Hillsdale College had the most names of any insti­tution of higher edu­cation on a list of 156 "Scholars and Writers for America" who endorsed Repub­lican pres­i­dential nominee Donald Trump in Sep­tember. The college had seven faculty members on the list.

After Francis Buckley, Foun­dation Pro­fessor at George Mason Uni­versity School of Law, con­tacted several college faculty members about this list that he was orga­nizing, Pres­ident Larry Arnn, Vice Pres­ident for External Affairs Douglas Jeffrey, pol­itics department chairman Mickey Craig, and Pro­fessor of History Burt Folsom all agreed to par­tic­ipate.

"Issues cause me to support Trump over Demo­c­ratic pres­i­dential can­didate Hillary Clinton," Folsom said in an email. "Trump, as a busi­nessman, rec­og­nizes the damage from the U.S. having the highest cor­porate tax rate in the world. Trump's com­mitment to cut tax rates is likely to create more pros­perity. On energy, Trump wants to unleash oil pro­duction through fracking."

Asso­ciate Vice Pres­ident for External Affairs Timothy Caspar, Pro­fessor of Pol­itics Ronald Pestritto, and Pro­fessor of Pol­itics Thomas West also joined the endorsement list. Edward Erler — dis­tin­guished vis­iting pro­fessor of pol­itics from Cal­i­fornia State Uni­versity, who is teaching courses on Aris­totle and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Jef­ferson this semester — is also on the list.

Since the "Scholars and Writers for America" list went public, leaked 2005 audio of Trump making lewd com­ments about women has jolted the pres­i­dential race. Craig said this news has not caused him to withdraw support for Trump.

"To me, there's nothing in there that says any­thing about Trump that you really should have known if you knew any­thing about Trump," Craig said. "He's been married three times, and he's a celebrity, and he's wealthy, and he's lived a kind of a Playboy life. I don't think there is any­thing sur­prising or new that you would say 'Oh, I didn't know about this.'"

Arnn said he still sup­ports Trump. In the 2016 pres­i­dential race, no prac­tical choice is without char­acter flaws, he said.

But if a student said similar com­ments made by Trump in the video?

"I would regret it," Arnn said. "If, however, one of our stu­dents becomes a real estate bil­lionaire, I will be happy for us all. I do not dislike every­thing about Trump's private life, just some things."

Arnn said when asked about the com­ments Trump made during the second pres­i­dential debate on Oct. 9, he defended himself well. Jeffrey said in an email that it was "heroic."

That is what Craig said he admires about the can­didate.

"Going into this thing, I wanted a Repub­lican," Craig said. "Ini­tially, I thought I was going to be for Scott Walker because he got elected gov­ernor, and they tried to recall him and tried to destroy him. He fought back, and I said 'I want a fighter. One thing I'll say about Trump is he fights back, and I admire that."