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    Friday, December 01, 2006

    ISI Soirees in Georgia

    I spent most of this past week in Georgia, where we did ISI soirees at Mercer University (Macon), the University of Georgia (Athens), Georgia Tech (Atlanta) and the University of West Georgia (Carrollton). A lot already seems to be happening.

    At Mercer University, a Christian school in Macon, GA, Nathan Edmondson put together an ISI soiree on Tuesday, November 28, and has used the timing of the event to launch an ISI Group. His father, Henry Edmondson, is an ISI author and teaches at nearby Georgia College and State University (GCSU). They plan to launch a joint group which will combine students and faculty from both campuses.


    (Photo: Nathan Edmondson and myself at the ISI soiree at Mercer University.) Posted by Picasa


    On November 29, I visited the University of Georgia, David Kirby, the Editor of the CN paper, The Georgia GuardDawg put together the soiree and turned out nearly 30 people, including Professor Dwight Lee who lectured at ISI's National Leadership Conference in Indianapolis this past spring. Earlier in the day, I also attended the weekly meeting of the ISI Group at UGA, the C.S. Lewis Society where we discussed C.S. Lewis' views on the role of women in marriage. At the soiree, I finally met Tim Echols, founder and President of TeenPact, a Christian home-school network. Over the past two and a half years, I have exchanged many emails and phone calls with Mr. Echols and it was great to finally meet him in person. He has introduced hundreds of his students to ISI over the past few years alone.


    (Photo: Some of the students and faculty at the ISI soiree at the University of Georgia.) Posted by Picasa


    On November 30th, I drove up to Dawsonville, GA and had lunch with about 10 students and a professor who are launching an ISI Group at Southern Catholic College. Ann Marie, the nephew of a long-time ISI employee and colleague, Paul Rhein, used the timing of my visit to bring these students and faculty member together to start an ISI Group. Southern Catholic College is only in its second year and has a total of 120 students that go to the school.


    (Photo: Students at Southern Catholic College.)

    Later that day, we held an ISI soiree at Georgia Tech in the heart of Atlanta. Chris Dempsey, the state chairman of the Georgia Federation of College Republicans put together the event. There wasn't a large turnout, but at least Chris, myself and a few other students were able to connect and I'm sure Chris will spread the ISI word around his state.

    On Friday morning, December 1, I had breakfast with a Faculty Associate and Honors Program mentor, Patrick Allit, who teaches in the history department at Emory. We had a great converation. He's a great person and every time I have seen him, he is always smiling.

    Later that day, we held an ISI soiree at the University of West Georgia. Again, the turnout was small, but we had a great conversation. One professor I met even told me she read Hayek's The Road to Serfdom back in the early 1950s, before ISI was even started. WOW! She has been a member of ISI and a subscriber to National Review since the beginning. She told me I made her feel old when I played the ISI history video. Thanks to Adam Woodward for putting this soiree together. He certainly has an upbeat and positive personality! It was also great to meet him in person after being in touch with him for more than a year. My time in Georgia was busy... but after the week was over I was ready to relax and enjoy the city of Atlanta... more to come...


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