Hillsdale: Greek Tragedy in America's Heartland

On October 17, 1999, the peaceful Michigan campus of Hillsdale College, one of America's leading liberal arts colleges, was shattered by gunfire in the Slayton Arboretum. Found dead in a stone gazebo was Lissa Jackson Roche, the managing editor of both Imprimis, the world's most widely read speech digest, and Hillsdale College Press. She was also the daughter-in-law of the college's president, Dr. George Roche III, one of the most influential and trusted conservative leaders in America. Just two hours before she died, Lissa, shocked her husband George Roche IV and President Roche's new wife, Dean Hagan, by angrily claiming that she and her father-in-law had been lovers for 19 years and that he had also had affairs with coeds. Dr. Roche denied her allegations but the college trustees failed to explore these charges in any detail.

After a brief police investigation, the 41-year-old editor's death was hastily ruled a suicide. A new book Hillsdale: Greek Tragedy in America's Heartland (RDR Books: Oakland, California) concludes that Lissa Roche may have been the victim of foul play. Based on exclusive interviews with family members, colleagues and friends of Lissa Roche as well as new evidence, this book calls for the investigation of her death to be reopened as a possible homicide.

The book points out that no discernible fingerprints were found by police on the weapon, her husband's .357 magnum taken from a locked gun cabinet in her home. The keys she allegedly used to unlock and relock the gun cabinet were never found. The gun cabinet was never dusted for fingerprints. Police never performed a ballistics test to document that the .357 was actually used to end her life. Gunpowder residue test of samples taken from Lissa's hands and her husband's were never completed. George Roche IV's alibi, contradicted by his father and stepmother, were never evaluated by the authorities. Portions of the autopsy were never made public. And Lissa Roche's charges were contradicted by members of her own family.

“There is not one single shred of evidence that Lissa Roche actually committed suicide,” says author Roger Rapoport. “She did not leave a suicide note, no one saw her pull the trigger and no one in the densely populated area near the scene of her death heard the weapon going off. The police report makes it perfectly clear that there is no proof that Lissa shot herself . In addition key witnesses who could shed light on the circumstances of her death were never asked the most basic questions by police.

Often seeming more like Greek tragedy than modern real life, the book offers the first detailed account of Lissa Roche's final hours including a dramatic hospital room confrontation with her father-in-law President Roche, behind the scenes family battles, President Roche's dramatic resignation in a closed door meeting with the board of trustees, as well as dozens of insider interviews with key family members, friends of the family, faculty and other experts.

The book considers the stories of the two “other women” in Lissa Roche's life who turned a romantic triangle into a quadrangle. Eager to divorce her husband George Roche IV because she believed he was having a secret affair, Lissa Roche dreamed of escaping to Colorado with her father-in-law. She believed the extended family including Dr. Roche, Lissa's son George V, her 15 year-old nephew Jake Roche and Dr. Roche's mother Margaret Roche could possibly start a new life.

But when she learned in early September 1999 that Dr. Roche was secretly engaged to a Louisville nurse named Dean Hagan, Lissa's dream collapsed. In the final weeks of her life Lissa Roche's battles culminated in a series of dramatic confrontations and her mysterious death. Since that time Dr. Roche, who raised over $300 million during his 28 year career at Hillsdale College, has moved to Ouray, Colorado, with his wife Dean Hagan. Lissa's widower George Roche IV married a former Hillsdale Japanese instructor, Akiko Tani, in May. They are now living in Oregon.

Rapoport never mentioned the constantly revolving door of faculty who left when they realized the idiocy of the situation. Hillsdale was a sad little Michigan community losing people to larger cities where job prospects were brighter. Even the local Sears closed because of the town's economic problems. It would have been revealing to see an analysis of population growth and business/industry expansion or contraction over the years. Yes, Hillsdale was a quiet little community, exactly the environment some individuals desire for raising a family, but hardly the place for a bright career-minded woman. By all accounts she was a talented and harworking individual, but her reward was a measly salary of $15,000 and the privilege of basking in Roche's presence.

Save your money. All you need to know from this book is in the summary above.


Rapoport Offers New Insights Into Michigan Death   January 31, 2001
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

Based upon the author's premise that "there is not one single shred of evidence that (she) actually committed suicide," Roger Rapoport's "Hillsdale: Greek Tragedy in America's Heartland" seeks to open up what certainly has to be one of the more controversial police investigations (and findings) in recent memory.

Lissa Jackson Roches, dauthter-in-law of the college president and noted editor in collegiate academic circles, is found dead in the Slayton Arboretum of Hillsdale College, itself a noted--and respected--liberal arts college . When the facts are laid out by the author, of course, this book, indeed, resembles something right out of Aeschylus or Euripides--or for perhaps many of the modern audience--a soap opera.

Alas, however, this death and "investigation"is not fiction and Rapoport is determined that, as in "Hamlet," "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." In this case, it's a peaceful college town in Michigan, complete with its own set of codes, secrets, innuendo, and tragedy.

Rapoport's examination of the case is done with an eye to the critical, taking the official police and court findings and, looking askance at what he finds, begins his own investigation, as it were. His line of thought, his own questions, indeed, do raise more than "a reasonable doubt." He also presents the other individuals involved--her family members, acquaintances, and friends, making the "Orestia" seem somewhat tame! So many questions, so little time--and, to make further the analogy to a soap opera, so few advertisers to pay for opening up this melodrama!

Rapoport, who presents himself as a disinterested party, certainly raises enough questions that, to me--or any other third party--should warrant a re-investigation, this time as a homocide. His thorough backgrounding of the scenario and its players is also impressive. Rapoport, already an established author and literary investigator, present his book in a style that is quite readable without being melodramatic.

It will be interesting to see what impact it has on the Michigan authorities. Not to re-open this case should, indeed, raise even more questions into the infrastructure of this death. Good luck, Mr. Rapoport! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)


Lissa's death deserves better!   November 27, 2000
 6 out of 12 found this review helpful

As an alumnus of Hillsdale College and someone who knows practically every person quoted in this book, I was disappointed. The author fails to look beneath the surface of the tragedy at Hillsdale and takes the easy route of casting aspersions on former Hillsdale President George Roche III and his son, Lissa's husband, George Roche IV. While these two were certainly not perfect, the author fails to understand that much of the turmoil within the college and the faculty was going on well before the events chronicled in the book. Unfortunately, the author relies on information and interviews from questionable sources and current faculty members who are obviously attempting to protect their reputations as well as that of the college -- for example his usage of information from the Hillsdale Liberation Organization is questionable being that the "HLO" is actually a group of dissatisfied former students from the college. The death of Lissa Roche may deserve further examination, but it needs to be done by someone who understands the politics and powerplays as they happened at Hillsdale College over the past 15-20 years, not just the past 2 or 3. The author fails to provide a compelling case for his claim that Lissa was murdered and he also fails to explain the situation at Hillsdale that apparently led her to take her own life.


Hillsdale College is committed to independence.   November 13, 2000
 5 out of 10 found this review helpful

This book provides a very nice review of Hillsdale College's dedication to further education without government intervention. It also reviews the recent tragic death of Lissa Roche. While the latter issue is interesting, I found the historical review of the college's committment to independence most uplifting. Decades before Affirmative Action was put into place, Hillsdale College denied government assistance so that minorities and women could attend its school - helping them fulfill their dreams.