Massachusetts News 
by Bryan G. Rudnick 

November 1--As the next election draws near, college students, Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for the battle ahead. With less than one year before the next president, congressmen and selectmen win offices, the College Democrats and Republicans of Massachusetts are swarming campuses to find supporters. 

The Democrats, although lacking in numbers, are aiding the next Kennedy senatorial campaign. They are also "getting students involved" in some of the congressional races they have targeted and conducting a "bottom up, not top down" organization. 

They are attempting to start new clubs and rebuild weak ones. They are bringing speakers to campus and lobbying the state legislature about student loans for college tuition. 

On the other hand, the College Republicans are stronger and more active than they have been in at least ten years. They are expanding and are nationally recognized for their efforts. 

This year, the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans (MACR) is led by James K. Couture, a senior at Brandeis University and resident of Whitinsville, Massachusetts. Many members of his hard-working executive board are also residents of the Commonwealth. 

Under Couture’s reign, the GOP College Alliance has more than doubled its fund raising, and its party building could put the Republican State Committee and the College Democrats to shame. More than 20 new clubs have been started and membership has exceeded 5,000 students statewide. 

Stephen Rabin, national field director for the College Democrats of America and a resident of Marblehead, is also impressed with them. "I applaud them . . . Jim Couture is a wonderful organizer . . . he gets a round of applause from me." 

Rabin also insists that the Democrats should model themselves after Republican organizing. "As a Democrat," Rabin said, "the size of the College Republicans is a motivator for Democrats to work even harder." 

Strong Clubs On Campus 

This year began with strong clubs at schools such as Brandeis, Boston College, Smith, UMASS-Amherst and Simmons. Since then, clubs have been started at Gordon, Western New England, Clark, Salem State and UMASS-Lowell, to name a few. 

The leadership of the clubs changes invariably, and often a club may become inactive for a few semesters if replacements have not been found for graduating members.  

Sara Bonner, director of expansion for the Republicans and a student at Boston College, says, "Sometimes the club leaders graduate and they neglect to find replacements . . . and then have to go find other interested students and help them restart their clubs. We had to do that at a few clubs this year, like UMASS-Boston, Stonehill, Assumption and Suffolk." 

Part of Couture’s plan last fall when he sought the top job, was to expand membership and train students to aid candidates with grass roots support for the next election cycle. He hired former College Republican State Chairman Paul Ferro, a recent graduate of UMASS-Amherst, as a field director for slightly more than a month to facilitate this endeavor. 

"I was glad to be a part of the team that made the College Democrats look weak and disorganized. Couture’s vision and drive is exactly what we have needed all along," said Ferro. 

Statewide, Republicans are ranked second nationwide for the size of the organization and are currently three times larger than the Democrats. Couture claims, "We have the second largest state federation, the second largest club in the country (Boston College) – at least ten more clubs to start. I plan to make Massachusetts the largest state federation." 

The club at Boston College has a membership roster listing over 900 students as a part of its chapter. "We now have the ability to be the largest club in the nation and we will achieve our goal, hopefully this year," stated Bonner, Chairperson at Boston College. 

Harassed And Threatened  

Many times, the individual chapters bring speakers to their campuses, organize debates, distribute educational materials from non-profit organizations to their fellow classmates, and publish their own magazines. Since most campuses have a large population of liberal students, faculty and administrators, College Republicans are usually unable to carry on their activities without being harassed. 

When Ferro went to recruit students in September in order to begin new chapters, he was kicked off at least five campuses and was forced to endure the red tape bureaucracy at several campuses in order to operate a recruitment table. "It is no fun being chased by campus security while you’re trying to promote activists. If 25 students already signed up, it obviously means I have a place on that campus," said Ferro. 

Another student, Barry Flynn, Chair of the UMass-Boston Club was harassed and attacked by socialists on his campus. Flynn offered the socialists some pamphlets from conservative organizations, and he was labeled a "fascist" and "racist" before he was struck in the head by the socialists. 

Often the College Democrats and College Republicans have the opportunity to interact while working on opposing campaigns, such as the past gubernatorial race and through forums on their respective campuses. As Rabin stated, "I think democracy is strengthened when you have strong participation on both sides of the aisle." 
 

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