An Exciting Opening Week for the Ole Miss College Republicans
September 11, 2011 - 12:07pm / madison.shook
This week was an exciting week for the Ole Miss College Republicans! Not only have they recruited almost 600 new College Republicans for the year thus far, they held their first meeting of the semester, opening the semester for many volunteer opportunities, events with candidates on campus, and even a little bit of fun intertwined with the work!
Many hours of planning went into this meeting between myself and Roman Kling, the current chairman. We discussed how this semester and year could be different from the others, how we could turnout current and new members, and how to keep them interested and involved. We brainstormed some fun things to have students turnout: pizza (every college student loves pizza!) and a raffle for two exciting prizes, a round of weekend golf and a card to enter The Library (a bar on The Square) for a year for free! We also wanted to have a speaker who would hold everyone’s attention, as well as motivate them to be involved this semester. As Roman and I kept planning, we were both very excited to see what the Thursday night would bring.
On the night of the meeting, students started showing up thirty minutes early in a steady trickle until the 7pm start. Everyone who entered was thrilled to be there! This wasn’t an hour long lecture. This wasn’t a mandatory meeting. This wasn’t an event required by the university. THIS WAS THE FIRST MEETING OF THE SEMESTER FOR THE COLLEGE REPUBLICANS!
When the meeting started, Roman introduced himself to the 50 attendants (one of the largest turnouts in recent memory), as well as welcomed myself and Mississippi State Senate candidate, Vann Branch. Vann talked for twenty minutes on his life story, how he became involved in politics, and how he wanted to usher in a new era into the Mississippi State Senate. After he was done speaking, many students had already signed up to volunteer for his campaign! Each student saw the passion and motivation he had for this election and couldn’t pass up an opportunity to ensure a loss for the Democrats!
Overall, this was an exciting first meeting for the Ole Miss College Republicans. I look forward to continue working closely with Roman Kling and the Ole Miss College Republicans, Vann Branch, and the other candidates in my region! Below, I have attached links to Vann Branch’s website, as well as to the Ole Miss College Republican Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ole-Miss-College-Republicans/189764827761896?v=wall
