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February 2011
From the President:
 An education at The King’s College is a journey. Our students move to New York City from all over the country and settle into the middle of a bustling metropolis. The first stage of the journey is a quest to become acclimated to collegiate study and learning to live in the City. Life in the middle of the world's greatest city can be a challenge, but our students persevere.
As this journey continues, they learn how to divide their time between studying, serving in the city, attending a local church, and getting involved in the
House system and other extracurricular activities. Milestones in the trek might include a breakthrough moment in understanding the role of small business as an engine of growth in society. Or the role of freedom and the law in Shakespeare. Or landing a coveted job or internship in their chosen field.
We are dedicated to serving our students as they make this journey. Our professors mentor inquiring young minds as they teach students the formational ideas of America and Western Civilization. Our staff members encourage and support young men and women who are building their identity and discovering their aspirations.
At the heart of it all is the desire to influence society and to change it for the better. Our students culminate their Kingsian journey when they graduate—but then they begin the larger journey of helping to shape and lead the most strategic institutions in our society.
I am so pleased that you are a part of this journey.
 Cordially,
Dinesh D'Souza
President, The King's College
Mike Huckabee Talks Politics with King's Students
 Mike Huckabee, former presidential hopeful and host of “Huckabee,” spoke to students at The King’s College on January 21, 2011. He visited campus as part of the
Distinguished Visitors Series, hosted by Dr. Marvin Olasky.
The topics of conversation ran from the state of national affairs today to Huckabee’s future political aspirations. Though he is a frontrunner for the GOP nomination according to some polls, he has decided to wait at least until the end of the summer to make an announcement regarding his intentions.
This statement by Huckabee was reported by Katherine Phan of the Christian Post, and was picked up by major news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and NPR.
The Distinguished Visitors Series allows students to interact with top leaders in the fields that The King’s College aspires to influence: government, civil society, media, law, business, education, the arts, and the church. Dr. Olasky interviews each guest—many of the interviews form the basis for articles in World magazine—and opens the floor to student questions following the interviews.
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Two King's Professors Write Book on Political Reformation  “There is something wrong with our politics that elections cannot solve.” From the very beginning, “Keeping Our Republic: Principles for a Political Reformation” maintains that something is missing from the national political sphere that is not about voters or politicians or policies. Instead, Professors David Corbin and Matthew Parks argue, the idea of republican citizenship has withered away.
Republican citizenship—not to be confused with the Republican party—consists of a statecraft and understanding of politics that relies on equality, responsibility, honor, justice, lawfulness, and prudence applied to the politics of our day. The book walks readers through each of these six attributes and details why they are so crucial.
As Corbin and Parks write, “We believe that the revitalization of the American regime depends upon the revitalization of our common ability to tell the republican from the unrepublican as easily as we can distinguish a Democrat from a Republican—and to recognize that the former skill is vastly more important than the latter.”
The authors said they decided to write the book after seeing the results of the 2008 elections. “President Obama had been elected, and Republicans and conservatives were debating how much to surrender given the presumed wisdom that the country had moved into an era of bailouts and stimulus,” they said.
“We thought the best way forward was the way back to our republican roots. Americans needed to get a renewed sensibility as to just what republican governance was and was not. We set out to provide that definition using what amounted to a common sense understanding of politics for both the Founders and Lincoln.”
Dr. Corbin is the Dean of the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, and Dr. Parks is the Assistant Provost of The King’s College—New York City.
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Professor Loconte Reviews Book on William Wilberforce and the End of the Slave Trade in Britain
 Joe Loconte, assistant professor of history at The King’s College, wrote "Slaves for Christ" for Philanthropy, a publication of the Philanthropy Roundtable. The article reviews Stephen Tompkins’ book The Clapham Sect: How Wilberforce’s Circle Transformed Britain and summarizes the work’s main principles for interested activists. It can be found in the Winter 2011 issue of Philanthropy.
Loconte tells the story of the Clapham Sect: “a nexus of a dozen families based in the village of Clapham and led by parliamentarian William Wilberforce” that “succeeded in abolishing the slave trade. In the process, through scores of private-sector initiatives, they helped make public virtue fashionable.”
Wilberforce’s “persuasion, personal integrity, sacrificial giving, principled activism and effective storytelling” made him an exceptional leader and a modern favorite of leadership studies. It was, however, the efforts of the entire Clapham Sect that finally led to the 1807 abolition of the African slave trade in Britain. Because the Clapham Sect understood that a “new narrative about human dignity and social justice had to be written,” they recognized the need to work in all the channels of cultures and on all levels of society.
The Clapham Sect’s evangelical faith motivated and united them as they sought to bring the Gospel’s redemptive power into all aspects of British society. Their faith-based initiatives in England inspired faith-based philanthropy in America throughout the 19th Century. The Young Men’s Christian Society, now known as the YMCA, and the Salvation Army were inspired by the Clapham Sect’s success. Indeed, the model that the Clapham Sect used inspired the promotion of civic virtue and engagement and encouraged philanthropy from scores of wealthy citizens.
The Clapham Sect worked across party lines and religious differences; this diverse unity remains crucial for today’s philanthropic Christians. Loconte urges philanthropists not to “shrink back from publicly identifying your cause with the moral and spiritual claims of the gospel” but to be gracious and of good humor.
To read the entire article, please click here.
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House of Bonhoeffer Launches New Website
The House of Dietrich Bonheoffer celebrated the launch of a newly-designed House website at The King’s College on January 21. The MoB, or Men of Bonheoffer, launched the website as a tool to increase community in their house, to relay important information to parents, to increase interaction with alumni, and to tell the general story of the House.
“In order to secure our path into the future, the first step is to document where we’ve been in the past,” said Chad Abbott ('13), who spearheaded the web effort. “This will allow future house members to base their decisions on the House’s course on the rich traditions that we’ve developed.”
During the launch party, the MoB welcomed Eric Metaxas, author of a recent biography about the House’s namesake, who shared the relevance of Bonheoffer’s writing to the lives of young Christian men. Jamey Nordby, Vice President of Advancement, also shared his hopes about the site’s viability for alumni relations. Current House President Mitchell Hailstone ('13), former President Matthias Clock ('11), and junior Joshua Encinias ('12) led discussions on the importance of creating and maintaining House traditions.
Michael Toscano ('08), an alumnus of Bonhoeffer, said that the website serves as “a tool for the Men of Bonheoffer to communicate their House vision, retain alumni-student connections, and to flourish creatively.”
Houses at The King’s College are student-led, mission-driven communities. They serve as social, academic, and spiritual support for students at King’s. Each House is led by four elected students and guided by faculty and staff advisors.
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IN THE NEWS
Dr. David Corbin and Dr. Matt Parks, Dean of the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and Assistant Provost, co-authored an op-ed that ran in the Washington Times last week. The article is titled "State of the Union? Out of Touch with the Founders" and captures some of the main themes of their new book, which is reviewed above. In this article, they state that the federal government is currently marked by divisive politics: the rule of "we the partisans" rather than "we the people." They propose a republican--not to be confused with Republican--alternative of "no artificial political divisions" when crafting policy. Click here to read the article.
 Dr. Robert Carle, associate professor of theology, wrote “Tariq Ramadan and the Quest for a Moderate Islam” in the current issue of Society, a journal of social science and public policy. The article explores the theology and actions of Tariq Ramadan, an Islamic scholar who pushes for building bridges between Muslim and European culture.To read more, click here.
 Dr. Peter Kreeft, distinguished visiting professor of philosophy, gave a lecture called "Christian Anthropology Versus the Sexual Revolution," which was published by Catholic Education. The article asks what Christ has to do with the Sexual Revolution. The answer, he writes, is "not by turning back the clock, not by a new Victorianism, not by opposing religion to sex, but by showing their real and profound connection." He concludes that Christ has everything to do with the Sexual Revolution: "Because Christ alone gives us intimacy with God, and that's the thing the Sexual Revolution is looking for but doesn't know it."
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