Hillsdale College Hosts National Leadership Seminar, “America’s Uncertain Future”
Hillsdale, Mich. — Hillsdale College hosted a National Leadership Seminar (NLS) titled “America’s Uncertain Future” in Naples on Feb. 23-24. The two-day event featured speakers from across the country speaking on topics including election polling, race in America, and the importance of protecting citizens’ rights.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke on “Challenges to American Liberty,” specifically addressing threats to American freedom that arose during the pandemic. DeSantis, who prevented repeated lockdowns in Florida, said he drew his inspiration from President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address, which warned of an emerging military industrial complex and scientific and technological elite that would hold public policy captive.
“I got elected governor to make decisions and to lead. I did not get elected to subcontract out leadership to people like Dr. Fauci,” DeSantis said. “If the cost of me protecting the freedoms, jobs, livelihoods, and education of millions throughout my state … happens to be that I endanger my own job, then so be it. That’s the price of leadership, and you’ve got to be willing to do it.”
Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn addressed the issues facing American education and his work at Hillsdale College to resist ideological threats from the Left.
“I live in a world of increasing hope and opportunity … and I think that’s because we at Hillsdale College stand up against this,” said Dr. Arnn. “I think that anybody who does — and more will — that’s where the victory is to be won. And you are going to have to help win it.”
Jason Riley of The Manhattan Institute discussed the continuing importance of economist and writer Thomas Sowell, who wasn’t afraid to communicate unpopular truths.
“What makes America unique is not slavery; it’s emancipation,” said Riley. “It’s how fast we went from slavery to Martin Luther King to a black president. The economic and social progress of black Americans in only a few generations … is what makes America unique.”
Riley urged serious historians to take a note from Sowell and stop being afraid of those who push divisive falsehoods about America.
View photos from the event here. Talks from the NLS can be found on the College’s Freedom Library.