Political Organizations on Campus Gear Up for Upcoming Elections

By Cameron Hosseinian

Although early, this election cycle has been full of twists, turns, and interesting candidates. In spite of the continuous fanfare surrounding remarks from Donald Trump and scandals involving Hillary Clinton, the race to become 45th President of the United States will hopefully yield a person capable of the holding office to which they aspire. Yet, the race for President is not only unfolding on our television screens and during political rallies across the country, it is taking place right here on campus.

The University does not allow any club to directly endorse a particular candidate but that has not stopped two dedicated Catholic University students, Robert Bonasia and Lauren Hand from doing just that.

Sophomore Robert Bonasia took the initiative to support presidential hopeful, Senator Bernie Sanders, (D-VT) by creating the CUA for Sanders student organization. Mr. Bonasia was able to cultivate enough support from fellow students to get his organization up and running and focused on their goal of raising Senator Sanders’ profile on campus.

“I’ve received a lot of enthusiasm from people around campus and am currently working with a similar group at UMD to put together a more organized effort to support Sanders on campus.”

CUA for Sanders is still a relatively new organization, being created a little under two months ago. Yet, within these two months multiple representatives from CUA for Sanders travelled to a rally in Manassas, Virginia where the Senator himself was speaking. The group hopes to gain traction around campus as the school year progresses and as the election draws closer.

CUA Students for Rubio (CUA SFR) has been actively engaging students across campus in order to spread the word about Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). This organization actually belongs to a larger organization, “DC Students for Rubio.” This larger group seeks to connect D.C. campuses and their student bodies in an organized effort to spread the word about Senator Rubio. Like the other candidate centric organizations on campus, CUA Students for Rubio has to look outside of campus for any fundraising opportunities or organized events. Since on-campus activities are not endorsed by the school, other measures must be taken in order to spread awareness and gain support for the organization.Another group is doing all they can in order to gain support for a different candidate.

“We plan on setting up tables at the Brookland Metro stop and on Monroe Street in order to make us more visible for new and potential members,” said sophomore Chairwoman Lauren Hand. “In addition, we will be tabling at the College Republicans’ debate party on November 10th, and canvassing in the dorms with the HSAs.”

By using heavily frequented areas, such as the Metro stop and Monroe Street, the CUA Students for Rubio organization has their hopes high that their hard work will spread the word about Sen. Rubio and his ideas. In addition, the push for Sen. Rubio will be felt on other campuses in DC due to the DC Students for Rubio organization’s presence throughout the city.

With the 2016 election cycle already in full swing, the coming months will undoubtedly be busy for the political groups around campus as they seek to sway the student body into support for their chosen candidate.