Members of the College Republicans at ASU held a collective hope that their first meeting of the semester would boost solidarity among young Republicans in the build up to the November election.
The "Unifying the Party" meeting on Tuesday in the Lattie F. Coor Hall in Tempe started off with an icebreaker. It then featured several guest speakers from conservative activism organizations, and students said they felt a sense of belonging and a motivation to get engaged in politics.
College Republicans President Carson Carpenter, a senior studying political science, said the meeting would hopefully instill a place of inclusion for ASU Republicans.
"The motivation would be to just encourage a lot of people, no matter what side of the spectrum they're on," Carpenter said. "They can come to our meeting and be able to be represented in the club, to be able to be represented in the community as a whole."
Daniela Putu-Kang, member of the College Republicans at ASU and a freshman studying political science, said the same.
“I believe the main purpose of this event is to help the students recognize that they have other like-minded people and not feel isolated,” Putu-Kang said.
Carpenter said the organization's strategy to establish this unity relied on getting ASU Republicans more politically active. He also said they will give members opportunities with other organizations to "chart out a plan" to turn the College Republicans at ASU into a more politically involved "force on campus to be reckoned with."
Representatives from the Arizona chapters of Turning Point Action USA and Citizens for Free Enterprise attended the meeting, and provided opportunities for members to get involved.
"We want to let them know that there are Republicans of all stripes," said Jacob Chacón, an ASU alumni and a field representative for Turning Point Action USA. “There are a lot of young people, so that's why we're out here, showing that there is a huge movement of young people towards the GOP and towards President Trump.”
Chacón said this unification is important for Republicans because of the closeness of primary elections. He also said they are trying to ensure that conservatives are elected "up and down the ticket" through voter engagement.
"What does unifying the party mean?" said Ben Lubell, a member of the College Republicans at ASU and a sophomore studying management. "It means finding out what our differences are, but really finding out what unites us as Americans and talking about those values."
Carpenter also said he already sees unity as an advantage for the Republican Party, which they are dedicated to growing on campus.
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“It's something that will only get stronger as we get closer to the election, especially with a lot of these events that have occurred in the past two months,” Carpenter said. “I think that's one of the strong points of the Republican Party.”
With the goal to create more unity within Republican students on campus, the club has lined up a number of events that can provide students with opportunities to get involved and campaign their cause further.
“I really think it's nice to be surrounded with a bunch of like-minded people who believe in common sense, American values,” Lubell said.
Edited by George Headley, Sophia Braccio, Tiya Talwar and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporters at tjsoren2@asu.edu and sluba@asu.edu and follow @teannaJsorensen and @samluba6 on X.
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Teanna is a freshman studying journalism and mass communication. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Utah Bride and Groom Magazine and as a National Youth Correspondent for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference.
