Elle Rogers (PHL ’19) Receives ISI DeVos Freedom Center Leadership Award

The King’s College warmly congratulates Elle Rogers (PHL ’19) on receiving the Richard and Helen DeVos Freedom Center Leadership Award, presented by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).

The DeVos Award is presented by ISI to undergraduates who have inspired members of their campus communities. Rogers received the award at ISI’s annual gala, the Dinner for Western Civilization, held on October 25 at the InterContinental Washington in Washington, D.C. The award is presented in honor of the late Rich DeVos, co-founder of Amway, and his wife Helen, both longtime friends of ISI. The DeVoses’ philanthropy has underwritten the membership and recruiting efforts of ISI through the DeVos Freedom Center. Richard and Helen DeVos were also active members of The King’s College Board of Trustees from 2013 until their passing. They both deeply believed in the mission and vision of The King’s College and their generosity was extraordinary.

As a student at King’s, Rogers has served as director of communications on The King’s Council, the student government executive cabinet, where she executed Civics Week, a new initiative to increase student involvement on campus. She founded The Publius Society, an ISI-sponsored student organization that pursues Christ-like character, intellectual curiosity, and self-governance through reading and discussion. Rogers has spent two years as a faculty assistant for Dr. Joshua Blander, assistant professor of philosophy, and Dr. Steele Brand, assistant professor of history.

Beyond King’s, Rogers has completed internships with the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney, and the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Rogers was a 2016-17 Honors Fellow with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and co-hosted a regional ISI conference on Justice in 2017.

Rogers says, “I am grateful to receive the DeVos award from an organization that has so fundamentally shaped my life. Through ISI and King’s, I have learned how great books and ideas form robust character and build flourishing communities. ISI has motivated me to interact with these ideas in papers about Lincoln, book club discussions about moral improvement, and internships with government agencies. It is my hope to continue fostering the love for first principles ISI taught me as I pursue graduate work and a lifestyle ordered towards the good and true.”

Rogers follows in the footsteps of other King’s alumni who have also received ISI awards. Grayson Logue (PPE ’18) was a 2016 DeVos Freedom Center Leadership Award recipient and Alexandra Nykamp (PPE ’16) was a 2015 recipient.

Founded in 1953 by journalist Frank Chodorov, William F. Buckley, and other early conservative and libertarian intellectuals, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute seeks to inspire college students to discover, embrace, and advance the principles and virtues that make America free and prosperous. ISI teaches student members the core ideas behind the free market, the American Founding, and Western civilization, and connects them with top professors, like-minded students, and leadership opportunities.