Hello John,

I want to begin this first newsletter of 2025 by thanking all of our friends and supporters for making possible the 36 educational events the Kirk Center held in 2024. That is a high-water mark for us. As a result, we were able to educate thousands of participants in the best and highest tradition of American conservatism. 

Our new program year starts off with the popular Book Gallery webinar series hosted by University Bookman editor and professor of politics at Duquesne University, Luke Sheahan. He will discuss what social philosophies and public policies led to the seismic cultural and social shifts in America in the 1960s with Tim Goeglein, author of Stumbling Toward Utopia: How the 1960s Turned Into a National Nightmare and How We Can Revive the American Dream. In this conversation, Luke Sheahan and Tim Goeglein will also consider how we can reject those philosophies and policies and restore the principles upon which America was built.
 

If you were unable to join us for the inaugural Richard D. McLellan Prizes award ceremony last month in Grand Rapids, Michigan, we're pleased to share a recording of the event with you now. To help you navigate the video, here's an overview with timestamps:

3:00 - introduction from Kirk Center CEO Jeff Nelson
14:00 - remarks on Richard D. McLellan's legacy from Gov. John Engler
27:07 - Academic Prize winner Sam Goldman's remarks
37:26 - Academic Prize winner Josiah Joner's remarks
47:45 - Grand Prize winner Greg Lukianoff's remarks
62:07 - panel discussion with Luke Sheahan, Greg Lukianoff, Susan Goldberg, and Sam Goldman

Enjoy this recording of our first annual award ceremony, and we hope to see you at the next gathering to celebrate the best of those advancing freedom of speech and expression.

The University Bookman recently published a symposium on Irving Babbitt’s Democracy and Leadership at 100. Babbitt, and this book in particular, had a tremendous influence on modern conservative thought and the thinkers that forged it. This special section of the Bookman includes: 

• Democracy and Leadership at 100: Lessons for the 21st Century, by Jason Jewell.

• The Great Intellectual Scandal: Irving Babbitt and His Traditionalist Critics, by Claes G. Ryn.

• Irving Babbitt and Populism, by Michael Federici. 

• Irving Babbitt’s Defense of the Humanities, by Darrell Falconburg, the Bookman's Humanities Editor.

Be sure to also take note of this month’s Classic Kirk essay on our website. Cecilia Kirk Nelson has chosen the perfect companion piece to the Bookman tribute to Babbitt's Democracy and Leadership: Russell Kirk’s foreword to the book. 

As I mentioned at the outset of this letter, 2024 was a banner year for the Kirk Center, and we step into 2025 with gratitude for your support and prayers. From all of us at the Russell Kirk Center, here's wishing you a joyous new year.

Yours in ordered liberty,

Jeffrey O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director & CEO