Big Tent Conservatism at UT-Austin

As I said, EVERYTHING is BIGGER in Texas... including the big tent of the conservative movement. Some campuses I go to seem to have conservatives that are social conservatives, while others are more libertarian, still others more faith-based, some community based, and others more College Republican types.

At UT-Austin, they had it all, and all these elements showed up for the first-ever "Get to Know ISI" Soiree. It was a return to all the good things ISI has done throughout our 53-year history. I felt a little bit of Vic Milione in the room, as I talked to the students about why they should get involved with ISI.

I have to give complete gratitude to our great ISI Campus Representative, Clark Patterson. He pulled all these students out for the event. About 30 people came, we served pizza and soft drinks (and cookies) and it was held in a large lecture hall, with 2 huge jumbo screens, and the technology was perfect for showing the ISI history video and putting the ISI website up on the screen to go through it. (yes, even the jumbo screens in this large classroom are BIGGER in TEXAS). It was ideal. We even dimmed the lights to play the video. I couldn't have asked for a better venue and a better mix of students.

There were the libertarian group, which basically does the reading group type thing already and may in fact get more involved with reading ISI Books titles. There were College Republicans, not just from UT-Austin, but also from Texas State (about 20 miles away). There were a few that weren't politically inclined, but are involved in service organizations. And another student that leads a free-market environmentalist group on campus.

At the end of the night, we held a "conservative trivia contest" which was fun and allowed us to give away about 15 free ISI Books. And, everyone walked away with a free copy of Harvey Mansfield's "Student's Guide to Political Philosophy". We also officially signed up 26 new ISI members. I should add: 26 very excited new members. Hopefully we even inspired some of them to get more involved in Contumacy, the CN paper that is getting back up and running again.

I had great conversations at the end of the night with Clark and Austin, who are both involved with Contumacy and who are both hoping that this "Get to Know ISI" soiree didn't just get these kids excited about ISI alone, but also about working together more on campus. Clark pulled together all the elements that have made the conservative movement so successful. I think that's ultimately key to making a movement on campus successful. Go Longhorns Go.