ISI Conference in Indy a huge success!

For decades it seems, ISI has been holding conferences in Indianapolis. This year's ISI National Leadership Conference theme was: "Capitalism and Freedom: Milton Friedman and the Economics of Liberty." About 300 people attended the conference, including about 50 students who said this was "their first ISI experience" and one of them continued on and said, "so far, I really like what I see."

I rolled into town on Friday and helped set up some things with my colleagues. Friday night kicked off with a dinner for the ISI Honors Fellows and the professors who mentor them. Georgetown political science professor, Patrick Deneen, gave the keynote address in which he focused on "vocation." It was stellar. Later that night, my colleague and friend, Brian Embry and myself went out for a couple of drinks and appetizers with noted classics professor from the Univerity of Colorado-Boulder, E. Christian Kopff. Professor Kopff gave Brian and myself really great advice on seeking a future in academia and applying to Ph.D. programs in our respective fields. The combination of hearing about "vocation" earlier in the evening and talking with Brian and Dr. Kopff really motivated me about concentrating on applying for a Ph.D. program next year and how I should approach it.

On Saturday, my day kicked off at 6am, where I awoke to help set-up for the conference. We heard many lectures. Later in the evening, after the day program was over, I attended the Simon Fellows award dinner, where ISI awarded 3 "Simon Fellowships" to graduating seniors who are applying the grants towards their "noble purpose" after graduation. The top prize was $40,000 and the two secondary prizes were $5,000 each. I only knew one of the students, Jordan Hylden, who received a $5,000 grant towards starting a Collegiate Network-like organization that will instead be geared towards supporting Christian journals on college campuses. Jordan's acceptance speech was awesome. I need to find a transcript. The other two winners were also stellar - the winner, a student from Notre Dame, almost brought the crowd to tears it seemed. A very emotional and uplifting evening.

After this, I hosted a small reception at a bar/restaurant nearby for about 40-50 of the students who attended the conference and are part of the College Republicans in the state of Indiana, representing over 15 different schools. It was a lot of fun.

Then, I headed back by the Columbia Club around 11pm-ish and found a lot of ISI people still up and still going. So, I joined about 10 students and my colleagues, Johnjo and Enza, for some fun at a nearby bar. We were out until about 3am! Let's just say I slept in on Sunday... as most everyone there was departing for him, the trip wasn't over for me... another week of traveling ahead of me... next stop was Notre Dame.