Walker Takes Fight for Freedom to Next Generation

Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has traded the statehouse for the classroom battlefield, leading a nationwide effort to prepare young Americans to defend conservative principles, free enterprise and the nation’s founding ideals.

Walker, president of Young America’s Foundation, said the organization works with students from middle school through college, providing conferences, training, speakers and support for conservative activism on campuses.

“We really train the next generation of leaders in the fight for freedom,” Walker told the South Shore Press.

YAF holds programs at locations including President Ronald Reagan’s ranch in California, his boyhood home in Illinois, Mount Vernon and, this fall, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Students are encouraged to take what they learn back to their schools and communities.

Walker said the organization also brings conservative speakers onto campuses, frequently helping students overcome opposition from administrators or student governments. He pointed to ongoing litigation involving Binghamton University in New York, where a 2019 appearance by economist Arthur Laffer was disrupted by protesters.

“If you’re under attack, we have got your back,” Walker said, adding that YAF will go to court when necessary to defend students’ ability to hear competing viewpoints.

Walker said his involvement grew from appearances he made at YAF events while serving two terms as Wisconsin governor.

“If we were going to keep from losing this great republic, we had to make some inroads with younger people,” he said.

One of YAF’s growing priorities, Walker said, is countering democratic socialism by teaching young people about free-market economics and history.

The organization is planning a New York City program during the coming school year focused specifically on challenging socialist ideas.

“We’ve got to tell the story to even more young people,” Walker said. “The indoctrination happens largely because you only hear one side of the story.”