By Sarah Carlson, Copy Editor

Casey Bingham’s passion for politics didn’t spark until he came to college. He had decided in high school that he would major in political science at ACU, but it wasn’t until he came to school that he felt the need to get involved.

As the new chair of the College Republicans, Bingham, sophomore political science major from Conroe, said his life is pretty stressful. He is a member of the ACU band, a sophomore class senator in the Students’ Association and is pledging the men’s social club Frater Sodalis.

“I’m pretty well swamped,” Bingham said.

He calls himself traditional and a little old fashioned, sighting his conservative and Christian upbringing as a backbone for his political beliefs. He said ACU has broadened his political beliefs in that several people from around campus who are Democrats have had a significant impact on his life.

“I used to be kind of a hot-head Republican,” Bingham said.

Getting to know several Democrats has helped Bingham to not over-generalize about the party and learn to respect its members, even if he doesn’t agree with them. He learned to see the differences in terms of strictly politics, such as the size of the government and the type of society the party would prefer, whether it is traditional or more secular, he said.

Seeing a lack of political involvement on campus, he said, also helped him decide to get involved and try and a make a difference on campus.

He said students should join a group like College Republicans or College Democrats, even when it’s not an election year, to become informed on issues and to be aware of opportunities to help out with different campaigns. Attending conferences and making connections within a political party, he said, are also benefits of being involved in a political campus chapter.

“Students can get an idea about the party so they can have a voice about what they want America to be like by the time they are out in the work force,” he said.