West Texas A&M Unveils $20M Hill Institute Inaugural Board

West Texas A&M University has launched The Hill Institute, an interdisciplinary academy founded in October 2023 with a historic $20 million donation from Cheryl and Alex Fairly, the largest family gift in support of WT's One West campaign. Named after Joseph A. Hill, the university's longest-serving president, the Institute promotes 10 core values including patriotism, faith, personal responsibility, and rugged individualism, aiming to integrate these traditional values into education across disciplines. The inaugural advisory board consists of seven national figures from diverse sectors such as education, public policy, and corporate leadership, including former HUD Secretary and neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, Heritage Foundation president Dr. Kevin D. Roberts, and business leaders like Kriss Cloninger III and Lee Crisp. University President Walter Wendler emphasized the importance of embedding values into intellectual life to sustain faith, family, work, and citizenship, and announced plans for lectures addressing life in a constitutional republic. Dr. Carson highlighted the Institute's mission to inculcate foundational American values in future generations beyond academic knowledge. The board members, selected for their belief in the importance of values in leadership and institutions, will guide the Institute's direction, which has sparked some discussion about its potential political influence and initial lack of gender diversity.