I have lectured at Hillsdale College, the once great conservative college success story. The school was a striking anomaly, a self proclaimed exemplar of traditional values and independence from government.

Hillsdale refused to accept federal aid. Nearly bankrupt in the late 60s, in 1971 it hired a 35 year old president, historian George Roche III.

Roche saw unyielding resistance to the feds as the school's niche. In 1984 the Supreme Court ruled that colleges whose students received federal aid such as Pell Grants were subject to federal rules. Hillsdale placed such aid off limits. Roche replaced these funds with money from conservative donors.

Roche created a monthly news letter, Imprimis, with a circulation exceeding 900,000. Each issue features essays advocating some item on the conservative agenda--and a return envelope appealing for funds.

The results of wooing cultural conservatives was spectacular. In his 28 years as president, Roche raised nearly $325,000,000 and the college endowment is over $180,000,000. All of this for 1100 students, 80% of whom receive financial aid.

What's wrong with this David versus the federal Goliath story? Unfortunately, a great deal.

While at Hillsdale, I saw little tolerance for those not of the pure ideology and even less for those questioning the faith. The cult of personality reigned; pictures of President Roche were omnipresent. In the small college and the tiny, remote town of Hillsdale, Michigan, there was no effective check on the power of one man.

I occasionally spoke at national meetings for academics interested in alternatives to governmental control. I explained how many federal programs harm our environment and how non governmental organizations such as Ducks Unlimited foster environmental goals. George Roche, and the college information officer, Lisa Roche, his daughter-in-law, frequently attended such meetings.

Hillsdale College experienced a tragic event on October 17. Lisa Roche shot herself in the head with a .38 special. A few hours earlier in the presence of her father-in -law, his new wife, and her husband, George IV, she had announced that she had been carrying on a 19-year affair with George III.

Shortly thereafter, citing reasons of health, the board accepted Roche's resignation from his $448,000 job (as reported in 1994) while continuing his retirement benefits. For over a decade this board had ignored Roach's reputation for womanizing. A memo went out to Hillsdale employees directing them to avoid the press and the school's vice president, Ron Trowbridge, announced that college officials would not again address the issue.

George Roche broke serious vows of trust. Concentrated power is indeed corrupting. The board erred by ignoring transgressions. Such failures do not go unpunished. When an institution is explicitly devoted to fostering certain ideals, transgressions carry heavy consequences.

University presidents are under great pressure to raise money. This often places them in conflict between the ideals of academic freedom and the realities of fund raising. Here are three examples from one state university.

When their faculty publishes material offensive to powerful clientele, for example economists who expose hidden subsidies, the president is challenged to silence the truth speakers.

The governor ( Now a former governor) exposes his drunken stupidities in a speech to a audience of prominent journalists. His antics are reported and the governor directs the university president to punish the faculty who invited him to speak. The president did so.

Preposterously, a politically powerful person charged a professor, a board member of ACLU, with being "just a mouth piece for the Moral Majority". A national peer review team evaluated the situation and delivered their report to the university's president. Their analysis exonerated, and indeed praised the professor. The president repressed the report and denied its existence.

These examples pale beside the horrendous violations at Hillsdale. But like those at Hillsdale, they do not go unpunished. Hillsdale will no doubt be stricken from wills. Those who knew of Roche's moral failings but chose to ignore them will suffer reputational loss. The college will never become an exemplar of scholarship and morality.

These cases illustrate important principles. The leader who abuses his power, harms the institution and others' reputations. Truth is a stubborn thing and character becomes destiny. These are things we should learn, if not in schools, then by observing their leaders when they violate their vows.