue receiving updates from us after the end of the year. Additionally, we encourage you to follow our new LinkedIn page at the link below!

Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship | LinkedIn Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship | 85 followers on LinkedIn. An education rooted in the language of American constitutionalism. | Hillsdale's Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship offers the Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and the Master of Arts in Politics. The principal aim of....

STUDENT LIFE | Over fall break, several professors and students from the School of Statesmanship had the opportunity to attend the Intercollegiate Studies Institute 2025 American Politics & Government Summit in Wilmington, DE.

School of Statesmanship faculty, graduates, and students were represented on multiple panels, including:

• Geopolitics
• Technocracy
• Leadership in Context of Globalization and Civilization
• Statesmanship in Act
• Paths of Glory in Medieval and Early Modern Political Philosophy
• American Practice
• The Epistemic Limits of Friendship in the Western Tradition
• Carl Schmitt on Liberal Democracy
• Philosophy and Statesmanship in Plato, Xenophon, and Cicero
• Roman Ethics
• The Arts

We extend our thanks to ISI for hosting us and for this opportunity to engage in spirited academic discourse and debate.

Pictured: Stephen Sills, M.A. '26, presenting his paper, "Marlborough: His Life and Times—Lessons on Statesmanship."

PODCAST | Join Jeremiah Regan, Ph.D. ’23, and Juan Davalos, M.A. ’17, in this Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast as they continue their discussion of American foreign policy following the collapse of the Soviet Union before introducing Professor Michael Anton for his eighth lecture on the post-Cold War foreign policy of the United States.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, America was left as the sole great power on the world stage, which led many Americans to expect a return to non-interventionist policies. But the foreign policy establishment argued that America, as the sole great power left in the world, had a responsibility to lead in a new international order. The threat of global terrorism entrenched this new role.”

Check out the podcast below for this episode and more from Professor Anton’s American Foreign Policy series.

American Foreign Policy: Retrench or Expand? Podcast Episode · The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast · 10/15/2025 · 39m