Over three days at the Downtown Washington, D.C. Westin hotel, LibertyCon International brought together some of the most high-profile voices in the liberty movement. But it also brought together a rising generation of students and alumni who are still finding their voices, building their platforms, and discovering their spheres of contribution. To name a few:
Trenton Hale (see more above). Rand Paul’s newest intern came from Western Kentucky University, where he helped draft House Bill 204. It was inspired by a similar bill that SFLers at the University of Tennessee helped pass last year, which itself was inspired by our students’ desire to address the high rates of sexual assault on college campuses. Like its predecessor, the bill in Kentucky would ensure that students can legally carry effective self-defense tools on college campuses throughout the state. It will be introduced when the legislative session begins in January.
Rachel Altman. She’s the Director of Outreach at the Foundation for American Innovation, which conducts research on and develops technology, people, and ideas that support a freer future.
Trace Mitchell. He’s not only SFL’s newest board member, but also Deputy Chief Counsel of the House Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust.
Siddharth Gundapaneni.. He recently moved to the West Coast to follow in Thomas Sowell’s footsteps. Sid is the newest Research Analyst at the Hoover Institute, the Stanford University think tank Sowell made famous that promotes public policies to pursue economic liberty, free enterprise, and limited government
Aaron Sobczak. He just embarked on a new writing and communications job with Stand Together, Charles Koch’s non-partisan philanthropic organization that promotes bottom-up solutions to societal issues.
Congressional political advisor Benaya Cherlow. Fresh off a tour of duty with his Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reserve unit — a network he used to organize meetings with a bipartisan group of U.S. representatives and senators. This cohort of eight Democrats and nine Republicans discussed how to bridge knowledge gaps between the American public and on-the-ground realities in Israel, Gaza, and the rest of the Middle East.
Dylan Dean. About a month after LibertyCon, Dylan was preparing to fly out of a small airport in Colorado. He was not allowed to opt out of facial recognition at the TSA checkpoint. He spoke to an attorney, double-checked his rights, and two weeks later, received a call from a TSA supervisor. Thanks to his complaint, the signs telling travelers that facial scanning is mandatory once an ID has been scanned were removed.
Ethan Yang. When you last heard about Ethan, the freedom of information request he filed had made its way to the Supreme Court, taking shape as Murthy v. Missouri: a case in which a federal judge called the Biden Administration’s actions during Covid “the most massive attack against free speech in U.S. history.” More recently, he’s been submitting free-market-based input on proposed regulations, like the proposed rule that would ban the import of Chinese automobile components. His input led to three meaningful, pro-liberty changes in the final law. And in his free time, he’s making it cool again to be a libertarian in The Beltway. His Summer Soiree was a networking reception for liberty-minded interns and young working professionals in the D.C. area, the product of two years’ worth of groundwork. The 160 reservations he made available for the Soiree were snapped up within a week. And it’s just a hobby for Ethan; his full-time job is to serve as legal counsel for Senator John Kennedy’s Judiciary Committee staff.
Joshua McHoes. An intern with the Alaska State Legislature, he’s working on a bill to guarantee free-speech protections on public university campuses, similar to bills recently passed by SFL volunteers in Florida and Montana.
What do these young professionals have in common? They all went to LibertyCon because they are Students For Liberty alumni.
Ask anyone: Students For Liberty alumni are so ambitious and legislatively successful because they are the most principled and knowledgeable young proponents of liberty in our movement. They know their Hayek and Mises inside and out. They know their Friedman left and right. Beyond mere ideas, though, they know how to organize for a purpose. They know how to communicate with a digital generation.
SFL’s commitment to ensure our students remain the most principled and knowledgeable young professionals in the liberty movement is paying dividends. It’s why organizations like Cato want to partner with our students. Look no further than the inaugural Cato University for Students For Liberty: an SFL-only event in March 2025, where 44 students gathered for a two-day training program at Cato’s office in D.C.