Draft:College Republicans of America

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  • Comment: Need to remove the primary sources. Stuartyeates (talk) 06:37, 15 February 2024 (UTC)


College Republicans of America
PresidentWill Donahue
Vice PresidentJustin Holtsnider
Executive Vice PresidentWilliam Blathras
Founded2023
HeadquartersTustin, CA
IdeologyConservatism
Social Conservatism
Trumpism
Websitehttps://www.uscollegegop.com/

The College Republicans of America (CRA) is a national organization for organizing and supporting College Republicans - college, university, and students in other forms of higher education who support the Republican Party in the United States.[1] The organization's stated focus is recruiting, organizing, and training young activists for the Republican Party and preparing those young activists for politically-aligned work.[2][3]

Following the decline of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC), the CRA was established in order to "create a new coalition" of College Republicans from the "disrepair" of the CRNC. Since their establishment, the CRA has become the largest national College Republicans organization, comprising around 130 active chapters and nine state federations.[4] Notable state federations include the California College Republicans, the New York Federation of College Republicans, and the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans.

The CRA has ties to Turning Point Action, Turning Point USA's "political advocacy arm" 501(c)4 affiliate, with Tyler Bowyer, the COO of Turning Point Action, serving on the CRA's Board of Directors.[5][6]

History[edit]

Following the New York Federation of College Republican's "dossier" about alleged financial misconduct and crimes by the CRNC, several College Republican state federations disaffiliated from the CRNC.[7] Following this event and various other scandals which led to the CRNC's decline, two national federations (the College Republicans of America and the National Federation of College Republicans) were created.[8][9] The CRA was created by a partnership of the unaffiliated California College Republicans and Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans in order to fill the power vacuum following the CRNC's decline. Over the next year year, the CRA would charter various College Republican state federations from the CRNC, NFCR, and various independent organizations. These state federations included New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kansas, and Arizona with various college chapters being chartered in states like Rhode Island, Indiana, Minnesota, South Carolina, and more. Following the CRA's chartering of the New York Federation of College Republicans, the CRA became the largest national organization by active chapter count, totaling around 130.

On January 10th, 2024, the CRA endorsed former President Donald Trump for the 2024 United States Presidential Election and campaigned for him during the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucus and the 2024 New Hampshire republican primary.[10][11] Prior to the caucus, the CRA established a relationship with the Heritage Foundation through Project 2025 senior advisor James Bacon.[2] Following this campaigning, the CRA established an official relationship with Turning Point Action, founded by Charlie Kirk, with the CRA's President Will Donahue speaking at Turning Point Action's RNC-exclusive "Restoring National Confidence Summit" on behalf of the CRA.[12][13]

Governance[edit]

College Republicans of America[edit]

The CRA President and the national committee consist of an appointed president, appointed vice-presidents, appointed directors, a program director, and annually elected regional representatives.[14] The CRA also has a Board of Governors which consist of one National Committeeman per state, elected or appointed by that state (so long as they are "in good standing") via however the state sees fit. In addition to the aforementioned "leadership team," the CRA has a "VIP President's Cabinet" which acts as a donor-based advisory board for students, individuals, and organizations.[15] The CRA provides goods and services such as fundraising assistance, "chapter boxes," and political work to member federations and chapters.

State Federations[edit]

State federations are autonomous non-profit associations or other authoritative organizations chartered with the CRA which oversee the activities of university College Republican chapters.[16] Organization of state federations under the CRA do not have any substantive differences between non-chartered state federations. State federations are often associated with their state's Republican party or state's Young Republican organization, despite not being legally connected to either.[16] State federations traditionally assist university chapters with legal issues, statewide campaigns, media, financial assistance, or any other needed assistance.[16]

Leadership[edit]

As of 2023, positions on the CRA's "Executive Committee" consists of:

Executive Committee[14][edit]

  • President
  • Vice President of Operations
  • Vice President of Outreach
  • Affiliates Director
  • Membership Director
  • Communications Director
  • Events Director
  • Political Director
  • GOP Relations Director
  • Marketing Director
  • Program Director

Board of Directors[edit]

The CRA board of directors consists of the aforementioned national committeemen elected by a state's federation.

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20050702072121/http://www.crnc.org/admin/editpage/downloads/CRNChistory.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-07-02. Retrieved 2024-02-17. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ a b Will Donahue Discusses The Campaign Efforts Of College Republicans In Iowa, retrieved 2024-02-17
  3. ^ Sanchez, Olivia (2023-11-06). "Reporter's Notebook: Why are campus political groups so hard to track down?". The Hechinger Report. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  4. ^ Parker, John (Feb 14, 2024). "NYFCRs Charters With College Republicans of America in Historic Charter" (Press release). Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  5. ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac. "Charlie Kirk's right-wing empire loses a key asset: Students for Trump". The Washington Post.
  6. ^ Tyler, Bowyer. "New Advisor; Tyler Bowyer". X.
  7. ^ Chang, Richard J. "College Republican Branches Leave National Org Over Allegations Of Election Scandal, Mismanaged Funds". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  8. ^ "National Federation of College Republicans (NFCR) | About". NFCR. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  9. ^ "College Republicans chairwoman denies involvement in fake sexual assault plot in past election". Yahoo News. 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  10. ^ Nightingale, Hannah. "EXCLUSIVE: College Republicans of America endorses Trump for president". The Post Millennial. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  11. ^ StructureCMS; humanevents.com. "EXCLUSIVE: College Republicans of America endorse Donald Trump for 2024 president". Human Events. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  12. ^ "President Donahue Speaks at Turning Point Action Summit, Shares CRA's Triumphant 9-month Journey". www.uscollegegop.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  13. ^ Donahue, Will (February 3, 2024). "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  14. ^ a b "Bylaws of the College Republicans of America" (PDF).
  15. ^ "President's Cabinet". www.uscollegegop.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  16. ^ a b c "College Republican National Committee" (PDF). crnc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2004. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
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