Announcing the Inaugural Richard D. McLellan Prizes Award Gala

On December 5, 2024, the Russell Kirk Center will host the inaugural Richard D. McLellan Prizes Award Gala in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the historic Amway Grand Hotel.

The event, hosted by a distinguished prizes Jury, will honor the grand prize recipient of the 2024 McLellan Prize as well as two academic award winners. A total of $75,000 in prizes will be awarded.

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.

Registration for the award gala is now open and tickets can be secured here.

For those wishing to attend the event and help underwrite its associated costs, we’re also offering a number of sponsorship opportunities. To discuss becoming an event sponsor, please contact Emily Corwin: ecorwin@kirkcenter.org.

More From Our Highlights & News

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...

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...