In this episode of Reverb Effect, Lauren Lassabe-Shepherd and Sophie Wunderlich look at the long history of conservative student activism on American college campuses. The popular image of the 1960s student is a protester against the Vietnam War or for civil rights. That same decade also saw the rise of right-wing student groups like Young Americans for Freedom and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. We explore how national leaders and donors built these groups, what they called grassroots organizing, and how they copied the tactics of the left. We also follow the students who later became prominent figures in the Republican Party, the courts, and conservative media, and trace the right’s century-long fight with higher education up to today’s campus culture wars.
Contributor
Cheyenne Pettit, Joseph W. Ho, Lauren Lassabe-Shepherd, and Sophie Wunderlich
Department or Unit
History
Publish Date
2026
Format
Podcast
Funding Source
