College Republicans volunteer incampaign efforts, attempt to dissolve preconceived notions about party Mact Burcham and Liza Freeman, sophomores. brainstorm ideas for rheColiege Republicans . Ten members of the organ izat ion attended theWhite County Republ icans' Lincoln Day Dinner in March, which featured Arkansas Governor M ike Huckabee. College Republicans " A sk not what your country .fi ca n do fo r YOU ; as k what you ca n do fo r your country," To students involved in Coll ege Rep ublicans, Joh n F. Kennedy' s his - tor ic st atement is more t han jus t wo rds - it is a philosophy of life. StudeJlt s' invo lvemen t with th e Coll ege Republicans often began with a longtime in te res t in the politi ca l a rena. "Politi ca l sc ience is my ma jor, and eve r si nce I can remember, I have li ked politi cs and law, so it was a nobrai ne r fo r me [0 ge t in vol ved ," Mandy Kill ian , sec ret ary/ treasurer , sa id . The club t ypi ca lly held its mee t - ings one T h ur sday eve n i ng each month , according to Jamie Hu tches, chairman. "Our mee tings a re packed ," he said. "We eat refreshmen ts wh ile we take ca re of club busin ess, li sten to speake rs, ann ounce oppo rtun iti es to vo lun tee r and wo rk on campa igns and let peopl e know what ' s go ing on in gove rnment. " Hu tches acted as li aison between the student body and candidat es for offi ces in the community. Hutches also hoped to di ssol ve some student s' preconce ived not ions about the Republican Party. "I'd like to change peopl e's image o f the Republ ican Party," Hutches said. "I want to let peopl e know that we' re trying to make a diffe rence on both the state and the national level. " Wo rking wi th College Republi cans also hel ped studen ts wit h their own po lit ica l as pira ti ons to lay a foundat ion fo r achi eving their goa ls. "I' d li ke t o run fo r t he st ate legislature one day, " Hutches sa id. "I don 't want t o be a ca ree r politi cian or pres ident or anything like thar. Bur 1would like t o ge t in there, se rve my di str ict and my st ate, and then go back to being a no rmal citizen. " Even if they had no in ten tion of becoming po liti c ians, involvemen t with Co ll ege Republi cans provided st uden ts with info rmat ion esse ntial to becomin g mo re informed vo ters. - Sara H a rdes ty Poli tics and Forensics 257
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