The Oberlin Republicans and Libertarians, with support from Steve Shapiro, have been broadening the political debate on campus for years. I have been in the club since 2009, and in that time, the club has sponsored:

Richard Lindzen: Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at MIT Ethan Nadelmann: Former Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, Founder of the Drug Policy Alliance Mark Steyn: New York Times bestselling author and political columnist Karl Rove: Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Ilya Shapiro: University of Chicago J.D. and legal analyst John Bolton: Former Ambassador to the UN, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Lee Doren: Chicago-Kent College of Law J.D, YouTube commentator Lisa Snell: Director of Education at the Reason Foundation Matt Meyer: President of the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions Daniel Simmons: Former Director of the National Resources Task Force at the ALEC, Director of Regulatory & State Affairs at the Institute for Energy Research Bill Whittle: Writer and Television Producer and political commentator Greg Lukianoff: President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

Before that:

Newt Gingrich: Former Speaker of the House, Presidential Candidate David Brooks: New York Times columnist Michelle Malkin: OC ’92, author, political commentator Dinesh D’Souza: New York Times bestselling author John Stossell: Emmy-award winning journalist, Co-anchor of ABC’s 20/20 Bill Kristol: Founded The Weekly Standard Peter Jedick: Free-lance writer Kate Griffin: Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia John Fund: Wall Street Journal Columnist, political analyst Patrick Michaels: Professor of Climatology at the University of Virginia, Senior Fellow at CATO David Arredondo: Vice Chairman of Lorain County Rep. Party Peter Kirsanow: Member of US Commission on Civil Rights Bob Barr: Congressional Representative and Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Gary Aldrich: Former FBI Special Investigator, New York Times bestselling author, and founder of the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty.
Matt Hellman: Deputy Attorney General with the Capital Crimes Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, as part of a co-sponsored debate on capital punishment. OC ACLU hosted Robin Kallman (OC ’80), an attorney from the California State Public Defender’s Office.

Some of our lectures, such as the Rove, Gingrich and Brooks talks, have been the best-attended events in the College over many years. All of our events generate much discussion and draw attention to ideas too much neglected on campus. To my mind, anyone who thinks this impressive series of speakers has not contributed to the broader political debate on campus has either not been paying attention or is too ideologically blinkered to take seriously.

Indeed, it is in this spirit of promoting the discussion of conservative and libertarian ideas that I want to make the following announcement now. This academic year, the club invites co-sponsoring requests from any student organization, or any academic department, on campus. As has been true in other cases when we have worked with other clubs and academic departments in the past, these events can include some OCRL subsidy of another group’s speaker. We will have to make decisions contingent on the club budget and club interest, but as always, we will consider any suggestion seriously that promises to improve the quality of discussion on campus. If you would like us to consider a joint event, contact me at [email protected].

Finally, as we are discussing the Reagan Series, I should mention our upcoming event: The President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Mark Mix, will be coming to campus to give a lecture on unions and the right to work. The event is set for this Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. in West Lecture Hall. Everyone interested in the free exchange of ideas is welcome.

–Nick Miller President, Oberlin College Republicans & Libertarians