It seems, at times, that we live in an age when too many disregard the wisdom of the past. But here at Hillsdale you’ve been grounded in the teachings and traditions that are our greatest inheritance as Americans—the same teachings and traditions that are the surest foundation of a boundless American future.
The true harvest of all these efforts will be a noble building, a thing of beauty and a joy forever, in which Hillsdalians shall flourish both individually and corporately. 
These small lessons become the unplanned syllabus for learning citizenship, and your efforts to live them will help to form the fabric of a civil society and a free and prosperous nation where inherent equality and liberty are inviolable. 
In the real world, we must deal with the facts of Islamic supremacism, because its jihadist legions have every intention of dealing with us. But we can only defeat them if we resolve to see them for what they are. Many Christians seem to believe that property rights are somehow un-Christian. At the same time, a lot of free marketers seem to think that all we need are property rights. Neither of these views is correct. 
While conservative pessimists looked at Indiana, watched its politicians immediately compromise, and saw defeat, a closer look shows something else: a cultural stalemate. 
Our secular establishment wants to reduce the autonomy of religious institutions and limit the influence of faith in the public square. 
There is a growing awareness among Americans that religious freedom in our country has come under sustained pressures. 
A growing threat to our freedom of speech is the attempt to stifle religious discussion in the name of preventing “insults to“ religion, especially Islam. 
Christianity is largely responsible for many of the principles and institutions that even secular people cherish—chief among them equality and liberty. 