Friday, December 6, 2019

Liberty University Launches Its Own Think Tank

Here is more from The News & Advance:

Liberty University has added a new institution to its ever-expanding campus: a think tank.
The school announced Saturday the launch of the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty, which aims to shape government policies, national institutions and American culture around Judeo-Christian principles.
The center is the brainchild of Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Charlie Kirk, the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization with close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The nonprofit Falkirk Center, which is named after its co-founders, will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty University and will be based in Lynchburg. The center is funded by the university, which boasts an endowment of nearly $1.5 billion, according to a financial audit released by the school. A director has not yet been named.
Erika Lane Frantzve, a former Miss Arizona USA winner; Josh Allen Murray, a former contestant on “The Bachelorette;” Antonia Okafor Cover, the spokesperson for Gun Owners of America; David J. Harris Jr., a conservative author; and Jaco Booyens, a conservative filmmaker, have all been named as the center’s first fellows.
In addition to the fellows, more than 60 “ambassadors” have joined the project to educate high school and college-age students about the “inseparable intersection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and American first freedoms and liberties” through social media, Kirk said in an interview Tuesday.

A number of think tanks in the US are housed within colleges and universities, although only a handful advocate for policies from a conservative religious position.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Think Tank Quickies (#366)

  • Spotted at the Hudson Institute's annual Herman Kahn Award dinner: Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Hall, Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Chris Wallace, and many others.
  • Heather Nauert is joining the Hudson Institute as a senior fellow focusing on foreign policy.
  • 133 foreign policy officials, including think tankers, endorse Joe Biden.
  • More than 650 Clinton campaign and administration alum came together at their 4th reunion at USIP.
  • Nearly 200 FBI investigations into stolen research by Chinese underway at major academic centers in US.
  • Meet a think tank: The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS).
  • Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS): A think tank focused on public policy advocacy for Baltimore's black residents. 
  • Joseph Overton created his legacy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy: the "Overton Window."
  • Gustav Gressel at ECFR published a report on how Germany ignored the interests of its EU neighbors and Ukraine to force through the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline deal with Russia.  Within hours, Miguel Berger at the German foreign ministry took to Twitter demanding an apology. 
  • Will Tanner, director of the center-right Onward think tank, made a contribution to the British political lexicon: "Workington Man."