Young America's Foundation - Conferences

Conferences

Annually, Young America’s Foundation holds high school conferences to share conservative views with high school students from around the country. More specifically, it hosts The National High School Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. and the Reagan Ranch High School Conference in Santa Barbara, California. These conferences are intended to introduce students to conservative thought and no prior experience on the subject is necessary. The conferences consist of briefings and discussions with conservative leaders. Tours for the respective locations are also given.

College conferences are also a part of YAF’s activities. The National Conservative Student Conference held its 30th annual meeting on August 3–9, 2008 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. This conference brings conservative leaders from across to country to speak to college students interested in learning about conservative thought. Some speakers from the 2008 conference include George Allen and Fred Barnes. Founder Ron Robinson, president of YAF, says that after attending these conferences, he hopes that students understand that “they are not going to get a complete education from their schools.”

The West Coast Leadership Conference was held November 14–15, 2008 in Santa Barbara, California. The conference featured several speakers on a variety of topics including free markets, limited government, national defense, personal responsibility, traditional values, and the ideas and principles of President Ronald Reagan. The conference is the largest of the Conservative Movement of its type. It offered books, resources, and networking opportunities.

Young America’s Foundation also holds a number of regional conferences across the country. There will be a Midwest Conference held in Chicago on March 13–14, 2009. Young America’s Foundation’s lectures and conferences have had noteworthy success even in more liberal settings. For example, in 2004, Ben Stein, a former Comedy Central host and Nixon aide, spoke at Duke University on behalf of YAF. According to a New York Times article, it was the biggest event of the semester in which 200 students had to be turned away at the doors. Stein’s speech garnered more interest than the lecture given nearly two months earlier by Maya Angelou.