Volume 10, Number 3, March 2004 Fellowship at University In the Media: Brook on Fox News; ARI Op-Eds in of Texas Is Renewed Major Newspapers The fellowship for the study of Dr. Gotthelf tells Impact that he wrote a On February 14 Dr. , executive at the University of Texas at Austin, which paper, “ on Concepts, Definitions, and director of the Ayn Rand Institute, was a guest on was established in 2000, has been renewed for Essences,” which was presented at the annual At Large with Geraldo Rivera, which airs on the another three-year term. meeting of The Ayn Rand Society, held in conjunc- top-rated Fox News Channel. The subject of the Established by the Anthem Foundation for tion with the American Philosophical Association, interview was the future of Iraq’s political system. Objectivist Scholarship, the fellowship is the first Eastern Division, meetings on December 28, 2003. A former United States ambassador to Iraq was of its kind. The principal beneficiary has been The paper was part of a panel titled “Ayn Rand on also interviewed during the program. Dr. Brook Dr. Tara Smith, associate professor of philoso- Concepts, Essences, and Scientific Progress.” He is argued that Iraq should become a state that protects phy at the university. In the last three years the currently teaching a course on concepts, essences individual rights, with a constitution modeled after fellowship has sponsored scholarly gatherings, and the objectivity of kinds, which includes sub- that of the United States, and not a state ruled by workshops for graduate students and scholar- stantial coverage of the Objectivist theory. whichever ethnic group constitutes the majority. ships, among other types of support. In November Dr. Gotthelf was invited to * * * Under the auspices of the fellowship, give a guest lecture on to a large From October to March grocery workers in several Objectivist scholars—including introductory class at the University of California were on strike against three supermarket Dr. Harry Binswanger, Dr. Allan Gotthelf North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The invitation came chains, Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway. The labor and Dr. Darryl Wright—have been visiting from the department of philosophy and the course dispute attracted a great deal of state-wide news instructors at the school. instructor, who was teaching the book. coverage. Commenting on the dispute between the This semester Dr. Smith is teaching a * * * employers and the workers, ARI issued “Exploiters freshman honors seminar titled “Values in Ashland University Joint beneficiaries of the vs. Victims in the Grocery Strike,” an op-ed by the Fiction and Philosophy of Ayn Rand.” As fellowship are Dr. C. Bradley Thompson, professor Elan Journo and Dr. Brian P. Simpson. part of this course, Dr. Shoshana Milgram, a of history and political science, and Dr. John The published the article, literature professor at Virginia Tech, will come Lewis, assistant professor of history. Established: under a different title, on January 29. The Times to give two guest lectures on Atlas Shrugged. The three-year fellowships began in 2002. has a circulation of more than one million. Several Plans are underway for another guest lecturer In the spring, thanks to the support of the fel- other newspapers and Web sites also carried it. and for a private workshop at which a number lowship, Dr. Lewis will be Visiting Scholar in the The piece was referred to (and sometimes quoted) of Objectivist scholars can discuss their works Department of Classical Studies at Rice University in several newspaper stories on the strike, most in progress. in Houston, Texas. Dr. Thompson is at work on notably in the British newspaper The Guardian. During this academic year, Dr. Amy Peikoff a book comparing the French and American The full text of the piece is reprinted on page 2. is a visiting lecturer at the school, also under Revolutions, and Dr. Lewis is at work on a book * * * the auspices of the fellowship. Last semester she about homeland defense in history. In January, as the trial of Martha Stewart began, taught an undergraduate course on contemporary A scholarly gathering on business ethics was ARI rereleased “Martha and the Tall Poppies,” moral problems and another (upper division) held at Ashland University last year under the an op-ed by senior writer Robert Tracinski. That course on ethical theories, surveying the role of auspices of the fellowship. article was published by 20 newspapers and Web reason in the ethics of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, the * * * sites, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Orange Pragmatists and Ayn Rand. This semester she is Drs. John Lewis, Amy Peikoff, Tara Smith County Register and Herald Sun of Australia, again teaching the course on moral problems and and C. Bradley Thompson will be lecturing at reaching a circulation of more than two million. also an upper-division introductory course on Objectivist Summer Conference 2004 in July. It was also reprinted on MarthaTalks.com, theories of knowledge. Mrs. Peikoff has studied Miss Stewart’s personal Web site, which helped at ARI’s Objectivist Academic Center and has bring it to the attention of countless more readers. been an instructor in the program. Peikoff Course Available Online The New York Times on January 25 ran In addition to the fellowship at the If you have yet to register for Dr. ’s new a short article, “And in the Right Corner, a University of Texas, the Anthem Foundation has course, “The DIM Hypothesis”—which began on February Defense for Martha Stewart,” that mentioned Mr. established two other fellowships, at Ashland 5—you may still do so. Latecomers are welcome to catch Tracinski’s article among several others posted on University in Ohio and most recently at the up with the class by listening to the online archive of audio MarthaTalks.com. Subsequently, Mr. Tracinski’s University of Pittsburgh. recordings. piece was mentioned in Fortune magazine, the The foundation is a nonprofit organization The teleconference sessions meet at 6 p.m., Pacific Boston Globe and Canada’s Globe and Mail. standard time, on these dates: March 4, 11, 18; April 15, 22, separate from ARI, but shares the Institute’s goal 29; May 6, 13, 20, 27; and June 3 (there were four sessions * * * of promoting the academic study of Objectivism. in February). President Bush in January outlined his plans for The foundation makes grants exclusively to The option of listening to the entire course online may the future of America’s space program, calling universities for teaching, writing and research on be of interest to those whose schedule prevents them from for manned missions to the moon and to Mars. Ayn Rand’s ideas. attending the live teleconference session. In response, we issued an updated version of Based on Dr. Peikoff’s book-in-progress (The DIM Hypoth- esis), the 15-session course looks at how philosophy shapes “Privatize the Space Program” by ARI writer Dr. Updates on Anthem Fellows a culture, analyzing areas as diverse as physics, psychology Robert Garmong. The article was carried by the University of Pittsburgh Dr. Allan Gotthelf, and parenting. A detailed course outline is available on our National Post of Canada, the Philadelphia Inquirer Visiting Professor in the Department of History Web site. and seven other newspapers and Web sites. It and Philosophy of Science, is also on the faculty The registration fee for general participants is $445, and reached a circulation of more than one million. of the Graduate Program in Classics, Philosophy for full-time students it is $245. For the course description In the article Dr. Garmong writes: “Extending and to register, please call 800-365-6552, ext. 239, or visit and Ancient Science. Established: The three-year www.objectivistconferences.com. man’s reach into space is not, as some have appointment began in 2003. continued on page 3 ARI Op-Ed: Exploiters vs. Victims in the Grocery Strike This editorial was produced by the Institute’s op-ed program and published (with some alterations) in the January 29 issue of the Los Angeles Times. The Times used a different title for the piece, “Union Packs Unfair Punch in Grocery Strike.” Several other newspapers and Web sites also carried it. University-Level Courses is flexible: students can work through it in four By Elan Journo and Brian Simpson years, but may take longer if they need to.) on Objectivism Although we seek students who intend The California grocery strike has entered its careers as professional intellectuals, the OAC is Each month Impact suggests readings and other fourth month—and there is no end in sight. also open to auditors—participants who attend resources for fans of Ayn Rand’s fiction who wish Workers are still picketing stores, the shelves are classes but who do not submit assignments to be to learn more about her philosophy, Objectivism. understocked, and profits are dwindling. Talks graded, nor take part in tutorials. between the grocery chains and the United Food Courses that are open to auditors vary from and Commercial Workers’ union have failed to RI’s Objectivist Academic Center offers year to year. They are posted on our Web site resolve the mutually harmful conflict. Why? Auniversity-level courses on Ayn Rand’s in the fall and announced in Impact. Auditors If the union’s demands are outrageous, why philosophy that are available nowhere else. may attend courses in a sequence that suits their can’t the stores walk away? The stores have hired The four-year undergraduate program, which interest. OAC courses are usually scheduled for substitute employees, so evidently some people is meant to supplement rather than replace weekday evenings, starting between 5 and 7 p.m. accept the stores’ working conditions. Why can’t a college degree, aims to give students a Eastern time. If your schedule allows, you can the stores fire the strikers and end the dispute? The grounding in the basics of Objectivism. arrange to audit a course live via teleconference, stores can neither back out nor dismiss strikers In the first year we explore the subject along with graded students. But for most because they are forced by law to deal with the of philosophy as such and teach students the auditors, listening to audio recordings of courses union. That coercive power of the union is a gross rudiments of logical thinking and writing. The via the Internet is far more convenient. violation of the employers’ and workers’ rights. second year is devoted to understanding the You can listen to a course online as Imagine if laws existed requiring shoppers basic principles of Objectivism: students take a and when you have time in the week. The to buy groceries from one store only, but yearlong seminar using Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s recordings are made available soon after allowed some room for haggling over price. book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand each class takes place, and are archived. The Would the trade between a shopper and the as their text. archives remain accessible until the start of the store be considered voluntary? No. Everyone The third year further explores the next academic year. Auditors also have access would scream that individuals should be free to philosophy of Objectivism by looking at some to the e-mail discussion list of each class that shop wherever they pleased and not be forced advanced issues in ethics and the theory of they attend. to buy at any one store. When it comes to knowledge. The emphasis is on helping students To become a graded student in the OAC it hiring workers, this is exactly the predicament digest the philosophy properly. Third-year is necessary to submit an application and pass of employers. By law they must deal only with classes draw upon taped lectures by Dr. Peikoff, the entrance exam; to become an auditor, it is whatever union is voted for by employees. Just including “Understanding Objectivism” and necessary to submit a registration form and pay as shoppers have the right to choose the terms “The Art of Thinking.” The fourth year focuses the sign-up fee for the class. of trade, so should an employer. on further developing a student’s understanding Auditing OAC courses is a valuable But the National Labor Relations Act, of philosophy and proper communication means of strengthening your understanding passed in 1935, negates that right. The law skills. In addition to an intermediate course on of Objectivism. In due course Impact will makes it illegal for employers to refuse to writing, students take a course on the history of announce which courses are open to auditors negotiate with a union or get rid of striking philosophy. (The OAC’s undergraduate program this year. union workers. It is no surprise that every round of talks between the grocery stores and the UFCW has collapsed. The union can demand to earn a profit—not so high that he has to raise Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest anything, however outrageous, and the stores prices and lose customers, but not so low that he are obliged by law to negotiate in good faith. cannot attract and retain capable workers. Rebecca Knapp, a student at the University of Though an employer may hire replacement But unions pride themselves in artificially Chicago, is the first-place winner of ARI’s 2003 workers, the law requires him to give strikers raising wages beyond the market price for such essay contest on Atlas Shrugged. Her essay, first preference for any new vacancies. work. When demanding higher wages, unions “To Produce or Destroy,” was singled out from The law violates the rights of workers, too. do not promise employers that union workers 1,650 entries for its outstanding grasp of the Seventy thousand UFCW will do a better job or be philosophic import of the novel. She has been members who work in more productive. They awarded a cash prize of $5,000. grocery stores in Southern don’t have to. The union Entries came from students around the country—including some from universities California are on strike or Receive ARI Op-Eds by E-mail Visit our has a coercive power over such as Harvard, Yale and U.C. Berkeley—and locked out, but a significant Web site (www.aynrand.org/medialink) employers. The California number of them did not grocery stores will soon from Australia, Canada, Egypt, Estonia, France, vote in favor of the strike. and add your name to our op-ed and have to compete with Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Nigeria, the Dissenters who think press release e-mail list. You will receive Wal-Mart, which plans Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and that the strike will cause ARI commentaries in your e-mail inbox as to open grocery stores in Vietnam. The majority of the entries were sent long-term harm to their we distribute them to the media. the state. They are right to via ARI’s Web site, using an online form. employers—and could be worried. At unionized Despite modest advertising and promotion cost them their jobs if the stores in California for the contest, the number of entries was only stores go bankrupt—have workers get paid $10 per 200 shy of the previous year’s total. (That total little say in the matter. If a majority of workers hour more than those at a nonunion store. Those was 1,850 entries, the highest number received so choose to unionize, the employees (including artificially high wages have an impact on prices: far and a ninefold increase over the 2001 total.) all future hires) must join and pay dues. None a cart of groceries is 17 to 39 percent cheaper at The text of Miss Knapp’s winning essay of them can accept a labor agreement other than nonunion stores. can be found on our Web site (www.aynrand. that approved by the union. (Recently, there have The solution to this strike and all org/contests). The deadline for the 2004 Atlas been reports of union workers trying to return similar disputes is to recognize the rights of Shrugged contest, open to all college students, to their jobs under assumed names, hoping that traders—be they workers or employers—to is September 16. the union won’t notice. The union has filed suit reach mutually advantageous agreements * * * to prevent this practice, which it says the stores voluntarily. The power of unions to coerce The deadline for the Anthem contest (open have connived in.) unearned benefits for their workers, while to 9th and 10th grade students) is March 18; What is at issue in this dispute? Facing crippling employers, is unjust. Repealing the for (11th and 12th grade intensified competition, the stores wanted to NLRA should be a first step toward restoring students) it is April 15. lower costs by having workers share a portion of the principle of individual rights as the proper the expense for their medical benefits. Knowing basis for interaction among men. 6th Annual Essay Contest on Ayn Rand’s Novel ATLAS SHRUGGED that it can refuse with near impunity, the union For College Students * * * Entry Deadline: September 16, 2004 rejected the proposed labor agreement. What is Elan Journo is a junior fellow at the Ayn Rand First Prize: $5,000 Cash Award 3 Second Prizes: $1,000 Cash Awards important here is the stores’ right to set the terms Institute. Brian P. Simpson, Ph.D. in economics, 5 Third Prizes: $400 Cash Awards 20 Finalist Prizes: $100 Cash Awards of employment, which is abrogated. A rational is an assistant professor at San Diego’s National 20 Semifinalist Prizes: $50 Cash Awards employer expects to pay wages that enable him University and a guest writer for ARI. For a list of the 2003 winners, go to www.aynrand.org/contests OAC Accepting The First Decade Ten years ago ARI launched a structured train- Applications ing program for Objectivist intellectuals. Called the Objectivist Graduate Center, its focus was The Objectivist Academic on advanced students in philosophy and cog- Center is now accepting nate fields. Instructors in that program included Dr. Leonard Peikoff, Dr. Harry Binswanger and applications to its Peter Schwartz. undergraduate program In 2000 the Institute launched the Objectivist for the fall. The deadline is April 26, 2004. Academic Center, which subsumed and added to The undergraduate program is a systematic the courses that we had been offering since 1994. course of study designed to give aspiring The OAC offers a four-year systematic undergradu- ate curriculum designed to give students a ground- intellectuals a thorough grounding in the ing in the basics of Ayn Rand’s philosophy. We also basics of Ayn Rand’s philosophy. offer graduate-level courses. We invite applications from college or The task of mastering a philosophy is a lengthy high school students who are planning careers one and training new intellectuals is a long-range as professional writers, teachers or professors. process. Some effects of the Institute’s training pro- (Subject to class size, we also admit people grams are already visible. More than half of all ARI op-eds produced were written by alumni or faculty of Top front page of the April 1994 issue of our newsletter. who are not intending careers as intellectuals, the OAC. Many of the speakers at the Objectivist but who wish to become intellectual activists summer conferences are also alumni of the program. within their own fields.) In the last few years we awarded dissertation grants to scholars. Today there are ARI-trained professors teaching at uni- While a few students attend in person at six Ph.D. students, three of whom have since graduated and versities in Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, our headquarters in Irvine, California, most are now teaching at the university level. And we have provided North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Vermont. financial support for the writing of three books by Objectivist We expect that list to grow in the next decade. students take part in classes via teleconfer- encing or listen to recordings via the Internet. All courses include graded assignments and Update: Books-to-Teachers Project periodic assessment. The undergraduate Since the January issue of Impact went to press, grant for half of the cost of supplying books program is a prerequisite for our advanced teachers from around the country have contacted to schools in that state, if another donor would courses for graduate students. ARI to request 2,000 more free copies of Anthem contribute the other half. One Impact reader has For full-time students (in college or high and The Fountainhead. Last fall the Institute done just that. school), we have a limited number of tuition sent flyers to educators in various states offering To all of our donors, who have provided waivers; we also offer qualifying students them free classroom sets of the books. The total ARI with financial support, we extend our scholarships to help defray their telephone number of books requested so far is 52,400. thanks and gratitude. costs. Such scholarships are renewable at The books-to-teachers project is part of our The teachers who received books have the end of the year, so long as the student long-range effort to make Ayn Rand’s novels committed to using them in class this year. remains in good standing (i.e., has an average fixtures of school curricula. Anthem and The What effect the project will have on this year’s grade of B or higher). Fountainhead are classics of American literature essay contests is difficult to predict, because The application process includes an and brilliant dramatizations of Miss Rand’s ideas. some books were mailed within a month or online form and an entrance exam, which is Our goal is to make it possible for American high so of the contest deadlines. But over the next administered by e-mail. Students who apply school students to study these books. few years, particularly as the curriculum are assumed to have read Atlas Shrugged, Funding for this project came from ARI project grows, we expect to see the contests The Fountainhead, Capitalism: The Unknown donors who sponsored books earmarked for on Anthem and The Fountainhead attract Ideal and The Virtue of Selfishness. specific cities, counties and states. (We are thousands more entrants. Last year For further information about the OAC eager to hear from you if you are interested in we received nearly 14,000 submissions, and how to apply for admission, please visit sponsoring an unclaimed region.) an all-time record. our Web site: www.aynrand.org/academic. As reported in January, a foundation in In the coming months we will report on the Wyoming offered the Institute a matching new phase of the curriculum project.

In the Media: Brook on Fox News; Preview of the Objectivist Summer Conference ARI Op-Eds in Major Newspapers, continued from page 1 Week One  July 11: “Virtues or Vices? Kindness, claimed, our ‘destiny.’ Standing between us and Generosity, Charity,” by Dr. Tara Smith the stars are enormous technical difficulties, the  July 11: “The Morality of War,” solution of which will require even more heroic by Dr. Yaron Brook determination than that which tamed the seas  July 12 and 13: Keynote: “Individual Rights and the continents. But first, we must make a and the Founding of America,” by Dr. John fundamental choice: Will America continue to Ridpath (two sessions) hold its best engineering minds captive to politics,  July 14 and 15: Keynote: “Clarity in or will we set them free?” Conceptualization: The Art of Identifying * * * ‘Package Deals,’” by Peter Schwartz All four of the writers mentioned above have (two sessions) studied at the Objectivist Academic Center;  July 15: Keynote: “Modern Art,” by Mr. Tracinski now teaches a course on writing at Mary Ann Sures the OAC. Mr. Journo is a junior fellow at ARI. Dr.  July 15: “Anthem: ’38 and ’46,” by

July 10 through July 22, 2004 Garmong, Dr. Simpson and Mr. Journo will lecture Wintergreen Resort Dr. Robert Mayhew Wintergreen, Virginia at Objectivist Summer Conference 2004 in July.  General Session Lectures In week one there will be an ARI (see pages 4–5) presentation and a panel discussion on foreign Optional Courses (see pages 6–9) policy. Panelists scheduled to take part include Contests in the New York Times Conferences for the rational mind Dr. Yaron Brook and Peter Schwartz. The education supplement of the New York Week Two Times on January 18 featured an article titled  July 17, 18, 20, 21: Keynote: “Logical “Essays on the Edge.” It provided an annotated The Objectivist Summer Conference 2004 will Thinking,” by Dr. Harry Binswanger list of “some of the more intriguing, lucrative take place July 10 to July 22 in Wintergreen, (four sessions) or unlikely” essay contests. The first item on Virginia. We are pleased to announce the  July 17: “The Pendulum: A Case Study in the list was a description of ARI’s contests on complete list of general lectures. The event Scientific Method,” by David Harriman The Fountainhead (for high school juniors and will feature 23 hours of general lectures and 21  July 19: “What Might Be and Ought to Be,” seniors) and on Atlas Shrugged. optional minicourses of varying lengths. by Tore Boeckmann Although some of the other items on Discounted registration is available to those  July 21: “Objective vs. Classical Education,” the list were unusual, the article accurately who sign up by April 30. by Lisa VanDamme described ARI’s contests and provided the URL The conference Web site is now online,  In week two there will be another ARI of our Web site. Such a reference in the New and a brochure has been mailed to ARI donors presentation (on a different topic from that York Times, especially in a section catering to and customers of the Ayn Rand Bookstore. If covered in the first week), and a panel educators, should provide added visibility for you would like to receive a brochure, please discussion on Objectivism and on economics. our efforts to promote Ayn Rand’s writings in contact us (800-365-6552, ext. 239; and Panelists scheduled to take part include schools and colleges. www.objectivistconferences.com). Dr. Harry Binswanger and Dr. Yaron Brook. Lecture Honors a Founding Father From the Ayn Rand Bookstore On the week preceding Presidents’ The event was one of the In Stock this Month Essays on Ayn Rand’s Day, Dr. John Ridpath presented Institute’s occasional public “We the Living,” featuring 16 specially “In Dawn’s Early Light: Patrick lectures. To receive notice of future commissioned articles on the novel, is now Henry—Beacon for America.” public lectures and other ARI available from the Ayn Rand Bookstore. The In this public lecture, which took events, please send us your name collection of essays is edited by Dr. Robert place at the Irvine Hyatt Regency and e-mail to [email protected] Mayhew. The softcover edition is $29.95. Hotel on February 12, Dr. Ridpath or call 949-222-6550, ext. 204. lauded a man who “did so much to Dr. Ridpath is a member of Receive Offers via E-mail Subscribers to the guide America towards becoming ARI’s Board of Directors and a bookstore’s e-mail newsletter receive advance a free country administered by former professor of economics and notice of Web-only special offers and discounts. Presidents rather than another social science at York University, in For example, a recent newsletter announced wasteland ruled by tyrants.” Toronto. He will be presenting one the availability of the DVD “Leonard Peikoff A recording of this lecture will of the keynote lectures at Objectivist at West Point” and offered a discount on the be available from the Ayn Rand Summer Conference 2004 in July. combined purchase of the DVD and the audio Bookstore. CD of Ayn Rand’s 1974 lecture at West Point, “Philosophy: Who Needs It.” Such special offers are available only for a In Academia: Briefly Noted alternative to postmodernism. Dr. Ghate, senior limited time—usually too short a period to be resident fellow at ARI, also contributed an essay mentioned in Impact. Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons, on postmodernism’s Kantian roots (he worked Every fall the bookstore publishes a and the Alternative is a recently published on these essays outside of his employment at the comprehensive catalog, and three or four times collection of essays edited by Dr. Edwin A. Locke, Institute). a year we mail out brief supplements. The Dean’s Professor of Leadership and Motivation The book is published by Elsevier. bookstore’s e-mail newsletter is issued every few weeks. (Emeritus) at the University of Maryland. Dr. * * * Locke and Dr. Onkar Ghate cowrote the final Dr. Locke will be lecturing at Objectivist We invite you to add your name to essay, arguing that Objectivism is the rational Summer Conference 2004 in July. bookstore’s e-mail list. Just e-mail us at [email protected]. Write “ARB Announcements” in the Subject line and provide your name and mailing address in the message. Commentary: because Ayn Rand’s ideas are so seldom taught in academia, the campus Objectivist clubs are An Intellectual Funnel an important way of making her visible to col- Impact is published monthly by the Ayn Rand® Institute (ARI) and lege students. But it is the combined impact of is complimentary to current donors who contribute $35 or more Each month Impact features a regular col- these projects that is most valuable. per year. For information on how you can support ARI and to learn umn by the Institute’s executive director, Dr. This “intellectual funnel” is already about our projects, please visit our Web site: www.aynrand.org. Yaron Brook, who looks at the wider context working. Many of the students who apply to Editor: Elan Journo Copy Editor: Donna Montrezza of ARI’s activities. the OAC have been involved in campus clubs Editorial Advisors: Dr. Yaron Brook, Mark Chapman, Anu Seppala and/or have taken part in the contests. Designer: Simon Federman Printing: David Antonacci In my first column, I promised that in the Consider Dr. Amy Peikoff, who this Headquarters: 2121 Alton Parkway, Suite 250 Irvine, CA 92606-4926 Phone: 949-222-6550 Fax: 949-222-6558 coming months I would explain how ARI’s year is a visiting lecturer at the University many activities all dovetail toward one goal. of Texas at Austin, under the auspices of the © The Ayn Rand Institute 2004. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission. Let’s consider several major projects which Anthem Foundation Fellowship for the Study were mentioned in recent issues of Impact: (1) of Objectivism at that school. She was first a the free-books-to-teachers program; (2) the student and then an instructor in the OAC. But college and high school essay contests on Ayn originally, she discovered Ayn Rand’s works Rand’s novels; (3) campus Objectivist clubs; through the Institute’s essay contests. She was and (4) the Objectivist Academic Center and also for a time involved in a campus club. our programs of financial support for intellec- Or consider Robert Tracinski, a senior tuals. How do these fit together and advance ARI writer and an instructor at the OAC. He ARI’s long-range goal of effecting a philo- was active in the campus Objectivist club at sophical change in the culture? the University of Chicago and later studied at A culture’s direction is set by its intel- ARI. Today he is editor and publisher of the lectuals, and so we need to cultivate rational Intellectual Activist, an Objectivist magazine. intellectuals. One of our major goals, there- Or take one more example, Dr. Onkar fore, is to find and train Objectivist profes- Ghate, senior resident fellow at ARI. He too sors, lecturers, writers and teachers who can was active in a campus club and was one of apply the philosophy in their own fields. the first students in our advanced training Finding them is one of the common themes program for intellectuals. Today he teaches at behind the educational projects I listed above. the OAC and has helped to design our under- Informally, we call the synergy of the projects graduate curriculum. the “intellectual funnel.” Others among our writers and speak- Here is a sketch of how it works. The more ers have also come through the “intellectual young people who know about Ayn Rand’s funnel,” in one way or another. Now, imagine ideas, the better—and the more likely it is how many more new intellectuals ARI will that some will want to become Objectivist be able to cultivate in the future, thanks to the intellectuals. At the opening of the funnel are integrations among our educational programs. the high school essay contests and the cur- Ten years from now, when (let us say) riculum program, which make it possible for 150,000 students read one of Ayn Rand’s tens of thousands of students to discover Ayn novels every year, I hope we’ll see an annual Rand. Then there is a gradual tapering to more applicant pool at the OAC that numbers intensive educational programs such as college in the low thousands. Some of them—a Objectivist clubs, which enable students to larger number than do today—will go on discuss and expand their knowledge of Ayn to be professional intellectuals, who in turn Rand’s ideas. At the narrowest, or rather more will work to advance the ideals of reason, focused, end of the funnel, is the OAC and its egoism and capitalism in our universities and systematic curriculum on Objectivism. throughout the culture. It is worth noting that each program’s The Anthem Foundation, an organization goals are valuable in their own right, regard- independent of ARI, has done admirable work less of how much they help in finding new in support of the study of Ayn Rand’s ideas in intellectuals. Fifty thousand students reading academia. In the future, I expect, there will be Anthem and The Fountainhead every year will new Anthem fellowships at more universities. do much to raise the profile of Objectivism. The OAC—and all the programs that form Multiply that across a decade, and by a portion part of our educational funnel—are key to who will read some of Ayn Rand’s nonfic- preparing tomorrow’s new intellectuals to take tion works—and you can expect a significant up such new opportunities. impact on the intellectual climate. Similarly, —Yaron Brook