From Independence Hall Groundbreaking to America 250, One Student Led the Way

The new classically designed library celebrates America, and on September 23, 2023, Jeffrey Schremmer was the student representative who spoke at the groundbreaking of the new Independence Hall library at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.

On July 4, 2026, he will be one of the guides in colonial garb guiding people through the well-appointed rooms matching the Assembly Room in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. See remarkable details of the Assembly Room here.

Three years ago, he said, “The library we’re breaking ground on today isn’t just a focal point of community and scholarship at Benedictine, it is a message to current and future Ravens, as well as to the country, that the founding principles of our nation are alive and well in America’s youth.”

Now he is insuring that happens, using his experience as a Constitutional Fellow at Benedictine College to share the power of America’s founding principles at the July 4 event.

Schremmer, who graduated as a valedictorian from Benedictine College in 2025 before entering law school, was the president of the Student Government Association at the groundbreaking when he said there is a growing sense among young people that the movement away from natural law, the common good, and civic virtue and toward radical individualism must be turned around and his generation must be the ones to do it.

“The library project will not only provide us with space to learn and grow, but will also serve as a testament to the vision of working to transform the culture and nation we will inherit,” he said.

Schremmer was awarded the Fran Jabara leadership award when he graduated from Benedictine College with degrees in Economics and Political Science. He came to Benedictine as a Presidential Scholar and was named the top student in both Political Science and Economics at the Academic Awards Banquet this year.

He has been very active on campus in each aspect of the college’s mission of community, faith and scholarship. HE was elected to two terms as student body president. He was also a member of the Gregorian Fellows and the Constitutional Fellows.

He is a two-time national qualifier in the Moot Court competition and this year he received the Top Orator Award, making him one of the best speakers in America. Schremmer also coaches the Maur Hill-Mount Academy Mock Trial Team in Atchison and has taken them to the state championship.

He spent the summer of 2022 campaigning throughout the State of Kansas in favor of the Value Them Both Amendment. For his work in the pro-life movement, he was awarded the Transforming Culture in America Award from Benedictine College.

Schremmer also spent time in Washington, D.C., studying politics and economics through the Hertog Foundation and the prestigious Röpke-Wojtyła Fellowship. His essay, “Labor, Family, and Community: Examining Remote Work from the Perspective of Catholic Social Teaching,” is available from the fellowship here.

President Stephen D. Minnis said, “I was really moved by what Jeffrey said at the groundbreaking. He said that young people in America are taught to hate their country. But not at Benedictine College. We love our country, and we believe the last best hope on earth should be celebrated. The library will not only demonstrate our commitment to academic excellence and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, but it will also be a symbol of our love for this great country of ours.”

President Minnis will announce on July 4 the result of the college’s 250 for 250 Scholarship campaign, raising money to fund 250 more scholarships for America’s 250th birthday.

Schremmer, who spoke at the 2025 Scholarship Ball, said, “Were it not for my scholarship, I would have attended another school, and perhaps would have been successful; but I would not be the same man standing here today. Benedictine has formed me in ways I can’t even begin to explain. Benedictine has energized my faith, transformed my relationships, and provided me with an education I couldn’t even dream of just four years ago.”

He said the mission of the college builds leaders. “And the truth is that America needs leaders, lots of them, and Benedictine College is able to form those leaders in a way that nobody else can; to form leaders who are unashamed to live out their Faith no matter how difficult that may be, leaders who will carry out the New Evangelization to young people who are desperately searching for the Truth, leaders who will be counter-cultural, unafraid to live authentically Christian lives animated by community, faith, and scholarship.”

Photo: Mary Asher

More about Jeffrey Schremmer:

• Top Student Leaders Honored with 2025 Jabara Leadership Awards
• Benedictine College 2025 Commencement Honors Students and Women Leaders
• Unprecedented Moot Court Victories
• Two Benedictine Students Named Röpke-Wojtyła Fellows
• Ground Breaking – Classical Library Project Begins

By Editorial Staff