MIDLAND — The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is launching Students for a Free Economy, a Center project created to expose Michigan college students to free-market thinking. SFE will start its official outreach on Saturday with a visit to Michigan State University and continue its whirlwind tour in the two weeks that follow with visits to Central Michigan University, the University of Michigan, Northwood University, Western Michigan University, Hillsdale College and Grand Valley State University.

Isaac M. Morehouse, director of the new initiative, said Thursday: "The launch of Students for a Free Economy is a new direction for the Mackinac Center, taking policy ideas to students at public and private universities who may be unfamiliar with the ways that markets affect their lives and the issues they care about. That means we won’t just be talking about taxes, but things like poverty, health care and the environment."

Morehouse also said SFE would reach out to freedom-minded students who may feel isolated on campus. "We’ll serve as a link between freedom-minded students at universities across the state and between those students and free-market organizations like the Mackinac Center. We also want to go outside the box of lectures and forums and do things students actually do on their own, like barbecues and tailgates. Lots of students are open to our ideas, but don’t want to add another class to their schedule."

SFE’s initial campus visits will involve booths at established college events, including MSU’s "Sparticipation" (Aug. 25); CMU’s "Mainstage" (Aug. 26); GVSU’s "Campus Life Night" (Sept. 4); U of M’s "Festifall" (Sept. 6); and WMU’s "Bronco Bash" (Sept. 7). Events later this year will include a tour of MSU, CMU, U of M and WMU by June Arunga, a noted Kenyan documentarian who speaks frequently on trade and globalization. For more information on SFE and its activities, visit www.michigansfe.org.

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