Writing for the Ayn Rand Institute, Onkar Ghate has published an op-ed titled “The Appeal of Ayn Rand” that examines the eternal appeal of Rand’s ideas, particularly among students. From the article:
The key to Rand’s popularity is that she appeals to the idealism of youth. She wrote in 1969: “There is a fundamental conviction which some people never acquire, some hold only in their youth, and a few hold to the end of their days–the conviction that ideas matter.” The nature of this conviction? “That ideas matter means that knowledge matters, that truth matters, that one’s mind matters. And the radiance of that certainty, in the process of growing up, is the best aspect of youth.”
See the full article for additional elucidtation.