We hope you enjoy these news stories about TFAS activities, alumni and events this week. Sign up to receive TFAS updates, and visit us on social media for additional up-to-the-moment TFAS news!
Jorge Galicia Shares the True Cost of Socialist Ideals
TFAS Outreach Fellow Jorge Galicia was featured in the Washington Times last week with opinion piece about the true cost of socialist ideals. Originally from Venezuela, Jorge knows firsthand the unimaginable impact of living in a country with a socialist government. Nicolas Maduro, dictator of Venezuela has created one of the worst humanitarian crises Latin America has experienced.
Venezuela quickly went from the richest country in Latin America to the poorest one Hugo Chavez imposed socialist policies in early 2000. From then on, it wasn’t uncommon to find children looking for their next meal in the trash or people dying because they didn’t have access to insulin.
“If we do not act, if we do not change the perception of what socialism truly is and how it destroys the countries it claims to help, America may also go into decline and see its freedom and prosperity wither.”
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month which recognizes the contributions made by the American Latino community, it’s a crucial reminder to not let history repeat itself. America must recognize the hardships that come with a socialist government and not fall victim of socialist ideals.
Read more about Jorge’s experience here.
TFAS Welcomes 2022-23 Public Policy Fellows
The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) is delighted to welcome the 2022-23 recipients of the Public Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C. The cohort consists of 20 young professionals who are working in the public policy sector.
These new Fellows come from organizations such as the American Enterprise Institute and The Heritage Foundation and work for U.S. representatives, senators and nonprofits.
This year’s curriculum will focus on the question, “What is conservatism?” Fellows will examine post-war conservatism and the efforts made by intellectuals such as F.A. Hayek, Russell Kirk and Frank Meyer to reconcile the conflicts between freedom and order in public policy. The post-war conservative philosophy of fusionism and its connections to both the American Founding and contemporary policy challenges will receive special attention in this session. The Fellowship includes two weekend retreats in addition to monthly evening sessions which will run from September 2022 through May 2023.
Connor Torossian ’17, PPF ’22, participated in the Business and Government Relations TFAS program track in 2017 and is returning to TFAS as a Public Policy Fellow this year. He shared his TFAS experience thus far and looks forward to developing his professional skills during his fellowship.
“I’m very grateful for what TFAS has taught me – it’s the reason why I’m on the Hill today and I’m thriving in large part to TFAS and the network that it’s provided me with,” Connor said. “I really look forward to what this fellowship improves for my professional development.”
Learn more about the new cohort and this year’s revitalized curriculum at TFAS.org/PPF22.
Liberty + Leadership Podcast – Latest Episodes
Lindsey Rose King
Lindsey Rose King is the founder of Mostess, a home decor and hosting company in Houston, Texas. She is an alumna of TFAS’s Business and Government Relations program and currently serves on the TFAS Board of Regents. In this week’s Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Lindsey Rose discuss the challenges of starting and running her own company, her time on Capitol Hill, political fundraising, and how her TFAS experience prepared her for the future.
Elliot Kaufman
Elliot Kaufman is the Letters Editor at The Wall Street Journal where he selects, edits, and solicits letters to the editor. He also runs the Future View column and regularly provides opinion articles and book reviews. In 2018, Elliot was named the Robert L. Bartley Fellow and was the inaugural Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow for Excellence in Journalism with TFAS and The Wall Street Journal. In this week’s Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Elliot and Roger discuss how learning to debate at the dinner table helped him become a debating champion, his time at Stanford University both managing the basketball team and writing for the Stanford Review, how in-depth reporting informs the best option writing, and the heated exchanges in The Wall Street Journal’s Letters to the Editor section.
Dr. Donald Devine
Dr. Donald Devine is a TFAS Senior Scholar and served as Director of the Office of Personnel Management in the Reagan administration. Don has had a distinguished career in academics having written 10 books, and taught at both University of Maryland and Bellevue University, where he was known as a proponent of fusionist philosophy. This weeks episode of the Liberty and Leadership Podcast was recorded live at TFAS in front of an audience, where Roger and Don discussed the development of fusionism, the tension between freedom and tradition, reforming the Federal Reserve, Woodrow Wilson’s lasting impact, and how Don earned the title of Reagan’s “terrible swift sword” as President Reagan’s OPM Director.
POST OF THE WEEK
Anderson Ayala ’22 from Venezuela shares his thoughts and lessons he learned from the European Journalism Institute co-sponsored by The Media Project and TFAS.
Click the image to open Instagram, or click here.
QUICK LINKS
Jakub Kulhanek ’07 speaks at the UN General Assembly in support of a resolution condemning Russia’s illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine.
Billy Binion, Novak 22, has been named a 2022-2023 Fellow of the Law & Justice Journalism Project.
TFAS professor Ibrahim Al-Marashi ’01 shares a TEDtalk on his experiences with “The Dodgy Dossier,” when the British government plagiarized his doctoral research to argue for the invasion of Iraq.
Elise Amez-Droz, PPF ’19, shares her expertise on circular economy principles on EPEA Switzerland’s Heroes of tomorrow podcast.
Laura Vanderkam ’99, Novak ’06, has a new book out this week, “Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters.”
Kate Bachelder Odell, Novak ’22, interviews Congressman Mike Gallagher about U.S. military vulnerabilities for The Wall Street Journal.
Ravi Kumar ’09, PPF ’13, has joined the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Buena Vista University.
Scott Odenbach ’94 serves as a state representative in South Dakota.
Sarah Sicard ’13 writes about how a 12-year-old tricked the Navy into letting him fight in WWII, making him the youngest person to enlist during World War II in an article for the Navy Times.
Johnathan Lozier 08, PPF 13, has been appointed as principal and promoted to senior vice president at Stateside Associates.
Gil Guerra, PPF ’21, writes for the Niskanen Center about Brazil’s first round election results and potential migration woes in South America.
Benjamin Dierker, PPF ’18, writes for the Washington Examiner about the possibility of Amtrak’s Gulf Coast expansion (and how taxpayers will be on the hook).
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