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More Than 400 Participants Gain Inspiration from Conway, Walker, and Sorbo at YAF’s Atlanta Freedom Conference
Kellyanne Conway, senior counselor to President Donald Trump, headlines the opening dinner banquet at the Foundation’s Freedom Conference in Atlanta.
By Jaime Hahn, Conference Director
Young America’s Foundation hosted more than 400 students, supporters, and alumni at our annual Freedom Conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia, this year. Students from 138 schools and 37 states participated in this two-day training program that educated them on how to persuade their peers on a range of timely topics, including free enterprise, school choice, and election integrity, among others.
YAF President Governor Scott Walker welcomed attendees to the conference, discussing YAF’s ambitious Long Game plan to reach increasing numbers of young people nationwide in the coming years. He also noted the significance of this program taking place in Atlanta, after Major League Baseball moved the All-Star Game out of the city in response to Georgia conservative leaders’ efforts to ensure free and fair elections in the state.
Kellyanne Conway, former counselor to President Donald Trump, headlined the opening dinner banquet, addressing the need for courageous leadership today. Conway, who recently joined YAF’s campus lecture
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program as a speaker, encouraged the young audience to stand strong for freedom and noted,
There are people in your circle, on your campus, who have other majors, who aren’t involved in any groups like this, starving and hungering for this message. So how do you deliver it? You should have a seven-second version, a 70-second version, and a sevenminute version. Why am I a conservative? Why do I go to YAF? Tell them why, because I guarantee the reasons are as diverse as the number of people in this room.
The following day, students enjoyed an engaging presentation from author and economic historian Dr. Burt Folsom—YAF’s longest-serving faculty member—who discussed the importance of free markets and limited government by illustrating two key eras of historical importance: the 1920s, when America sought greater economic freedom, and the 1930s, when America experimented with expansive government. He offered a dramatic contrast between the prosperity achieved during the former period and the economic ruin that resulted in the latter years.
Additional speakers included Congressman Jody Hice (GA-10), who underscored the importance of election integrity, and Corey DeAngelis, national director of research at the American Federation for Children, who made an articulate case for greater freedom in education. He criticized the harmful educational policies promoted by teachers’ unions and out-of-touch public officials during the COVID-19 pandemic, remarking, “Parents felt powerless across the country, and they’re going to fight to make sure they never feel powerless again.”
Commentator Liz Wheeler, host of The Liz Wheeler Show, shed light on the Biden administration’s institutionalization (Continued on page 34)
Congressman Jody Hice (GA-10) discusses the importance of holding free and fair elections in America. Corey DeAngelis makes the case for greater freedom in students’ educational opportunities.
Actor Kevin Sorbo meets with students attending YAF’s Freedom Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
University of Iowa student Amelia Johnson asks a question of a speaker during the Atlanta Freedom Conference. Hundreds of students from around the country meet like-minded young people at YAF’s first major conference of 2022. Governor Scott Walker, YAF’s president, thanks students for leading the fight for conservative principles on the front lines of college campuses.
Popular commentator Liz Wheeler inspires the more than 400 young people attending YAF’s conference in Atlanta.
YAF alumnus and talk radio host Erick Erickson reflects on his own experience attending a Young America’s Foundation conference during his college years. YAF chapter leader Hunter Morrow (right) enjoys the weekend-long program featuring leading conservative voices. (Continued from page 32) of racism and sexism. “Make no mistake: equity is discrimination, and each and every one of us in this room should feel comfortable saying that equity is discrimination,” she remarked. “Tokenism is racial discrimination and gender discrimination.”
Actor, director, and producer Kevin Sorbo encouraged students to stand for their beliefs, even if they get cancelled for it. Sorbo—who starred in the television series Hercules, among many other film and television productions— discussed his career in Hollywood and the value of using popular culture to advance conservative values. He remarked,
None of us will be Hercules, Superman, or Wonder Woman in real life. We can fantasize about it, but it’s not going to happen. But you can be a hero in your own way...We have to keep fighting back, because if we don’t, we will lose this war.
Concluding the program, YAF alumnus Erick Erickson, host of the Erick Erickson Show, inspired attendees to know and understand what they believe and why they believe it. Addressing the pressure to conform on college campuses across the country, he observed, “You may reach a point when you just can’t compromise.”
Student Taylor Hunt from Washington State University reflected at the end of the weekend program, “YAF events always give me more courage—courage to raise my hand, to state the truth, and to stand firm on my values.”
Grace Blakely from Marian University of Indiana echoed this sentiment, remarking, “I feel way more prepared to face the opposition I receive at school from my professors.”
Young America’s Foundation is grateful to Richard and Barbara Van Andel-Gaby and The Gaby Foundation for their leadership support of this lifechanging student program.
