Trenton Hale saw what his SFL peers accomplished at the University of Tennessee and said, “I can do that too.”
That campus had long reported one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the nation. So SFL students decided to do something about it.
After two years working behind the scenes, Tennessee’s governor signed HB 1909: The Laken Riley Act. It ensures that students can legally carry effective self-defense tools on campuses. Because of this law, students now have the legal right to proactively protect themselves.
At nearby Western Kentucky University, Trenton was one of Students For Liberty’s most active leaders. And because he had worked long hours as a cashier in his dad’s small, used clothing store, he also had seen firsthand how taxes, regulations, and COVID lockdowns strain small businesses to the breaking point.
That experience, and the philosophical grounding Students For Liberty gave him in the ideas of liberty, motivated him to write not one, but three full-length books:
- The Failed Idea: Why Socialism Fails in Theory and Practice (May 2022)
- Freedom for All: How a Libertarian Society Would Function (November 2022)
- The Shadows of FDR: Challenging the Traditional Narrative (October 2023)
But when he learned what SFL had accomplished in Tennessee, he decided it was time to put his own ideas into action.
This is Students For Liberty, to a tee: intelligent, passionate students who are intrigued by the ideals of freedom. Then they meet and become inspired by others like them who have achieved big things — who have literally changed the world.
In Trenton’s case, he began rallying classmates to defend their individual rights, then helped draft a bill that would prevent universities from prohibiting their students from carrying self-defense tools. House Bill 204 was introduced in February of last year. It stalled in committee, but not only will it be reintroduced when the Kentucky legislature returns to session in January, but it caught the attention of a certain United States Senator: None other than Rand Paul.
Trenton Hale is Senator Paul’s newest intern.
As an intern, Trenton is gaining firsthand exposure to the legislative process that will pay immediate dividends when he returns to Kentucky after the internship to push through his bill. He’ll also be shadowing Senator Paul, assisting with memos, and giving tours of the Capitol.
“Whether I end up as a congressional staffer or with a lobbying organization — who knows?” Trenton said. “I’ll be pushing for liberty legislation either way. This internship is my chance to see how our government really works so I can help influence legislation at the state or federal level.”
Even with his new responsibilities, Trenton isn’t slowing down. In between Hill duties, he’s finalizing his fourth book, Echoes of Deceit, a critical history of the War on Terror from the Iranian Revolution to America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
He’s also contributing a chapter to Milton Was Right, an upcoming book that House Ostrom — SFL’s cohort of liberty-minded academics — will soon publish in partnership with the Free to Choose Network. The book will renew and expound on the arguments Milton Friedman made in Capitalism and Freedom.
From the campus quad to the halls of the U.S. Senate, Trenton’s journey is proof of what’s possible when a principled student is empowered with the resources, mentorship, and opportunities of Students For Liberty. He exemplifies SFL’s HOPE values — but Entrepreneurship, in particular. He has researched and published books on his own, influenced legislation, and earned himself a job on Capitol Hill. As he begins his career, whatever it ends up being, he’ll draw on his accumulated knowledge to bring greater freedom and prosperity to millions of people in Kentucky and throughout the U.S.