As the national elections quickly approach, the College Democratic and Republican Clubs have been looking for a ways to get students involved politically at ACU.
Elizabeth Koepke, senior political science and international studies major from Dallas, is the president of the College Democrats of ACU. Stewart McGregor, a junior political science and Christian ministry major from Arlington, is the president of the ACU College Republicans. They have both been attempting to raise political awareness and gain members to their clubs. They have had some success but are looking for even more students to sign up in the future.
Koepke said that while members of the Democratic club are very open to discussing politics there are also many “closet Democrats” here on campus.
“They believe in Democratic values, but they are fearful of being openly vocal about their political beliefs at ACU,” Koepke said. “I don’t know if they’re afraid they’ll lose respect from the general populous, but there is some sort of fear.”
McGregor said since ACU isn’t the most politically involved campus, it’s really hard to get people interested and involved. Especially when it’s a non-election season.
Both presidents’ main responsibilities include recruitment, event planning and budget planning. Some of these events include both clubs working together.
“Both of our clubs just re-chartered so we are planning on doing a voter registration drive later this month and a service project later this semester,” McGregor said. “It will probably be after the election and after things settle down a bit from the political season.”
The voter registration drive will get students registered in order to vote for the presidential election. The service project is not yet planned, but the ACU College Republicans recently added a stipulation to their constitution requiring they  participate in at least half a day of service every semester.
With the debates approaching, the clubs have planned to get together and have watch parties. While there is potential for temperaments to arise, both clubs have a priority to remain respectful to each other.
“We want to reflect Christian character, be respectful of each other and show unity through our events,” McGregor said.
Koepke said that at the watching parties, members will watch the presentations then respectfully discuss high points and low points and compare both speeches.
