We hope you enjoy these top news stories about TFAS activities, alumni and events this week. Please visit us on social media for additional up-to-the-moment TFAS news and information and sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly updates.
Judge James L. Buckley Shares Wisdom with TFAS Law Fellows
A group of TFAS Law Fellows was treated to a visit and discussion with revered jurist and former U.S. senator, Judge James L. Buckley, on July 16, 2019.
The National Review’s Jack Fowler was in attendance and described it as “a wonderful gathering, with His Honor making a profound defense of constitutional originalism, and in particular expressing his admiration for Justice Clarence Thomas.” You can read Fowler’s full account on the National Review’s website.
In opening remarks, Buckley told the Law Fellows that the serious problems we face in America today are in large part the result of our abandonment of the Constitution’s limits on federal authority.
“The architects of the American Republic had no illusions about human nature, which is the one constant in human affairs. From their study of the history of free societies, reaching back to ancient Greece, they understood that the drive to accumulate power – whether by an individual despot or a parliamentary majority – was the historic enemy of individual freedom. Therefore, they incorporated a two-part safeguard through the Constitution – its system of separation of powers with its checks and balances, and the principle of federalism,” he said.
Read the full story and watch a video of his remarks at TFAS.org/Buckley19.
Speaking Out in Support of Intellectual Diversity on College Campuses
TFAS President Roger Ream ’76 writes about the silencing of conservative voices on college campuses in a guest column for Colorado Springs’ Gazette this week.
We must see more university-sanctioned debates between groups with different beliefs, a wider range of speakers invited to campus, and, yes, more study of conservative ideas, leveling the playing field with the leftist ideas that are so dominant in today’s social sciences and humanities. By taking on this challenge and implementing these reforms, the American system of higher education can once again promote the free exchange of ideas to foster an environment ripe for the cultivation of knowledge.” – TFAS President Roger Ream in the Gazette
You can read the full piece on the Gazette’s website.
The column also praises the University of Colorado at Boulder for their efforts to create a balanced and healthier environment on campus with the Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy — a dedicated faculty position that recognizes the importance and relevance of conservative ideas. This year’s worthy scholar Dr. Colleen Sheehan, as well as three other previous scholars, have served as TFAS professors or guest speakers.
Sidney Powell Calls for Prosecution and Criminal Justice Reform at TFAS Lecture
Sidney Powell, author of best-selling book “License to Lie” and a former federal prosecutor, spoke to D.C. interns about issues of overreaching prosecution and prosecutorial misconduct during a TFAS Capitol Hill Lecture on Thursday, July 11.
“We have a serious problem in this country with unfettered prosecutorial power and with what I call overcriminalization,” Powell told the interns. “If a prosecutor wants to indict you and send you to prison, they can do it. They have no supervision to speak of. There’s no check and balance.”
Powell also encouraged the interns and all Americans to unite on criminal justice reform. “You all are the future of this institution and the country … Think about what you can do and how you can contribute to working toward criminal justice reform and making the entire system better. You are going to be the people who can do the most good.”
Powell is the attorney for former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and her remarks at the TFAS lecture were mentioned in stories in The Washington Times, The Hill and Breitbart. You can read more and watch a full video of the remarks at TFAS.org/Powell19.
José Piñera Inspires Students to Defeat Poverty with Liberty
TFAS students are armed with the ideas of liberty and ready to take on poverty following Dr. José Piñera’s Neal B. Freeman Lecture on June 25 at George Mason University.
“It’s not vague, well-intentioned ideas that change the world,” Pinera told students. “You have to study hard, you have to be rigorous. You have to understand economics, and you have to understand society and political forces. And, you have to use poetry to inspire the people and introduce these concepts.”
By the end of his talk, students were ready to answer his challenge as they rushed the stage to shake his hand and ask more questions.
Piñera, a Chilean economist and one of the nation’s famous “Chicago Boys” who were influenced by Milton Friedman and others at the University of Chicago, captivated the audience of more than 300 students as he shared how his study of free-market economics and America’s founding principles taught him the secret to ending poverty and bringing prosperity to Chile and the world. Read more at TFAS.org/Pinera19
Post of the Week
Twenty-two young journalists from 14 different countries participated in the TFAS European Journalism Institute in Prague, Czech Republic earlier this month.
Quick Links
The 30th Annual TFAS Scholarship Awards Dinner was featured in Politico’s Playbook on Thursday, July 18, featuring attendees who were “spotted” at the event including Sen. Tim Scott and Susan Neely of the American Council of Life Insurers, who received our 2019 leadership awards, Rep. Ralph Norman and more.
Danyale Kellogg ’18, ’19 is featured by her alma mater Southwestern University for her many achievements including attending two TFAS programs. In the piece, she credits TFAS Academic Director Dr. Anne Bradley with helping her understand economics by relating the coursework to national security and foreign policy.
TFAS Grewcock Senior Scholar Dr. Donald Devine says Justice Clarence Thomas has a solution for fake news and other libels in a piece for Newsmax.
Dan Spuller ’06 has been named to a North Carolina Blockchain Initiative by the North Carolina Lieutenant Governor.
TFAS alumni Paul Glader ’99, ’00 and Wes Parnell ’17, ’18 teamed up for an article in Religion Unplugged that asks if Brazilian Christians who helped elect President Jair Bolsonaro are losing faith in their leader.
Kurt Couchman ’02, PPF ’07, opines on CNN about how Rep. Justin Amash could derail White House ambitions of both parties.
Elizabeth Messer ’17 is a legislative assistant for Rep. John Rutherford of Florida.
Sarah Markley ’16 is a staff associate for the Foreign Affairs Committee at the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jeff Guittard ’13 was promoted to be the deputy press secretary for Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.