You know that when it comes to identity politics, there’s no place worse than a university campus.
Join us this fall on September 20-21 as we kick off the year with our annual ISI Chapter Leaders Summit and Homecoming! This all-expenses-paid event will teach leaders of our ISI chapters how to run a society and build a legacy on their campuses alongside the guidance of on-campus faculty. Students will learn how to run a student group, how to receive funding for campus initiatives, how to navigate campus administrations hostile toward conservatives, how to build a legacy on campus, and how to become part of an exclusive network of conservatives in fields including business, journalism, technology, the academy, politics and the arts.
ISI Chapter student leaders and on-campus ISI faculty fellows (called ISI Fellows) will participate in practical advice sessions but they will also join a larger group of students, faculty, and friends of ISI on Saturday for ISI’s annual Homecoming event, which is a festive garden party held at ISI’s estate and conference center in Delaware’s Brandywine Valley, roughly 45 minutes from Philadelphia.
ISI’s top 3 societies that have demonstrated excellence, deepened their involvement with ISI and exceeded expectations will also be recognized with three different awards during the ISI Chapter Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening. The awards include the Russell Kirk Award for Excellence on Campus, the William F. Buckley Award for Best New Chapter Award, and the Edmund Burke Award for ISI Engagement. Campus leaders and their successors must attend in person to be considered for the award, or must elect a representative from their group to come in their place in exceptional cases.
The event is all-expenses-paid for campus leaders and/or other students representing a group. Faculty advisors will also attend with travel and hotel coverage by ISI. Interested faculty from schools without an ISI presence are asked to nominate two interested students who can serve as on-campus student leaders if the interested faculty leader is interested in advising and helping launch a campus chapter. This annual summit will bring together students and faculty familiar and new to ISI to meet, learn, and share an exciting weekend with ISI’s larger community and leading conservative speakers.
Society Leaders Conference
September 20-21, 2024
Linda L. Bean Conference Center at ISI,
Wilmington, DE
The application deadline for this conference has passed.
Please contact Elizabeth Newman at [email protected] to be placed on the waitlist.
ISI student leaders from dozens of campuses across the country will join together at Amelia Island, Florida, for the Society Leaders’ Conference focused on “American Identity in the Age of Identity Politics.”
These ISI society leaders show courage on campus every day by guiding other students toward truth and virtue instead of relativism. ISI faculty and staff will help students create flourishing societies rooted in a tradition of liberty for generations to come.
Society leaders are invited to apply.
Featured Speakers
George Will
George Will writes a twice-weekly column on politics and domestic and foreign affairs. He began his column with The Post in 1974, and he received the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977. He is also a regular contributor to MSNBC and NBC News. His latest book, “American Happiness and Discontents,” was released in September 2021. His other works include: “The Conservative Sensibility” (2019), “One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation” (2008), “Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and the Recovery of Deliberative Democracy” (1992), “Men at Work: The Craft of Baseba
Lord Conrad Black
Conrad Black is a financier and the author of biographies of Maurice Duplessis, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard M. Nixon, and his recent personal memoir, A Matter of Principle. He was the publisher of the London (UK) Telegraph newspapers and Spectator from 1987 to 2004, and founded the National Post (Canada). His columns and reviews frequently appear in a large number of publications in Canada, the US, and the UK. He is a member of the British House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour, a Privy Councilor and Officer of the Order of Canada, and a Knight of the Holy See.
Rusty Reno
Russell Ronald Reno III, known as R. R. Reno, is the editor of First Things magazine. He was formerly a professor of theology and ethics at Creighton University. His most recent book is Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West (Regnery Gateway, 2019).
Joshua Mitchell
Dr. Mitchell is currently professor of political theory. He has been Chairman of the Government Department and also Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at SFS-Q. During the 2008-10 academic years, Dr. Mitchell was took Leave from Georgetown, and was the Acting Chancellor of The American University of Iraq – Sulaimani. His research interest lies in the relationship between political thought and theology in the West.
Michael Knowles
Michael Knowles is the celebrated host of “The Michael Knowles Show” at the Daily Wire and “The Book Club” at PragerU. He is also the author of the best-selling book “Speechless.”
Michael Brendan Dougherty
Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review and a nonresident fellow in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies division of the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies the republican tradition in American political thought. His essays have been featured in numerous publications including The American Conservative, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and Politico. He is the author of My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son’s Search for Home (Sentinel, 2019).
