Election 2024: The Campaign On Campus
The CatholicU College Democrats table at Fall Fest, which was next to The Tocqueville Society’s table, which sported a large Donald Trump cutout. Photo by Patrick D. Lewis.
By Patrick D. Lewis
The 2024 Presidential campaign, which, as it seems to many, has been happening for four long years, is less than two months from ending with the November 5 general election. There are several campus organizations that are political in nature and through which most student political involvement is coordinated. Here’s a look at what they are doing as part of this year’s campaign.
Although there are many clubs that participate on politics and related topics, such as the culture wars, relatively few clubs actually endorse candidates and political positions. Of course, the CUA chapters of the College Democrats and College Republicans come to mind as organizations most likely to officially sign on to campaigns.
The College Republicans did not respond to an email asking about endorsements and plans for involvement in campaigning and the election. The organization has faced numerous challenges in the past year, including internal tensions that led to a coup attempt against the executive board at a general body meeting last Spring. Their Instagram account features several pro-Trump posts but does not appear to have any formal endorsement of the former president.
The College Democrats, according to club president Lauren Touey, have endorsed Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Our organization has consistently been involved in campaign efforts,” Touey said. “Every year, we have had the opportunity to canvass within the DMV area and sometimes even further out. This year we are partnering with Swing Left, a national grassroots organization, that many of the DC College Democrats chapters work with.”
The CUA Progressive Student Union (PSU) has not officially endorsed Harris, but club president Maxwell Townsend said that the organization, which does not “fully support any one candidate,” has decided to “tacitly support” her candidacy.
Townsend said that PSU does not currently plan to be involved with campaign efforts, but “this is likely to change as the election progresses, and as more information finds its way into the light of the people.”
The only other club that has announced an endorsement is The Tocqueville Society. The club is newly-approved for Fall 2024 and, according to its Nest page, “serves as a bastion of intellectual exploration and discourse dedicated to fostering a deep understanding and appreciation of the conservative intellectual tradition.” The society’s president, Daniel Boyle, and member Jack Hermes, while tabling for the club at Fall Fest claimed that their club is the only one on campus to have endorsed Trump. Their table sported a life-size cardboard cutout of the Republican nominee.
Despite having a reputation for being a very Right-wing club, the CUA chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) said in an email that they are legally prohibited from endorsing candidates for office due to their status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Similarly, the CUA chapter of the Federalist Society, another very conservative club, sent a statement from the Federalist Society’s website explaining that it does not endorse candidates.
With a month and a half before the election, more twists and turns are likely in an election unlike one we have seen before. it remains to be seen if that might include new plot twists on campus in the form of endorsements or campaign events.
