Cornell’s chapter of the College Republicans’ elections are coming up tomorrow, so as the other active conservative voice on campus, the Review has a few things to say. Coming off of a recent Democratic sweep in Washington, we at the Review believe it is a vital time for the College Republicans and the Review to work more closely together to ensure that the current administration does not go unwatched and that the conservative voice ring louder than before throughout the campus. The next four years is our opportunity to be on the offensive: to call out the faults of the democratic party and the liberal leanings on campus; to emphatically take our place as the current minority opinion, and iterate the ideas we hold which would serve as a better alternative.
After November’s failings, it is important that conservatives at Cornell are reflective on their own stance and emphasize those beliefs most relevant to the current state of the Union, but still become energetic in the publicity of their beliefs. It is time to take the initiative and garner new respect and support for conservative ideals, and this can only be done with the successful cooperation between all facets of Republicans and conservatives on campus.
Ben Neighbor, a rising senior in the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, has stood out as the CR Presidential candidate strongly holding these same beliefs. We at the Review feel it is important for the holder of such a position to have significant experience and time spent on campus, and Neighbor was the only candidate to reach out to the Review and discuss ways in which the two organizations can work together. With the university facing great financial difficulty and the University’s subsequent controversial budgetary decisions, it is important that conservatives can work in tandem to call attention to these issues. During a period in which conservative backs are against the wall, drive and ambition are indispensable attributes of a Republican leader. It is now the time for the College Republicans to become more active and develop a public presence on campus. Aside from the Pataki event, the Republicans have done little activism to make their views known. Neighbor is the ambitious candidate who can make this happen. He has many ideas that are conducive to this goal, such as having more social events, holding charity events as well as political demonstrations, and reaching out to the Tompkins County GOP.
On the same note of rising ambition, the Review looks to Ryan Stack and Marc Leh as strong candidates for Second Vice Chairman and Secretary, respectively. As sophomores next year who have been actively involved on campus, they also look forward to the cooperation between the CR’s and the Cornell Review over the next four years.
Just to fill you guys in, Ben lost in his bid to Konstantin Drabkin, who nonetheless is an extremely ardent and promising young leader.
Sounds great that you guys are rallying support at Cornell for a single-minded conservative voice! My experience in doing the same at Brown was quite frustrating: it was difficult to get commitment to action (write, speak, attend meetings, etc) from those folks on the campus that shared the same conservative ideals as myself. But I certainly wish you the best! If we want to see a change of direction in this country back to traditional conservative ideals, then we certainly need a strong voice at our elite campuses, such as Cornell and Brown – and other less elite ones of course :). These elite schools supply the human capital for the powerhouse corporations in our country and fill the ranks of all the branches of our government…Many of the leaders in the financial world, prominent members of the various branches of government, and pioneers of the next generation of technology come from the ivy league. As such, we need to turn these schools away from being breeding grounds for left-wing extremism.
The one thing I will say is – although as conservative-leaning, libertarian, or moderate thinkers, you may feel outnumbered and intellectually oppressed on campus (and verbally abused too I suspect), you may be surprised at how many among your ranks are hidden conservatives. I found that many of my classmates at Brown were closet Republicans or moderates when I got to know them.
Perhaps through your leadership and humble, objective approach to politics you may bring some of these folks “out of the closet”…And this effect can then in fact compound to facilitate a strong, vibrant, coordinated, Republican voice.
So – in short, Give em hell! You may be surprised how many people might agree with you…