George Roche III was president of Hillsdale College, one of the conservative colleges that pledges to return conservative values. He was a friend with the leading lights of conservative thought, including William F. Buckley and Steve Forbes. He was at the apex of his career when his daughter-in-law killed herself, Her death brought out his nineteen-year affair with his son’s wife.
This seems consensual, but there is a power imbalance in that he hired her and her husband to work at Hillsdale. Nepotism, but also power. After his wife’s death, George Roche IV went to the university provost and reported the affair. He resigned as president, but claims his daughter-in-law lied. He also divorced his first wife when she got cancer.
- Washington Post: Nightmare at a Dream School
- New York Times: Scandal Rocks a Conservative Campus
- The Chronicle of Higher Education: Police Report states that daughter-in-law claimed affair with Hillsdale president
23 Nov 1999