Wheatley Institute

What defines the American “elite”?

Wheatley Institute recently hosted Pulitzer-prize winner and New York Times columnist Bret Stephens as the opening keynote speaker for this year’s BYU Peacemaking Conference. Stephens shared important insights on the American elite, why the "economy of words" and the "economy of stuff" don’t understand each other, and how it’s driving America’s polarization even further.

Watch the full lecture on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgQv96aFVLk

With AI romance on the rise, roughly 20 to 30% of young adults have at least experimented with AI romantic companions. But many haven't considered the impact it could have on their real-life relationships.

Read the full report at: https://wheatley.byu.edu/secret-soulmates-ai-romantic-companions-and-real-life-relationships

In honor of America's 250th anniversary, BYU history professor Tyson Reeder, with support from the Wheatley Institute, taught a semester-long history course on the Declaration of Independence. As a culminating learning experience, the entire class, which included several Wheatley Scholars, traveled to key historical sites associated with the Declaration in Virginia, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

Students toured Monticello, saw the original Declaration of Independence, visited Independence Hall, and learned more about the deep and complex history behind the Declaration and how each historical site presents in American public memory.

Leading up to the experience, students studied the intellectual, political and historical background of the Declaration, researching how places, events, and figures influenced the American founding, and how that legacy affects life down to the present day.

"I’ve come to feel strongly that these founding principles cannot be treated as something static. In this being 'America’s' document, that also makes it 'our' document, and it is up to us what we do with it and how we choose to uphold it now. As disciples of Jesus Christ, I feel it is our honor to do that now more than ever, to stand steadfast in the liberty in which Christ has made all of us free, and to seek to pursue the happiness that is inherent in the gospel."
-Madison Curtis, 2026 Wheatley Scholar

There was standing room only in the Wheatley office as Tyson Reeder, Wheatley Affiliated Scholar and assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University, presented on his award-winning book, "Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison’s America”.

Reeder’s extensive archival research in Europe and America shows how the foreign meddling in the newly independent United States motivated the Founders to abandon the Articles of Confederation in favor of a more cohesive central government, and then, ironically, how that same king of foreign interference through shadow diplomacy and misinformation, bled into the hyper-partisanship of the early American republic.

Reeder connected his historical analysis with the present day, concluding with the importance of having faith over fear and his confidence in the strength of the American constitution. Reeder’s remarks are now available at www.wheatley.byu.edu

There was standing room only in the Wheatley office as Tyson Reeder, Wheatley Affiliated Scholar and assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University, presented on his award-winning book, "Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison’s America”.

Reeder’s extensive archival research in Europe and America shows how foreign meddling in the newly independent United States motivated the Founders to abandon the Articles of Confederation in favor of a more cohesive central government; ironically, that same kind of foreign interference also bled into the hyper-partisanship of the early American republic through shadow diplomacy and misinformation.

Reeder ended his remarks with commentary on America's current political climate, the importance of faith over fear, and his confidence in the strength of the American constitution. His presentation is now available at www.wheatley.byu.edu