College political groups plan for year ahead
Membership retention is a goal for this non-election year.
Published Aug. 28, 2009
In the midst of debate over health care reform and the increased government spending, political organizations on campus have stayed active, even a year after one of the largest elections in the nation's history.
MU College Republicans Chairman Brett Dinkins said in an e-mail he is trying hard to keep people interested in his organization.
"It's very easy to get involved," Dinkins said. "Just e-mail me, come to the big red tent that you will see pretty often at Speakers Circle or join the Facebook group."
Activities for the College Republicans range from service projects, rallies, activism events, special speakers and raising awareness about different political happenings. Dinkins said some of the upcoming events are a Sept. 11 remembrance event and a students' rights week.
Dinkins said membership is extremely important to the College Republicans, and he said he has many plans to keep membership numbers high.
"Membership retention in non-election years is always hard," Dinkins said. "I plan on making political activism fun and building a strong sense of unity and friendship within the club to battle retention issues."
Dinkins said one his main concerns is that students don't grasp the importance of non-election years.
"That is when you do the work that prepares you for a successful election season," he said.
Dinkins and MU College Democrats President Brian Roach said both groups are planning to work together to set up a health care forum for students to discuss this controversial issue.
Roach said the College Democrats are sponsoring a number of things this year as well. First on the agenda is a Sept. 3 meeting in Allen Auditorium in the Arts and Science building. He said the goal of this meeting is to introduce the organization to incoming members and to welcome back returning members. He also said more events being held during the year would be discussed at this meeting.
Roach said increasing membership was key this year for the College Democrats.
"A major goal this year is to increase members and retain members," Roach said. "After a long campaign we just had, this is a chance to branch out."
The College Democrats are also planning on working with the College Republicans this year. Roach said his organizations loves working with their "colleagues across the aisle" and he said debates similar to the health care forum would be held throughout the year.
Aside from the school's two major political organizations, MU Campus Libertarians President Roger Webb said his group had several things planned for the upcoming semester.
Webb said the Libertarians will have their first meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31 at Shakespeare's Pizza. They will also have a table set up on Speakers Circle a couple times per week for those who can't make the meeting.
"In this off-election year we will be focusing on maintaining our presence through outreach and will be working on growing our membership," Webb said. "It is also important that we develop our current members into more effective activists and ensure that we have a solid plan in place so that when the next election year comes around, we can communicate our message effectively."