Conservatism’s Sharpest Voices, Curated Weekly | ISI’s Intercollegiate Review brings you the best in serious conservative thought.

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CORRECTION: A duplicate version of The Intercollegiate Review went out last week. Please see the correct version below.

Note from the Editor: The Intercollegiate Review will be moving to Substack early this Summer.

Substack offers a more convenient and accessible experience to you as the reader and will allow us to reach a wider audience.

We are grateful for your support of the Intercollegiate Review and are committed to keeping your subscription completely free as we move to Substack.

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CATEGORY: CULTURE (11 MIN)

ISI's Vision for America's 250th

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In fewer than fourteen months, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday. There is much to celebrate. The past 250 years of American history tell the story of one of the most remarkable nations ever to take the world stage. But there is also much to anticipate. We at ISI see a bright future ahead for our country, but such a future will require constant vigilance—both political and cultural.

On the Modern Age

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website, ISI President Johnny Burtka describes ISI’s vision for the road to America’s 500th birthday. In an essay modified from his speech at ISI’s 2025 Gala for Western Civilization, Burtka notes the challenges we face today and the solutions that can open a road to “American greatness and goodness.”

Burtka starts with the challenges. He points to the reduction in attention span from the influence of phones, social media, and AI, which has especially impacted the younger generation. And he highlights the problems with “short-term thinking” and with unrestrained ambition. The entrepreneurial energy that helped build America, Burtka says, must be limited by virtue and “ordered towards the good” to create a sustainable long-term vision.

To create lasting change, Burtka urges a focus on beauty, truth, and goodness. He cites thinkers like Lee Edwards, Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn to argue that the important questions about existence, virtue, and duty must be compellingly answered for the youth of America. And if they are, through programs like those ISI provides to students around the country, Burtka believes we can seize this moment in American history.

Read more in Burtka’s article here

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CATEGORY: CONSERVATISM (6 MIN)

Man and Music at Yale: Buckley's Classical Love

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Music is one of the most powerful tools in the world. It can instantly change someone’s emotions, even bringing someone to tears. It can inspire creativity and strength. And it can provide solace in a difficult time. Perhaps most importantly, it can draw people to worship something greater than themselves. As such, music has played a key role in the lives of many of the most influential men and women in the world.

William F. Buckley, Jr. was no exception. For The American Conservative

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, Jacob Heilbrunn reviews a 2025 book by Lawrence Perelman called American Impresario: William F. Buckley, Jr. and the Elements of American Character. Heilbrunn discusses Perelman’s argument that classical music was “central” to “Buckley’s life and work.”

Heilbrunn first describes the author: Perelman is a pianist who played for Buckley and befriended him. And indeed, Perelman talks about his interactions with Buckley throughout their careers. From his time spent with the conservative thinker, Perelman believes that the training Buckley received in the piano as a young man and the hours spent listening to classical music provided Buckley with discipline and influenced his ability to write and speak.

Heilbrunn also theorizes that classical music may have helped Buckley find rest amidst his busy schedule. Perelman notes that Buckley loved J.S. Bach, whose music had a deep religious foundation. Both Heilbrunn and Perelman conclude that the “transcendent values” music provides towards the divine are on the decline—and that America needs a revival of those values.

Learn more about this world in Heilbrunn’s article here

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Weekly Poll

As we approach America's 250th birthday, which do you think is most essential to speak a cultural renewal?

[A] Reviving classical education rooted in virtue

[B] Restoring beauty and the arts in public life

[C]

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Rekindling spiritual and religious values

[D] Reaffirming civic duty and patriotism

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RESULTS: 5/15/2025

Do you think most colleges let students hear many different political ideas in their classes on the social sciences?

[A] No - they lean mostly left - 88.9%

[B] Unsure - 6.7%

[C] Yes - classrooms feel balanced - 4.4%

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CATEGORY: VIDEO

Dana Gioia "Beauty Will Save America" Keynote Address

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In this unforgettable keynote at the ISI’s 18th Annual Gala—Beauty Will Save America, award-winning poet and cultural critic Dana Gioia offers a profound meditation on the meaning of beauty and its essential role in human life.

Gioia speaks on the true definition of beauty in a disenchanted world, why the arts are necessities, how beauty uplifts the soul and sustains civilization, and what we lose when culture abandons the beautiful.

This is more than a speech—it’s a bold call to recover the things that make life worth living.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

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Watch Now

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CATEGORY: EDUCATION (7 MIN)

Classical Schools and a Country's Souls

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Philosophers have for millennia emphasized the vital importance of education to the cultural, moral, and political health of a nation. But in modern American schools, the quality of teaching has declined dramatically and been infected with ideological bent across the board. That phenomenon has a drastic impact on our society today.

Some, however, are fighting back. Classical schools have had a revival across the states, and for this week’s article from the Modern Age

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website, Mark Bauerlein describes one such example: Columbus Classical Academy. Bauerlein spent a day at the school interacting with students and teachers, and he admires the “signs of tradition and high culture” surrounding the children as they proceed on their educational journey.

Bauerlein highlights a host of books for all ages—classic literature for elementary and high schoolers alike. He notes that a child in eighth grade recited the first and last paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence from memory. The students say a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and an honor code before the day begins. And Bauerlein also discusses the wide diversity in walks of life among the parents of the students at Columbus.

Bauerlein believes Columbus stands for a trend.

“Kids are happy and work hard, teachers have high and joyous esprit de corps, and parents arrive in waves,” he writes. “Classical education is one of the main successes of social/religious conservatism in this secular age.”

Read more on the Modern Age website here

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Thought of the Day:



“Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it did not matter.”

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- Roger Scruton

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Join ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club

It’s never been easier for you to support our mission—and stay part of our community—with ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club!

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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