I am, first of all, thankful and grateful to the members of the Students’ Association for granting the Young Republicans a budget. However, I am upset and disappointed with the decision of the Executive Treasurer and Congress as a whole.

The ACU Young Republicans requested $700 for their budget this semester, but we were only granted $100. We were told that since the College Democrats were only granted $65 for one interest meeting, and we asked for $700 for two events and a t-shirt fundraiser, that there was too much of a disparity in funding.

We appreciate the fact that ACU has a policy of not showing favoritism to any particular political persuasion, but I do not think that it is right or fair that the members of the Young Republicans are denied funding for several fairly ambitious and potentially great events simply because the College Democrats are not requesting as much, or because the events they hold are funded by the Taylor County Democratic Party.

We are getting support from the Taylor County Republican Party, but not monetary support.

We want to be more self-sustaining and not have to depend on the county party. We are planning other events that will require no funding and one that (hopefully) will not require much from the Appropriations Committee. We were told that the College Democrats were rebuilding and have a new president, yet we are also rebuilding; and we are still trying to be a vibrant student organization.

Let me make this plainly clear, there is no animosity or bitterness towards the College Democrats from myself or any member of the Young Republicans. We gladly offer any help that we can give and look forward to working with them on a few joint projects.

Our contention is with SA. We believe in common sense and feel that it was not rightly applied to our request. Our mission is to do what is right regardless of the situation. We will do our best to be a vibrant active group on campus and look forward to serving and informing the ACU community about how we can be Christians, conservatives and Republicans all at the same time.

Peace and Blessings