Students for Liberty has just announced their regional conferences for the upcoming school year, a record-setting 12 conferences in all major parts of the country. These conferences are planned by students and for students to help you get the most out of the FREE one day event. 

At each conference there will be speakers, workshops, and student activist panels. You'll also be able to meet hundreds of other student activist in your area and collaberate on the best ideas to reach more students for liberty.

The speakers list has already been building for each conference and is going to be nothing short of amazing. To just name a few: David Boaz of Cato, John Papola of Econstories, David Nott of Reason -- and so many more. Make sure to find the conference nearest you and register soon. Spaces are already filling up. 

On top of all that, there will be three free meals and a social afterward with FREE drinks! Why would you want to miss these?

October 1 – Chicago Conference – University of Chicago

October 8 – Philadelphia Conference – Drexel University

October 15 – North Carolina Conference – Salem College

October 22 – New York City Conference – Columbia University

October 22 – Arizona Conference – Arizona State University

October 22 – Austin Conference – University of Texas, Austin

November 5 – Boston Conference – Harvard University

November 5 – Northern California Conference – UC Berkeley

November 12 – Pittsburgh Conference – University of Pittsburgh

November 12 – Dallas Conference – University of North Texas

November 12 – Florida Conference – University of Florida 

November 12 – Southern California Conference – Pepperdine University

Visit www.politicalconferences.org to learn more and to register!

Perhaps no one understands the negative effects of government regulation like a smoker.

Politicians are always finding a new way to control smokers -- where they smoke, or how much they can buy, or how ridiculously high the taxes are. I recently moved to San Antonio, Texas, and before I moved I did my research. I looked up things like cigar taxes and state smoking laws and so on. I was rather excited to move here because the taxes were relatively low compared to what I was used to in Virginia, and cigar lounges were far more common.  Unfortunately, I failed to notice one important detail:  San Antonio passed a very strict anti-smoking bill.

The worst part of the regulation is how many people are so eager to ban smoking. They are afraid of the dangers of second hand smoke, or the "third hand smok" that the doctors have started to warn us about. Whenever a bill like this is passed, it usually comes with overwhelming support.  Often the only opposition comes from smokers themselves.  It’s as if people think that it’s not so bad if some people lose freedom just as long as it’s not them. But if the government is willing to regulate something as personal as smoking, what's to stop it from regulating anything else it pleases?

 This semester Young Americans for Liberty at Liberty University got started spreading the message of freedom on campus.  Though the school's administration tended to create a more neoconservative-friendly environment, we made a lot of progress and look forward to future semesters.  We had many defeats along with our victories, but nonetheless we are still fighting for liberty.

The semester began with much controversy because the univerisity would not allow YAL to meet on campus. Liberty University does not allow political groups -- even if non-partisan -- to become official clubs, and unofficial clubs were not allowed to meet on school grounds. This left us without a campus home, forcing us to meet in the student center or in open classrooms without prior permission -- not a very attractive option, since we wanted to follow the rules.

Fortunately, the rules changed once a neocon student group wanted to form on campus.  Now we have “official” clubs and “unofficial” clubs. Both have the same rules except “unofficial” clubs, like YAL-LU, don’t get funding.  That's ok, however, because with the activism kit and other resources we get from YAL, we don't need their money.

L.E.A.P (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) is coming to Liberty University. President of L.E.A.P. Neil Franklin has agreed to come to Liberty to speak on the war on drugs in the United States and its consequences.

Franklin is a 33-year veteran of the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police forces. He oversaw 17 drug task forces, and instituted and directed the very first Domestic Violence Investigative Units for the Maryland State Police.

Neil Franklin will speak on November 18th at 7 P.M.