As the Hillsdale College athletic department navigates program cuts, financial adjustment, and changes looming on the horizon, there is no better time to reflect on the rich heritage that has shaped Hillsdale's modern athletic department.
Although the College was founded in 1844, it took several decades for the school to formally recognize the need for any kind of physical education classes or athletics.
In her book, The First Hundred Years of Hillsdale College , Vivian Lyon Moore says: “It was not until the early eighties that athletics were featured at all at Hillsdale.
Then the Albion College Baseball Club gave Hillsdale a thorough drubbing, originating the traditional bitter rivalry between the two colleges.”
Shortly thereafter the College built Dickerson Gymnasium at a cost of $2254.50, and dedicated the 40 by 64 foot building on November 5, 1885.
It was the first college gymnasium in the state of Michigan, and it was filled with $196.33 worth of equipment, according to Moore.
Dr. Mike Kovalchik, Director of Athletics and Chairman of the Hillsdale Physical Education Department said that “remnants of the old fieldhouse” (the Dickerson Gymnasium) can be seen in the upper levels of the Sports Complex and that the old “cathedral style” windows of the original building are covered by brick in the west wall of the new building.
Describing the heritage of Hillsdale College athletics, Kovalchik said, “There are very few colleges across the country at any level that go back as far as we do.”
Later he added, “When you look back at 114 or 115 years of enduring, that's quite an accomplishment for Hillsdale College.”
And as one of the original members of the Nation's oldest collegiate athletic conference, the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), Hillsdale's official sports history certainly goes way back—all the way back to March 24, 1888, when the league was founded, in fact.
“Founding colleges of the MIAA were Albion, Hillsdale, Michigan Agricultural (present-day Michigan State University) and Olivet College,” according to Gordon G. Beld in his article, “For the Love of the Game,” featured in a recent issue of Michigan History .
The first conference competitions were track and field events, but Hillsdale added a football program in 1892.
Some of the first gridiron teams routinely faced universities such as Nebraska, Michigan, and Notre Dame, which have since become football powerhouses.
Beld describes one unusual situation in early Hillsdale football history: “On October 29, 1904, Michigan Agricultural College (MAC) entertained a Hillsdale travel team that was obviously short on numbers and, as it turned out, apparently lacking in talent. Dales coach Harry McRae was given permission by his hosts to suit up and take over at one of the end positions alongside his younger charges.
The gesture was not enough to make a difference.
MAC shut out the visitors while its offense racked up 104 points—an MIAA single-game scoring record that still stands.”
Although it may have endured a rocky beginning, Hillsdale College football has enjoyed its moments of glory as well.
In the Sports Complex Hall of Fame, a plaque is devoted to the 1938 team for the “only undefeated and untied team in Michigan.”
That football squad, which included Hillsdale's first All-American athlete, outscored their opponents that season 224-27.