Tyler Horning/Collegian
Senior class president Dave Danic (L) presents Don Mossey's "seat of freedom" for his numerous contributions to the school. Grandson Patrick McCarthy (R) accepted the chair for Mossey who wasn't present.
Fifty-seven years ago, Don Mossey stepped onto Hillsdale's campus as a student fresh out of the Navy and ready for life. One month ago at Homecoming, students presented him with a Hillsdale chair for his contributions to the school over the years as chairman of the board, trustee, parent, grandparent, and most recently a significant matching gift donor.
To encourage alumni giving, Don Mossey is offering to match by two-fold the donations made by first-time alumni givers. Mossey said his gift is prompted by gratitude for the change Hillsdale made in him during his time as a student here.
Mossey said, "They turned me around to make me understand what all went on in the world."
When he left the Navy in 1946, disappointed with his share of inaction, Mossey took advantage of the G.I. Bill's tuition payment to attend Hillsdale.
"I was a blue collar guy that had his education in the tool and dye area rather than the business area," Mossey said.
With the business education he received, Mossey started his own company manufacturing mobile homes and went on to serve as president, chairman, or board member for 11 different companies over his 45-year career.
Joining the Hillsdale board of trustees in 1966, Mossey became chairman in 1975 when he also received an honorary doctorate.
President Arnn recalls Mossey's retirement speech last year when he decided to step down from chairmanship.
Arnn said, "He is kind, purposeful, high-minded and abrupt. And so his speech was all of those things and tearful for him and everybody else in the room."
Arnn recalls Mossey said Hillsdale College is "the seat of freedom. This place will give up last."
Mossey's attachment to the college began as an undergrad. He remembers the '49 season when his football team won all games, he met his wife Jane Hill, and he spent some evenings serenading sorority houses with his Delta Sigma Phi brothers. Mossey also worked, firing the furnace at the Delt Sig house, and serving tables as headwaiter at the dining hall when students sat down for meals together.
He still refers to his alma mater as the seat of freedom and urges students to remember that freedom is never free, telling them, "their duty is to get the best education they can, support where they came from, support the school that gave them that very best education, and understand what the United States is about."
These convictions ran so deeply that Mossey first donated the money for the Michael Alex Mossey Library in honor of their son, Mike, who died in a boating accident at age eleven. The three other Mossey children attended Hillsdale and now two of his grandchildren, Patrick and Chelsea McCarthy, are enrolled. Patrick, a senior history major, also plays football and is a member of Delta Sigma Phi.
Patrick McCarthy said that as a man who was successful because of other's gifts and his own hard work, his grandfather embodies all of what Hillsdale has been and will be. McCarthy said that as an alumnus Mossey humbly sought to give back.
"Life is not about having things," McCarthy said, "and he knows it."
As Hillsdale rises in many other rankings, the alumni giving rate remains troublingly low, hampering efforts to enhance the college's standing, according to Joanna Wisely, career planning and placement director. Senior class officers set a goal of raising that indicator through class donations, and so far the seniors are 22 percent of the way to their target.
The officers are encouraged by Mossey's donation, which they believe prompts others to contribute by multiplying their efforts.
Honoring Mossey with a chair in light of his "seat of freedom" comment was the officers' token of gratitude for his generosity.
Senior class president David Danic said, "It's hard to thank him for all he's done for the school because he went above and beyond anyone's expectations of what anyone should do for the school. He's given so much."