Education for a Free Society: Adam Smith Society and VERITAS Fund for Higher Education Reform

The following projects prepare future leaders for the critical task of preserving ordered liberty and free enterprise. VERITAS Fund for Higher Education Reform Undergraduate education is a key time for students to develop the virtues and intelligence necessary for citizenship in a free society. The main activity of VERITAS is to award grants to professors who are committed to the search for truth and focus on neglected subject areas in higher education--mainly western civilization, the American founding, and political economy. Concrete outputs include lecture series, undergraduate courses, junior fellows programs, and new options in the curriculum such as majors, minors, and certificates. The aim of these programs is to help students develop an open mind and the capacity to think through challenges to preserving what is best about our polity and economy. By developing an institutional presence on campus and winning the support of alumni, VERITAS programs aim to make the competition of ideas a permanent feature of the university’s intellectual life. Adam Smith Society This project advances among MBA students—many of whom become the public officials, executives, and opinion leaders of tomorrow—Sir John’s conviction that free enterprise is a tremendous source of innovation, prosperity, and opportunity. The main activities of the Adam Smith Society are launching chapters at top U.S. business schools and building a national network of market-oriented MBA students, alumni, and business leaders. Concrete outputs include on-campus events with prominent speakers and reading groups; a national conference; and tools to strengthen the program such as a website, handbook, and reader. MBA student members will develop an appreciation of the greater goods that result from free enterprise. Alumni members could someday reach the upper echelons of Fortune 500 companies and key government posts—where they will be influential in promoting the vitality of free markets.