Open discourse on and off-campus.

View upcoming opportunities provided by the Buckley Institute and its partners. Become a Buckley Fellow, apply for summer internship, or join the discourse with our essay contest.

Washington, D.C. Fellowship

The Washington Fellowship is an exclusive, fully-funded opportunity for a select group of Buckley Fellows to spend a week in Washington D.C. meeting with government officials, members of Congress, judges, think tank scholars, journalists, and the people who make the nation’s capital run.

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Multi-Day Seminars

Taught by experts in their field, our multi-day seminars allow students the opportunity to have intensive and fruitful academic engagement with topics and thinkers often neglected in their Yale classrooms. Through these multi-day seminars, the Buckley Institute helps fill the gaps in the Yale curriculum.

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Essay Contest

Each year, the Buckley Institute sponsors three essay contests: for Yale undergraduates, for U.S. undergraduates nationwide, and for American high school students. The winners receive monetary awards and an invitation to our annual conference.

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Lux et Veritas Faculty Prize

This prize recognizes a Yale faculty member who actively fosters intellectual diversity for students in and out of the classroom. Nominations will be accepted until March 9, 2023.

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Funded Summer Internships

This highly competitive summer internship program links talented Yale students with enriching summer opportunities and a living stipend. We've sponsored Yale students at National Review, the Manhattan Institute, Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and other notable institutions.

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“I would say Buckley is mostly a way to make spaces and foster very difficult conversations, but they’re conversations and dialogue that I think need to happen. And even in some of the more touchy and difficult topics, it’s always been in a respectful manner, which I’ve appreciated.”

— Toby Neal ’27

“My favorite Buckley event this semester was the Firing Line debate on whether gender should be included in legal frameworks. Both speakers brought passion and lived experience to the table, and their candid discussion over dinner—extending beyond the formal debate—left a lasting impression. It was a rare moment of genuine engagement on a contentious topic.”

— Hilda Barragan-Reyes ’26

“I think that regardless of what people take away from some of our speakers or events, I find the speakers we bring in to be top-notch, giving me an interesting, new perspective to take away.”

— Will Barbee ’26

“Although I am liberal, I believe that it’s important to challenge my own viewpoints radically different from my own…”

— Yenjay Hu ’28

“The Buckley Institute always boasted a consistently strong and intellectually engaging slate of speakers. I didn’t find this in my classes, and the Institute challenged me to explore areas and ideas I didn’t find elsewhere.”

— Kevin Xiao LAW ’27

“I really enjoyed the Buckley event with Megyn Kelly. She was fiery, sharp, and honest (no doubt controversial at times), but it was refreshing, and I’m so glad we could have her at Yale. Getting to meet her behind the scenes was really special.”

— Fiona Bultonsheen MPP ’26

“I think what’s working is once you go to one event, especially the conference, it feels very organized.”

— David Dumontet ’28

“Thank you for putting on an incredible conference—loved the whole event from fascinating panel discussions to Governor DeSantis’ motivational speech.”

— Matthew Guella SOM '26

“I liked the panel on how to save the reputation of elite universities. Hearing practical solutions and diagnoses for what individuals and universities can and should do helped create a vision.”

— Tori Cook ’27