Steamboat Institute announces $500,000 match for 12-campus Liberty Tour
Six fall debates are already scheduled, including Colorado Mountain College, as the Colorado nonprofit raises money for a program aimed at college students.
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Steamboat Institute plans to take its Campus Liberty Tour to a dozen colleges over the coming year, backed by a matching commitment of up to $500,000 from board member Mark Stevens and his wife, Mary Stevens.
Jennifer Schubert-Akin, the institute’s chairman and CEO, announced the commitment Saturday while closing the organization’s Freedom Conference in Beaver Creek.
The Stevenses will match money raised for the Campus Liberty Tour dollar for dollar up to $500,000 through Jan. 31, 2027. Schubert-Akin said both donations and pledges during the matching period would count.
The fundraising push is tied to a program that puts political and policy debates directly on college campuses.
Steamboat Institute’s current schedule lists six debates for fall 2026: Virginia Military Institute, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Maryland at College Park, Arizona State University and Colorado Mountain College.
The institute has not publicly listed the other campuses that would bring the coming-year total to 12.
The Campus Liberty Tour is not new. Steamboat Institute says it has produced more than 60 university debates since 2018, and its 2025 annual report lists 11 debates that year.
The institute says its debates pair speakers with sharply different positions on issues including capitalism and socialism, immigration, energy and diversity policies. Its annual report describes the goal as teaching students how to evaluate competing arguments rather than prescribing a conclusion.
Steamboat Institute also has an explicit ideological mission of its own.
Its stated principles include limited government, limited taxation, free-market capitalism, individual rights and responsibilities and strong national defense. The group’s annual report says the Campus Liberty Tour can expose students to ideas supporting liberty, capitalism and national defense.
During her closing remarks Saturday, Schubert-Akin said the organization plans to send Steamboat Institute fellows to campuses and communities to discuss education, free-market capitalism, socialism and America’s founding documents. She also said its Emerging Leaders Council members would return to their own campuses and communities.
Schubert-Akin told attendees that Steamboat Institute takes no government funding and relies on individuals and foundations. She asked the audience to help raise $100,000 toward the matching campaign before the conference ended.
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