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Dear Friends,

We’re in the middle of another busy term at Furman, and we would like to share some of our news with you. In the fall, we presented seven speaker events that addressed a variety of current concerns, from HealthCare reform with Congressman Bob Inglis and the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner, to government interaction in the economy with Von Mises scholar Dr. Thomas E. Woods and journalist Timothy P. Carney, to how conservatives can gain control with Chip Saltsman and former Congressman Mickey Edwards.

             This Spring term promises to be another exciting time for conservative thought on campus. While hosting an unprecedented ten speakers on campus this term (see below for “Upcoming Events”), we have also brought back our weekly reading group that allows us to digest and discuss conservative classics like Russel Kirk’s The Conservative Mind and Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose. We have started a monthly movie club to watch and discuss movies like “The Fountainhead,” “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” and “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.” Many of our members will be attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February. And, importantly, we will soon begin a service project to help returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan by working with organizations like “Give an Hour.”

As our country sees the effects of “change we can believe in,” CSBT itself is in the midst of changing—though we hope our version may prove to be more successful. Our founder and former CEO Christopher Mills has graduated and moved on to stir up trouble at Harvard Law School. The rest of the founding members will graduate with me in May, so we have focused specifically on ensuring that CSBT continues its important role at Furman long after we have gone. Students—new and old—have responded positively to the common-sense, conservative ideas we present and the accountability we try to provide to an administration that leave conservative students increasingly frustrated.

             Of course, we can only continue to have such an impact on campus with your help. In a campus environment that preaches political correctness, has made “sustainability”—including the purchase of carbon offsets—to be our main guiding religion, and routinely encourages faculty to protest any actions—especially, it seems, by a student group—that may raise objections to the liberal status quo, CSBT’s work to fill the void of conservative principles becomes more important than ever. I personally can attest that it’s worth it, though. And with our ever-growing membership, and your continued help, I know it will be worth it for years to come.

Sincerely,

A. Barrett Bowdre

Chief Executive Officer

P.S. All of our events are free and open to the public; please come and see what a difference you’re making! An especially exciting event to culminate our term will be on April 26 when author Dinesh D’Souza comes to talk about “The Enemy at Home: The Secret Weapon of Islamic Radicalism.”  We hope you can attend. More information about this and our other upcoming events, as well as videos of our speakers, can be found on our web site at www.furmancsbt.org.

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