The Lyceum Scholars Program recently welcomed 19 new students to the Class of 2030. These incoming first-year students were chosen from a competitive pool of nearly 1,100 applicants to study the foundations of a free society and the importance of moral character.
This year’s class and their hometowns include:
- Zack Alban, Davidsonville, Marland;
- Jack Alexander, Raleigh, North Carolina;
- Jessie Becker, Huntingdon Vy, Pennsylvania;
- Erin Birdsong, Lincolnton, Georgia;
- Mary Clemens, Williamsburg, Virginia;
- Esther Han, Salinas, California;
- Ava Hirsch, Mentor, Ohio;
- Hannah Johnson, Charleston, South Carolina;
- Camilla Kopanon, Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts;
- Joseph Kull, Columbia, South Carolina;
- Rhett Manders, Richardson, Texas;
- John Mark Putnam, Columbia, South Carolina;
- Luke Rutledge, Athens, Georgia;
- Alex Thompson, Evans, Georgia;
- Michael Thorne, Sumter, South Carolina;
- Rachel Townes, Georgetown, Texas;
- Brooke VanDalinda, Kathleen, Georgia;
- Virginia Wallace, Greenville, South Carolina;
- Ross Wilson, Walhalla, South Carolina.
Many of the new Scholars have come to Clemson as STEM majors, with a handful of political science, philosophy and history students. Over half of the incoming Scholars have come from private schools, and a smaller percentage have attended public schools and homeschools. The nationwide appeal of the program is reflected in the balance between out-of-state and in-state Lyceum Scholar first-year students at 68% to 32%.
First-year student Scholar Zack Alban from MD notes, “I am extremely excited to start in the prestigious Lyceum Scholars Program as it combines my passion for law and the study of morals and ethics. Learning legal theory from scholars as old as Plato to as recent as the founding fathers will allow for a greater exploration of the ideas of justice and government. Personally, I am most excited to bounce ideas and beliefs off peers in meaningful discussion.”
The program is now in its eleventh year, and every year, Scholars uphold the reputation of previous classes for their strong academic and extracurricular contributions to both the Lyceum community and Clemson University.
Samuel Postell, Ph.D., assistant director of the Lyceum Program, said, “We are elated to welcome the Lyceum Scholars class of 2030 to campus, and we are excited to see them become part of the Clemson Family. These students come from all corners of the United States and will pursue many different majors across campus. We are excited to watch them grow, and we know that they will become stand-up members of the Lyceum program in particular and the Clemson Family at large.”
About the Snow Institute for the Study of Capitalism
The Snow Institute for the Study of Capitalism is dedicated to exploring the moral foundations of capitalism. In pursuit of this mission, the Institute collaborates with students, the academic community and the general public to raise awareness of capitalism’s core principles and institutions. The Lyceum Program, founded in 2014, serves as the flagship initiative of the SISC and remains the only University program focused on the study of liberty, capitalism, the American founding and moral character.
