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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

College Democrats make plans for spring

Student leaders of College Democrats interact students with phone  during their callout meeting Wednesday evening at the Psychology building.

Gender equality, climate change, refugees and anti-Muslim bigotry were only a few of the many topics discussed at the IU College Democrat call-out meeting.

The responses and topics sped onto the monitor as President Terry Tossman and Vice President Javier Fuentes-Rohwer questioned students on which issues the IU College Democrats should focus on this 
semester.

Tossman said he felt the meeting was a very good sign of things to come especially with the encouraging turnout in mind.

“It’s great to see everyone changing all the depression of last year’s loss to passion and desire to do more,” Tossman said.

The meeting occurred Wednesday. It was short, came with free pizza and had more people in attendance than there were chairs. Tossman and Fuentes-Rohwer spoke to the future members about the IU Democrats’ values and goals.

They also introduced the club officers, who spoke about their plans for spring. One of Tossman’s goals is to get more people in the College Democrats no matter their political backgrounds. He said the IU Democrats work to make civil participation less daunting.

Samantha Ainsworth, a first-year graduate student, attended for the first time. She said that it was well put together and organized and had speakers with a lot of great things to say. She said she plans to come back.

“I was definitely impressed, especially for a college group, it was really well-organized. It seems more like a professional organization,” Ainsworth said.

One of the event’s speakers was Paige Settles, the political affairs director of the IU College Democrats. She said watching responses on what students want for this semester was particularly informative and exciting to her. She also said the group is fun-loving and referred to the moment when Fuentes-Rohwer discussed one member’s silly yet witty tweet that mentioned Chipotle and Democratic beliefs.

“Being able to joke and use humor as a coping mechanism is a big thing that we all tend to share. I think this group is not just something we work hard at but also an outlet for a lot of people,” Settles said

Besides the jokes, the speakers mentioned some events that took place last fall and what they plan for this semester. A big focus right now is on contacting government officials about current issues. The students began encouraging government action even at the call-out meeting, passing around a petition to save President Obama’s health care law. Although lobbying and directly contacting officials is important, the goal to reach out to the Bloomington and IU community is just as big of deal. They will continue to encourage involvement from students and work with other organizations, including IU Republicans, freshman Reagan Davis said. The group laughed throughout the meeting.

While humor is the group’s coping mechanism, last semester’s election loss is this semester’s motivation and encouragement. Perhaps this is why Fuentes-Rohwer and Tossman ended their presentation with the Hillary Clinton quote, “Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.”

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