Seventh Year Of Freedom Scholars

Participants of the Freedom Scholars Seminar in Washington attended dinner for Annual Conference at the Newseum.

TFAS invited eleven of its youngest alumni to participate in this year’s Freedom Scholars Seminar in Washington, D.C.

Now in its seventh year, the seminar was held in conjunction with The Fund’s Annual Conference and Donor Retreat. Participants attended the event on scholarship and were selected based on academic excellence and leadership ability.

The activities kicked off on Thursday, April 16 with a dinner at the Newseum, D.C.’s new interactive museum of journalism. Scholars mingled with donors and fellow alumni while enjoying the Newseum’s seventh story terrace overlooking the Capitol and Pennsylvania Avenue.

(l.-r.) Julio Nunez (J 08), Christina Mandour-Brackin (HK 08) and Rochelle Olson (B 08) look over the reading materials during Eric Daniels' session on “What would Ayn Rand say about the Economic Crisis.” — (l.-r.) Julio Nunez (J 08), Christina Mandour-Brackin (HK 08) and Rochelle Olson (B 08) look over the reading materials during Eric Daniels’ session on “What would Ayn Rand say about the Economic Crisis.”

Throughout the weekend, scholars had the opportunity to meet with and listen to a dynamic group of speakers including Barron’s editor Thomas Donlan, syndicated columnist Ron Hart (E 81) and Wall Street Journal writer Steve Moore.

The Freedom Scholars also had the opportunity to interact with many other TFAS alumni during the conference. The scholars attended a networking reception at the new TFAS Building, where they met members of the Alumni Council and local Washington, D.C. alumni.

In addition to conference events, the scholars also participated in private educational and personal development sessions. Professor Eric Daniels of Clemson University led the scholars in a public policy discussion on Friday where the students read several Ayn Rand articles and discussed how they could apply Rand’s ideas in present day society, with particular attention to economic topics.

Scholars had the opportunity to interact with alumni during a networking reception at the new TFAS Building, where they met members of the Alumni Council such as Minnesota Chapter President Mike Arulfo (E 94, A 95), pictured here on the far left.

Molly Whalen of Leadership Outfitters also hosted a private session with the students. Whalen spoke to the scholars about how to deliver an effective presentation and provided tips on public speaking.

This year’s participants include:

Joseph Cooch (E 08) University of South Dakota
Victor DiTommaso (I 08) United States Air Force Academy
Allison Huff (J 07) University of Southern California
Emily Johnson (E 08) James Madison University
Milan Kondic (A 08) Pepperdine University
Amber Larson (CS 08) Northern Illinois University
Madison Loeb (P 08) Kansas State University
Christina Mandour-Brackin (HK 08) United States Coast Guard Academy
Julio Nunez (J 08) Temple University
Chris O’Connor (P 08) Emory & Henry College
Rochelle Olson (B 08) University of Minnesota

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