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CATEGORY: INTERNATIONAL (11 MIN)
This week marks the first anniversary of the horrific October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel at the hands of Hamas. Since those assaults, in which terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took hundreds hostage, the ever-changing landscape of the Middle East has shifted once again. And that change has impacted the Western world too, creating fierce clashes on college campuses and in the streets.
In First Things, Stiven Peter describes his own experience seeing the aftermath of October 7 and analyzes the intensity of many Westerners’ reaction in support of Palestine in the ensuring year. Peter points out that Hamas killed many Israelis who were more pro-Palestinian, taking advantage of bonds of trust to bring death into their homes. He lays out the destruction in grueling detail.
Peter then asks why many Americans have continued to defend Hamas and express hate for Israel. He cites examples of professors who treated the attacks as a necessary evil or even a positive good. Peter believes that to many leftists, Israel has become “an absolute enemy” worthy of destruction, in many ways because of their obsession with the perfect humanity of people they see as oppressed.
That, according to Peter, is why those who support the LGBTQ movement and feminism would become such rabid defenders of a people group who reject so many of their precepts. A common enemy, Peter argues, is a powerful thing.
Read his article here.
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Weekly Poll
Should the US be doing more to support Israel?
[A] Yes
[B] No
[C] Not sure
RESULTS: 10/3/2024
Who won the vice presidential debate?
[A] JD Vance - 71.6%
[B] Tim Walz - 3.4%
[C] Tie - 5.7%
[D] Didn't watch - 19.3%
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CATEGORY: INTERNATIONAL (4 MIN)
Although some are remembering the tragedy of October 7 with peaceful mourning, others have chosen a different tack. Students for Justice in Palestine announced a “week of rage” to mark what they call “a year of genocide in Gaza” from October 7–11. The announcement comes after a year of heated battles on college campuses that led to cancellations of graduation ceremonies and destruction of school property.
For City Journal, Hannah E. Meyers calls for American universities to take a better approach to these protests moving forward. She says that disagreement is an important part of the Western tradition of debate, but that anti-Israel protestors have refused to engage in dialogue. Meyers notes that the protestors often avoid talking to reporters and onlookers, choosing a strategy of silencing opposing views.
Meyers sees this as part of a larger trend at American schools, where students have long advocated radical ideas like abolishing major aspects of the criminal justice system and shouting down opposing speakers. She urges school administrators to take a harder line on enforcing civil debate.
Without teaching the proper way to engage in public discussion, Meyers worries, schools will continue to bow to the will of young people who refuse to talk.
Read Meyers’s piece right here.
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CATEGORY: VIDEO
In this episode, Josh Craddock joins Tom Sarrouf for a thought-provoking conversation hosted in collaboration with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). Together, they explore the complex interplay between religion and law, how civic friendship shapes our public life, and the role of the law as a mediator in a pluralistic society. Tune in for a deep dive into the philosophical and legal questions surrounding community, justice, and the common good.
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Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
Will Free Speech Come to Stanford? via The Stanford Review
“Before students even moved into their dorms for this school year, Stanford Provost Jenny Martinez and Vice Provost for Student Affairs Michele Rasmussen welcomed students to campus with new freedom of speech policies and guidelines.
After a year of disruptive protests and concerns about free speech, Stanford’s statement reaffirms the importance of freedom of speech and the ability to engage with differing viewpoints in academia. The provost wrote that “the freedom to explore and present new, unconventional, and even unpopular ideas is essential to the academic mission of the university; therefore, Stanford shall promote the widest possible freedom of expression, consistent with the university’s legal and moral obligations to prevent harassment and discrimination.”
Wake Forest Remains Stagnant in the US News Rankings via The Wake Report
“US News recently released their2025 National Universities Rankings, placing Wake Forest University 46th in the nation. Last year, Wake Forest’s ranking fell from 28th to 47th last year due to drastic changes in the ranking methodology that favored public, larger universities by removing criteria such as class size and percent of faculty with a terminal degree.
This year’s ranking methodology remains mostly unchanged, with slight differences. US News now no longer considers first-year graduation rates nor first-year student performance. Instead, US News added more consideration into Pell graduation rates and Pell graduation performance. Wake Administration will not act based on the new rankings: “Wake Forest has never made decisions or determined University strategy based on chasing rankings such as those from the U.S. News. We do not intend to start now” says President Susan Wente. Last week, Wake Forest released a statement contending the rankings by citing a record applicant pool for the class of 2028 and highlighting areas of academic growth. The class of 2029 is the first full application cycle with the new ranking methodology in place. The Wake Report will continue to look at how these rankings impact the
university.”
Fighting Racism with Free Speech via The Cornell Review
“Nickolai Spine ‘25, the President of the Cornell Political Union began by delivering some remarks, reminding attendees that open dialogue and debate are vital for the future of Cornell. Mr. Spine then in turn introduced Professor Randy Wayne who then introduced Davis, and expressed the need for “bridge-building” at Cornell, while also denouncing the use of critical race theory in higher education. Davis is the son of a State Department Foreign Service Officer, with his family traveling around the world, living in diplomatic enclaves. By the time Davis was 10, they settled in a predominantly white neighborhood where he was raised in the 1960s. Davis graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from Howard University.
Davis began his talk by describing some of his early experiences being one of the only black students in his primary school, or having bottles and various pieces of debris thrown at him during “Patriot Day,” in Belmont Massachusetts where Davis was the only black Cub Scout in his troop.” |
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CATEGORY: CONSERVATISM (39 MIN)
Much of the fierce Western debate over Middle Eastern affairs may be driven by the desire to have an opinion. If a 21st-century American hears a take from a friend or on social media, he often wants to support it or to oppose it immediately. Either way, he wants to get his own thought “out there” too, whether or not he really knows what’s going on.
For this week’s article from the Modern Age website, Rein Staal reframes what being a “reactionary” means and urges conservatives to reclaim a proper reactionary mindset in an age that calls for it. He instead attributes a host of positive traits to true reactionaries, especially a relentless optimism that what has been lost can be recovered.
In his thorough piece from 1996, Staal focuses in part on “the experience of personal identity” and its relationship with the ideas of tradition and philosophy in general. He also argues that proper reactionaries should aim for the “principle of authority” in opposition to the “consolidation of impersonal power,” at the personal, literary, and political levels.
“Being reactionary entails care for the spiritual realities that integrate and illuminate our common world,” Staal writes. “The integrity of language, the mutual obligation of personal ties, the cultivation of place, the insistence on personal responsibility for power: all testify to the fundamental reality of personal identity.”
Discover Staal’s still-relevant article here on the Modern Age website.
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Thought of the Day:
“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
- Thomas Jefferson
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Join ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club
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For just $19.53 a month, you can join the fight and “pay it forward” by educating the next generation for ordered liberty.
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