As minority, College Republicans celebrate own diversity

As presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul slowly fade from the public eye, and Mitt Romney battles the surprisingly resilient Rick Santorum, the Columbia University College Republicans find themselves divided.

Among any random selection of club members, “there would be one or two for each candidate,” Taylor Thompson, CC ’14 and CUCR director of communications, said.

The lack of consensus reflects a trait that distinguishes CUCR quite clearly from their left-wing counterpart, the Columbia University College Democrats—CUCR, unlike the Dems, does not campaign on behalf of candidates.

There’s a simple reason why: CUCR is not affiliated with the national Republican Party, while Dems is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.

“We don’t really see it as our duty to be defending Republican politicians,” William Prasifka, CC ’12 and CUCR president, said. “We’re not attached to any political party.”

“We pride ourselves on our independence,” Kate Christensen, BC ’14 and CUCR social director, added.

This independence allows CUCR to have, in the words of Christensen, the “most diverse board on campus, of any campus organization,” in terms of ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious background, and other forms of identity.

Somewhat ironically, this diversity also extends to political diversity.

“We have libertarians, we have social conservatives, we have defense conservatives, we’ve got non-interventionists,” Thompson said. “The whole range.”

Prasifka said members of the CUCR are split “right down the middle” on such controversial topics as abortion and gay marriage. Nevertheless, on other issues, especially fiscal ones, the group is a little more homogenous.

“There is quite a bit of unity on fiscal issues,” Thompson said.

“Gun rights,” Christensen added. “And we’re all very much constitutionalists.”

However, they all share the same opinion about whether hostility against CUCR exists on campus.

“Indubitably,” Christensen said without hesitation.

“People always assume that we’re going to say the wrong thing,” Prasifka said.

Tyler Trumbach, CC ’13 and CUCR executive director, agreed, calling students’ characterizations of CUCR “caricature.”

Prasifka recalled approaching LUCHA, a student social justice and Latino rights club, about possible debates throughout the year between the two groups. “The guy from there just said, ‘Get lost,’” Prasifka said. “That showed such a lack of any sort of Columbia identity.”

One place that CUCR members said they feel more at home is in class. “Professors at Columbia are the best thing about Columbia,” Prasifka said. “I have never felt [hostility] in the classroom.”

“Every professor that I have ever encountered, if you explain your position, you articulate it in a respectful way, it’s a very fair academic [environment],” Thompson stated.

Christensen’s experience hasn’t quite reflected her fellow club members’. “You haven’t taken any women’s studies classes at Barnard,” she said to Thompson.

Club leaders say one of their goals is to challenge students’ ideas and perceptions—though in the past, it has often incited the ire of classmates.

The club hosts an annual barbecue on Columbus Day in recognition of the explorer’s arrival in America in 1492—a celebration that the Native American Council opposes by simultaneously handing out pamphlets about indigenous Americans’ history.

And the riots that ensued when Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, spoke on campus in 2006 sparked national media atention.

This year, CUCR is trying to collaborate with other groups more. The club has been more visible in campus events this year, including participating in a debate hosted by the Arab student group Turath on the Middle East.

“Our main goal is to promote dialogue on campus,” Prasifka said. “We’re all Columbia students. There ought to be a dialogue of ideas here.”

megan.kallstrom@columbiaspectator.com

Update: A previous version of this story referred to Taylor Thompson as CUCR's director of operations, as he was listed on CUCR's website. Thompson is actually the director of communications.