Itamar FeldmanIn her last public address, Ayn Rand warned businessmen that they were supporting their own destruction by financially supporting universities who villainize them and attack capitalism. After 9/11, ARI warned that the failure of the West’s thought leaders to confront Islamic totalitarianism would inevitably lead to more bloodshed.
Unfortunately, both of these warnings fell on deaf ears. It took the atrocious October 7 attack on Israel, and the universities’ disgraceful response to it, to leave no doubt how far universities have turned against Western values, and for some of their donors to start withdrawing their financial support and moral sanction.
But withdrawing support for the old intellectuals is not sufficient to save the world from them. What is needed are new intellectuals to fight for ideas to change the world for the better. Training those new intellectuals is the purpose of the Ayn Rand University (ARU).
In his talk at the 2024 Objectivist Summer Conference in Anaheim, Tal Tsfany, president of ARI, showcased a new program for training the new intellectuals, ARU Honors, in which ARI gives a one-year, full-time, paid internship for high-potential ARU students. Tsfany also announced the construction of the Ayn Rand Center in Austin, Texas, an intellectual hub that will serve as the home for ARI, ARU and the new intellectuals committed to fighting for reason, individualism, and capitalism.
To learn more about ARI’s efforts to fight for your values, watch Tal Tsfany’s 2024 OCON talk here:
Tara Smith
Ibis Slade
