“When the Alexander Hamilton Institute came to Clinton and took over the old restaurant on the green and I spoke to Jim Bradfield and Bob Paquette about the organization and its goals and objectives, I knew I had to get involved. As a founding member of the Conservative Party of New York State and at the time a Regional Vice Chairman for upstate New York, I understood the problem with many of the liberal arts colleges moving to the extreme liberal position on most current topics. Also the move to the ‘political correct nonsense’ that permeates many of the college administrations today.
My involvement with AHI has been an interesting and rewarding experience. As a retired teacher at a local college, I can appreciate the value of having an alternative program that provides the students with a conservative point of view on subjects in which they are involved in their studies. Also AHI returns to the philosophy of teaching students to think for themselves and do research to arrive at solutions to topics of interest. It is a great concern of mine that universities and colleges today are more concerned with forcing their students to fit ito the liberal mode of the university administration than fostering an environment that provides students with the ability to think and reason for themselves.”
-Daniel Fitzgerald, Clinton, New York
“Dr. Pilon, Words cannot express how thankful I am for the experience I had these last two weeks. I feel so privileged that I not only got to know and learn from you, but also get to know and learn from my fellow participants. It is also true that some of the individuals we met, I may never have gotten the wonderful privilege to meet otherwise. I am so excited to reach out to some of those individuals and learn more about their work. This program made me realize the multitude of options available to me, and I cannot wait to pursue some of them. I meant it when I said you helped me realize that there could be more options out there than a professorship. While I still want to be a professor more than anything (I nearly gasped when our speaker at VOC said he left a tenured professorship), I realize that I can use a History degree in other ways. There are so many possibilities when it comes to using the foundation of history to try to better society. Thank you again for the tremendous amount of work you put into this. I hope to stay in touch and see you soon!”
-A. P., Colgate University, Class of 2020
“I have attended the last four semesters of classes at AHI with Prof. David Frisk. These classes provide an opportunity to engage in in-depth study of a person or subject of historic or political interest. The suggested weekly readings, Prof. Frisk’s comments and the class discussions have been engaging and informative. Controversial issues have been presented in a fair and evenhanded manner. I have enjoyed this opportunity to keep learning.”
-Harris Samuels, attorney, Saquoit, New York
“We have attended and immensely enjoyed four courses at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Dr. Frisk provides a very stimulating lecture followed by a vigorous discussion. Class participation provides many different viewpoints from attendees coming from various professions and life experiences. Overall, these courses have provided a very positive experience for all attendees. We both are looking forward to Dr. Frisk’s upcoming course in September.”
-Pat and Ben Trojnar, Whitesboro, New York
“Nothing is ever perfect. Cicero conveyed to us that the pursuit of knowledge and excellence should be made in “calm and tranquility.” I missed that lesson. These last four years I struggled with, and attempted to master and plumb: the tomes of the philosophers, renowned literary works, art historians’ critical essays, dramatists’ plays, artists’ paintings and sculptures, poets’ verse, historians’ panegyrics, and social thinkers’ admonitions – not in “calm and tranquility,” but at an often-frenetic pace. Of the ancient philosophers, the Italian Renaissance artists, the modernists, and a myriad of recommendable characters and thinkers, I fell asleep each night hearing other people’s voices, reading other people’s words, and considering other people’s images and ideas – learning all the while what it meant to think for myself. I found words for the sublime and the difficult. I tried to discover new words for the ordinary and the ineffable. Hamilton professors and Alexander Hamilton Institute (AHI) mentors taught me how to write more cogently and speak more persuasively.”
-Claire Kitz, Editor of Enquiry, Hamilton College, Class of 2019
“[T]he [WAPONS] program was incredible. Thank you for all the work you put into making the program what it was.”
