DEFENDING OUR NATION AND ITS CONSTITUTION.

Few people in American life put themselves more at risk than the men and women who serve in our armed forces. It is one of the most self-sacrificial forms of public service open to the average American. The John Jay Institute established the Saratoga Fellows Program in 2012 because we recognized that it was important to prepare young men and women to become wise leaders within the military, both for our armed defense and the defense of our Constitution and way of life. As we engaged in the annual July 4 celebration of the birth of our nation, we took some time to talk to alumni who are working to protect core American freedoms from those who would threaten it.

In this impact snapshot, you will meet some of those alumni serving our country. We talked to Patrick Brehany, first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, about how the philosophical grounding he discovered in the Saratoga Fellows Program came to bear on his military career. We sat down with two groups of alumni from different branches of the military to talk about leadership and servanthood in their service, along with their experiences of public support for the military and the greatest current challenges faced by the modern military. Alum Tasha Talbot told us about an unexpected meeting overseas, and finally we heard from Jason Bentley on his experiences sharing with thousands of young people how vital first principles are when considering questions of war and military service.

Support our efforts to prepare the next generation of Principled Public lEaders

We seek out the best and brightest of tomorrow’s creators and writers, parents and teachers, lawmakers and pastors, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. We provide them with the intellectual, spiritual, and professional training for transformational cultural leadership. And then we give them membership in a close-knit professional fraternity of alumni to facilitate their strategic placement, continued growth, and lasting impact on American culture.