The Seton Hall College Republicans are getting the campus ready for the presidential election on Nov. 8 by holding informative meetings on the Republican parties candidate, Donald Trump.
The Seton Hall College Republicans is an advocacy group of conservatives on campus that get together weekly to discuss the current presidential election as well as any debates or problems going on throughout campus, said Brian Mulligan, a junior political science major and executive director of Seton Hall College Republicans.
According to the Seton Hall College Republicans’ Facebook, its mission statement is, “To make known and promote the principles of the Republican Party, including the values of limited government, freedom, and traditional American values, to the students of Seton Hall University.”
Most students in this organization have aspirations of going to law school one day, according to Edward Colombo, chairman and senior political science major.
“It’s so important to push conservative values on young people. Younger ages give different examples and views of political day-to-day issues,” Mulligan said.
General members involved in the club have many opportunities to run for leadership positions and get involved on and off campus. “Everyone has an opportunity to speak out and grow,” Colombo said.
In the past, members had the opportunity to work on the Chris Christie campaign and obtained internships working in the field. They also got hands-on experience with campaigning knocking on people’s doors. During the Thursday night meetings at 8 p.m. in the Arts and Science building room 103, guest speakers sometimes come in to talk to the club. This gives a lot of great networking opportunities for students. During election season, especially this year, attendance at the meetings sky rocketed.
For the third and final Presidential debate, the College Republicans and College Democrats held an event hosted by the Unified Students Assembly on at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 in the main lounge called “Election 2016: Showdown at SHU,” which gave more insight about college students’ perspectives on this year’s election. Most of the club members have their decision set on sticking with their party this year and voting for candidate, Donald Trump, Mulligan said.
“As a Republican I am not thrilled with who our candidate is and as a gentleman I would never partake in the kind of rhetoric Trump engages in,” Mulligan said. “However, I do believe he will unite our country and drive the economy in the right direction.”
Christina Vitale can be reached at christina.mcdonaldvitale@student.shu.edu.
