The AU College Democrats and College Republicans both have many plans for expanding their groups on campus and becoming more involved with the D.C. community, starting with the National Day of Service and Remembrance on Sept. 11.
The College Republicans participated in the Freedom Walk. This event was created in 2005 to establish a national tradition of remembrance of the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, according to College Republican President Stephen Laudone.
The College Republicans will also be working on a community service initiative at Walter Reed Hospital on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
The College Republicans and College Democrats have also doubled their outreach efforts, with revamped websites, new Facebook groups and fan pages for members to join and stay in touch.
College Democrats President Bo Hammond said the College Democrats have added an internship board to their site for the first time. He said this has been set up to help members of AUCD get jobs, and in the past has secured internships on Capitol Hill and at WeatherizeDC, a non-profit based campaign in D.C. focusing on home efficiency.
The College Republicans have arranged several outings, starting with a meet and greet session at the Tenleytown Z-Burger, followed by a weekend trip to a Nationals game. They have also booked a number of speakers for the upcoming months, such as Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., sometime in September or October and former United States Senator Rick Santorum, R-Pa., in November.
The College Republicans are also co-sponsoring the Kennedy Political Union's Family Weekend event on Oct. 23. Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City and presidential candidate, is scheduled to speak.
Laudone said he is focused on expanding the community service wing of his organization.
“It is important for the [College Republicans] to walk the walk on this [service] issue, so you will see us engaging more than in past years in community service initiatives of our own and with the Community Service Coalition,” he said.
The College Democrats have a themed schedule entitled, “Blue Rising.” This is a six-week period during which they have scheduled many events, starting with advertising and recruitment in the first couple of weeks.
Hammond believes that this will be the best year for the College Democrats.
“We are going to have more members and more resources than we have ever had in the past,” he said.
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