Sam Weaver will be a senior this year at Davidson College in North Carolina, majoring in English and minoring in philosophy. He is also a second-year student in the Objectivist Academic Center.
Grace Gumina is a senior, double majoring in French and international relations at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Gumina explains why she was inspired to study French: “I took French in high school and loved it, so I decided to continue on in college. I think it’s very important to learn another language in today’s increasingly connected world.” She decided to also pursue international relations due to an interest in global politics and history.
ARI celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Anthem essay contest, which launched October 2, 1992. Click to read the winning essay in the 2017 Anthem essay contest, submitted by Elisabeth Schlossel from The Spence School in New York, New York.
Zach Johnson is a philosophy major at St. John’s University in New York City. Johnson, a senior, says he became a philosophy major because he is “interested in the connection between ethics and metaphysics, conceptions of human beings, free markets, and the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche. I’m also interested in logic, Friedrich Hayek, and education’s role in social change.” He explains that he had “great English teachers, especially in high school,” who inspired him to read even more philosophic texts. “I was stunned by Plato’s Republic, along with Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Interested in exploring Ayn Rand’s novels and ideas with like-minded students who share your interests? Start an Objectivist club on your college campus!
Sam Weaver, a student at Davidson College in North Carolina and current intern at ARI, recently completed the first year of ARI’s Objectivist Academic Center three-year program. He shares his thoughts on the value of the intellectual training program.
Occasionally, in a blog post, we will highlight important parts of the Ayn Rand Institute’s Annual Report. For 2016, our focus is on the Institute’s Free Books to Teachers program from the perspective of Shoshana Milgram, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech and long-time supporter of the program.
