"College Republicans have
helped to change the course of history, and change it for the better." These are the famous words from our country’s
40th president, Ronald Wilson Reagan, who arguably has gone down as one of the greatest presidents in our modern
era. The College Republican National Committee (CRNC) is the
country’s oldest and largest youth political organization. Founded in 1892, the CRNC currently has over a quarter
of a million members throughout more than 1,800 campuses nationwide. In the state
of Indiana,
Purdue, IU, Notre Dame, Ball State, Indiana State, Valparaiso,
and IUPUI all have College Republican Chapters located on campus. This list goes
on and on. Even the University of Southern
Indiana has a College Republican chapter, but there is one campus in Indiana,
that, as odd as it may sound, does not have a chapter for their students. Yes,
ladies and gentlemen, this campus we are referring to is our very own IPFW, but luckily, in the next few months, all Republican
Mastodons will once and for all have the opportunity to have their voice be heard.
This chapter can only
succeed with your help. This student
organization, however, is not the typical group found on IPFW’s campus. If
enough people join, we may very well have big opportunities ahead of us which would include the opportunity to host well-known
conservative speakers—not only speakers such as Seymour Hersh, Ralph Nader,
Wolf Blitzer, and Robert Kennedy Jr. who have in years past come to speak at IPFW and who all have liberal ideologies. Now don’t get us wrong, it has truly been an honor to have these speakers come
to IPFW and not all of the speakers have had liberal ideology. For instance,
both Lynne Cheney and Bill Kristol have been two speakers on the conservative side of the spectrum who have spoken at IPFW. Nevertheless, the point is that by forming a College Republican Chapter here at IPFW,
we will consistently have the opportunity to host well-known conservatives from around the country, and you—as members
of the College Republicans—may be able to meet them firsthand. Throughout
the country, College Republican Chapters at various universities have held such speakers as Ann Coulter, Rick Santorum, Michael
Reagan, and Sean Hannity.
Yet the College Republicans
is much more than listening to featured speakers. As a matter of fact, according to our constitution we would have four main
goals as a student organization.
¨ To make known and promote the principles of the Republican Party among members,
the IPFW campus, and the surrounding communities.
¨ To aid in the election of Republican candidates in all levels of government.
¨ To encourage and assist in the organization and active functioning of the
Republican Party at local, state, and national levels.
¨ To develop political skills and leadership abilities among Republican students
as preparation for future service by them to the community.
Finally, it is very important to point out that we are not forming this group to criticize and ridicule
the Democratic Party, but instead, it is our goal to promote Republican ideals. This
is not an anti-Democrat club, and everything we do will be done with the utmost
respect to all differing views. As a matter of fact, both of us greatly respect
much of the work done by many of our local Democrats including Graham Richard, Tim Pape, and Ben GiaQuinta who have all provided
tremendous leadership in strengthening our community. With the highly respected
Professor Andrew Downs as our advisor, it would be hard to imagine the club being run any other way than with class and dignity.
Together the two of us invite all of you to join an organization that is
long overdue in one of the most conservative districts in our country. It is
hard to believe that in a city like Fort Wayne, where College Republicans would be welcome with open arms,
that IPFW has yet to form such an organization. Not only would joining
this organization look great on your resume, help you get involved in the community and on campus, and give you great opportunities
to meet wonderful Republican leaders, but most importantly, it is easy to join and will actually be an enjoyable and eventful
time. Let’s do our best to do as Reagan said to change the course of history…..right
here in our own backyard.
Look for flyers with more information around campus in the very near future, but for further information on joining
College Republicans here at IPFW contact Anthony Mitson by e-mail at mitsac01@ipfw.edu or Adam Welch at welcaj02@ipfw.edu, and make sure to join the Facebook group “College Republicans (IPFW Chapter)”
where we will be sharing information on an updated basis.
Tony
Mitson and Adam Welch,
Co-founders
of College Republicans
