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The College Democrats (officially the College Democrats of America) is the official organization of the Democratic Party of the United States for college and university students.

History

The College Democrats organization was founded in 1932 to help the election campaign of presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt. It had a good deal of success during its first decades, and claims on its website to have been "the largest student organization in the nation" during the 1940s. However, in 1967, the College Democrats took up a position opposing the Vietnam War; this enraged then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, who cut the College Democrats out of funding from the Democratic National Committee. It was eventually revitalized by then-Senator Al Gore, and by the time Gore became Bill Clinton's vice presidential nominee, there were more than 50,000 members.

Since 1992, CDA has actively promoted the Democratic legislative agenda and Democratic candidates for office. By training and equipping campus activists across the country to work on and manage campaigns, CDA has mobilized countless young voters and recruited tens of thousands of grassroots activists for the Democratic Party. Thanks in part to the hard work of College Democrats activists, John Kerry won a groundbreaking 54% of the youth vote in 2004. [1]

Activities

The College Democrats' activities vary from chapter to chapter. Typical activities include inviting guest speakers (often elected officials or party activists), arranging for members of the club to work on campaigns, and organizing students for letter-writing campaigns or phone banks. Local clubs also organize voter registration drives.

Every year, the national organization of the College Democrats holds a national convention. Features of the convention include workshops on how to be effective in government and campaigning, as well as prominent speakers from the national Democratic party (previous speakers have included Bill Clinton, Al Gore, members of Congress, and cabinet members).

Organization

The College Democrats are run by a seven-member executive board, consisting of:

  • President - Lauren Wolfe
  • Vice-President - Awais Khaleel
  • Director of Communications - Ethan Porter
  • Director of Development - Chad McVeigh
  • Director of Membership - Lakeisha Myers
  • Director of Political Affairs - Kristin Fine
  • Director of Programs - Katie Naranjo

The function of the Executive Board is officially to "determine and implement the organization's goals"; its members are elected annually at the National Convention. Pursuant to the Constitution of the College Democrats of America, each local chapter receives three (3) votes, each state federation receives two (2) votes and each member of the outgoing Executive Board receives one (1) vote. More than 200 chapters from more than 40 states attended the July 2006 National Convention in St. Louis.

The College Democrats are also guided by a National Council, which consists of state officers from every state federation. The National Council is presided over by a Chair and a Vice-Chair, also elected annually at the National Convention.

  • National Council Chair - Bess Evans
  • National Council Vice-Chair - Brian Anthony Mitchell [2]

See also

References

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