April 8, 2025 • 31 mins
On this very special episode of Liberty + Leadership recorded at the TFAS Annual Conference in Naples, Florida, Roger welcomes Catherine Shea and Caleb Davis, two recent TFAS alumni from the summer class of 2024.
Catherine and Caleb share their positive TFAS experiences, highlighting the program’s focus on fostering open dialogue, civility and respect for different viewpoints. They reflect on how their TFAS courses and internships provided them with an invaluable D.C. experience and discuss the lasting impact TFAS and its supporters have in developing the principled leaders of the future.
The Liberty + Leadership Podcast is hosted by TFAS president Roger Ream and produced by Podville Media. If you have a comment or question for the show, please email us at podcast@TFAS.org. To support TFAS and its mission, please visit TFAS.org/support.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today you're listening to a special episode
of the Liberty and Leadershippodcast, recorded live at our
TFAS annual conference in Naples, florida.
In this conversation, I had thepleasure of speaking with two
impressive young TFAS alumni whoare on a path to becoming
future leaders with plans toattend law school and embark on
(00:21):
exciting careers.
Stay tuned for more episodesfeaturing insightful
conversations with theincredible speakers who led
sessions at this year'sconference.
Welcome to the Liberty andLeadership Podcast a
conversation with TFAS alumni,faculty and friends who are
making an impact.
(00:42):
Today I'm your host, roger Ream.
We decided to let you hear fromtwo students who are active on
their campuses in different waysand attended our programs last
summer.
Catherine Shea is at theUniversity of Pittsburgh.
She's from Ocean City, maryland.
Interned last summer at anoffice in the Department of
(01:03):
Agriculture that hosts ourinterns and gives them a great
experience during the summer.
She attended our public policyand economics track last summer
and she's very interested in thelaw and criminal justice.
That's one of the reasons shewent to the University of
Pittsburgh, because they have agreat program in that area.
She's been a legal intern atthe Allegheny County District
(01:25):
Attorney's Office, hopes to goto law school and we'll hear
more from her in just a minute.
And then next to Catherine isCaleb Davis.
Caleb is from Mississippi, buthe attends Wheaton College in
Illinois.
At Wheaton he is a senior he'llbe graduating in December and
he plays soccer.
He was a Teague scholar.
(01:46):
Last summer came with thebenefit of a scholarship from
the Randall Teague ScholarshipFund that we have at TFAS.
So thank you, randy.
Last summer, while attendingour business and government
affairs program, he interned ata firm called Lobbyit where he
was able to attend congressionalhearings, do legislative
research and work on businessdevelopment projects.
(02:13):
He is going to law school afterhe graduates.
In fact he's going to be doingsome travel in Europe this
summer and then taking the LSATand then make his law school
plans after that.
So it'll be quite a thrill tohave a conversation now with
Caleb and Catherine.
Well, did I miss anything inintroducing you, catherine?
Tell me a little more, maybe,about your plans post-University
of Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
So, after I am graduating from the University
of Pittsburgh, I do want to jumpstraight into law school.
My intention is to work alittle bit in prosecution, so
criminal justice, and then,moving on to the policy side,
once I'm able to identify someof the major issues that we're
dealing with.
Obviously, every system thatwe're working with in government
has its flaws and its issues,and I want to help make that
(02:53):
change.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
What are you going to be doing this summer?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So this summer I'm going to be doing a fellowship
in Rome while also taking theLSAT, so a little bit busy.
But I'm really excited to learna little bit more about a
criminal justice system outsideof the US because I do believe
it will make you more analyticalof our system, and it's an
issue with norms.
We tend to look at our ownsystems and think that that's
what's expected and what has tobe, so I hope that looking at
(03:17):
the Italian criminal justicesystem will allow me to be more
critical of how we've developedour system.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Now, Caleb, you are playing soccer at Wheaton and
active on campus.
You've got plans kind of laidout, but talk a little bit about
that.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, so, like you mentioned, I plan on enrolling
in law school in the fall of2026.
I'm ideally looking to do adual JD and master's in public
policy program.
I hope to end up on the EastCoast somewhere in the DC area.
It's kind of the goal as far aslaw school goes, and then we'll
see where my career takes meafter that.
I think last summer I reallyrealized with TFAS I love our
(03:51):
government, I love our countryand I want to be in DC
absolutely.
But I realized my true passion.
Yes, policy is great, politicsis great, but my true passion is
for people and so I candefinitely see myself in public
service at some point in mycareer long-term down the road.
And this summer you have aninternship in Washington, right?
Yes, I'll be interning forCongressman Michael Guest this
summer.
So I'm very appreciative to theCongressman, his family and his
(04:12):
staff for giving me thatopportunity.
So I'll be in DC for a littlebit this summer.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Before we talk a little more about the campus
climate and some of those issues, what's one highlight from last
summer that kind of sticks out?
I mean, as I think most peoplehere know, you took some courses
.
You took a course in economics,I think both of you.
You had a lot of differentlectures and career events to
attend.
You had an amazing experienceat the Department of Agriculture
(04:37):
.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I worked primarily on high priority policy issues.
It was a nice period of changeto be joining the department and
I also worked on geospatialdata analytics, Working under
Ingrid Ripley, who is theexecutive director of the Single
Family Housing Guaranteed LoanProgram.
She is so active with TFAS andreally encouraged us to dive
straight in to working hands-onwith the policy that is going on
(05:06):
in the department.
But my highlight had to havebeen meeting Secretary Vilsack
at the end of my internship.
He's so passionate about theindividual family farmers and
the issues that they face, andhearing someone in such a high
position in government who isconnecting with the issues of
individual farmers it was reallywonderful to hear.
That was the reason why I wasso interested in the Department
(05:26):
of Agriculture.
Coming from a family where manypeople are small family farmers
, I have an appreciation for thestruggles that are very
apparent every day in familyfarming and seeing the
government being able to supportthose issues.
Even if they haven't had thatpersonal experience.
It was really wonderful to see.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I think the highlight of my internship at least was
that it was a bit of a smallerfirm.
So interns, if they wanted todo a lot more work, they could.
The workload kind of dependedon how much you wanted to do.
But I was able to go tomeetings with our lobbyists and
our clients as well as likecongressional staffs on the Hill
.
So that was really cool to justsee the interaction between the
private sector and the publicsector and see it hands on, like
(06:05):
these conversations aboutcertain policy issues happening
right in front of me.
So that was like probably thehighlight in terms of my
internship.
I think just the overarchinghighlight of the summer and
something that I've just reallyappreciated about TFAS is that
every single day I was learningsomething new, like it was just
a consistent summer of learning.
Learning something new, like itwas just a consistent summer of
(06:26):
learning.
And whether it was with guestlectures or my classes,
internships, you know people I'dmeet in DC.
I truly accredit that to TFASand the opportunity that you
know TFAS provided tocontinually learn throughout the
summer and I didn't get a lotof sleep because there were so
many opportunities through TFASto learn and grow and network.
But I'm very appreciative forit.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Now you both took economics.
Had you had it before at school?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I had taken one course in macroeconomics, so
clearly not the strongest basis,but taking Dr Bradley's
economics course, I learned somuch about the practical
application of economics and,with the economic way of
thinking that was coveredearlier in this conference, we
really dove right in to applyingthe principles of economics
into the way that you understandpolitics, but also your daily
(07:07):
life.
It was invaluable and I findmyself referencing the lessons I
learned at TFAS every singleday on my home campus and I do
think that, consistentlydiscussing the principles that
we learned in lecture with theincredible students at TFAS, I
was able to learn so much moreoutside of the classroom,
because everyone is justincredibly passionate about
(07:30):
building our country into anincredible place.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I would echo that as well.
I had Dr Coyne and his classwas great, but I would say I'm a
business economics major, soI'd previously taken economics
classes prior to TFAS and tooksome this fall.
I'm minoring in politicalscience, so a lot of my classes
cover areas that we talked aboutin my classes in DC and I would
say without a doubt that TFASand developing an economic way
(07:56):
of thinking the principles thatwe were taught in TFAS they
definitely changed the frameworkin which I go about evaluating
things in my current classes atWheaton.
I'm in a political ethics classright now and I can see that
economic way of thinking reallytaking place, at least in my
thought process throughout thecourse of this past semester.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Now you both you come from University of Pittsburgh
and Caleb from Wheaton College.
Let me start with you, caleb.
There's been some controversyat Wheaton lately, since
President Trump was elected.
Can you talk about that?
So?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
one of our former alumni, Russ Vogt.
He was appointed as thedirector of the OMB for the
Trump administration.
Our school postedcongratulating him and saying we
were praying for him, and itreceived a lot of backlash on
the internet from the left,thousands of comments bashing
Wheaton for supporting him,saying they were endorsing him.
The next day Wheaton took thepost down and issued an apology
(08:49):
for congratulating him andsaying they were praying for him
.
That was kind of the finalstraw.
Wheaton has been going left ofcenter for probably the last 10
to 15 years and I think peoplehave kind of had enough with
what's going on.
And there's now a movementcalled the For Wheaton Movement
with a bunch of conservativealumni and donors who are just
unhappy with the state of theschool, the administration, the
(09:10):
board of trustees and reallywhat's at the core of this
problem is that Wheaton has beenteaching things and
implementing things like CRT andDEI that many donors believe
contradicts our statement offaith.
So they're saying, hey, if youwill reword your statement of
faith and take down the currentone, you have reword one that
more closely aligns with whatyou're actually implementing and
(09:33):
teaching at your institution,we're not going to give you
money for it anymore because wedon't support CRT and DEI, but
the market will decide whathappens to Wheaton.
So that's a little bit ofwhat's going on right now.
As far as CRT and DEI, it seemslike we have turned away from
our mission of pursuing academicexcellence, rather ingraining
(09:54):
these ideologies into the mindsof students, and it's quite
unfortunate.
I do believe in a communitythat fosters lots of discourse
and people from both sides ofthe aisle should be able to
express their beliefs, and Ithink it is important to learn
what CRT is, learn about CRT,but when it is institutionalized
it seems a bit much for me, crtis critical race theory and DEI
(10:19):
is diversity, equity andinclusion policies.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For those who aren't familiar with it and maybe most
of you are, I know at Universityof Pittsburgh you've had some
issues related to the eventsthat took place post-October 7th
of 2003 in Israel with theterrorist attacks there.
You're involved in aninteresting project through Free
the Facts.
Talk a little bit about whatlife is like on the University
(10:44):
of Pittsburgh campus.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, so the University of Pittsburgh.
We are located in the center ofa city which plays a massive
role in how our politicalclimate is sort of engaging.
We have a very active campus ofstudents who are very
passionate about politics, andso we've experienced a lot of
demonstrations that have notnecessarily ended in the way
that people were expecting, andFIRE, which is an organization
(11:08):
that collects data on individualstudents' opinions on free
speech on their campus, hasshown that students at the
University of Pittsburgh feelthat there is a low level of
freedom of speech being allowedon campus, which is a massive
issue.
A lot of students haveexpressed concerns that they're
not able to share theirpolitical opinions and protest
policies that they don'tnecessarily agree with at the
(11:29):
university or within the city.
I have so much love for theUniversity of Pittsburgh and I
see this as a really wonderfulopportunity to foster open
conversations and open debatewith students.
In fact, my work with Throughthe Facts, I've been able to
learn a lot about havingnonpartisan debates where we
openly discuss our opinions onpolitical issues through factual
(11:50):
analysis and, rather thanattacking the points of the
opposing party, we attempt tounderstand where their logic
stemming from and come toresolutions based on our
agreements rather than focusingon what we disagree with.
So at the university, I focuseda lot on individual policy
issues.
For example, I work with anorganization that focuses on
individual renter's rights, andso we've been focusing on those
(12:12):
sorts of issues that are ofmajor concern to students, while
making sure that we arefollowing the university
policies but continuing to pushfor freedom of speech for all
students.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You're an ambassador for this organization.
Free the Facts.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I am.
Yes.
We have the privilege ofhosting campus events and being
able to bring conversationsfocused on Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid spendingonto campus, and that's a really
wonderful opportunity forstudents who haven't been
exposed to those ideas, whetherat university or outside, to
have a better understanding ofhow congressional spending sort
(12:46):
of operates, and it does buildmore political awareness in our
community.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Do you guys think Social Security will be around
for you when you retire?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
There's definitely a lot of conversations regarding
how we are going to be able tomaintain these elections, and
especially when it comes towanting to have representatives
(13:22):
that are focused on making achange, that we can have social
security benefits when we hitretiring age.
That needs to be a main focusfor our political decisions.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Last summer at TFAS?
Did you find an atmospherethere that which we try to
promote of willingness to listento differing viewpoints of
civility when it came to talkingabout issues?
Caleb, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And I think last summer was a really cool summer
to be a part of TFAS, witheverything going on in our
country last summer, and I wouldsay that culture that you guys
have tried to foster isabsolutely evident.
You know just conversationswith fellow students in our
dorms just talking about youknow what was going on in the
country at that point in time.
Everyone's very respectful ofeach other and appreciated
(14:06):
different viewpoints and somepeople's opinions on certain
topics definitely changedthroughout the summer when they
were presented with facts ratherthan what we've seen a lot of
you know mainstream mediapromote.
But also like with the BraverAngels debate, I think that was
like another really good example.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I want to explain the Braver Angels debates that we
do in the summer.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
The Braver Angels debate.
I would say it's towards theend of the summer and our topic
this past year was around.
I want to say it was AI'simplementation in the military.
That was kind of the generalidea of it.
So the students who wanted todo it there were two sides and
they met up throughout thesummer to discuss what arguments
they were going to present andit really the respect for each
(14:46):
side that was fostered in theway in which the Braver Angels
debate was carried out justreally did foster this
environment of, like I said,respect.
I can't hammer that home enough.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Did you participate in that or attend that?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I was able to attend that debate and the thoughtful
analysis from each student whocame to the debate prepared to
talk about the issues and notfight about the issues.
It was really inspiring to see.
I mean, throughout the entiresummer I was able to become
close friends with my colleaguesthat have incredibly different
opinions from my own, and thosedaily debates where we were
(15:18):
fighting for our opinions butalso attempting to understand
the other side.
It was a really impactful wayto not only learn about other
people's opinions but challengemy own, because, as a young
academic, it's very important tobe open to the idea of other
perspectives and changing yourmind.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
One question I had that a little bit relates to the
brief mention of SocialSecurity.
Do you find that among yourclassmates there's a sense of
optimism about the future, thatthe American dream is still
alive, or do they tend to bepessimistic because we get so
much negative news all the time?
You know both parties arealways harping at how
(15:57):
everything's going to hell.
And what do you find, caleb?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
You know, I was having this conversation with my
roommate last night and I thinkfor those of us who are
involved in the political system, the DC world, you know, those
of us students who want to getthere eventually and care about
making a change, I would say weare optimistic because I think
we truly do want to see changein our country and we want to be
at the forefront of that.
(16:20):
So I would say we're optimistic.
But I would say, people whoaren't as educated on the
political state of our countrytoday I don't really know if
they're pessimistic about it.
It's kind of like they'reindifferent, almost.
Yeah.
But I would say for myself, I'mexcited for the future of the
country.
I think for all the donors heretoday, I can't thank you guys
enough for all that you havedone for TFAS pouring into the
(16:42):
next generation, because youtruly are investing in the
future of our country.
You know TFAS is raising upgreat leaders and you should
take confidence in the fact thatgreat leaders will continue to
lead in our nation because ofTFAS today.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I've found in my university, there certainly is a
little apprehension about theAmerican dream.
There is a fear that that maynot be a possibility, but that
doesn't change the fact thatthere's hope that it may be.
I think that my experience withTFAS allowed me to engage with
many students who are sopowerfully ambitious and ready
for the future and the work thatis done throughout the program
(17:16):
on focusing on careerdevelopment and also allowing us
to open our minds to theAmerican government and all the
different parts of ourgovernment system.
It really allows us to create amore detailed picture of what
our personal future might looklike and what the future of our
country might look like.
So I think that the opportunityto be a part of a program like
the Fund for American Studiesand all of the work that you all
(17:39):
do to allow that opportunity itreally does make an impact on
all do to allow that opportunity.
It really does make an impacton our ability to become strong
leaders.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I've noticed slightly over the past you know decade,
I'll say, maybe not even thatlong that the students coming to
our program are very serious,they're career-focused.
They're coming to kind ofsample different possible career
paths they might take and so weoffer them a lot of
opportunities to go of sampledifferent possible career paths
they might take and so we offerthem a lot of opportunities to
go to what we callcareer-focused activities, to
(18:07):
have a lunch with Chris Allman,for instance, for those
interested in communication, orKevin Seifert if they're
interested in politics andpolicy, and different people in
different professions, peoplefrom embassies, international
organizations.
And the students are reallyinterested in learning what's
this career path like and what'sthat one like?
(18:28):
You guys came already kind ofdetermined.
But do you sense that thestudents, the classmates you had
, are all kind of they are readyto go out and change the world,
looking at how can I best makea difference, how can I make a
career for myself in aparticular field?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I think so for sure.
I mean, I keep in touch with alot of my friends from TFAS last
summer and I think the thingeveryone is trying to figure out
is how do I get back to DC assoon as possible?
And right now a lot of peopleare in the waiting process of
internship applications, and soI found everyone who was taking
part in TFAS to be very serious,very focused on their career
(19:03):
and ready to make an impact.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I think a common statement that I heard from
students who were in TFAS thislast summer is that when they
came back to their home campus,they hit the ground running.
They became more involved oncampus.
They were able to joinorganizations focused on policy
and able to really advocate fortheir beliefs.
I know that personally.
One of our meetings at theAssociation for Prosecuting
Attorneys, where I was able tomeet with Sasha Betty, really
(19:26):
encouraged me to work at mylocal district attorney's office
.
It's an opportunity I wouldhave been apprehensive to join.
It's a very serious workplaceand I was nervous to apply for
such an incredible position, butthe encouragement from someone
in TFAS really pushed me toexplore options and understand
that our horizons are very openas young professionals and you
just have to take that leap.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
All of you attended an all-institute lecture by
Mitch Daniels and I don't knowif you'll remember the details
of his talk, but it was prettysobering.
Mitch Daniels used to be on ourboard of trustees.
He's now a trustee emeritus andhe came out and he gave a very
sobering talk about the buildupof debt and the deficits and
what he sensed was a comingfinancial crisis because of the
(20:09):
failure of our leadership inWashington to deal with the
deficit spending.
And it was kind of a warning toyour generation that you're
going to have to solve thisproblem, that we're leaving you.
We've failed, our generationhas failed.
It's going to be left to therising generation to deal with
the problem of financialcollapse in Washington, with
government and interest on thedebt is exceeding defense
(20:31):
spending and entitlements.
Nobody wants to touch theentitlements.
Is that something that you knowstudents are aware of?
You think Maybe through thethings you're doing at Pitt, you
know you're talking about it,but in general, are students
more, say, apathetic, like youmentioned, and just going
through without any thought tothese big problems overhanging
our country?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I would say in our poli-sci department we're very
aware of it because it comes upin a lot of our discussions
throughout class and I'd say youknow students who are not
focused on poli-sci orinternational relations.
They're aware of it.
I don't know how much itactually impacts their
day-to-day but I would say forthose of us in the poli-sci
department, we absolutely arevery aware of it and care deeply
about it.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I think that in my experience with students, I find
that people that have theknowledge, like we were shared,
from Mitch Daniels are excitedto change the course of our
spending issues.
Obviously, it's a verydifficult issue and it's not
going to be a simple problem tosolve, but that's part of why we
all are interested ingovernment and political science
.
It's because it's difficult,it's because we don't exactly
(21:35):
know what we're jumping into,and it's going to be a challenge
, and I do think that TFASreally pushes us to be ready for
those challenges and to buildthose skills.
So all the students coming outof the Fund for American Studies
are really ready for facingthose challenges.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Well, great, it's good to have students with us
and I'm glad we had a chance tohave a conversation with two of
you.
I do want to open it up toquestions from our audience here
in Naples at our donorconference.
So I see microphones in theback of the room.
There's Joe Stars and JaneMazzella, so raise your hand if
you'd like to ask two of thesebright young people, who are
(22:10):
going to be leaders in thefuture, some questions.
I see one over there.
My name's Thomas.
I did the summer program thissummer as well with y'all.
I would love to hear about yourfavorite day from the summer
just like a 24-hour period.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
that you won't forget .
I think that one of the mostinteresting days I had with CFAS
was when we went down to thehouse floor and were briefed by
two members of the house.
That was one of the mostincredible experiences.
But I was able to start my daywith a conference at my work and
I was able to hear from a lotof the executive directors and
(22:45):
the people really involved inthe USDA that are working on
some of the major policy issues.
So I was able to engage in someof those conversations and
learn a lot more about sort ofhow the department is run,
because it's a massivedepartment, there's a lot of
moving parts and it is alwaysinteresting to sort of dive
deeper into understanding what'sgoing on and then following
that up with being on the Housefloor.
(23:06):
It's a pretty incredibleexperience and something I will
honestly never forget.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
For myself, it was definitely the day of the
congressional baseball game.
That morning I was able to meetone of my senators from
Mississippi, and then thatafternoon we went to my firm.
We went to the Capitol HillClub for a pregame reception and
was able to talk to SteveGarvey, who was running for
Senate out there in California.
But also the same day was theVivek Ramaswamy lecture, and I
(23:32):
guess I tell this story to say Iwas able to talk to Mr
Ramaswamy after about AI and thefuture of AI in our country and
the ethical impacts of AI.
But then that night at thecongressional game I met Speaker
Mike Johnson.
And so in that day I met somevery powerful people in
Washington, very influentialpeople who I have a lot of
respect for, and at the end ofthe day I was just like I'm 19
(23:52):
years old and just talked tofour amazing people.
I don't really know how thishappened, but it was that.
I will never forget that day,that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Did you go to most of those Capitol Hill lectures or?
Speaker 3 (24:07):
I did.
Yeah, I really enjoyed them.
They were very insightful.
The COVID-19 ones were veryinteresting and thought
provoking, to say the least.
I really enjoyed it, and evenwith Vivek Ramaswamy, I thought
he gave a very great speech thatseemed to be pretty bipartisan,
and something I reallyappreciated was that he called
out flaws in both the Republicanand Democratic Party, because
you know, I think there are onCapitol Hill Senator Rand Paul's
office usually can reserve alarge room, a Senate hearing
(24:46):
room on the Hill, and we send aninvitation to every
congressional office on CapitolHill, all 435 House offices, all
100 Senate offices, plus to allour students.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And we'll get two, three, sometimes up to 400
interns in Washington to come tothese lectures.
And Vivek Ramaswamy did oneLast summer.
It was packed, it was standingroom only.
We had people in the hallwatching it on monitors.
But we also had Rand Paul gaveone of the lectures and Jay
Bhattacharya gave a lecture andtalked about how he was treated
(25:20):
at Stanford when he raisedquestions, scientific questions,
about how we were responding toCOVID.
We've had Marty Makary a lot ofvery interesting lectures in
that series that you'rereferencing, Caleb.
Are there other questions?
I see one in the middle here.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
My name is Natalia Miguel.
I go to Florida InternationalUniversity and I graduated
alongside y'all this summerwithin TFAS.
You mentioned that aftercompleting TFAS, students hit
the ground running on their homecampuses, which I completely
agree with.
Can you share some of theinitiatives and projects or
leadership roles you've taken onsince your summer with TFAS?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
So I joined Free the Facts as an ambassador right
after leaving TFAS.
I was able to obviously work ona lot of events with them and
get more involved in bipartisandebate.
I also joined the OCC HonorSociety and became an ambassador
for them, which encouragesstudents to work on career
development outside of theclassroom.
It's definitely an emphasis onbuilding up leadership qualities
(26:20):
in younger students.
It's definitely an emphasis onbuilding up leadership qualities
in younger students.
So I was working on encouragingfreshmen and sophomore students
to sort of jump to college andenjoy all of the opportunities
that we have on our campus.
And then I also started myinternship at the Allegheny
County District Attorney'sOffice right when I joined in.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Being a student athlete it takes up most of my
time, but when I got back toschool, we recently just
launched a pre-law society, so Ijust got involved with that and
I'm really looking forward tobeing involved with it.
Throughout my last nine monthsat Wheaton but I would
definitely say recently, withthe controversy on campus that's
where I've probably had thebiggest involvement and most
influence amongst my peers, justcultivating positive
(26:57):
conversations about what's goingon on campus right now and
trying to educate people onfactually what is actually
happening.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I think we have time for one more question, if there
is another question.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
What can people of the older generation do who are
too old to come to TFAS?
What can we do other than?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
doubling our contributions to TFAS.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Drip all that.
I was obviously a Teaguescholar last summer and I'm so
appreciative of Chairman Teagueand the investment he made in me
financially.
But I just want to take asecond to honor Chairman Teague
for the impact that he's made onmy life, just in terms of the
wisdom and the advice that hehas just poured into me and his
kindness and generositythroughout our conversations
(27:42):
since last summer have trulymarked my life so seriously.
You know, I was readingactually in Romans last night
and it talks about, you know,outdoing one another and showing
honor.
And I just wanted to honorChairman Teague today and I
think the impact that he made inmy life in terms of what he
invested in me from a faithstandpoint, things that he
(28:03):
learned throughout his career inDC, giving me advice on my
future, I think that's made thebiggest impact on me personally
and I think, for the oldergeneration, as you said, I think
that is really importantbecause you guys do have a lot
of wisdom and I think it's safeto say that our generation wants
to seek out that wisdom.
Sorry for all the biblicalreferences, but in Proverbs, you
know, wisdom is heavilyemphasized.
(28:24):
If you look at King Solomon andwhat happened to his life.
When he asked God for wisdom,god said you know, I'll give you
whatever you want, and he chosewisdom, and because of that God
blessed him tenfold.
And so, for me, I personallypray for wisdom all the time,
but I've noticed that God hasdefinitely put people in my life
, oftentimes older than me, withtons of wisdom to invest in me,
and I am so appreciative ofthat.
(28:45):
So just invest your wisdom intothe next generation, for sure.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
T-Fast does have a mentorship program that I was
involved in this last summer,and it is really incredible to
hear directly from yourexperience even the parts of
your experience that you don'tthink students want to hear
about.
We do, we really, really do.
We want to learn about all ofyour struggles, all of your
triumphs, and even if yourexperience is not directly
connected to where we're goingin our career, there's so much
(29:10):
value that we can learn fromeach and every person.
I know that every alumni that Iinteracted with at the Fund for
American Studies has taught mesomething incredibly valuable
and tangible.
So just keep telling peopleabout your experience and
showing up.
We are so grateful to have youhere.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
We may have the seed here of a new program of tying
students, connecting studentswith donors.
Nowadays that's much easier, ofcourse, with the technology we
have around, because now ourstudents are assigned to mentors
who are in careers inWashington DC where they can
meet for coffee during thesummer.
But there are ways to do thatin other ways as well.
So that's a great question.
(29:46):
Thank you for asking that.
Catherine mentioned theexperience of going onto the
House floor and I don't know ifit was mentioned yesterday, but
Congressman David Kustoff, whowas with us, and Congressman
David Rauser from North Carolina, both alums of our program who
are serving in Congress, host us, host the students on the floor
of the House of Representatives.
We go early in the morningbecause we have to get there
(30:08):
before the House goes intosession.
We can't accommodate all thestudents because the security
process to go to the floor is along one and it's a long line.
They go through to get screened, but they get to sit on the
floor of the House whereCongresswoman will be sitting in
a few hours, where worldleaders like Winston Churchill
and American presidents andVáclav Havel and others have
(30:30):
spoken to Congress and to theAmerican people, and get briefed
by members of Congress.
It really is a thrill.
I try to go as often as I canwith the students and you can't
get enough of that opportunityto be on the floor of the House.
I'm glad you brought that up,catherine.
That is a special opportunity.
They also go, of course, tobriefings at other important
government agencies and thinktanks and places around town.
(30:54):
During the course of the summerwe offer a monument tour one
evening where they go to theLincoln Memorial, the Jefferson
Memorial, the WashingtonMonument and other sites, and
occasionally they have a fewmoments free to go to museums
like the Smithsonian and others.
But we do keep them pretty busy.
Thank you so much, caleb andCatherine Appreciate you being
with us for this, thank you.
(31:15):
Thank you for listening to theLiberty and Leadership podcast.
If you have a comment orquestion, please drop us an
email at podcast at tfasorg andbe sure to subscribe to the show
on your favorite podcast appand leave a five-star review.
Liberty and Leadership isproduced at Podville Media.
(31:37):
I'm your host, roger Ream, anduntil next time, show courage in
things, large and small.
Today you're listening to a special episode
of the Liberty and Leadershippodcast, recorded live at our
TFAS annual conference in Naples, florida.
In this conversation, I had thepleasure of speaking with two
impressive young TFAS alumni whoare on a path to becoming
future leaders with plans toattend law school and embark on
(00:21):
exciting careers.
Stay tuned for more episodesfeaturing insightful
conversations with theincredible speakers who led
sessions at this year'sconference.
Welcome to the Liberty andLeadership Podcast a
conversation with TFAS alumni,faculty and friends who are
making an impact.
(00:42):
Today I'm your host, roger Ream.
We decided to let you hear fromtwo students who are active on
their campuses in different waysand attended our programs last
summer.
Catherine Shea is at theUniversity of Pittsburgh.
She's from Ocean City, maryland.
Interned last summer at anoffice in the Department of
(01:03):
Agriculture that hosts ourinterns and gives them a great
experience during the summer.
She attended our public policyand economics track last summer
and she's very interested in thelaw and criminal justice.
That's one of the reasons shewent to the University of
Pittsburgh, because they have agreat program in that area.
She's been a legal intern atthe Allegheny County District
(01:25):
Attorney's Office, hopes to goto law school and we'll hear
more from her in just a minute.
And then next to Catherine isCaleb Davis.
Caleb is from Mississippi, buthe attends Wheaton College in
Illinois.
At Wheaton he is a senior he'llbe graduating in December and
he plays soccer.
He was a Teague scholar.
(01:46):
Last summer came with thebenefit of a scholarship from
the Randall Teague ScholarshipFund that we have at TFAS.
So thank you, randy.
Last summer, while attendingour business and government
affairs program, he interned ata firm called Lobbyit where he
was able to attend congressionalhearings, do legislative
research and work on businessdevelopment projects.
(02:13):
He is going to law school afterhe graduates.
In fact he's going to be doingsome travel in Europe this
summer and then taking the LSATand then make his law school
plans after that.
So it'll be quite a thrill tohave a conversation now with
Caleb and Catherine.
Well, did I miss anything inintroducing you, catherine?
Tell me a little more, maybe,about your plans post-University
of Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
So, after I am graduating from the University
of Pittsburgh, I do want to jumpstraight into law school.
My intention is to work alittle bit in prosecution, so
criminal justice, and then,moving on to the policy side,
once I'm able to identify someof the major issues that we're
dealing with.
Obviously, every system thatwe're working with in government
has its flaws and its issues,and I want to help make that
(02:53):
change.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
What are you going to be doing this summer?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So this summer I'm going to be doing a fellowship
in Rome while also taking theLSAT, so a little bit busy.
But I'm really excited to learna little bit more about a
criminal justice system outsideof the US because I do believe
it will make you more analyticalof our system, and it's an
issue with norms.
We tend to look at our ownsystems and think that that's
what's expected and what has tobe, so I hope that looking at
(03:17):
the Italian criminal justicesystem will allow me to be more
critical of how we've developedour system.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Now, Caleb, you are playing soccer at Wheaton and
active on campus.
You've got plans kind of laidout, but talk a little bit about
that.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, so, like you mentioned, I plan on enrolling
in law school in the fall of2026.
I'm ideally looking to do adual JD and master's in public
policy program.
I hope to end up on the EastCoast somewhere in the DC area.
It's kind of the goal as far aslaw school goes, and then we'll
see where my career takes meafter that.
I think last summer I reallyrealized with TFAS I love our
(03:51):
government, I love our countryand I want to be in DC
absolutely.
But I realized my true passion.
Yes, policy is great, politicsis great, but my true passion is
for people and so I candefinitely see myself in public
service at some point in mycareer long-term down the road.
And this summer you have aninternship in Washington, right?
Yes, I'll be interning forCongressman Michael Guest this
summer.
So I'm very appreciative to theCongressman, his family and his
(04:12):
staff for giving me thatopportunity.
So I'll be in DC for a littlebit this summer.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Before we talk a little more about the campus
climate and some of those issues, what's one highlight from last
summer that kind of sticks out?
I mean, as I think most peoplehere know, you took some courses
.
You took a course in economics,I think both of you.
You had a lot of differentlectures and career events to
attend.
You had an amazing experienceat the Department of Agriculture
(04:37):
.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I worked primarily on high priority policy issues.
It was a nice period of changeto be joining the department and
I also worked on geospatialdata analytics, Working under
Ingrid Ripley, who is theexecutive director of the Single
Family Housing Guaranteed LoanProgram.
She is so active with TFAS andreally encouraged us to dive
straight in to working hands-onwith the policy that is going on
(05:06):
in the department.
But my highlight had to havebeen meeting Secretary Vilsack
at the end of my internship.
He's so passionate about theindividual family farmers and
the issues that they face, andhearing someone in such a high
position in government who isconnecting with the issues of
individual farmers it was reallywonderful to hear.
That was the reason why I wasso interested in the Department
(05:26):
of Agriculture.
Coming from a family where manypeople are small family farmers
, I have an appreciation for thestruggles that are very
apparent every day in familyfarming and seeing the
government being able to supportthose issues.
Even if they haven't had thatpersonal experience.
It was really wonderful to see.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I think the highlight of my internship at least was
that it was a bit of a smallerfirm.
So interns, if they wanted todo a lot more work, they could.
The workload kind of dependedon how much you wanted to do.
But I was able to go tomeetings with our lobbyists and
our clients as well as likecongressional staffs on the Hill
.
So that was really cool to justsee the interaction between the
private sector and the publicsector and see it hands on, like
(06:05):
these conversations aboutcertain policy issues happening
right in front of me.
So that was like probably thehighlight in terms of my
internship.
I think just the overarchinghighlight of the summer and
something that I've just reallyappreciated about TFAS is that
every single day I was learningsomething new, like it was just
a consistent summer of learning.
Learning something new, like itwas just a consistent summer of
(06:26):
learning.
And whether it was with guestlectures or my classes,
internships, you know people I'dmeet in DC.
I truly accredit that to TFASand the opportunity that you
know TFAS provided tocontinually learn throughout the
summer and I didn't get a lotof sleep because there were so
many opportunities through TFASto learn and grow and network.
But I'm very appreciative forit.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Now you both took economics.
Had you had it before at school?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I had taken one course in macroeconomics, so
clearly not the strongest basis,but taking Dr Bradley's
economics course, I learned somuch about the practical
application of economics and,with the economic way of
thinking that was coveredearlier in this conference, we
really dove right in to applyingthe principles of economics
into the way that you understandpolitics, but also your daily
(07:07):
life.
It was invaluable and I findmyself referencing the lessons I
learned at TFAS every singleday on my home campus and I do
think that, consistentlydiscussing the principles that
we learned in lecture with theincredible students at TFAS, I
was able to learn so much moreoutside of the classroom,
because everyone is justincredibly passionate about
(07:30):
building our country into anincredible place.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I would echo that as well.
I had Dr Coyne and his classwas great, but I would say I'm a
business economics major, soI'd previously taken economics
classes prior to TFAS and tooksome this fall.
I'm minoring in politicalscience, so a lot of my classes
cover areas that we talked aboutin my classes in DC and I would
say without a doubt that TFASand developing an economic way
(07:56):
of thinking the principles thatwe were taught in TFAS they
definitely changed the frameworkin which I go about evaluating
things in my current classes atWheaton.
I'm in a political ethics classright now and I can see that
economic way of thinking reallytaking place, at least in my
thought process throughout thecourse of this past semester.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Now you both you come from University of Pittsburgh
and Caleb from Wheaton College.
Let me start with you, caleb.
There's been some controversyat Wheaton lately, since
President Trump was elected.
Can you talk about that?
So?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
one of our former alumni, Russ Vogt.
He was appointed as thedirector of the OMB for the
Trump administration.
Our school postedcongratulating him and saying we
were praying for him, and itreceived a lot of backlash on
the internet from the left,thousands of comments bashing
Wheaton for supporting him,saying they were endorsing him.
The next day Wheaton took thepost down and issued an apology
(08:49):
for congratulating him andsaying they were praying for him
.
That was kind of the finalstraw.
Wheaton has been going left ofcenter for probably the last 10
to 15 years and I think peoplehave kind of had enough with
what's going on.
And there's now a movementcalled the For Wheaton Movement
with a bunch of conservativealumni and donors who are just
unhappy with the state of theschool, the administration, the
(09:10):
board of trustees and reallywhat's at the core of this
problem is that Wheaton has beenteaching things and
implementing things like CRT andDEI that many donors believe
contradicts our statement offaith.
So they're saying, hey, if youwill reword your statement of
faith and take down the currentone, you have reword one that
more closely aligns with whatyou're actually implementing and
(09:33):
teaching at your institution,we're not going to give you
money for it anymore because wedon't support CRT and DEI, but
the market will decide whathappens to Wheaton.
So that's a little bit ofwhat's going on right now.
As far as CRT and DEI, it seemslike we have turned away from
our mission of pursuing academicexcellence, rather ingraining
(09:54):
these ideologies into the mindsof students, and it's quite
unfortunate.
I do believe in a communitythat fosters lots of discourse
and people from both sides ofthe aisle should be able to
express their beliefs, and Ithink it is important to learn
what CRT is, learn about CRT,but when it is institutionalized
it seems a bit much for me, crtis critical race theory and DEI
(10:19):
is diversity, equity andinclusion policies.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For those who aren't familiar with it and maybe most
of you are, I know at Universityof Pittsburgh you've had some
issues related to the eventsthat took place post-October 7th
of 2003 in Israel with theterrorist attacks there.
You're involved in aninteresting project through Free
the Facts.
Talk a little bit about whatlife is like on the University
(10:44):
of Pittsburgh campus.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, so the University of Pittsburgh.
We are located in the center ofa city which plays a massive
role in how our politicalclimate is sort of engaging.
We have a very active campus ofstudents who are very
passionate about politics, andso we've experienced a lot of
demonstrations that have notnecessarily ended in the way
that people were expecting, andFIRE, which is an organization
(11:08):
that collects data on individualstudents' opinions on free
speech on their campus, hasshown that students at the
University of Pittsburgh feelthat there is a low level of
freedom of speech being allowedon campus, which is a massive
issue.
A lot of students haveexpressed concerns that they're
not able to share theirpolitical opinions and protest
policies that they don'tnecessarily agree with at the
(11:29):
university or within the city.
I have so much love for theUniversity of Pittsburgh and I
see this as a really wonderfulopportunity to foster open
conversations and open debatewith students.
In fact, my work with Throughthe Facts, I've been able to
learn a lot about havingnonpartisan debates where we
openly discuss our opinions onpolitical issues through factual
(11:50):
analysis and, rather thanattacking the points of the
opposing party, we attempt tounderstand where their logic
stemming from and come toresolutions based on our
agreements rather than focusingon what we disagree with.
So at the university, I focuseda lot on individual policy
issues.
For example, I work with anorganization that focuses on
individual renter's rights, andso we've been focusing on those
(12:12):
sorts of issues that are ofmajor concern to students, while
making sure that we arefollowing the university
policies but continuing to pushfor freedom of speech for all
students.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You're an ambassador for this organization.
Free the Facts.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I am.
Yes.
We have the privilege ofhosting campus events and being
able to bring conversationsfocused on Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid spendingonto campus, and that's a really
wonderful opportunity forstudents who haven't been
exposed to those ideas, whetherat university or outside, to
have a better understanding ofhow congressional spending sort
(12:46):
of operates, and it does buildmore political awareness in our
community.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Do you guys think Social Security will be around
for you when you retire?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
There's definitely a lot of conversations regarding
how we are going to be able tomaintain these elections, and
especially when it comes towanting to have representatives
(13:22):
that are focused on making achange, that we can have social
security benefits when we hitretiring age.
That needs to be a main focusfor our political decisions.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Last summer at TFAS?
Did you find an atmospherethere that which we try to
promote of willingness to listento differing viewpoints of
civility when it came to talkingabout issues?
Caleb, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And I think last summer was a really cool summer
to be a part of TFAS, witheverything going on in our
country last summer, and I wouldsay that culture that you guys
have tried to foster isabsolutely evident.
You know just conversationswith fellow students in our
dorms just talking about youknow what was going on in the
country at that point in time.
Everyone's very respectful ofeach other and appreciated
(14:06):
different viewpoints and somepeople's opinions on certain
topics definitely changedthroughout the summer when they
were presented with facts ratherthan what we've seen a lot of
you know mainstream mediapromote.
But also like with the BraverAngels debate, I think that was
like another really good example.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I want to explain the Braver Angels debates that we
do in the summer.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
The Braver Angels debate.
I would say it's towards theend of the summer and our topic
this past year was around.
I want to say it was AI'simplementation in the military.
That was kind of the generalidea of it.
So the students who wanted todo it there were two sides and
they met up throughout thesummer to discuss what arguments
they were going to present andit really the respect for each
(14:46):
side that was fostered in theway in which the Braver Angels
debate was carried out justreally did foster this
environment of, like I said,respect.
I can't hammer that home enough.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Did you participate in that or attend that?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I was able to attend that debate and the thoughtful
analysis from each student whocame to the debate prepared to
talk about the issues and notfight about the issues.
It was really inspiring to see.
I mean, throughout the entiresummer I was able to become
close friends with my colleaguesthat have incredibly different
opinions from my own, and thosedaily debates where we were
(15:18):
fighting for our opinions butalso attempting to understand
the other side.
It was a really impactful wayto not only learn about other
people's opinions but challengemy own, because, as a young
academic, it's very important tobe open to the idea of other
perspectives and changing yourmind.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
One question I had that a little bit relates to the
brief mention of SocialSecurity.
Do you find that among yourclassmates there's a sense of
optimism about the future, thatthe American dream is still
alive, or do they tend to bepessimistic because we get so
much negative news all the time?
You know both parties arealways harping at how
(15:57):
everything's going to hell.
And what do you find, caleb?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
You know, I was having this conversation with my
roommate last night and I thinkfor those of us who are
involved in the political system, the DC world, you know, those
of us students who want to getthere eventually and care about
making a change, I would say weare optimistic because I think
we truly do want to see changein our country and we want to be
at the forefront of that.
(16:20):
So I would say we're optimistic.
But I would say, people whoaren't as educated on the
political state of our countrytoday I don't really know if
they're pessimistic about it.
It's kind of like they'reindifferent, almost.
Yeah.
But I would say for myself, I'mexcited for the future of the
country.
I think for all the donors heretoday, I can't thank you guys
enough for all that you havedone for TFAS pouring into the
(16:42):
next generation, because youtruly are investing in the
future of our country.
You know TFAS is raising upgreat leaders and you should
take confidence in the fact thatgreat leaders will continue to
lead in our nation because ofTFAS today.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I've found in my university, there certainly is a
little apprehension about theAmerican dream.
There is a fear that that maynot be a possibility, but that
doesn't change the fact thatthere's hope that it may be.
I think that my experience withTFAS allowed me to engage with
many students who are sopowerfully ambitious and ready
for the future and the work thatis done throughout the program
(17:16):
on focusing on careerdevelopment and also allowing us
to open our minds to theAmerican government and all the
different parts of ourgovernment system.
It really allows us to create amore detailed picture of what
our personal future might looklike and what the future of our
country might look like.
So I think that the opportunityto be a part of a program like
the Fund for American Studiesand all of the work that you all
(17:39):
do to allow that opportunity itreally does make an impact on
all do to allow that opportunity.
It really does make an impacton our ability to become strong
leaders.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I've noticed slightly over the past you know decade,
I'll say, maybe not even thatlong that the students coming to
our program are very serious,they're career-focused.
They're coming to kind ofsample different possible career
paths they might take and so weoffer them a lot of
opportunities to go of sampledifferent possible career paths
they might take and so we offerthem a lot of opportunities to
go to what we callcareer-focused activities, to
(18:07):
have a lunch with Chris Allman,for instance, for those
interested in communication, orKevin Seifert if they're
interested in politics andpolicy, and different people in
different professions, peoplefrom embassies, international
organizations.
And the students are reallyinterested in learning what's
this career path like and what'sthat one like?
(18:28):
You guys came already kind ofdetermined.
But do you sense that thestudents, the classmates you had
, are all kind of they are readyto go out and change the world,
looking at how can I best makea difference, how can I make a
career for myself in aparticular field?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I think so for sure.
I mean, I keep in touch with alot of my friends from TFAS last
summer and I think the thingeveryone is trying to figure out
is how do I get back to DC assoon as possible?
And right now a lot of peopleare in the waiting process of
internship applications, and soI found everyone who was taking
part in TFAS to be very serious,very focused on their career
(19:03):
and ready to make an impact.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I think a common statement that I heard from
students who were in TFAS thislast summer is that when they
came back to their home campus,they hit the ground running.
They became more involved oncampus.
They were able to joinorganizations focused on policy
and able to really advocate fortheir beliefs.
I know that personally.
One of our meetings at theAssociation for Prosecuting
Attorneys, where I was able tomeet with Sasha Betty, really
(19:26):
encouraged me to work at mylocal district attorney's office
.
It's an opportunity I wouldhave been apprehensive to join.
It's a very serious workplaceand I was nervous to apply for
such an incredible position, butthe encouragement from someone
in TFAS really pushed me toexplore options and understand
that our horizons are very openas young professionals and you
just have to take that leap.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
All of you attended an all-institute lecture by
Mitch Daniels and I don't knowif you'll remember the details
of his talk, but it was prettysobering.
Mitch Daniels used to be on ourboard of trustees.
He's now a trustee emeritus andhe came out and he gave a very
sobering talk about the buildupof debt and the deficits and
what he sensed was a comingfinancial crisis because of the
(20:09):
failure of our leadership inWashington to deal with the
deficit spending.
And it was kind of a warning toyour generation that you're
going to have to solve thisproblem, that we're leaving you.
We've failed, our generationhas failed.
It's going to be left to therising generation to deal with
the problem of financialcollapse in Washington, with
government and interest on thedebt is exceeding defense
(20:31):
spending and entitlements.
Nobody wants to touch theentitlements.
Is that something that you knowstudents are aware of?
You think Maybe through thethings you're doing at Pitt, you
know you're talking about it,but in general, are students
more, say, apathetic, like youmentioned, and just going
through without any thought tothese big problems overhanging
our country?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I would say in our poli-sci department we're very
aware of it because it comes upin a lot of our discussions
throughout class and I'd say youknow students who are not
focused on poli-sci orinternational relations.
They're aware of it.
I don't know how much itactually impacts their
day-to-day but I would say forthose of us in the poli-sci
department, we absolutely arevery aware of it and care deeply
about it.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I think that in my experience with students, I find
that people that have theknowledge, like we were shared,
from Mitch Daniels are excitedto change the course of our
spending issues.
Obviously, it's a verydifficult issue and it's not
going to be a simple problem tosolve, but that's part of why we
all are interested ingovernment and political science
.
It's because it's difficult,it's because we don't exactly
(21:35):
know what we're jumping into,and it's going to be a challenge
, and I do think that TFASreally pushes us to be ready for
those challenges and to buildthose skills.
So all the students coming outof the Fund for American Studies
are really ready for facingthose challenges.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Well, great, it's good to have students with us
and I'm glad we had a chance tohave a conversation with two of
you.
I do want to open it up toquestions from our audience here
in Naples at our donorconference.
So I see microphones in theback of the room.
There's Joe Stars and JaneMazzella, so raise your hand if
you'd like to ask two of thesebright young people, who are
(22:10):
going to be leaders in thefuture, some questions.
I see one over there.
My name's Thomas.
I did the summer program thissummer as well with y'all.
I would love to hear about yourfavorite day from the summer
just like a 24-hour period.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
that you won't forget .
I think that one of the mostinteresting days I had with CFAS
was when we went down to thehouse floor and were briefed by
two members of the house.
That was one of the mostincredible experiences.
But I was able to start my daywith a conference at my work and
I was able to hear from a lotof the executive directors and
(22:45):
the people really involved inthe USDA that are working on
some of the major policy issues.
So I was able to engage in someof those conversations and
learn a lot more about sort ofhow the department is run,
because it's a massivedepartment, there's a lot of
moving parts and it is alwaysinteresting to sort of dive
deeper into understanding what'sgoing on and then following
that up with being on the Housefloor.
(23:06):
It's a pretty incredibleexperience and something I will
honestly never forget.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
For myself, it was definitely the day of the
congressional baseball game.
That morning I was able to meetone of my senators from
Mississippi, and then thatafternoon we went to my firm.
We went to the Capitol HillClub for a pregame reception and
was able to talk to SteveGarvey, who was running for
Senate out there in California.
But also the same day was theVivek Ramaswamy lecture, and I
(23:32):
guess I tell this story to say Iwas able to talk to Mr
Ramaswamy after about AI and thefuture of AI in our country and
the ethical impacts of AI.
But then that night at thecongressional game I met Speaker
Mike Johnson.
And so in that day I met somevery powerful people in
Washington, very influentialpeople who I have a lot of
respect for, and at the end ofthe day I was just like I'm 19
(23:52):
years old and just talked tofour amazing people.
I don't really know how thishappened, but it was that.
I will never forget that day,that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Did you go to most of those Capitol Hill lectures or?
Speaker 3 (24:07):
I did.
Yeah, I really enjoyed them.
They were very insightful.
The COVID-19 ones were veryinteresting and thought
provoking, to say the least.
I really enjoyed it, and evenwith Vivek Ramaswamy, I thought
he gave a very great speech thatseemed to be pretty bipartisan,
and something I reallyappreciated was that he called
out flaws in both the Republicanand Democratic Party, because
you know, I think there are onCapitol Hill Senator Rand Paul's
office usually can reserve alarge room, a Senate hearing
(24:46):
room on the Hill, and we send aninvitation to every
congressional office on CapitolHill, all 435 House offices, all
100 Senate offices, plus to allour students.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And we'll get two, three, sometimes up to 400
interns in Washington to come tothese lectures.
And Vivek Ramaswamy did oneLast summer.
It was packed, it was standingroom only.
We had people in the hallwatching it on monitors.
But we also had Rand Paul gaveone of the lectures and Jay
Bhattacharya gave a lecture andtalked about how he was treated
(25:20):
at Stanford when he raisedquestions, scientific questions,
about how we were responding toCOVID.
We've had Marty Makary a lot ofvery interesting lectures in
that series that you'rereferencing, Caleb.
Are there other questions?
I see one in the middle here.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
My name is Natalia Miguel.
I go to Florida InternationalUniversity and I graduated
alongside y'all this summerwithin TFAS.
You mentioned that aftercompleting TFAS, students hit
the ground running on their homecampuses, which I completely
agree with.
Can you share some of theinitiatives and projects or
leadership roles you've taken onsince your summer with TFAS?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
So I joined Free the Facts as an ambassador right
after leaving TFAS.
I was able to obviously work ona lot of events with them and
get more involved in bipartisandebate.
I also joined the OCC HonorSociety and became an ambassador
for them, which encouragesstudents to work on career
development outside of theclassroom.
It's definitely an emphasis onbuilding up leadership qualities
(26:20):
in younger students.
It's definitely an emphasis onbuilding up leadership qualities
in younger students.
So I was working on encouragingfreshmen and sophomore students
to sort of jump to college andenjoy all of the opportunities
that we have on our campus.
And then I also started myinternship at the Allegheny
County District Attorney'sOffice right when I joined in.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Being a student athlete it takes up most of my
time, but when I got back toschool, we recently just
launched a pre-law society, so Ijust got involved with that and
I'm really looking forward tobeing involved with it.
Throughout my last nine monthsat Wheaton but I would
definitely say recently, withthe controversy on campus that's
where I've probably had thebiggest involvement and most
influence amongst my peers, justcultivating positive
(26:57):
conversations about what's goingon on campus right now and
trying to educate people onfactually what is actually
happening.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I think we have time for one more question, if there
is another question.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
What can people of the older generation do who are
too old to come to TFAS?
What can we do other than?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
doubling our contributions to TFAS.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Drip all that.
I was obviously a Teaguescholar last summer and I'm so
appreciative of Chairman Teagueand the investment he made in me
financially.
But I just want to take asecond to honor Chairman Teague
for the impact that he's made onmy life, just in terms of the
wisdom and the advice that hehas just poured into me and his
kindness and generositythroughout our conversations
(27:42):
since last summer have trulymarked my life so seriously.
You know, I was readingactually in Romans last night
and it talks about, you know,outdoing one another and showing
honor.
And I just wanted to honorChairman Teague today and I
think the impact that he made inmy life in terms of what he
invested in me from a faithstandpoint, things that he
(28:03):
learned throughout his career inDC, giving me advice on my
future, I think that's made thebiggest impact on me personally
and I think, for the oldergeneration, as you said, I think
that is really importantbecause you guys do have a lot
of wisdom and I think it's safeto say that our generation wants
to seek out that wisdom.
Sorry for all the biblicalreferences, but in Proverbs, you
know, wisdom is heavilyemphasized.
(28:24):
If you look at King Solomon andwhat happened to his life.
When he asked God for wisdom,god said you know, I'll give you
whatever you want, and he chosewisdom, and because of that God
blessed him tenfold.
And so, for me, I personallypray for wisdom all the time,
but I've noticed that God hasdefinitely put people in my life
, oftentimes older than me, withtons of wisdom to invest in me,
and I am so appreciative ofthat.
(28:45):
So just invest your wisdom intothe next generation, for sure.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
T-Fast does have a mentorship program that I was
involved in this last summer,and it is really incredible to
hear directly from yourexperience even the parts of
your experience that you don'tthink students want to hear
about.
We do, we really, really do.
We want to learn about all ofyour struggles, all of your
triumphs, and even if yourexperience is not directly
connected to where we're goingin our career, there's so much
(29:10):
value that we can learn fromeach and every person.
I know that every alumni that Iinteracted with at the Fund for
American Studies has taught mesomething incredibly valuable
and tangible.
So just keep telling peopleabout your experience and
showing up.
We are so grateful to have youhere.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
We may have the seed here of a new program of tying
students, connecting studentswith donors.
Nowadays that's much easier, ofcourse, with the technology we
have around, because now ourstudents are assigned to mentors
who are in careers inWashington DC where they can
meet for coffee during thesummer.
But there are ways to do thatin other ways as well.
So that's a great question.
(29:46):
Thank you for asking that.
Catherine mentioned theexperience of going onto the
House floor and I don't know ifit was mentioned yesterday, but
Congressman David Kustoff, whowas with us, and Congressman
David Rauser from North Carolina, both alums of our program who
are serving in Congress, host us, host the students on the floor
of the House of Representatives.
We go early in the morningbecause we have to get there
(30:08):
before the House goes intosession.
We can't accommodate all thestudents because the security
process to go to the floor is along one and it's a long line.
They go through to get screened, but they get to sit on the
floor of the House whereCongresswoman will be sitting in
a few hours, where worldleaders like Winston Churchill
and American presidents andVáclav Havel and others have
(30:30):
spoken to Congress and to theAmerican people, and get briefed
by members of Congress.
It really is a thrill.
I try to go as often as I canwith the students and you can't
get enough of that opportunityto be on the floor of the House.
I'm glad you brought that up,catherine.
That is a special opportunity.
They also go, of course, tobriefings at other important
government agencies and thinktanks and places around town.
(30:54):
During the course of the summerwe offer a monument tour one
evening where they go to theLincoln Memorial, the Jefferson
Memorial, the WashingtonMonument and other sites, and
occasionally they have a fewmoments free to go to museums
like the Smithsonian and others.
But we do keep them pretty busy.
Thank you so much, caleb andCatherine Appreciate you being
with us for this, thank you.
(31:15):
Thank you for listening to theLiberty and Leadership podcast.
If you have a comment orquestion, please drop us an
email at podcast at tfasorg andbe sure to subscribe to the show
on your favorite podcast appand leave a five-star review.
Liberty and Leadership isproduced at Podville Media.
(31:37):
I'm your host, roger Ream, anduntil next time, show courage in
things, large and small.
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