February 9, 2023

Dear Friends, 

A little over two years ago the Claremont Institute formally expanded its national footprint by opening the Center for the American Way of Life in Washington, DC. Devoted to fighting the left where it counts, especially the insidious influence of identity politics nationally and across the states, our new Center has been a resounding success. 

In recent years, we have been working to fight and roll back woke policies in collaboration with state legislators in Idaho, Maine, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Expanding our activity to Florida was a no-brainer.   

“Protecting and restoring the American way of life is the most important work Governors and state legislators can do right now. Governor DeSantis has shown fearless intellectual and political leadership in the fight against woke leftism. We are thrilled to help him and his legislative allies continue this important work as part of our ongoing efforts across the states by creating a new Tallahassee-based position of Senior Director of State Coalitions.” —Ryan P. Williams

We will base our new Senior Director of State Coalitions in Florida for a few reasons, not least of which is the bold executive and legislative leadership in the Sunshine State. We are excited to help continue this work by educating allies and leaders alike on effective policy strategies to combat the woke regime in Florida and America at large. 

Our Tallahassee activity will be launched by our Center for the American Way of Life Washington Fellow, Scott Yenor, who will now be our inaugural Senior Director of State Coalitions. In addition to his new title, Yenor is a professor of political science at Boise State University. He has written several books, including Family Politics: The Idea of Marriage in Modern Political Thought, and The Recovery of Family Life: Exposing the Limits of Modern Ideologies. He writes for Law & Liberty, First Things, City Journal, The American Mind, and other outlets. Since 2017 (during his first campus controversy), Yenor has been involved in higher education reform debates in Idaho and around the country and in education reform broadly. He has written reports about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in tandem with Anna Miller of the Idaho Freedom Foundation about several state universities and university systems. As a result of this work, Yenor consults with several states on higher education and K-12 reform, including most recently Texas. He has served as Chairman of the Ambrose School, one of the country’s leading classical Christian schools, for fifteen years.  

For those interested in the real work (as opposed to talking points and slogans) being done to combat woke policies, Scott should be a household name. Claremont’s new outpost in Tallahassee will continue that work with a keen eye to using Florida as the first template for any red state in America. 

Warm regards, 

Ryan P. Williams

President 

Claremont Institute