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Revision as of 23:40, 28 November 2005
The College Republicans, collectively, are an arm of the United States Republican Party for college and university students. The term College Republicans relates specifically to college students who term themselves Republican, but does not reflect the legal and political structure in which College Republicans typically operate. College students who consider themselves College Republicans are represented nationally by an I.R.C. Code 527 Political Organization called the College Republican National Committee which provides leadership and support to associated chapters nationwide. Due to campaign finance laws of the late 1990's, the national Republican Party officially severed ties with both the College Republicans and its fraternal twin the Young Republicans in 2001.
There are fifty-one College Republican state (and other entity) federations that provide further leadership and support to individual college chapters at the state level (and the District of Columbia). Notable College Republicans have included Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove, prominent Republican strategist Lee Atwater, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and U.S. Senator Rick Santorum. Today there are 1,300 chapters across the United States with around 200,000 student members.
Activities
College Republicans' activities vary from chapter to chapter. The most common activities include inviting guest speakers (often elected officials or conservative/party activists) and arranging for club members to work on political campaigns. Many clubs also organize voter registration drives on their college campuses. The organization also holds a national convention each year where political speakers are invited.
History
The College Republicans were founded on May 17, 1892 at the University of Michigan by James Francis Burke. The organization was christened by Ohio Governor William McKinley with students from institutions as far away as Stanford University and Harvard University present. During the 2004 election cycle, College Republicans provided more than 120,000 volunteers to the reelection campaign of President George W. Bush. The College Republicans are members of the International Young Democrat Union.