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After a tumultuous summer, which saw the New York Federation of College Republicans secede from the national committee, Syracuse University’s chapter of the College Republicans looks to  hold debates and bring in guest speakers in the future.

 This year, Dustin Hall, chairman of SU’s CR, hopes to bring in more members, introduce members who have different viewpoints and increase the group’s community service committee. The chapter is celebrating its 120th year on campus, Hall said.

“We are having meetings and discussing a range of topics, such as new bills and controversies in the government at the moment,” Hall said. “We have a good amount of Democrats in our club. I have Trump supporters, Biden supporters and even Bernie supporters in the club to have a lot of diverse viewpoints.” 

This semester, SU’s CR has already planned a memorial event in honor of 9/11 where the members of the club will place 2,998 flags on the Quad — one for every person that died during the attacks. 

Many of the organization’s upcoming events are not political and are open to everyone, Hall said. Alongside the 9/11 memorial event, Hall hopes to improve the club’s community service engagement by hosting volunteer events in downtown Syracuse to increase member involvement and include outside students. 

The club has large plans for this fall and upcoming spring semester, Hall said. It hopes to hold debates, bring in a speaker and possibly host the NYFCR Upstate conference, he said. 

“The New York state board is based in Syracuse, so we are hoping to have a strong and large presence at the upstate and state conference in late November,” Hall said.

CR will announce a visiting speaker in the coming weeks, Hall siad. 

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs has given SU’s CR its support to hold debates, whether with SU’s College Democrats or with other individuals, Hall said. Students who are not affiliated with College Democrats have stated their willingness to debate this year, so Hall said SU’s CR will host some sort of debate this semester and in the spring.

Augustus LeRoux, chairman of NYFCR and vice chairman of SU’s CR, said that the state organization has full support for SU’s chapter.

Despite no longer being affiliated with the national committee, SU’s chapter leaders feel that they will have a successful year, Hall said.

“(College Republicans) still has a large presence on campus and in the state organization, which gives us the ability to host pretty big speakers and events, which I think speaks volumes,” Hall said. 

After leaving the College Republican National Committee, the NYFCR has the ability to act as a support system and organization for students across the state, LeRoux said. 

“We haven’t lost anything because we truly never felt the national presence,” LeRoux said. “Despite making it official, we are able to carry out our true mission, gather volunteers, support candidates for office and grow our presence across the state — possibly even turning some areas of the state more red.” 

The group will be hosting in-person meetings in Lyman Hall room 132 on Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Published on September 8, 2021 at 11:59 pm

Contact Karoline: kaleonar@syr.edu