Top Twenty Under Thirty

Aditya is originally from the Chicago-area and just graduated from Stanford with a degree in Philosophy. As a convert from Hinduism to Protestantism to Catholicism, Aditya’s main theoretical interests are in Christian apologetics, Bonaventurian theology, Christian political philosophy, and the intersection of aesthetics and phenomenology. Outside of philosophy, he enjoys developing apps that help solve key political problems, including social atomization and urban decay. Aditya is currently based in San Francisco building his startup, Plaza, which is dedicated to cleaning up the streets of American cities by crowd-funding contributions from citizens rather than depending upon slow and inept city governments.

LT Andres Lulli is a submarine officer in the U.S. navy and a graduate of the US Naval Academy, where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science, was the president of the ISI society, and an ISI Honors Scholar. Andres now works for Amphibious Squadron Five in San Diego, where he advises the commanders about submarine related matters, manages ships’ operational schedules, and collaborates with foreign militaries to plan multilateral military exercises.

Cade Palmer was most recently a clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He graduated top five percent from Baylor Law School, and there served as editor-in-chief of the Baylor Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College where his honors thesis regarding the Bible’s influence on the United States’ Constitution was advised by Professor Harvey Mansfield.

Carmel Richardson is a contributing editor with The American Conservative, whose writing has appeared in a variety of publications including COMPACT Magazine, National Review, American Mind, The Federalist, Hearth & Field, and American Reformer. She received her B.A. from Hillsdale College in political philosophy with a minor in journalism, and lives in Michigan with her husband and two children.

Casey J. Wheatland is an incoming assistant professor of political science at the New College of Florida. He previously taught at Texas State University. Casey earned his Ph.D. in politics from Hillsdale College in 2022. He has written for academic and popular publications on topics such as Thucydides, Alexander Hamilton, the American Founding, foreign affairs, and the American way of life. His favorite professional accomplishment has been leading student seminars for ISI.

Christopher McCaffery is an ISI Honors alum and a former Collegiate Network intern who graduated from Hillsdale College in 2016 and earned a Masters of Theological Studies from the John Paul II Institute in 2018. He currently serves as the Director of Publications at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the founder of the Washington Review of Books and the co-host of the D.C. Salon.

Collin Slowey is the official speechwriter for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. He is also an independent writer on politics, culture, and religion whose work has been published in Public Discourse, the American Conservative, and the Dallas Morning News, among other outlets. Collin first encountered ISI as an undergraduate student at Baylor University. He now lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Gabriella.

Gabe Kaminsky is an investigative reporter for the Washington Examiner. His stories on government spending, campaign finance, and nonprofits have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Politico, the New York Post, and other outlets. His “Disinformation Inc.” series on media censorship notably prompted congressional investigations, a new Pentagon law, and a historic lawsuit brought by conservative media outlets against the U.S. Department of State. Gabe is from Pennsylvania.

Gavin Hamrick hails from Mansfield, Connecticut. He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mount St. Mary’s University. No stranger to ISI’s many programs, Gavin was the cofounder and editor-in-chief of an ISI journal called The Brownson Record, an ISI editorial intern at The American Conservative, and a former honors scholar. Gavin now has the honor of serving as a member of Senator JD Vance’s legislative staff on Capitol Hill.

Jessica Kramer is a broadcast media professional and opinion writer who hails from Cleveland, Ohio. She began her journalism career as a video reporter for The Daily Caller and MRCTV, while writing pieces for outlets such as Crisis Magazine, The American Mind, The American Conservative, The Federalist, and Washington Examiner. Thanks to ISI’s CN Fellowship she was able to launch her own podcast, The Based Catholic last year, which she hosts, produces, and edits. The show is a finalist for Best Podcast for the Catholic Media Association’s upcoming Gabriel Awards.

Jonathan Bailey graduated from Mississippi State University, where he was a 2020 ISI Honors Scholar. After college, he managed now-Congressman Mike Ezell’s campaign to unseat a 12-year incumbent before spending a year and a half as Ezell’s Deputy Chief of Staff. Jonathan recently returned full-time to Mississippi, where he is attending law school while continuing to
serve as a consultant to candidates, elected officials, and companies across the southeast.

Jude Russo is the managing editor of The American Conservative and a contributing editor of The New York Sun. As a Harvard undergraduate, he was publisher of The Salient, a Collegiate Network paper. He holds an MFA in fiction from New York University; his thesis was a finalist for the University of New Orleans Publishing Lab Prize. He writes a fortnightly column for The Lamp.

Lexi Lonas is the education reporter for The Hill. She started at the outlet in 2021 under a fellowship with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) where she worked as a breaking news reporter. She began her time at The Hill immediately after graduating from The Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, with her degree in political science. During her time in school, she wrote for multiple college-focused outlets and completed numerous internships including with The National Review and The Washington Examiner, which was sponsored by ISI.As the solo education reporter for The Hill, Lexi writes about a plethora of education topics from the beginning of students’ journeys in middle school to post-secondary options such as college and trade schools. Her favorite topics to cover include artificial intelligence in the classroom and school choice.

Luke Ayers was introduced to ISI as a freshman at Trinity University by political science professor Dr. David Crockett. Luke helped to find the ISI chapter at Trinity as well as a Collegiate Network publication, The Tower, which was CN’s 2018-19 publication of the year following Luke’s time as Editor-in-chief. Luke is the Assistant Headmaster at a classical charter school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He credits finding his passion for classical education to ISI books. Luke is ever a student, working on a Master of Arts in Classical Education at the University of Dallas. His professional success is owed first of all to the support of his wife Madison, to the rigor of many excellent professors who showed him the beauty of the Western tradition, and to his continued formation and professional mentorship.

Luke Foster is an incoming Assistant Professor of Politics and Literature at Hillsdale College, Washington, D.C. He has been a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Notre Dame (2022-24) and a Visiting Research Fellow at Sciences Po Paris (2020-22). He received his PhD in 2022 from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. His writings have appeared in American Political Thought, The Tocqueville Review, The Political Science Reviewer, and Laws.

Mary Margaret Olohan is a senior reporter covering culture and politics for The Daily Signal and the author of Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult, which published May 28. She previously wrote for both The Daily Wire and The Daily Caller News Foundation. A graduate of The Catholic University of America, she is the proud eldest daughter of an Irish Catholic family of eleven children.

Graduating with a BA in Politics from the University of Dallas this May, Molly now serves as the Director of Philanthropy at the pro-life non-profit Heroic Media, which harnesses brand marketing to reach women facing unexpected pregnancies. She views philanthropy as the gift that keeps on giving. As Student Body President, she led partnerships with pregnancy help centers, influencing her to enter her current field. She is a proud alumna of the ISI Honors Program and recipient of the 2022 Preston A. Wells Jr. Leadership Award.

Olivia Rogers was born in Gardner, Kansas. She studied at Kansas State University before graduating from Notre Dame Law School as a Weigand Scholar. She earned her J.D., summa cum laude, with receipt of the Dean Joseph O’Meara Award for outstanding academic achievement. Her involvements included serving on the executive board of the Notre Dame Law Review as the Executive Articles Editor, the Moot Court Showcase Team, and work in the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Clinic for two years. She also served as the President of the Federalist Society chapter. Her work experience includes service as a Judicial Law Clerk at the US Court of Appeals.

Taylor Walters currently works as an Assistant Editor for the New York Post. Previously, she worked as a Booking Producer at Fox News for One Nation with Brian Kilmeade and Watters World. Her additional media experience includes booking for America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino as well as production for The Laura Ingraham Show. She is a graduate of George Washington University, holding a B.A. in political communication and M.A. in Media and Strategic Communication. She was an ISI Honors Scholar.