Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn speaks at The American Legion’s 102nd National Convention at the Phoenix Convention Center on Tuesday, August 31. Photo by Ben Mikesell/The American Legion

The U.S. Constitution: ‘We are responsible for it’

In his address to attendees of The American Legion’s 102nd national convention in Phoenix Aug. 31, Larry Arnn addressed the oath the Legionnaires took to support and defend the U.S. Constitution.

“If you swear something, you have to internalize it, and you become responsible,” he said. “The oath you have taken to join the service and to join The American Legion, you agreed first to support and defend the Constitution before you agreed to obey anybody. The Constitution is then a thing that exists outside our will, but we enroll our will in the support of it. And that means by the way, the Army is in potential every American citizen and that is the most powerful thing on earth.”

Arnn, president of Hillsdale College in Michigan, took an oath as a member of the 1776 Commission, which he was appointed to by President Trump. He said oaths are also an alternative to rules. When he came to Hillsdale College, they had over 130 pages of rules. But he questioned what partnerships the students had in the management of the college. So he helped reduce the 130 pages to 17 rules that included an honor code revived from the 19th century.

The students are required to “swear to this honor code as a condition of entry into the college,” Arnn said. He shared that once they started this, 25 percent of the college freshmen left and didn’t come back. Arnn eats in the dining hall with the students, and he asked what upset them about this oath. They said, “Nobody told me I would have to do this.” Now they are told to acquaint themselves to the rules and honor code “because you are going to have to promise to uphold that.

“Last year, 1 percent of our freshman left.”

Arnn, an American Legion Baseball and Boys State alum who said “the Legion is a thing in my life and I’m grateful to you,” encouraged Legionnaires to “learn everything they can about the U.S. Constitution. The first step in understanding the Constitution is that it is meant to empower as well as to protect us. We are responsible for it.”