***This is an online event with the option for attending in person at Stumberg Hall. Please contact Dr. Orlandi (mo@austin-institute.org) about availability for attending in person***

The Covid pandemic forced us to look once more deeply into politics, and to seriously reflect on what we expect from our leaders. The political community is the overarching community and thus political leaders necessarily must attend to a broader array of circumstances than any other leaders (scientific, academic, economic). That makes prudence, or good decision making, all the more difficult and necessary.

Dr. Kevin Roberts’s experience in politics and government will help us come to grips how different priorities and responsibilities did -- and sometimes didn't -- factor into decisions during as Covidtide unfolded.

About our scholar:

Dr. Kevin Roberts,

Executive Director of Texas Public Policy Foundation

Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., has twenty years of experience as a teacher, professor, headmaster, and college president, and has been involved in a number of education reform initiatives around the country.

Roberts’ love for Lone Star liberty began during his days as a conservative graduate student in Austin.  After earning his Ph.D. in American history from The University of Texas, Roberts served as a history professor in New Mexico before starting his own K-12 school, John Paul the Great Academy, in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana.  Most recently, Roberts served as president of Wyoming Catholic College, which the New York Times described as being full of “cowboy Catholics” for refusing federal student loans and grants. Both schools led by Roberts have earned regular recognition for being among the top Catholic schools in the nation.

As a scholar of the Constitution, the history of American education, and school reform, Roberts looks forward to applying his experience as a practitioner to the Foundation’s important efforts in all policy areas.

Roberts and his wife, Michelle, have four children, one bird-hunting dog, and a lifelong addiction to fishing.

About this year's theme for our programs:

Prudence: a Word, a Virtue, a Theme

This year, following the requests of our students, the Austin Institute has developed its academic programming around a common theme that will unify the activities of the semester.

The focus of our fall programming is on the most underestimated and yet most needed virtue of prudence.

Prudence will also guide our practical choices for our programs. All in-person and/or online programming conform to current health guidelines. We want to keep everyone safe while providing program opportunities during this pandemic.