College Democrats – Built Up Brick By Brick

After being virtually nonexistent the last couple semesters, the College Democrats are attempting to revitalize their image as an active club on campus.

“I thought that there needed to be more groups on campus that represent more political beliefs,” club president Salaina Catalano, Rochester Hills sophomore, said.  “Especially with the upcoming election, there needed to be more political awareness.”

Catalano has practically built the club from the ground up. She emailed former president Jackie Simonson last year, who said that the group was on an unofficial hiatus.

Last semester, Catalano contacted the advisor of the group, Dr. Wes Dick, who was unsure of the status of the group. Catalano then talked to Dr. Al Pheley, director of the Ford Institute. Together, they decided to restart the group with Dr. Pheley as official club advisor.

Catalano explained how she put the group’s advertisement in the Albion Today and made a Facebook group with roughly 15 people. Right now, the club is focused on gaining members.

“Last presidential election, the youth vote was way up and I would love for it to be even higher this time around,” said Alex Meyer, Fort Wayne Ind. first-year, explaining why she joined the group. “Young people have a right to say what happens in our government and they need to make their voices heard.”

“People don’t really read the Albion Today often,” said Catalano. “We’re going to start going to club meetings that might be interested in joining [like the] LGBrits and Black Student Alliance. Basically, all of our members have different parts of campus they can talk to.”

This semester, Catalano has plans  that she hopes will help the club get off its feet.

“We’re doing a lot of events with the Ford Institute,” said Catalano. “This semester small events dealing with the primaries; the bigger stuff will be next year for the election.”

The College Democrats meet Monday at 9:00 P.M. in room 412 at the Kellogg Center.