Held on the day the McConnell Center was founded in 1991, the program began with a reception, giving attendees a chance to reconnect and celebrate the center’s past 35 years.

During the event, the center unveiled, “America’s Autobiography: Key Documents that Tell Our Story.” This initiative pairs a new book of key documents with a companion podcast and video series, featuring commentary from scholars and experts.

McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg’s remarks focused on the hundreds of teachers and thousands of students the center has been able to serve over the decades.

“Tonight we celebrate the McConnell Center’s work in civic education — in nurturing, teaching and inspiring generations of young citizens and their teachers,” Gregg said. “It all began with the very foundations of the center in the political science department and those early faculty…who taught our first generation of McConnell Scholars to be good citizens and leaders.”

During the program, Justin Mitchell, a social studies teacher at Franklin-Simpson Middle School and former participant in the center’s Teachers Scholars Program, was presented the Henry Clay Cup for Exemplary Service in Civic ����ֱ��, recognizing his contributions to civic learning in Kentucky. He is only the third recipient in the history of the award.

The celebration concluded with a keynote address by the Honorable Chris Gibson, former U.S. Congressman and retired U.S. Army Colonel, who reflected on the importance of civic responsibility and leadership. 

“America’s Autobiography: Key Documents that Tell Our Story” will be released in May and can be purchased at . All proceeds from the book will benefit the McConnell Center’s Civic ����ֱ�� Fund.

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Article by Natalie Tracy

“[It was] wonderful to meet with our country’s next generation of leaders who are part of the McConnell Scholars Program,” Esper said. “Their intelligence and acumen will be counted on to answer our nation’s call.”

McConnell noted that Esper joins a long list of distinguished speakers to meet with McConnell Scholars. The list includes four secretaries of defense, two sitting U.S. presidents, two CIA directors, Supreme Court justices, and dozens of congressional leaders and ambassadors.

“It’s always important to put ambitious young students in front of accomplished leaders who are currently serving our nation,” said McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg. “Secretary Esper’s diverse career — from serving in the infantry to business and now leading at the highest levels of civilian government — offers great leadership lessons. It was clear to us why he has been called upon to lead the Department of Defense, and we are grateful for his generous insights and time to our students.”

Eric Bush, a senior McConnell Scholar at UofL, presented Esper with a commemorative Louisville Slugger bat to mark his visit.

“I appreciated Secretary Esper’s timely insights on the challenges and opportunities facing our nation, but also his willingness to pass on lessons from his decades of military, civilian, and government leadership,” Bush said.

Esper retired from the U.S. Army in 2007 after spending 10 years on active duty and 11 years in the National Guard and Army reserve. He served as chief of staff at the Heritage Foundation think tank, followed by policy and adviser roles for Senator Chuck Hagel and former Senate Majority Bill First. He also served as vice president for government relations at the Raytheon Company before becoming Secretary of the Army in 2017.

Esper became the 27th secretary of defense in July following the resignation of Jim Mattis.

The seminar, sponsored by UofL’s McConnell Center, is a series of intensive classes that cover a range of subjects including history, political philosophy and constitutional law. The Army’s goal is to have their mid-career soldiers learn how to think beyond tactics and the battlefield.

“It’s probably one of the best military opportunities I’ve had,” said Captain Sam Spencer-Pittman, one of the participating soldiers.

UofL’s McConnell Center was one of five places around the globe that was chosen to host this program. Gary Gregg, the director of the McConnell Center, said that: “it’s a great testament to the kind of faculty we have on campus, and to our Army-friendly environment at the University of Louisville.”

Watch more about the SBS below: 

According to McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg, a disturbing trend shows that students across the nation have demonstrated a decline in basic civic knowledge, which led to the creation of the Young Leadership Academy.

“In order to be fully and civically engaged in the future, our young citizens must come to understand the foundations of the American constitutional order,” Gregg said. “Our Young Leaders Academy is designed as a kind of boot camp in constitutionalism, aimed at helping these outstanding young students become more informed citizens and more articulate advocates of the causes they care about.”

The curriculum was presented by UofL faculty with the intent to not only explain the origins of the formation of the federal government, but offer the back story and concepts that fueled the federalism/anti-federalism debate that raged during the country’s formative years.

“At the end of the week we had six different groups actually debate the pros and cons of federalism and judicial review,” said McConnell Center program director Glyptus Ann Grider Jones. “It was interesting to see how this generation conceptualized the debates surrounding the debates over the Articles of Confederation and the move toward the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and put them into their own words.”