My life as a Republican at IU

In my three years at IU, I have come to learn that being a Republican can earn you friends and make you enemies. But through it all, I am happy to say that after three years, I am still a proud Republican with more friends — hopefully — than enemies.

When I came to IU, I never thought that I would develop a serious interest in politics. After attending the College Republicans (CRs) call out my freshman year, I became involved volunteering with the Students for Mitch Daniels chapter.

After the wave of Democratic victories in the fall of 2008, I felt a little disenfranchised, like many, and put my activism on auto-pilot for a few months.

I felt like staying engaged was important and kept up as best I could on the headlines while I enjoyed the typical college life. When I saw the passage of the stimulus package, I decided that it was time to start going back to the CR meetings.

Even though I have always liked and respected the president, there was something about his politics that I fundamentally disagreed with. After coming back to IU in fall 2009, I decided to get more involved.

In February of 2010, I took a trip to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. Those few days helped to open my eyes that being a conservative meant that I could unapologetically hold the deep convictions of limited government, individual responsibility and free enterprise.

In the wake of this realization, politics has consumed a big part of my life. I am now the president of the CRs here at IU and I can say that it has been one of the most rewarding times of my life.

I am often asked my opinion on a variety of issues from many media outlets — including the one that I am writing this article for. There are neat opportunities to even debate the College Democrats from time to time or be one of two Republicans on the IDS Editorial Board.

In my experiences, I have learned that sometimes you can be upfront with folks about your convictions as long as it’s in a respectful way. A positive, respectful and civil demeanor will win you the respect of both sides.

To my fellow Republicans, conservatives or anyone curious: There is a home for you in the College Republicans. For my friends across the aisle: Keep up the hard work and don’t be disappointed in the midterm results — it just shows who is Right and who is wrong.  

­— cjcaudil@indiana.edu