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Note from the Editor: The Intercollegiate Review will be moving to Substack this Summer.
Substack offers a more convenient and accessible experience to you as the reader and will allow us to reach a wider audience.
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 Dr. Jennifer Frey joins Dan McCarthy for an interview at Studio 53 during our annual American Politics and Government Summit.
CATEGORY: EDUCATION (6 MIN)
A recent viral social media post mocked teenagers in the 2010s who didn’t have the benefit of AI assistance to write school essays. Commenters quickly hit back by pointing out that students today might have it too easy; perhaps modern young people are devaluing education by their lack of work ethic. But are students completely at fault? Or are faculty and staff responsible, too?
In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Jennifer Frey, former dean of the University of Tulsa’s Honors College and member of ISI's faculty network, defends students while targeting misbehaving administrators. Frey recounts her time at Tulsa, and she lauds the efforts of students who rigorously pursued an in-depth liberal arts education and engaged with difficult material. Unfortunately, Frey says, the college’s new leadership hacked away at the Honors College to eliminate important programs and small seminar-style classes.
She argues that her experience at Tulsa highlights an “unpleasant truth:” traditional education has been derailed by an “administrative class,” not by a lack of student interest. Frey believes trustees and staffers have deprived many young men and women of the opportunity to develop a conception of the good and to “cultivate the interior habits of freedom.”
“Even when traditional liberal learning clearly wins with students and donors,” Frey laments, “it loses with those in power.”
Yet Frey’s overall message remains hopeful: American young people still yearn for excellent education. The challenge lies in overcoming the obstacles others have imposed.
Read more of Frey’s article with our NYT guest link here.
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Weekly Poll
Results: July 17th, 2025
Should U.S. universities tighten visa rules for Chinese nationals working in sensitive research fields?
[A] Yes—90.2%
[B] No—7.8%
[C] Not Sure—2%
Do you think today's liberal arts colleges still serve their original purpose?
[A] Yes
[B] No
[C] Not Sure
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CATEGORY: LITERATURE (10 MIN)
In his legendary Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville said of the young United States that he didn’t know of any nation “where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men.” Yet he also praised the “great austerity of manners” in our country that came “from religious faith.” Such a paradox has long characterized the American spirit: a relentless drive to create wealth combined with a deep foundation of Christian values.
Anthony Lusvardi, writing in Law & Liberty, discusses the contours of this contradiction in a piece analyzing the classic American novel The Great Gatsby. Lusvardi sees F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book as “a book about America,” and so he spends time with Jay Gatsby here in the year of its 100th anniversary.
Lusvardi describes Gatsby’s character as a reflection of the American spirit. He sees a materialist who throws luxurious parties but still holds onto what Lusvardi calls a Midwestern mindset: a “purity” and romance that underlies all Gatsby’s actions. Lusvardi argues that Gatsby’s hope and idealism echo the ethos of America’s great innovators, leaders, and explorers. Yet like so many, Lusvardi muses, Gatsby comes to ruin despite his prosperity and pluck.
Lusvardi believes Fitzgerald may have known that the inmost desires of man find no satisfaction in fleeting romance or lavish parties. Hope cannot have a firm foundation in those things; Lusvardi argues it can rest only in “the infinitude of God.”
Read more of Lusvardi’s ode to Gatsby and our nation here.
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CATEGORY: VIDEO
In this insightful clip, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich links the shortcomings of Elon Musk's leadership in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to his failure to consult experienced individuals.
Gingrich contrasts this with Donald Trump's effective governance strategy, which enlists knowledgeable experts and implements concepts like "Trump Time" and "Trump Savings" to create more efficient government operations.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
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Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
LAWSUIT OVER: Irish Rover Defeats Notre Dame Professor in Defamation Case via The Irish Rover
“The years-long lawsuit Tamara Kay v. The Irish Rover concluded on June 18 when the Indiana Supreme Court denied Kay’s petition to transfer a decision made by the state Court of Appeals, which affirmed the St. Joseph Superior Court’s original dismissal of Kay’s claims of defamation. The Rover reported twice on Kay’s pro-abortion activism. In October of 2022, the Rover wrote that Kay offered “abortion access to students,” citing multiple X (then Twitter) posts offering “help” with “issues with access or cost” and a sign on her office door advertising “help” for “ALL Healthcare issues and access.” The sign also displayed a large capital “J”—a symbol denoting Notre Dame professors willing to help students get access to abortions.”
ISI also supports a cohort of interns and fellows annually, placing them at various publications. Here’s what they are working on:
Pentagon Awards up to $200 Million to AI Companies Whose Models Are Rife With Ideological Bias via Jack Nicastro, Reason
“The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office of the Defense Department has announced it will award Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI contracts worth up to $200 million each “to develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas” and “increase the ability of these companies to understand and address critical national security needs.”
A warning much too late to spare academia via Emma Fuentes, The Washington Examiner
“At the University of Pennsylvania, left-leaning faculty warn that ideological policing could have negative effects on the intellectual environment. Dr. Jennifer Morton, a philosophy professor at UPenn, wrote a piece this week for the New York Times on “Why Hiring Professors With Conservative Views Could Backfire on Conservatives.” Her warning comes too late, of course, is self-blind, and is correct.”
Syria Announces Ceasefire with Israel via Joseph Addington, The American Conservative
“The government of Syria confirmed on Saturday that it had struck a ceasefire agreement with Israel to end a conflict that erupted in the south of the country earlier this week and killed hundreds of people. The deal appears to permit Syrian government forces, which had been withdrawn on Wednesday, to redeploy in the area. U.S. ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack on Friday had announced the ceasefire.” |
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CATEGORY: CONSERVATISM (10 MIN)
Last week, the conservative movement lost a giant. Ed Feulner, one of the founding trustees of The Heritage Foundation and former chairman of ISI’s Board of Trustees, passed away at the age of 83. Feulner’s influence on the ideas and policies that shaped modern conservatism cannot be overstated, and his passion for educating future leaders was evident throughout his life.
In his last public appearance for ISI, Feulner spoke at our 70th Anniversary Gala to help dedicate the Linda L. Bean Conference Center. For this week’s article from the Modern Age website, we return to Feulner’s remarks on that day in 2023. He reflected on three seminal books in conservative intellectual history, all of which were published in 1953, the year ISI was founded.
The three books were Leo Strauss’s Natural Right and History, Robert Nisbet’s The Quest for Community, and Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind. Feulner recalled the dire situation conservatives faced before the 1950s, when they lacked a canon of literature to develop their ideas. Feulner believed Strauss, Nisbet, and Kirk helped change that.
Feulner honored Strauss for tracing the invaluable lineage of natural rights sourced in “immutable truth.” He honored Nisbet for reviving the legacy of Edmund Burke’s “little platoons” in a work that decried isolation and revered community institutions. And he honored Kirk for delivering a “credo for American conservatives”—a deep defense of foundational principles that started Kirk’s service as “the conscience of the conservative movement.”
To read Feulner’s remarks in full, visit the Modern Age website here.
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Thought of the Day:
“Conservatives tend to believe there is a close and necessary connection between prosperity and freedom—that economic freedom is an essential part of human freedom.”
– Ed Feulner
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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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