The College Fix

The Young Conservatives Coalition awarded five young professional conservatives with “Buckley Awards” on Tuesday night, an honor meant to acknowledge and praise the efforts of the five individuals who have made significant contributions to the conservative movement at large this year.

The winners are:

Yuval Levin – National Affairs, editor and author

Levin, 35, has served as the editor of National Affairs magazine, an influential conservative policy journal founded in 2009. He has been referred to as the “conservative movement’s greatest intellectual hope,” an “expert rhetorician,” and is even read by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who once said of Levin, “He does a very good job of articulating why these are good ideas and the right way to go and how they are philosophically connected with one another and consistent.”

Will Weatherford – Florida House of Representatives, Speaker of the House

Weatherford, 34, is the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and is currently the youngest serving speaker in the country. In this past legislative session in Florida, Speaker Weatherford led his caucus of 76 members in opposition to an expansion of Medicaid through Obamacare. Speaker Weatherford is a citizen legislator, owns a small business, and is involved in many charitable organizations.

Ryan T. Anderson – The Heritage Foundation scholar

Anderson, 32, researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation and is editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute. He is the co-author with Princeton’s Robert P. George and Sherif Girgis of the acclaimed book: What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense. Justice Samuel Alito cited the book twice in his dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case involving the Defense of Marriage Act.

Alex Smith – College Republican National Committee, National Chair

Smith, 24, is currently the National Chair of the College Republican National Committee. After the 2012 presidential election loss, especially among the youth demographic, Smith embarked on a nationwide effort to help rebrand the GOP, titled “Grand Old Party for a Brand New Generation.” Smith contributed significantly to advance youth activism and also has the distinction of being the first elected female National Chair of the CRNC.

Remy Munasifi – ReasonTV, Comedian, Musician and Video Artist

Munasifi, 33, is an “intergalactic” web sensation with his smart parody videos garnering over 80 million views promoting liberty-themed ideas in a highly entertaining yet educational manner. Munasifi is an Arab-American stand-up comedian making a meaningful impact in news coverage and serves as an example of how conservatives and libertarians can fight the left using humor and social media outreach. His videos have been watched by millions on ReasonTV, GoRemy.com, and his The Falafel Album is available from Comedy Central.

“The awards are in honor of the late William F. Buckley, Jr. – the conservative movement icon who founded National Review and wrote God & Man at Yale all before the age of 30,” according to the Young Conservatives Coalition, a Washington D.C.-based young professional conservative leadership, educational and networking organization.

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