Monica Masterson/Collegian
Mike Quayle returned to Hilldsale 32 years after his original term.
Like every other Hillsdale College student, Mike Quayle has homework assignments and deadlines to meet. He has the same tuition payments to think about, and has a GPA to wrestle with. Often he finds himself at the mercy of coffee and the occasional cigarette to grant him the stimulation that Aristotle does not.
Quayle would be your average student if his quest for a Hillsdale degree began a few years earlier than most current students—32 years earlier.
Quayle is a 49-year-old successful journalist, businessman, husband and father. His confident demeanor and warm disposition reveal his unmistakable people skills and knack for conversation.
He is also a determined guy—the kind that will accomplish whatever he sets his mind to. In December 1977, he dropped out of Hillsdale College to accomplish a different goal: recovery from alcoholism.
In the 1970’s, the drinking age in Michigan was 18, and in the wake of the post -Vietnam War era, Quayle felt the focus of Hillsdale College students was very different than it is now.
“Students are so focused now,” he said. “In the 1970’s, education was just a by-product of going to college. We didn’t care about current events. We cared what frat had the best party.”
And party is what Quayle did.
After entering Hillsdale in August of 1974, he rushed the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity, and served as its president for the 1976-77 school year. Quayle said the rush system back then was always centered on alcohol-related themes and parties.
But pretty soon, alcohol came to invade his entire life and he could no longer focus on his education. Having failed numerous classes, he dropped out after his first semester senior year, 40 credits shy of a degree.
The Mike Quayle of today is a different person from the party boy of the past.
He is the President of Huntington Newspapers, Inc. and publisher of the Herald-Press. He also serves as the president and owner of Gambit Golf Club in Vienna, Ill., and owner of MRT Entertainment.
Quayle also shares a partnership in Alliance Golf, LLC.
Being the younger brother of former Vice President Dan Quayle, he has had the opportunity to experience things and meet people that the average American would never dream of.
He has found the joy of family with his six kids and has been blessed with two wonderful wives: the first, Cindy, having died of leukemia in 1997.
But most important of all, Quayle is sober.
So what can a degree give Mike Quayle that he doesn’t already have?
“I am back because I am sober,” he said. “I want to avenge my addiction by getting my degree. I preach to my children about the value of education and I now want to prove it to myself and my family.”
Quayle’s determination and hard work have not gone unnoticed by those he is close with.
“He is energetic and engaging,” said Corrine Quayle, Mike’s mother and a long time Hillsdale supporter. “I think it’s great that he has come to Hillsdale and I really admire him.”
A speech degree may be his main goal, but he also hopes that by his example, others who may have a drinking problem might find help.
“Alcoholism is shunned because it’s not understood,” he said. “It’s a disease. It’s no different from someone being a diabetic, or having cancer or mental illness. It is the way he or she is. Alcoholism is primarily genetic in origin. It happened to me without my even knowing.”
Quayle is comfortable talking about his rollercoaster to recovery and hopes that anyone, including students, who might need to talk about their own problem, might feel welcome to approach him.
“I am more than happy to stop and talk,” he said. “I am very open. Alcoholism is treatable. I just know that it is 100 percent fatal if you don’t stop.”
Meanwhile, Quayle has set his mind to keeping up with his fellow classmates whose intellect, besides intimidating, seems to be of no comparison to the classmates he used to have.
“I have tremendous respect for the students here,” he said. “I am in awe of their focus. It will be a proud day when I receive a degree from here.”