A Look at the 2024 Richard D. McLellan Prizes Gala
On December 5, 2024, the Russell Kirk Center gathered at the Amway Grand Plaza with a full crowd for the inaugural McLellan Prizes free speech celebration with Greg Lukianoff, Samuel Goldman, Josiah Joner, Luke Sheahan, Susan Goldberg, Judge James Ho, Heather Mac Donald, and Governor John Engler.
The gathering honored the recipients of the 2024 McLellan Prizes, Greg Lukianoff (grand prize), and Josiah Joner and Samuel Goldman as the year’s two writing fellowship winners.
For those unable to join us for this memorable evening celebration, we’re pleased to share a complete recording of the event program below. To help navigate the video, here are some useful timestamps:
- 3:00 – introduction from Kirk Center CEO Jeff Nelson
- 14:00 – remarks from Gov. John Engler
- 27:07 – Academic Prize winner Sam Goldman’s remarks
- 37:26 – Academic Prize winner Josiah Joner’s remarks
- 47:45 – Grand prize winner Greg Lukianoff’s remarks
- 62:07 – panel discussion with Luke Sheahan, Greg Lukianoff, Susan Goldberg, and Sam Goldman
The Richard D. McLellan Prizes is a unique educational program administered by the Russell Kirk Center. Its aim is to help reshape the national conversation on issues surrounding the durability and prospects for the American tradition of free speech and expression as guaranteed in the U. S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
The McLellan Prizes draw attention to the central importance of the free speech tradition, particularly recognizing those doing the most important and exciting work in that area. These Prizes seek to support talented thinkers, creators, and communicators capable of rearticulating the perennial importance of the First Amendment, and transmitting a better understanding of the freedoms it secures for all.
Get more information on the McLellan Prizes here.
More From Our Highlights & News
Professor Hiro Aida speaks on Russell Kirk and Japan in Tampa, Florida
On April 19 and 21, Professor Hiro Aida of Kansai University gave two lectures sponsored by the Russell Kirk Center and the Japanese Consulate-General in Miami. These lectures were designed to dovetail with a meeting of the Philadelphia Society in Tampa and so to...
Celebrating the Conservative Mind at 70 in Washington, D.C.
On December 5, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of Russell Kirk's landmark work, The Conservative Mind, a book that gave the conservative movement in America both a name and an awareness of our cultural, intellectual, and moral patrimony. More than 300 guests...
Public Policy Fellows of the Fund For American Studies visit the Kirk Center
On November 2 – 4, the Russell Kirk Center welcomed Public Policy Fellows of the Fund for American Studies (TFAS) to discuss "The Roots of American Order as the Foundation for a New Fusionism.” This impressive group consisted of twenty young professionals who work as...
Mackinac Center Interns Focus on “The Politics of Prudence”
The Kirk Center welcomed interns from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy for a seminar on specific dimensions of “The Politics of Prudence” this summer. Kirk Center trustee and director of Save Our States, Michael Maibach, gave a broad historical, political, and...