Find more information on the McLellan Prizes here.

On October 23, we gathered in Grand Rapids with partners organizations to remember the life and legacy of William F. Buckley Jr. Two panels—The Role of Education in a Free Society and Fusionisms, Old and New—brought together scholars, writers, and teachers to examine Buckley’s enduring influence on debates about education, culture, and political life. A special presentation on Otto von Habsburg and William F. Buckley Jr. added a perspective from the standpoint of Europe.

We are grateful to the Acton Institute for hosting, and to the National Review Institute and Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation for co-sponsoring. Together, we took an important step toward re-engaging Buckley’s voice for our own time. Buckley was essential in helping to foster the postwar conservative intellectual movement in America—and his wit, intelligence, and civility continue to be an example to rising generations.

Our Politics of Prudence Seminars bring together state legislators and policymakers who want to deepen their understanding of the conservative intellectual tradition and apply conservative principles to contemporary challenges. On October 24 – 25, we welcomed fifteen such legislators and policymakers for a seminar on Reconfiguring American Conservatism: Then and Now. George H. Nash, the leading historian of the American conservative intellectual movement, guided participants through the origins, reconfiguration, and future prospects for conservatism in America.

Clark Durant, founder of Cornerstone Schools in Detroit—a network of inner-city charter schools—principal Andy Anuzis, and administrator Elijah Richardson participated in the seminar and offered examples of character formation in schools. We were also joined by two members of the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, Gergely Prőhle and Bence Kocsev, whose perspectives from the standpoint of Europe enriched the discussion. Together, they brought out a truth at the heart of Russell Kirk’s thought: that any genuine renewal of the political order must first begin with the renewal of culture.

From October 16–18, the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal welcomed twenty Public Policy Fellows from The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) for a weekend seminar on “The Roots of American Order as the Foundation for a New Fusionism.” Gathering in the historic Russell Kirk Library and ancestral home in Mecosta, the fellows and faculty reflected on Kirk’s understanding of the American political tradition as described in The Roots of American Order (1974).

The seminar was led by Dr. David Corey, Director of Baylor in Washington and Professor of Political Science in the Baylor University Honors Program. He was joined by Dr. Bradley Birzer, the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and Professor of History at Hillsdale College, who co-led the discussions. The weekend opened with remarks by Michael Lucchese, founder of Pipe Creek Consulting, who introduced the fellows to the seminar topic. Drawing upon Kirk’s work and related texts, participants examined the interplay between freedom and order, individuality and community, and the role of the “moral imagination” in sustaining a free society.

This year’s fellows came from many of the nation’s leading institutions of thought and policy, including the Thomistic Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Georgetown University, Providence Magazine, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the Hudson Institute, among others.

This July, the Russell Kirk Center’s new School of Conservative Studies hosted its first in-person seminar, “The American Political Novel,” welcoming a select group of scholars and professionals to Mecosta. This program highlighted the intersection of politics, literature, and the moral imagination.

Dr. David Hein, the Center’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow and author of Teaching the Virtues, guided the discussions, delivered lectures, and incorporated writing prompts on which participants received thoughtful feedback.

The seminar centered on a careful study of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, which literary critic Sanford Pinsker called “the best serious novel about politics ever written in America.” Participants examined the themes of virtue and vice, power and corruption, the difficult balance between ends and means, and the enduring reality of human imperfectability—proof of why All the King’s Men remains as relevant today as when it was first published.

As Russell Kirk reminded us, “Real literature is something much better than a harmless instrument for getting through idle hours. The purpose of great literature is to help us to develop into full human beings.” This inaugural seminar of the School of Conservative Studies embodied that conviction—inviting participants not only to read a great work, but to wrestle with its moral truths and deepen their understanding of the human condition.

The Russell Kirk Center recently welcomed interns from the Mackinac Center for their annual intellectual retreat, this year centered on the theme “Russell Kirk and the Conservative Disposition.”

Joining them were two distinguished scholars whose expertise bridged both theory and practice: Dr. Ryan Streeter, Executive Director of the Civitas Institute and former domestic policy advisor in federal and state government, and Dr. Lee Trepanier, Dean of the D’Amour College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Assumption University and a leading scholar of political science and civic education.

The day began with Dr. Trepanier’s introduction to the conservative intellectual movement in America, which led into his talk, “Russell Kirk on Liberal and Character Education.” This talk connected Kirk’s conservatism to the broader tradition of the liberal arts. Dr. Streeter then followed with a talk entitled “Conservatism and Community: Civil Society and the Value of Moral Habits,” bringing the insights of modern social science into a compelling case for the importance of intermediary institutions—families, schools, churches, and voluntary associations—in fostering human flourishing. Taken together, their insights offered interns both a practical roadmap and an intellectual foundation for understanding modern conservative thought.

Now home to the School of Conservative Studies, the Russell Kirk Center continues its mission of forming a new generation in the best tradition of conservatism.