BruinLink is the one-stop-shop for Belmont University’s students to find events and organizations on campus, but for Belmont’s more politically-minded students, the options may appear limited.
While College Republicans already held an event on Monday to celebrate Donald Trump’s inauguration and have a general meeting planned for Jan. 28th, the College Democrats have no events listed so far for this semester.
“I haven’t felt pressure from the members to fulfill every expectation that was set,” said Paloma Buck, the president of the College Democrats.
The lack of events from the College Democrats continues a trend from last semester, as they held only one event. The last time the Democrats held an event with no collaboration from another club was in January 2023.
Seemingly acting as a mirror of their national counterparts, the Republicans are energized by Trump’s reelection and the Democrats are struggling to find energy after a difficult election season.
The single event the Democrats hosted last semester was a joint civil discourse event with the Republicans on Oct. 9th. While the event was hosted by both organizations, attendance from the Republicans noticeably outweighed attendance from the Democrats, Buck said.
“It was really disappointing because I wanted my Republican members to be dug at and be able to respond. I don’t like when conservatives don’t have that experience and don’t know how to fight for their ideas,” said Mya Conrad, president of the College Republicans.
Conrad believes that Belmont isn’t a place where political events are as easy to hold as at other universities, she said.
“I wouldn’t say we’re a politically involved campus, but I think that it’s manufactured because we have the school sanctioning whether we can have events,” Conrad said.
Buck also believes that organizing political events on Belmont’s campus is difficult, she said.
“I would like to come up with more ideas of what to do on campus. but it’s a little bit tricky because Belmont does not want to associate itself with either political party, so we have to abide by their rules,” Buck said.
Instead of focusing on on-campus opportunities, the College Democrats have been encouraging their members to find opportunities to volunteer off-campus and providing resources to help with that, Buck said.
“As fun as events can be, I think it’s really important that we take those efforts outside of our little bubble and put it out into the real world,” Buck said.
Buck works with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and volunteered with Nashville Moves, in support of a transportation improvement program.
Conrad is also politically engaged off campus and volunteered with Marsha Blackburn’s reelection campaign. She was additionally the youngest delegate to represent Tennessee at the Republican National Convention this summer and served on the rules committee.
“We try to not only to be a club of discussion but also action,” said Hattan Montgomery, the vice president of the College Republicans.
The College Republicans put emphasis in promoting volunteer opportunities in addition to their on-campus events and made sure members were registered to vote leading up to the election, Conrad said.
Once again mirroring their national counterparts, the College Republicans have more of a clear agenda for the upcoming semester while the College Democrats are going back to the drawing board.
“I may not have the time to set up events, but the more that I can mobilize people in our group, the better it will be,” Buck said.
–
This article was written by Nolan Russell