Reston, Virginia 20191 (800) USA-1776 • www.yaf.org
Reagan Ranch Center 217 State Street Santa Barbara, California 93101 (888) USA-1776
Reagan Boyhood Home
810 S. Hennepin Avenue Dixon, Illinois 61021
Governor Scott Walker, President
Jason Barbour, Director of Development
Vic Bernson, Vice President
Spencer Brown, Chief Comms. Officer
Andrew Coffin, Vice President
Patrick X. Coyle, Vice President
Jessica Jensen, Chief Operating Officer
Raj Kannappan, Vice President
Paul Matthews, Chief Financial Officer
Board of Directors
Governor Scott Walker, President
Ronald Pearson, Vice President
Kimberly Begg, Esq.
T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr., Esq., Treasurer
Wynton C. Hall
Nicole Hoplin, Secretary
Kate Obenshain Keeler
Peter Schweizer
Reagan Ranch
Board of Governors
Governor George Allen, Chairman
Edwin Meese, Co-Chairman
Robert F. Agostinelli
Candee Arndt
Dr. Suzanne Becker
George & Becky Norton Dunlop
Bruce & Kathi Eberle
Richard Gaby & Barbara Van Andel-Gaby
Robert Giuffra Jr.
Timothy S. Goeglein
Michael W. Grebe
Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold
Nicole & Eric Hoplin
Ann Knapheide
Mark Larson
Rebekah Mercer
Dennis & Nancy Moore
Doug & Pat Perry
Larry R. Polhill
Rear Admiral JJ Quinn
Ruppert & Cheryl Reinstadler
Richard & Jane Schwartz
Bernadette Casey Smith
Thomas F. & Joan D. Streiff
Tonette Walker
Jay Webber
Young America’s Foundation
November 2024
McEnany, Cao, and Ellison Inspire Hundreds at Fall College Retreat and President’s Club Weekend
On November 15 and 16, Young America’s Foundation welcomed more than 250 students and supporters to the Fall College Retreat and President’s Club Weekend in Arlington, Virginia.
The program began with a rotation of breakout sessions led by YAF staff: Media Bootcamp by Chief Communications Officer Spencer Brown, Activism Mentality by Vice President Pat Coyle, Legal Rights by Associate General Counsel Madison Hahn, and Design Principles by Program Assistant for Graphics and Illustration Mary Wetterling.
That evening, students and supporters enjoyed receptions prior to the opening dinner, which featured commentator and author Vince Everett Ellison. During his remarks, Ellison exposed the Left’s radicalism and the importance of standing up for the truth.
Also In ThIs Issue...
Crabtree Wins NJC’s Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism...page 4
Knowles, Shapiro, and West Bring Conservative Voices to Schools Nationwide..page 8 YAF and Herzog Foundation Host Inaugural Faith & Nation Student Forum......page 10
Young America’s Foundation’s Monthly Report is sent to the Foundation’s key supporters, board members, and friends. The report includes updates on our student programs, the Reagan Ranch and Reagan Boyhood Home, the National Journalism Center, the Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise, and other news relating to Young America’s Foundation.
Editor: Jessica Jensen, Chief Operating Officer
Kayleigh McEnany, 33rd White House Press Secretary, inspires YAF supporters and students in Arlington, Virginia, at the conclusion of the Fall College Retreat and President’s Club Weekend.
The next day, Ethics and Public Policy Center President Dr. Ryan T. Anderson shared his research on transgender ideology and the transitioning craze that has become so prevalent in society and schools.
Next, YAF’s Spencer Brown moderated a postelection panel featuring the Daily Wire’s Andrew Klavan, Unherd’s Emily Jashinsky, and WMAL’s Larry O’Connor to discuss the next steps for the Conservative Movement.
Power the Future Founder and Executive Director Daniel Turner then armed students with key tactics to debunk the alleged “climate crisis” hysteria pushed by the Left.
During lunch, author and Grove City College professor Dr. Paul Kengor shared exclusive insights about how his book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, was used as source material for the new movie, Reagan.
Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao also took the stage to encourage students as they fight for conservative ideas on campus. Captain Cao said, “On November 5th… we won overwhelmingly in this country, and I think the country has really spoken and said, ‘Hey, enough of this garbage that they’re pushing out,’ especially on our campuses.”
Author and Catholic Answers Staff Apologist Trent Horn concluded the afternoon sessions by discussing “7 Questions the Left Can’t Answer.”
That evening, 33rd White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany headlined the closing banquet,
College students from around the country gather in Arlington, Virginia, for YAF’s Fall College Retreat.
sharing insider stories of her time working for President Donald Trump.
McEnany reflected on the recent election, stating, “You are a huge part of what happened about two weeks ago…I have never been more encouraged by Gen Z—a generation that is increasingly getting it and understanding conservatism, and I just want to thank you all for being here because you are the heart of it.”
Students were inspired and educated by what they learned in Virginia. All attendees left with a greater appreciation for their freedom, deeper connection with their friends, and more hope for their future.
Kyle Brown from the University of Michigan noted,
This week provided me with a great opportunity to escape my campus for the weekend, and to gather with my YAF friends from around the country. The speakers were great at speaking to the audience and not just lecturing from the podium. Listening to each of them was extremely fun, and I had a great experience at the conference!
Margaret Connair from Franciscan University of Steubenville shared,
The YAF Fall College Retreat was an awesome opportunity to meet other young men and women who understand the experiences that I’m having at my college and gain knowledge to better deal with the struggles of being a young conservative.
YAF thanks Bob & Lynn Torcolini for their lead gift to sponsor this impactful YAF program.
1) Fall College Retreat attendees from College of the Sequoias and the University of Texas at El Paso enjoy the YAF conference.
2) A post-election panel features (from left) YAF Chief Communications Officer Spencer Brown, the Daily Wire’s Andrew Klavan, UnHerd’s Emily Jashinsky, and talk radio host Larry O’Connor.
3) Students (from left) Anna Medwig and Anna Myron meet like-minded friends from around the country at the Fall College Retreat.
4) Students Matt Cairo and Ariana Alonso enjoy a student networking reception during the YAF program in Virginia.
5) Vince Everett Ellison headlines the Fall College Retreat and President’s Club Weekend opening dinner banquet.
6) Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao meets with conference attendees Annika Bell (left) and Quincy Felix (right).
7) Dr. Paul Kengor discusses his book, The Crusader, upon which the new movie, Reagan, is based.
8) YAF supporters Dee and Rich James meet with Kayleigh McEnany prior to the closing dinner.
Susan Crabtree Wins Second Annual Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism
On November 13, YAF’s National Journalism Center (NJC) presented the second annual Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism—an award launched in partnership with The Dao Feng & Angela Foundation.
The Dao Prize was founded to counter bias in the media by rewarding truth-seeking journalism. Envisioned as a rival to the once-illustrious Pulitzer Prize, the Dao Prize recognizes investigations based on their depth, fairness and accuracy, style, impact, and public interest.
The overall winner receives a prize gift of $100,000, designed to help spur further investigative work, which can often be expensive and time-consuming for reporters. Two runners-up each receive awards of $10,000.
Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics won the 2024 Dao Prize for her unsurpassed coverage of the United States Secret Service, especially her reporting on the fallout from the first assassination attempt on President-elect Donald Trump. Her deeply sourced coverage revealed an agency reeling from mismanagement and political gamesmanship, placing the public and high-profile figures in harm’s way.
“What she uncovered directly impugned the Secret Service’s motto, ‘Worthy of Trust and Confidence,’” said RealClearPolitics’s Washington Editor Carl Cannon. “What her reporting showed is that the Secret Service, just like other once-revered federal agencies, including the FBI, has fallen prey to political forces. This is an agency with an annual budget exceeding $3 billion with a single overarching mission: Protect the President, former Presidents, and future Presidents—and their famiies.”
He added, “This series is not just about Donald Trump. The Secret Service’s inept leadership and the fallout over its misplaced priorities put our Republic at risk.”
Crabtree stated, “I am incredibly blessed to have had editors that believed in me all along.”
Runners-up included the Washington Examiner’s Gabe Kaminsky, an NJC alumnus, recognized for his coverage of a Biden White House executive order that allowed partisan nonprofits to influence voter turnout; and the Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli, also
an NJC alumna, recognized for her exceptional on-theground reporting on the illegal immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
This year, the Dao Prize recognized two new categories with additional $10,000 prizes: excellence in local journalism and multimedia reporting.
The local journalism award went to the Dallas Morning News for its series, “Bleeding Out: A Public Health Crisis in the American Trauma System,” an investigative exposé that uncovered critical gaps in trauma care, revealing that many lives could be saved with better access to blood transfusions in the field.
The Dallas Morning News also won the multimedia category for its 30-day series, “Deadly Fake: 30 Days Inside Fentanyl’s Grip on North Texas,” which exposed the full scope and reality of the fentanyl epidemic gripping the region.
The New York Post’s Miranda Devine emceed the event, which also featured remarks from NJC Board of Governors Chairman T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. and short videos highlighting the 2024 finalists. YAF President Governor Scott Walker offered the invocation, and NJC Board of Governors member Larry O’Connor delivered the Pledge of Allegiance.
As a testament to the long-term impact the Dao Prize can achieve, the funding commitment from the Dao Feng & Angela Foundation is for ten years. YAF and NJC are honored to host this prestigious event and look forward to continuing to expand the influence of the Dao Prize on media landscape.
Since 1977, YAF’s National Journalism Center (NJC) has sought to uphold truth-seeking journalism by educating and training the next generation of young journalists in the values of fair, balanced, and accurate reporting.
As trust in the media hovers near record lows, the Dao Feng & Angela Foundation and NJC believe it is essential to celebrate reporters advancing the public interest through thorough and robust investigative work. The Dao Prize is an important step in changing the tide of the media and giving journalists good reason to do good work.
1) NJC Board of Governors Chairman T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr., highlights NJC’s recent accomplishments.
2) (From left) Dao Prize sponsors Dao Feng and Angela He meet with YAF Director Kate Obenshain Keeler and Steve Keeler at the second annual Dao Prize Gala.
3) RealClearPolitics’ Susan Crabtree offers remarks upon winning the Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism.
4) New York Post Columnist Miranda Devine emcees the annual gala at the National Press Club.
5) Dao Prize finalists are featured on posters displayed throughout the event space.
6) The Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli addresses attendees after being named a runner-up for the 2024 Dao Prize.
YAF Students Celebrate Freedom Week With Nationwide Activism
Every November, YAF student activists across the country host Freedom Week on their campuses. This impactful Young America’s Foundation activism initiative highlights two important days often forgotten and ignored by many schools: the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and Veterans Day.
Freedom Week provides conservative students the opportunity to highlight everything that makes America great, celebrate those who serve our nation, and push back against the socialist lies being spread on their campuses.
To educate their peers about the evils of communism, students at schools nationwide built and destroyed mock Berlin Walls and distributed educational materials that highlight the horrific truths about the death and destruction caused by repressive communist regimes.
This year, YAF created new materials focusing on the evils of the Chinese Communist Party, including a photo mosaic poster of Xi Jinping featuring Uyghur prisoners to highlight the modern-day threat of communist governments and the brutal authoritarian tactics they still employ.
A selection of schools participating in Freedom Week include:
• California State University, Fresno
• Duke University
• Franklin & Marshall College
• Marquette University
• Michigan Technological University
• New York University
• Southern Methodist University
• Texas A&M University
• University of Alabama
• University of Austin
• University of California, Irvine
• University of Florida
• University of Georgia
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Iowa
• University of Michigan
• University of Utah
• University of Virginia
(Left) Students at Michigan Tech University create a mock Berlin Wall as part of YAF’s Freedom Week initiatives. (Right) Young Americans for Freedom members at the the University of Dallas share YAF’s materials highlighting the dangers of communism and socialism.
media uPdate: YAF Leaders and Programs Grab Headlines in November
Young America’s Foundation’s leaders, programs, and impact continued to generate media coverage in November as YAF’s National Journalism Center (NJC) celebrated truth-seeking reporting, while YAF President Governor Scott Walker championed conservative education reform in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory.
In the post-election installment of his weekly Washington Times column, Governor Walker emphasized that YAF’s “Long Game” plan is already making a difference in the beliefs and ideology of young people:
According to data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, 18- to 29-year-old voters favored Vice President Kamala Harris over Mr. Trump in the 2024 election by six percentage points. The same group of voters favored President Biden over then-President Trump in 2020 by 25 points…The data shows that our efforts to get positive information out to young voters about commonsense conservative ideas well before the election are working.
Governor Walker called for the dissolution of the federal Department of Education and for power to be returned to states, local schools, and parents.
At the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., NJC awarded $140,000 worth of prizes for real journalism at the second annual Dao Prize Gala, forcing even mainstream media to take notice (see page four) and earning more than 700 mentions in national and local media.
In another busy month for YAF’s premiere campus lecture program, speakers—including Michael Knowles, Ben Shapiro, and Lt. Col. Allen West grabbed headlines nationwide for boldly sharing conservative ideas directly with the rising generation. The Daily Wire, Campus Reform, and dozens of local and collegiate media outlets featured these farreaching YAF events.
These and other programs on YAF’s YouTube channel received 11.3 million views in November, as YAFTV added nearly 25,000 new subscribers. On Instagram, YAF videos were seen more than 14 million times, and YAF’s conservative messages received 670,000 impressions on X.
Knowles, Shapiro, West, and Johnson Bring Conservatism to Schools Nationwide Through YAF’s Campus Lecture Program
As part of YAF’s Things That Matter Lecture Series, the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro attracts a capacity audience at Vanderbilt University.
In November, YAF brought conservative values from coast to coast, reaching millions nationwide through our unmatched campus lecture program.
Daily Wire Host Michael Knowles spoke at the University of Iowa, reflecting on the recent Presidential election in his speech, “We Are So Back: How the Libs Lost Everything.” This event, part of the Logan Family Lecture Series, attracted a standingroom-only audience of students.
Knowles encouraged attendees to stand strong for their principles and values, noting,
Conservatives now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Conservatives have the clearest mandate that we have had in decades. Unified government, thanks to voters from virtually every background, all around our country, from the Sunbelt to the Rust Belt and all around them, we have a generational opportunity to speak to that still glimmering spark of common sense that the Left has failed to extinguish. If we speak to that common sense for the common good, we will make America not just good but, in fact, great again.
Additionally, conservative powerhouse and Daily Wire Co-Founder Ben Shapiro wrapped up a busy semester with YAF at Vanderbilt University.
Speaking through YAF’s Things That Matter Lecture Series, made possible by an anonymous supporter, Shapiro proclaimed that “America’s golden age is just beginning” as Americans push back against the leftist policies that have left a “God-shaped” hole in our nation.
An overflow audience of students at the University of Dallas (UD) spilled into a nearby hallway to hear Abby Johnson tell her powerful story of conversion from Planned Parenthood employee to pro-life activist.
UD YAF Chapter Chairman Liam Ritter reflected on the success of the lecture, noting,
Our event with Abby Johnson was the largest event of any kind in the last ten years. We could not be happier with her message of defending the unborn no matter the cost, and we are thrilled that her words and UD YAF’s work are reaching such
3) YAF’s most popular speaker, Ben Shapiro, wraps up his YAF fall campus lecture tour at Vanderbilt University.
4) University of Dallas students engage in a question-and-answer session with pro-life activist Abby Johnson.
a wide audience on our campus and in the DFW community.
In addition, YAF hosted a number of other speakers at schools nationwide. Lt. Col. Allen West spoke at Wake Forest University and Duke University as part of the Preserving American Liberty & Freedom Lecture Series, and activist Paula Scanlan spoke on women’s rights in sports at Michigan State University.
Commentator Elisha Krauss addressed students at the University of Alabama, and author and Catholic Answers Staff Apologist Trent Horn spoke at Belmont Abbey College as part of YAF’s William F. Buckley Lecture Series.
Activist Chloe Cole addressed the dangers of the transgender movement at Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Irish speaker and author Emmet Connor made his YAF campus lecture debut at the University of Dallas, outlining how socialist policies are ruining Ireland and the European Union.
To watch these and other YAF campus events, visit YAF’s YouTube channel, YouTube.com/YAFTV.
1) Daily Wire Host Michael Knowles meets with YAF chapter members at the University of Iowa following his speech.
2) Lt. Col. Allen West brings his pro-freedom message to Duke University.
Young America’s Foundation Partners with the Herzog Foundation to Host Inaugural Faith and Nation Student Forum
From November 3 to 6, Young America’s Foundation partnered with the Herzog Foundation to host the first-ever Faith and Nation Student Forum, drawing 70 high-achieving high school seniors and 35 educators from Christian schools nationwide.
Hosted at the Heartland Retreat Center in Parkville, Missouri, the event provided an exceptional opportunity for students and educators to engage with top-tier conservative speakers, participate in meaningful discussions, and enjoy fun-filled outdoor activities—all centered around an unapologetic belief in God and love for Country.
The highlight of the event was its impressive roster of YAF speakers, including former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan, former CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder, YAF President Governor Scott Walker, Catholic Answers Staff Apologist Trent Horn, Dissident Project Founder Daniel Di Martino, Ethics and Public Policy Center President Dr. Ryan Anderson, and commentator Vince Everett Ellison
The speakers delivered impactful presentations focused on the intersection of faith and key issues,
such as socialism, transgenderism, abortion, and Critical Race Theory.
Following each presentation, students participated in group discussions, exploring how the speaker’s message could be applied in the classroom and their lives. Educators also gathered in smaller discussion groups to delve into practical strategies for incorporating the themes of each speech into their teaching.
While the academic aspects of the program were undoubtedly engaging, students also enjoyed a range of outdoor activities, from horseback riding and ax throwing to a watch party on election night. As they viewed the election results, the students enjoyed recorded messages from prominent conservative leaders, including Senator Ted Cruz and Governors Ron DeSantis and Brian Kemp.
YAF and the Herzog Foundation are committed to working together to cultivate young leaders passionate about faith, conservatism, and their role in shaping the nation.
(Left) Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan speaks to students at the Faith and Nation Forum hosted by YAF and the Herzog Foundation.
(Right) YAF President Governor Scott Walker meets with Herzog Foundation President Dr. Darrell Jones.
YAF Joins Conservative Groups in Supreme Court Free Speech Cases
Young America’s Foundation has a long history of protecting students’ rights all the way to the Supreme Court. In addition to filing our own lawsuits when warranted, YAF supports conservative litigation through amicus curiae briefs.
These “friend of the court” briefs allow YAF to support good law in important cases that affect the fundamental freedoms of students and everyday Americans. YAF has recently filed several briefs in the United States Supreme Court, including the following:
• In L.M. v. Town of Middleborough, school administrators punished a seventh-grader for wearing a shirt reading, “There are only two genders.” When the student politely refused to remove the shirt at his principal’s directive, he was barred from class. YAF argues that “the school’s actions were nothing less than the muscle-flexing of an aspiring totalitarian system over those under its control.”
YAF’s position is 100% consistent with the seminal 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, where the Court held that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” We must continue to protect students’ free speech
rights, or public schools will become nothing more than leftist “enclaves of totalitarianism.”
• In Speech First v. Whitten, YAF is challenging Indiana University’s policy to punish speech “motivated in whole or in part by bias or prejudice meant to…demean…individuals or groups based on that individual or group’s actual or perceived identities.”
We believe these leftist policies target conservative students who disagree with controversial ideas and dissuade students from engaging in healthy and much-needed academic debates on campus.
YAF regularly partners with allies in the Conservative Movement to promote the interests of our students and our shared cause of freedom.
In these briefs, YAF partnered with Southeastern Legal Foundation, Life Legal Defense Foundation, Advancing American Freedom, Faith & Freedom Coalition, and Family Policy Alliance.
Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise Concludes Fall Semester with Nine Impactful Campus Events
In November, YAF’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise (CEFE) hosted nine campus lectures around the country, teaching college and high school students the principles of economic freedom.
Renowned economist Dr. Arthur Laffer spoke to packed audiences at Florida Atlantic University and Palm Beach Atlantic University as part of YAF’s Free Enterprise Lecture Series and at Davidson College in North Carolina as part of YAF’s William F. Buckley, Jr. Lecture Series. Dr. Laffer made a compelling case for the positive economic impacts of lower tax rates and expressed optimism about the incoming Trump administration’s commitment to greater prosperity for all Americans.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Forbes Media Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes was co-hosted by the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy and the university’s YAF chapter for his speech titled “How Capitalism Can Save America.”
At Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, Venezuelan freedom activist and Dissident Project Founder Daniel Di Martino discussed his powerful personal story of immigrating to the United States from Venezuela and explained how socialist policies decimated his native country’s economy. Both events were part of YAF’s Free Enterprise Lecture Series.
Additionally, former CEO of CKE Restaurants Andy Puzder addressed a capacity audience at Roanoke College in Virginia—in partnership with the College’s Center for Economic Freedom—for his lecture titled “The Ugly Truth About Stakeholder Capitalism.”
In his remarks, Puzder criticized the stakeholder capitalism movement for abandoning corporate and fiduciary responsibilities to pursue a woke political agenda under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Rounding out the month, North Korean defector Yeonmi Park was hosted by the YAF chapters at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Pennsylvania State University, and Sebring High School in Florida as part of YAF’s Free Enterprise Lecture Series. During her visits, Park discussed her journey from North Korea to America and underscored the alarming communist and socialist ideologies she has observed in America that are “right out of the North Korean playbook.”
These events strongly concluded CEFE’s fall semester, with 18 free enterprise campus lectures reaching thousands of young people in person and online. CEFE looks forward to another impactful semester in the spring, with campus lectures already scheduled at the University of Dallas, Northwestern University, and Florida State University, among others.
(Left) Andy Puzder addresses a capacity audience for his campus lecture, “The Ugly Truth About Stakeholder Capitalism,” at Roanoke College.
(Right) Dr. Arthur Laffer makes the case for minimal taxation during his campus lecture at Davidson College, part of YAF’s William F. Buckley, Jr. Lecture Series.
The Reagan Ranch
YAF Hosts American Legislative Exchange Council Members at Rancho del Cielo
On November 21, Young America’s Foundation welcomed members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for their annual visit to Rancho del Cielo during their Reagan Ranch Tax and Fiscal Policy Academy. ALEC is the largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets, and federalism.
Participants included state legislators representing 13 states and their families. Governor George Allen, chairman of the Reagan Ranch Board of Governors and Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar, and his wife, Susan Allen, also joined the group.
Since their first visit, ALEC members have been deeply moved by the opportunity to reflect on the values that shaped Ronald Reagan’s Presidency and to discuss how those principles continue to guide the work of state legislators across the country. For many, the Reagan Ranch provides a place to gather and a chance to be inspired by the principles that have defined American governance and ALEC’s mission.
State legislators and their families visit Rancho del Cielo as part of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Academy.
Governor Allen reflected on the ALEC gathering and memorable Ranch visit, stating,
It was a genuine pleasure to again address and discuss Reaganesque policies with another group of leading, conscientious legislators from all across the U.S.A. who are working to improve the lives and opportunities for the people in their States.
The states are the innovative laboratories of democracy where good ideas for freedom and prosperity are adopted and deleterious high tax and regulatory policies of population-losing states are avoided. These conscientious ALEC leaders loved and found inspiration from their special visit to the beautiful Reagan Ranch in perfect weather.
The ongoing partnership between ALEC and YAF underscores the shared commitment to fostering a future built on freedom, opportunity, and respect for the Constitution.
When traveling to the Reagan Ranch, visitors turn off the long and winding Refugio Road and head through the property’s main gate onto a road leading to President Ronald Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo.
The road to the Ranch, which United States Secret Service (USSS) agents named “Pennsylvania Avenue,” served as the access road to Refugio Road and the Ranch’s helipad. It was originally paved by the Navy Construction Battalion (Seabees).
At the same time, a Secret Service guard house was built at the gate to Pennsylvania Avenue, allowing USSS agents to monitor all visitors. A thorough investigation of each vehicle was conducted before it was allowed onto the property.
Pennsylvania Avenue still bears remnants of the Secret Service presence; the foundation of the guardhouse is visible on the right as visitors enter Pennsylvania Avenue from Refugio Road, and metal security lights line the barbed wire fence on the right.
Today, the front gate resembles what would have been seen in the 1980s, with the exception of the guardhouse, which President Reagan had removed following his time in office.
In the 26 years that Young America’s Foundation has preserved President Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo, Pennsylvania Avenue has welcomed hundreds of buses filled with thousands of energetic students, supporters, and guests.
Naturally, Pennsylvania Avenue began to show signs of wear as time passed. However, thanks to the generous support of Craig and Deborah Huntington, Young America’s Foundation has recently restored this key part of Rancho del Cielo.
Working alongside GPM Pavement, Reagan Ranch Associate Director Brent Kilpper, Ranch Manager Micah Salazar, and Ranch Hand Tyler Rasmussen led the restoration crew, successfully repaving Pennsylvania Avenue from the Refugio Road main gate to the helipad.
The restoration of Pennsylvania Avenue is essential to Young America’s Foundation’s work to preserve and protect Rancho del Cielo to ensure future generations can enjoy and be inspired by this historic Presidential property. We are grateful to the Huntingtons for their investment in this important project.
(Left) YAF supporters Craig & Deborah Huntington stand on the newly repaved Pennsylvania Avenue—the historic road which leads to Rancho del Cielo. (Right) GMP Pavement crew members work to repave Pennsylvania Avenue.
"YAF changed mylife."
JasmynJordan UniversityofIowa
CHANGETHELIVESOFYOUNGPEOPLETHROUGH A LEGACYGIFT TO YOUNGAMERICA’SFOUNDATION.
