Introducing More Students to Ayn Rand's Ideas
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Volume 11, Number 9, September 2005 Introducing More Students to Ayn Rand’s Ideas he 14,332 high school students who entered Ayn Rand’s works but, for lack of funding, cannot Tthe Ayn Rand Institute’s annual essay contest obtain enough copies for their classrooms. With in 2005 will soon receive an acknowledgement of the books, we also send suggested lesson-plans their effort and an invitation to read another of Ayn and teachers guides. Rand’s novels—in the form of a free copy of The In the last three years the Institute has distrib- Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged. uted more than 165,000 free books. Whereas, to In the fall ARI will send all students who date, the flyers have produced a steadily grow- submitted essays to The Fountainhead contest ing stream of book requests, the Web site has the last academic year a complimentary copy of potential to generate a torrent. Atlas Shrugged. These students are entering their ARI’s ability to supply books depends senior year in school or have recently graduated; on funding. The decision to invite teachers to those starting college are eligible to enter our request books online was made after the Institute contest on Atlas. received a million-dollar contribution to help All 9,525 students who entered the Anthem fund the program. contest as freshmen or sophomores in 2005 will soon receive a copy of The Fountainhead. Of these Foundation’s Grant Is Matched—Again former entrants, students now in the 11th grade are For the second straight year, a foundation in eligible to enter the Fountainhead contest. Wyoming offered ARI a matching grant for half Over the last two decades, these annual essay the cost of sponsoring the Free Books to Teachers contests have introduced tens of thousands of stu- Program in that state. In August ARI announced dents to Ayn Rand’s novels. To the contest winners the foundation’s offer to our donors by e-mail. and runners-up we have been sending information Ninety minutes later the Institute received ten on Miss Rand’s other writings; occasionally we pledges from donors all over the country to pro- have offered books to the winners. But, thanks vide the rest of the funds needed to sponsor books to additional funding, the Institute is now able to in Wyoming. send free books to all entrants. * * * Ayn Rand’s novels dramatize a profoundly original view of “man as a heroic being, with his Reprinted below are comments from several own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, teachers who have benefited from ARI’s Free with productive achievement as his noblest activ- Books to Teachers program. ity, and reason as his only absolute.” The Institute’s essay contests, like our Free Books to Teachers I have been teaching Rand’s novel for years and program, aim to bring Miss Rand’s literary classics students have always had to buy the novel to par- into classrooms, in order to reach students—the ticipate. This will enable me to teach it to even voters and decision-makers of the next genera- more of my students. Thanks so much! tion—while they are still open to new ideas. — Sarah Davis Silver Creek Central School Using the Web to Reach Teachers Silver Creek, New York * * * Nationwide Thank you!!! I have not had funds to buy new High school teachers have been tremendously class sets of books for three years. Anthem will be welcoming—even incredulous—of ARI’s offer used in 10th grade and The Fountainhead in 12th. to send them free classroom sets of Anthem and — Nadine Stacy The Fountainhead for use in their classes. So far, Ripley Central School we have advertised this offer by mailing flyers to Ripley, New York schools in select cities, counties and states—those * * * regions for which we have received prior funding I have always been interested in Rand’s novels, from our donors. but our school simply can’t afford to buy new texts But now teachers anywhere can ask for books right now. This is a fabulous incentive for me and by filling out a simple form on ARI’s Web site. my students. Thank you! After adding this form to our site, ARI sent an — Meredith Licht e-mail notification to teachers who had previously Brevard High School expressed interest in teaching Ayn Rand’s books. Brevard, North Carolina Within 24 hours of that e-mail, 200 teachers went * * * online and requested more than 11,000 books. I had been thinking about teaching Anthem, and Many teachers also sent us favorable comments this has confirmed my decision. Thank you! about the program (see sidebar). — Jennifer Allinder ABOVE: Pictured here are the new editions of The Started in 2002, the Free Books program sup- Pinson Valley High School Romantic Manifesto and We the Living, commemorating plies books to educators who would like to teach Pinson, Alabama the 100th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s birth. From the Ayn Rand Archives, a Special Collection of the Ayn Rand Institute Throughout 2005—the centenary of Ayn Rand’s birth—Impact will showcase historic photographs, documents and other items that illuminate Ayn Rand’s life and achievements. This premise is intimately related to reason: The Benevolent “If a man does recognize and adhere to real- ity, then he can achieve his values in reality; he Universe Premise can and, other things being equal, he will. For Each month Impact suggests readings and other the moral man, failures, though possible, are resources for fans of Ayn Rand’s fiction who wish an exception to the rule. The rule is success. to learn more about her philosophy, Objectivism. The state of consciousness to be fought for and expected is happiness. t the start of The Fountainhead, Howard “The rejection of this viewpoint,” Dr. Peikoff ARoark is expelled from architecture school. continues, “is what Ayn Rand calls the ‘malevo- His career is seemingly over before it begins. lent universe’ premise (others have called it the Other obstacles confront him throughout the story, ‘tragic sense of life’). This premise states that man yet he remains unbowed; he believes that, despite cannot achieve his values; that successes, though the setbacks, he can succeed. This premise— possible, are an exception; that the rule of human which many of Ayn Rand’s heroes share—is given life is failure and misery.” (It is no accident that voice by a character in Atlas Shrugged: “It is not philosophies that reject reason and uphold faith or happiness, but suffering, that we consider unnatu- another alleged source of mystic insight regard the ral. It is not success but calamity that we regard as world as a vale of tears, with suffering and failure the abnormal exception in human life.” as man’s lot in life.) This idea is what Miss Rand termed the For further reading on the benevolent universe Featured this month are neither archival photographs nor “benevolent universe premise.” premise, see chapter 9 of Dr. Peikoff’s Objectiv- manuscript pages, but one book born of many audio record- “‘Benevolence’ in this context is not a syn- ism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, particularly the ings in the Archives: Ayn Rand Answers: The Best of Her onym for kindness,” explains Dr. Leonard Peikoff section “Happiness as the Normal Condition of Q & A, edited by Dr. Robert Mayhew. Transcribed, edited and in his book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Man.” Also consider his taped course “Certainty organized topically, Miss Rand’s extemporaneous comments Rand. “[I]t does not mean that the universe cares and Happiness.” Ayn Rand mentions the benevo- on a variety of issues—ranging from sex to drugs to Vietnam about man or wishes to help him. The universe lent universe premise in her essay “The Inexpli- to theories of truth—will soon be available in print for the first has no desires; it simply is. Man must care about cable Personal Alchemy” (Return of the Primitive). time. Some of the questions she addresses are on issues and adapt to it, not the other way around. If he In Dr. Robert Mayhew’s course “Ayn Rand on that she did not discuss elsewhere. As with books like Letters does adapt to it, however, then the universe is Humor,” some time is spent discussing how the of Ayn Rand and Journals of Ayn Rand, which also relied on ‘benevolent’ in another sense: ‘auspicious to benevolent universe premise shapes her use of the Archives, this new volume makes accessible to millions of readers substantive intellectual material which, before now, human life.’” humor in her novels. had been difficult, if not impossible, to come by. * * * Ayn Rand Answers is scheduled for publication later this Audio of Atlantis Legacy Event because Ayn Rand’s work and her values continue month. Copies of the book may be pre-ordered from the to live after her life. And your supporting the Insti- Ayn Rand Bookstore. (237 pages; softcover; $10.20). Available on Online tute in the way that you do means that your work For more information and to order, visit: www.aynrandbookstore.com or call 1-800-729-6149. and your values will also live after your life—and, During the Ayn Rand Centenary like Ayn Rand, you’ll live forever.” AL celebration in Southern California Atlantis Legacy donors are those who have In the Media: Selected Highlights earlier this year, ARI hosted a special luncheon for arranged bequests and other estate gifts to ARI by participants in the Atlantis Legacy (the Institute’s including the Institute as a primary or contingent Broadcast: In June the Institute’s senior fellow, planned giving program) that featured an infor- beneficiary through a will, insurance policy, retire- Dr.