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Students for Liberty Award Winners

Norman — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:19:05 +0000

One of the highlights of the SFL International Conference was the awards presentation on Friday night. I was actually one of the students nominated for the “Student of the Year” award – in part because of LibertarianChristians.com – but I didn’t win. Nevertheless, just to be included in a group of students such as these was a great honor in and of itself. The other two awards were for “Student Group of the Year” and “Event of the Year.” Here are all the award winners this year with their descriptions from the SFL website. There is much we can learn from the passion of these students!

Student of the Year: Liya Pagashavili

Over the past year Liya has distinguished herself through her prolific writing and organizing on behalf of liberty. Not only is she a strong leader of liberty, but a strong leader in her general university community as well, participating in her school’s debate team, honors society, and resident advisor program. She has been active on campus by hosting events and distributing pro-liberty materials as well as nationally by publishing op-eds and even joining Students For Liberty in a debate against Students for a Democratic Society. Some of her many accomplishments include publishing op-eds in a variety of outlets, interning at the Institute for Humane Studies, and helping lead the GMU Economics Society.

Liya is a wonderful person and I am proud to have had the opportunity to get to know her during the International Conference.

Group of the Year: Drexel University Student Liberty Front

The Drexel Student Liberty Front has taken over the political scene at their school. Few other groups can match the quantity or quality of their events and activism for liberty.

In the past year the Drexel Student Liberty Front has hosted a wide array speaking events. Last spring they held an event featuring both Cato Institute Vice President David Boaz and John Stossel. This fall they held a number of events such as a Tenth Amendment Event featuring PA State Representative Sam Rohrer and economist Thomas Dilorenzo, a Police Militarization event featuring Reason’s Radly Balko, and a debate on “Minarchy v. Anarchy” featuring former LP Presidential Candidate Michael Badnarik and Freedomain Radio’s Stephan Molyneux.

The Student Liberty Front also hosted a number of entertainment events to promote liberty. These included a SLF Barbecue, a “V for Vendetta” movie screening, and a “Free Philly” concert.

Perhaps their most defining characteristic is their activism. To open the semester they hosted an event packed Students Rights Week which included: numerous tabling events where they passed out Cato Pocket Constitutions, speaker events with FIRE experts, and even brought in a Philadelphia Public Defenders Office representative. But they do not limit their activism to their own campus, participating in many community activism events such as the Philadelphia End the Fed Rally.

These accomplishments themselves might be enough to qualify the Drexel SLF for a nomination for group of the year. However, in a just over a 1 week span they held two events which make them truly stand out. On October 28th the Drexel Student Liberty Front hosted a special student-focused edition of Judge Napolitano’s Freedom Watch. The event was held in the lobby of the Main Building of Drexel University and featured special guests such as Stacy Litz and Pericles Niarchos of the Drexel Student Liberty Front, Aaron Moyer of the Philadelphia Forum for Freedom, Alexander McCobin of Student For Liberty, Jeff Frazee of Young Americans for Liberty, and Irena Schneider of the AU SFL.

Then, just over a week later, the Drexel SLF hosted the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Students For Liberty Conference, which claimed the largest attendance of any Regional Conference this fall. It is truly impressive what they have been able to accomplish in the two years since their founding.

Event of the Year: Ron Paul at Wake Forest

Today’s Event of the Year profile is of Ron Paul’s first ever on campus Young Americans for Liberty Event. On April 20th, 2009 the Wake Forest University Young Americans for Liberty filled Wait Chapel, the largest auditorium on campus, for the good doctor’s speech. They did a fantastic job of promoting the event, using a creative flyer campaign and local media to get the word out. They even slipped handouts under every dorm room door on campus.

The event was covered by local media outlets such as the Winston-Salem Journal and YES! Weekly. Perhaps the most impressive fact is that they drew over 1300 attendees at a school of only 4400 students. The line to get in wrapped all the way around the quad. To top it off, the group made a video documentary of the whole process which tells the story much better than I can.

Congratulations from LibertarianChristians.com to all of these esteemed young men and women for their dedication to the cause of liberty!

UPDATE: The official SFL post is now live.

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Students for Liberty Award Winners

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Students for Liberty: Remember the Name

Norman — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:56:53 +0000

Over the next couple of days I will be posting about the Students for Liberty International Conference held in Washington D.C. this past weekend. First up, you MUST see the video that opened the conference on Friday night, which was put together by Mark Meranta. It highlights lots of events that SFL affiliated groups have run in the past year, and features a student demolishing Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story. To me, the video is quite inspiring! (Brief warning: there is one expletive used.)

ISFLC Introduction Video from Students For Liberty on Vimeo.

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Students for Liberty: Remember the Name

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Students for Liberty Award

Norman — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:00:00 +0000

In a shocking turn of events, I found out a few days ago that I have been nominated for the Students for Liberty “Student of the Year” Award. I do not know who nominated me (though I might be able to take a guess), but I feel very honored to be among these other amazing nominees. I am also very excited to join these nominees at the Students for Liberty International Conference in February for some wonderful times with fellow liberty-loving students.

Take heart, fellow liberty-lovers, for the next generation is on its way to make an impact for liberty!

See the original press release here. Find more information and see past winners here.

Nominees:

Dennis Craig, George Washington University Liberty Society, President
Dennis was the president of the Temple Libertarians during the Spring of 2009 and transferred to George Washington University in the Fall. There he re-founded the GW Liberty Society, hosted Patri Friedman, hosted FIRE President Greg Lukianoff, organized an informational meeting on getting internships, hosted IJ’s Robert McNamara, and took leadership of the DC Forum for Freedom.

Jackie Silseth, St. Cloud State University College Libertarians, Former President
Jacqueline Silseth is the founder and former President of the St. Cloud State Libertarians, an assistant organizer for the Libertarian Party of Minnesota, Chair of Legislative Affairs at SCSU, and founding board member and Volunteer Coordinator & Executive Secretary of the Year of Youth project.

Mike Sertic, California State University-Sacramento Students for Liberty, President
Mike Sertic founded Students for Liberty at CSUS where there had been no previous liberty presence. He organized regular group meetings along with round table discussions, held numerous Operation Politically Homeless outreach events on campus, passed out pocket Constitutions on Constitution Day, screened Indoctrinate U, and earned local media coverage on health care issues.

Liya P., George Mason University Economics Society, President
Liya was a Koch Summer Fellow in 2009; is President of GMU Econ. Society; published an article for Citizens Against Government Waste, “Beach Houses: Owned by the Rich, Paid for by Everyone”; earned the Southwestern Economic Development Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement and Howard R. Bloch Economic Scholarship; hosted numerous high-calibur speakers such as Robert Higgs, Larry Reed, and Peter Boettke; is active in the DC Forum for Freedom; published a healthcare op-ed in Philadelphia Inquirer; and was a participant in the SFL v. SDS debate.

Congrats to all of the nominees from everyone here at LibertarianChristians.com and from all the Libertarian Longhorns as well!

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Students for Liberty Award

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