Since 1993, the series has hosted prominent guests including U.S. presidents, cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and congressional and international leaders.

Capito was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from West Virginia. She currently serves as the only female member of the Republican Party leadership as the Policy Committee Chair.

During the discussion held at Chao Auditorium and , moderators and Macy Waddle and Kara Beth Poe asked Capito questions about her path to politics, her approach to bipartisanship policy solutions and the ongoing government shutdown.��

When asked why she chose to pursue leadership roles, Capito said she selected committees where she could make an impact and serve her state’s interests, such as the Environment and Public Works Committee. She cited the current permitting process as an example of working across the aisle for the greater good.

“You can’t build anything without enormous red tape,” Capito said. “This is a point at which we have great bipartisanship hope, what you end up with is a peak where you are both hungry for it. If we have permitting reform solidly written, this should solve everybody’s issues no matter who is in office.”

A point of pride for Capito is West Virginia Girls Rise Up, a program designed to inspire the next generation of female leaders. Ran out of her office, the initiative empowers middle schoolers by focusing on education, physical fitness and self-confidence. Capito hosts sessions on these topics, sometimes featuring special guests like NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson.

Capito draws motivation from her father, Arch Alfred Moore, Jr. who served in the U.S. Congress and as governor of West Virginia. She hopes to pass that legacy on to her three children.

In his remarks before Capito’s talk, Sen. Mitch McConnell praised Capito for “working with other people’s point of view” and her dedication to making a difference for communities.��

“There has not been a better difference maker in the Senate in my years than Shelley,” McConnell said.

Britt was the 66^th world figure to come to the as part of its . Since 1993, the series has hosted prominent guests including U.S. presidents, cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and congressional and international leaders.

Throughout the one-hour program held at Chao Auditorium and , Britt emphasized the importance of respect and trust, despite party lines. Upon her introduction to the U.S. Senate, Britt became friends with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. Britt expressed that they could collaborate on matters crucial to the public despite any differences.

“We’ve got to have a lot of tough conversations in this county and if ever we want those tough conversations to actually yield results, they are going to have to be honest,” Britt said. “If you are going to be honest, you are going to have to trust and respect the person sitting across from you.”

Britt met with the university’s�� before the public presentation and praised the scholars for their thoughtful questions.

“I was soaking up every bit of hope that these young people gave me,” she said.

Britt also praised McConnell’s leadership and credited him with inviting her on an international trip to engage with foreign leaders on security matters. Reflecting on the experience, she highlighted its lasting impact to encourage her to empower others as well.

“When you march through that door, look back, grab somebody else’s hand and take them with you, because that is exactly what we are going to need to do to have success in this nation,” she said.

In moments of doubt, advice Britt’s grandfather told her continues to guide her. He said she only has control over four things: her character, her integrity, her work ethic and how she treats others. He advised her not to let anything beyond these factors dictate how she viewed herself.

“The world will place limitations on you, but it is the ones you place on yourself that will do the most damage,” Britt said.

In 2023, Britt was sworn in as Alabama’s first elected female senator and is the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate.

In his remarks before Britt’s talk, McConnell said Britt was his “favorite freshman” and “there was no better choice” to give the Republican response to the State of the Union address in March.

The program concluded with a gift — a bottle of Old Forester Single Barrel bourbon from UofL to Britt.

“This is my first trip to Kentucky but I’m hopeful I will be back,” Britt said.

“It’s a win-win for all of us,” she said during an hour-long program in Chao Auditorium that was also .��

“This new Hitler has to be stopped while we can still stop him in Ukraine,” Markarova said. “Otherwise, this conflict will widen and all of us will have to fight.”

Markarova was the latest world figure to come to the McConnell Center as part of its , celebrating its 30th year in 2023.

During that time, more than 60 leaders, beginning with former Secretary of State George P. Schultz, have given talks at the center, said Gary L. Gregg, director of the McConnell Center.

The speakers also meet with the university’s . “I know that the students here really want to make a difference,” Markarova said, praising the students for their insightful questions.��

McConnell introduced Markarova at what he said was “an especially critical moment in the history of our two countries.” 

Markarova repeatedly thanked the United States for its support, especially in the 20 months since Russia invaded Ukraine. She compared Russian aggression with the Hamas attacks on Israel that took place Oct. 7. “We are dealing with the same evil and enemy,” she said.

In her remarks before Markarova’s talk, UofL President Kim Schatzel noted that the McConnell Center has since 1991 been teaching students to be “valued citizens and future leaders.”

The program concluded with an exchange of gifts — a bottle of Old Forester Single Barrel bourbon from UofL to Markarova, and a Ukrainian flag from Markarova to UofL signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the message “Ukraine is brave.”

Of the bourbon, Markarova said, “We’ll keep it at the embassy and we’ll drink it when we win.”

Pompeo, a graduate of West Point, served as a cavalry officer patrolling the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall. After leaving active duty, Pompeo graduated from Harvard Law School.

He was confirmed as secretary of state on April 26, 2018, after serving as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and, prior, as a congressional representative from Kansas.��

During his McConnell Center speech, Pompeo discussed the three central ideas to President Donald Trump’s foreign policy approach:

1. Realism
2. Restraint
3. Respect

The “realism” principle, he said, means looking at problems “as they are, not as what we want them to be.” Pompeo provided an overview of work done specifically in Latin America as an example of this.

“In just the last few years, we’ve seen some remarkable things. Many nations have made a sharp turn towards democracy, capitalism, good government and away from dictatorship, socialism and corruption that has been endemic in some of those countries,” he said.

He pointed to Bolivia, Cuba and Nicaragua as examples.

“No one in the region any longer believes that authoritarianism is the way forward,” he said, adding that “there is more democratic cooperation in our hemisphere today than in any other part in history.”

Pompeo also touched upon the importance of helping the Venezuelan people move toward achieving freedom, including religious freedom, something he said this administration has taken to heart. Venezuela is currently under the rule of socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.��

“We do [support the Venezuelan people] for a couple of reasons. We support it because people should be able to express their unalienable right to self-government. We support it because political freedom goes hand in hand with economic freedom,” he said. “And we support it because it’s simply the right thing to do.”

Pompeo added that, despite this progress, authoritarian regimes “don’t go away easily,” pointing to Maduro as an example. However, Pompeo noted this presents the administration with an opportunity to approach foreign policy realistically.��

“We’ve tried to drive with moral and strategic clarity the recognition that authoritarianism in our hemisphere is a threat. … We’ve done so in a way that’s been realistic – within the capacity of the American power to achieve the ends that we’re seeking,” he said.

That means, for example, rolling back the Obama administration’s Cuban policy and adding new sanctions on the country.

“We recognized engagement hasn’t improved Cuba’s regime; in fact, the human rights record was worse,” Pompeo said. “We see these tyrants for what they are and we craft policies to confront them, not to appease them.”

For the “restraint” piece, Pompeo said calls for regime change through violent means isn’t always the answer, again pointing to Venezuela as an example.

“What we’ve learned from history, is that the risks for using military force are significant, so we’ve instead worked to deprive Maduro of oil revenue … we’ve been ruthless in attacking the drug cartels and we built a coalition of 57 other allies to maximize the economic and political pressure that we’ve put on the regime,” Pompeo said. “If we do it right and do it well and represent American values, Maduro will fall.”

Pompeo said the Trump Administration will continue to be relentless with restraint, calling “unending pressure and sensible restraint” the right combination.

Finally, Pompeo noted that our foreign policy is built on respect, meaning respect “for our principles as enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and respect for our neighbors and allies and how they run their affairs.”

Pompeo pointed to border security as one example of striking this respect chord.��

“A poorly secured border violates Americans’ enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It undermines the rule of law, compromises security, enables human trafficking, and the president has taken on these problems – that’s the basic respect for American ideals,” he said.

Pompeo added that one of his proudest diplomatic successes is working with Mexico to “do more inside of their own country to stop the flow of illegal immigration into the United States.”  

“We didn’t tell them how to run their country; we just insisted they be good neighbors,” he said.

Pompeo said this same approach has yielded an 80-percent drop in intentions to illegally enter the U.S. from Ecuador and therefore a stronger relationship with El Salvador.

Ultimately what the respect tenet comes down to, Pompeo said, is ensuring people’s “yearning to be free” and that includes their religious freedom and economic rights.��

“We’ve seen protests in a number of nations. Those protests reflect the character of legitimate democratic governments,” he said. “We are so blessed here. America remains the greatest example of democracy in the history of the world … I am proud of what we’ve  done in the region. Whatever the day brings, we’ll approach it with realism, restraint and support.”

A brief Q&A with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell followed Pompeo’s remarks. During that time, Pompeo touted the Trump Administration’s reversal of the Obama Administration’s Iranian Nuclear Agreement, noting that the sanctions put into place instead have worked without affecting the Iranian people.��

He also reiterated that the U.S. stands behind protesters in Hong Kong, calling on China to honor its 1997 commitment to offer autonomy and freedoms.

Finally, he discussed President Trump’s trip to London for the NATO Summit this week. Pompeo, who will be joining the president during the trip, said there are three priorities: to make sure NATO is prepared to fight new challenges, such as cyber threats; to increase NATO’s role in fighting terrorism; and to share the financial burden of a collective defense with other NATO countries.  

Pompeo, the 70th secretary of state in U.S. history, is the seventh secretary of state to speak at the University of Louisville, following George Shultz, Madeleine Albright, James Baker, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton.��

Here’s video from the event: 

The series kicked off on Oct. 5, 1993 when it welcomed then-U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz.��

In the second part of a three-part series celebrating the center’s silver anniversary, we provide a look back at some of the other political heavyweights who’ve also visited the Belknap campus, helping to establish the McConnell Center one of the most acclaimed academic programs in the country: