Among the actions taken by Hess as president at West Lafayette College was his proposal to consolidate his college with the Michigan-based Adrian College, another Methodist Protestant Church educational institution. The West Lafayette College trustees, however, voted to surrender control of the college to the General Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church for liquidation. At the 1916 Methodist Protestant quadrennial conference, the matter was resolved with the decision to consolidate the two colleges to Adrian, Michigan. Hess was appointed as Adrian's new president.
