With several political organizations at Northwestern, it can be easy to forget about some of them. With “Political Profiles,” we aim to keep students informed about these on campus organizations. Each week, we will be highlighting a new club, its goals and any of its upcoming events. Enjoy!
Who they are: Northwestern University College Democrats is a political group on campus that aims to “serve as a campus hub for progressive thought and action.”
What they do: Throughout the year, College Democrats members organize a multitude of events. They have hosted speakers that range from U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky to survivors of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. They often canvas for upcoming elections and participate in outreach with not only other political clubs on campus, such as College Republicans and Associated Student Government, but also the Evanston community.
Goal: To increase political involvement and voter turnout not only at Northwestern but across all college-aged students.
College Democrats President Romie Drori said that as an executive board, they get to choose where they allocate the funds they receive from the University, such as co-sponsoring events with other clubs that don’t get as much publicity or support.
“I've been trying really hard to just make it a nice space,” Drori said. “People are always welcome to come and join and pitch into ideas. I don't want it to be a point of stress for anyone ever. It’s just a lot of very smart people who are interested in politics and really passionate.”
What they are up to right now:
Currently, NU College Democrats has been supporting the boycott of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which was started by the Harvard College Democrats. Since then, over 30 colleges have signed onto it as well. The boycott resulted from students’ disapproval of the DCCC’s guidelines released last month, which ordered that no vendors work with candidates challenging Democratic incumbents in the 2020 election. Students wrote in their letters to the DCCC that they worry such a guideline would prevent new voices from being heard in the party, and would put those coming from underrepresented and marginalized communities and identities at a disadvantage.
Drori said that due to the order of the lineage, the club doesn’t have much direct action with the DCCC.
“It's the Democratic Party and then the College Democrats, and then College Democrats of Illinois and then our chapter,” Drori said. “So it's not like we rely on the DCCC for funding or anything like that. It’s more symbolic than anything.”
Coming soon:
On May 17, the club is co-hosting an event with Evanston Literary Festival. Benjamin I. Page, Jason Seawright and Matthew J. Lacombe will talk about their book Billionaires and Stealth Politics, which addresses Trump’s immense use of wealthy donors for his campaign.