Parents of teens who will soon be college-bound face a quandary.  What can we afford?  Which colleges have the right course offerings and degree programs?  Which colleges have a reputation for educational quality?  

A state university, particularly for state residents, usually has the lowest costs.  In South Carolina, both the Unviersity of South Carolina and Clemson University have a wide range of courses and degrees, and both are certainly renowned as schools of high caliber.

But one of them offers a terrific opportunity for students that is not available anywhere else in the world:  the Lyceum program, run by Clemson’s Snow Institute for the Study of Capitalism (SISC).

SISC’s Mission SISC’s mission is to explore the moral foundations of Capitalism and the moral foundations of a free society – a unique undertaking.

SISC is dedicated to as-suring that students learn about the principles and real-world consequences of both Capitalism and opposing political systems.  

The SISC program includes not only courses on politics, but also courses on the principles of personal moral character.  A person’s political beliefs are based on his ethical choices, of course; the two are inextricably con-nected.  The SISC program assures that the young adults who take its classes will have a consistent understanding of both.  

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Capitalism, of course, is part of freedom – the freedom to live one’s life and work to build it as each person chooses.  America’s Founders referred to it as “the pursuit of happiness”.

Socialism and all tyrannies are the an-tithesis of Capitalism – and freedom.  Socialism holds that the government knows better than the individual what he should be doing with his life.  That includes where to live, the spending of his money, and more.

The SISC pro-gram assures that students will understand the differences and will not be seduced by Socialists’ non-reality claims.

SISC classes attract not only students majoring in political science, economics, and history, but also those majoring in business, physics, math, and engineering.

Students who take SISC classes fall into one of three categories:  “Scholars”, “Fellows”, and students generally who simply enroll in the classes.

The SISC Lyceum Program

Prospective Scholar students must apply for the four-year SISC program while still in high school, and if accepted are awarded full four-year scholarships.  Ten scholarships are awarded each year.  Scholars are required to take all eight SISC classes, in addition to the normal workload for a student’s major.  

For Freshmen, those classes are “Wisdom of the Ancients” and “Introduction to Political Theory”.

Sophmores take "American Political Thought" and "Political Theory of Capitalism".

Juniors’ classes are “Modern Political Thought” and “Political Thought on America’s Founding”.

Seniors finish up with “Constitutional Law” and “Wisdom of the Moderns”.

Each Scholar is assigned a “Socratic tutor” for discussions on various issues and topics, such as applying Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics to the student’s personal life, discussion of virtues in a student’s life, analysis of events of courage versus incidents of cowardice, what wisdom is, moral character, honesty, integrity, and more. Fellows do not receive scholarships, are not assigned a Socratic tutor, and are only required to take six of the eight classes.  About fifty Clemson freshmen students are accepted into the SISC Fellows program each year.

Additionally, SISC students (and any interested Clemson students and other campus visitors such as this author) attend several lectures:  one “Pope Lecture” per semester plus 4-6 others each school year.  SISC’s lecture series is Clemson’s largest.

The SISC Program Is a Proven Success

SISC graduates include Clemson's first-ever Rhodes Scholar, 2 Fullbright Scholars, 11 Masters Degrees (from Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Chicago, Duke, and elsewhere); a tenure-track Professor at the University of Mississippi, and a clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Support for SISC at Clemson

The focus of the SISC program on the moral foundations of Capitalism poses a threat to Leftist opponents.  SISC’s stated goal is to “expose students to greatness”, putting the program in direct conflict with the current cultural trends of mediocrity and “sameness”.

Nevertheless, Clemson University enthusiastically supports the SISC program.  The pro-gram enjoys the full support of Clemson’s Board of Trustees, President, Provost, and the College Dean.

History

The SISC program began in 2005, when SISC Director Brad Thompson joined Clemson.  It was initially funded through a grant from BB&T (now Truist) Bank.  Since 2010, an additional grant has made possible seminars by visiting faculty.  SISC has grown to include eight instructors and three staff members.  A 2024 grant of $25 million assures SISC will be a permanent program of study at Clemson.

The Future for SISC and Lyceum

The SISC expects to increase its Scholar program sizes from 10 to 20 to 40 to 80 over the next four years, and to double the number of Fellows from 150 to 300.

SISC’s impact will soon go beyond Clemson:  other universities have taken notice of SISC’s success and are in the process of copying the Lyceum program for students at their own campuses.