Connect with other Student Leaders
In our travels for the Campus Network, organizers often tell us they would appreciate an opportunity to learn from their more experienced counterparts at other schools. How did they set up their successful classical liberal groups? What were the pitfalls? What did it take to grow their groups and get the message out?
Now you can ask! The students listed on this page have agreed to share their experiences with you because they believe in the importance of the work you are doing. Please do not hesitate to contact them!
Blake Abrash is currently a 2L at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he is Vice President of the Federalist Society. Blake is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where he majored in History and minored in Philosophy. At WashU, he led the college libertarian chapter to become one of the most active in the nation.
Blake finds his inspiration in Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard because he believes that a free society is an important precondition for individual fulfillment. One of Blake's favorite quotes is: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue." Blake can be reached at: blakeabe at hotmail dot com.
founded org • grew org
Rachel Davison is a senior at St. Johns College in Annapolis, MD, where her Human Action Study Group explores the history of classical economics. While she spends most of her time studying the Great Books Program, she is most interested in voluntary associations and social entrepreneurship. After graduating she plans to enter an MBA program to focus on "not-just-for-profit," or double-bottom line, businesses.
Rachel finds her greatest inspiration in Frederic Bastiat and in Leonard E. Read, founder of the Foundation for Economic Education. She considers herself a libertarian because of the truth she sees in this William Hazlitt quote: "The love of liberty is the love of others." She can be reached at RachelTDavison at gmail dot com.
founded org • grew org
Alex Harris is currently a senior at Harvard College, where he founded the Harvard Libertarian Forum. Alex is a social studies concentrator studying political philosophy and writing his thesis on libertarian conceptions of justice. He will be attending law school next year to focus on law and philosophy and to pursue a career as a legal academic.
While Robert Nozick is his intellectual idol, Alex's favorite quote comes from Dave Barry: "We must always remember that, as Americans, we all have a common enemy—an enemy that is dangerous, powerful, and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government." He can be reached at anharris at fas dot harvard dot edu.
founded org • grew org
Jacqueline Jones attends the University of Virginia, where she pursues her interests in political philosophy and marketing. She is the president of the Liberty Coalition, the umbrella organization that encompasses Students for Individual Liberty, the Classical Liberal Roundtable, and the University Libertarians.
Jacqueline is committed to libertarianism and is interested in pursuing more effective ways of spreading libertarian ideas to people in the United States and around the world. One of her favorite quotes comes from Thomas Paine: "Those who expect to reap the benefits of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." She can be reached at jvj3b at virginia dot edu.
grew org
Christine Malady attends Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, where she serves as president of the Libertarians at Virginia Tech and the coordinator of the Students for Ron Paul at the Virginia Tech Chapter. She studies secondary social studies education, pursuing a Masters degree in curriculum and instruction. While Christine finds many quotes inspiring, one of her favorite was penned by Ayn Rand: "Guilt and fear are the disintegrators of a man's consciousness."
Rather than embracing libertarian ideas as ends in themselves, Christine fights for liberty because she believes it yields the greatest potential for human happiness. She advocates philosophical principles that she believes best equip people to understand and live in the world: objective reality, empirical reasoning, rational self-interest, and individual self-ownership. Christine also describes herself as a "philosophy nerd" interested in everything from Platonic essences to psychological egoism to Rothbard's views on the environment. She can be reached at liberty at vt dot edu.
grew org
Daniel Robinson is a sophomore at Harvard University and president of the Harvard Libertarian Forum. Daniel is a social studies concentrator whose field of study concerns the economic and philosophical debate between libertarianism and socialism.
He believes most passionately in the freedom and ability of all to become better off through voluntary exchange. He also believes that the libertarian movement can achieve this end by removing government barriers to cooperation. One of his favorite quotes comes from Alexis de Tocqueville: "I should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times, but in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it." He can be reached at dprobins at fas dot harvard dot edu.
grew org
Kevin Scobey, a native of suburban Chicago, served as a health policy intern at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. In December 2006, he graduated from Western Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a minor in economics. Kevin co-founded and led the College Libertarians of WIU, a campus group dedicated to promoting the principles of individual liberty and free markets in the local college community.
Kevin likes a quote from Archibald MacLeish: "There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream." His motivation for spreading libertarian ideas arises not only from his own desire for personal freedom, but also from his strong belief in the freer, more peaceful, more prosperous society that liberty can create. Kevin can be reached at kevinmartin6 at aim dot com.
founded org • grew org
