More than 100 alumni, donors, faculty and staff celebrated the 45th anniversary of The Fund for American Studies in California wine country on April 20 and 21. The Sonoma conference included two days of meetings and presentations by leading public policy experts.
John Stossel of FOX Business Network was the keynote speaker during the conference, discussing his latest book No, They Can’t: Why Government Fails-But Individuals Succeed.
In addition to Stossel, Victor Davis Hanson, classical historian and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, gave a talk entitled “Ten Commandments for the 21st Century.”
Other sessions included presentations by public policy experts, including Dan Schnur of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and professors Andrew Morriss of the University of Alabama, Adam Martin of George Mason University, John Yoo of the University of California at Berkeley and Richard Benedetto of American University, TFAS professor and former White House and national political correspondent for USA TODAY.
During the conference members of the Alumni Working Group (AWG), a task force comprised of 16 alumni and select members of the TFAS staff, also gave a report. Led by Dan Branch (E 77), the group was charged with examining the history and current status of the TFAS alumni program. AWG met several times over the course of a few months and delivered their findings at the conference. In their report AWG made recommendations on how to build stronger relationships with alumni, create a strategic network of alumni, and increase alumni support through volunteer time and financial contributions.
In addition to AWG, 16 members of the Alumni Council were also in attendance, including Chairman Kenneth Klatt (E 70) and seven new members. The group took part in a joint meeting with the TFAS Board of Trustees and the Board of Regents.
Apart from the many informative speakers and meetings, guests still had time to celebrate TFAS and its many accomplishments of the past 45 years at a dinner and wine tasting held at the Jacuzzi Family Vineyards.