Unified College Republicans Seek CAGOP Charter

‍After 60 years of service to the Republican Party, the College Republicans are hoping to receive a charter that will increase youth engagement. The effort has been endorsed by some top leadership — and College Republican Chairman David Chan is optimistic it will pass if enough delegates join in support.

How can the California Republican Party (CAGOP) support the youth and grow the younger ranks of the Party? One way is for CAGOP delegates to approve a new bylaw amendment at the Fall Organizing Convention in Anaheim, running from September 29th through October 1st.

The California College Republicans (CCR), who unified with the California Federation of College Republicans (CFCR) earlier this summer, introduced a bylaw amendment to the California Republican Party this weekend that would grant them a permanent charter. (READ: Bylaw Amendment Text)

CCR currently has a "temporary" charter with the CAGOP, which must be renewed every two years. A "permanent" charter will help the College Republicans by decreasing the amount of biennial paperwork required, giving them an extra delegate appointment, and encouraging youth engagement in the Party. 

David Chan, chairman of the California College Republicans and chairman of the Alameda County Republican Party, said that approving the charter would help energize the youth heading into 2024.

“Approving the permanent charter will grow our partnership with the Party, make our younger generation feel like their voice matters, and provide a huge celebration of unity and investment in the Party’s future at convention,” said Chan. 

Why don’t the College Republicans already have a permanent charter?

The California College Republicans, founded in and having existed continually as a volunteer force for the Party since 1963, had a permanent charter with the Party for many years. In 2019, when the College Republicans split into the now-former two groups, the Party removed the permanent charter in order to make both groups equal, promising to return the permanent charter upon the groups’ unification.

In this spirit, on Friday, March 10th, the CAGOP Volunteer Organizations Committee passed a unanimous resolution to form a working team with the California College Republicans (CCR) and California Federation of College Republicans (CFCR) in order to finalize unification of the two groups and support them receiving a permanent charter as soon as possible as a single organization. The College Republicans have proceeded to meet with this working team, and they developed this bylaw amendment with their input and advice.

“We have been working tirelessly to get our permanent charter reinstated since 2019, and we were told repeatedly that if the College Republicans unified, then we could get a permanent charter once again — and we have met all those conditions, collaborated on the verbiage of our proposal with the Party, and look forward to passing this bylaw amendment together,” Chan explained. 

Why do the College Republicans deserve a permanent charter?

Some in the Party have voiced concerns that the College Republicans, having formally unified in June, haven’t been together long enough to prove they’re getting along and deserving of a permanent charter. But Chan says there is no reason to worry about future divisions.

“We introduced numerous measures to prevent future splits, such as member newsletters and disclosing meeting minutes to increase transparency, creating a Board of Advisors made up of Party officials, as well as splitting the powers of the Chairman into a Chairman and a President beginning in 2024 so as to help prevent fights over who gets to lead the organization — which was a huge point of contention in the past,” said Chan.

“Also, while we formally unified in June, we have been at peace and happily working and collaborating together for now over a year — which is more stable and unified than many in our Party — and I would argue we’re actually a great example on setting aside our differences and coming together and that should be celebrated and acknowledged with this charter,” he continued.

And many in the Party agree and believe the College Republicans have earned it with their hard work over the years, which has earned praise from Party officials.

Corrin Rankin, Vice Chairwoman of the California Republican Party, recognized the College Republicans’ efforts for the Party this month and acknowledged them as “leaders who work everyday to grow the Republican footprint.”

“We’re fighting hard for the Party on campus and in our communities — we knock doors and make phone calls for candidates, distribute Republican voter guides, fight back against Leftist college administrations, recruit new young Republicans, and more each year,” explained Chan.

“And we fight to take back student governments from the Left and defund their woke agendas — and this Spring we won 6 seats at UC Irvine as part of our efforts,” he continued. "We also hold community events and raise money for candidates — last year we raised over $15,000 for Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and we just hosted a beach clean-up this weekend in SoCal."

The College Republicans’ permanent charter bid has been endorsed by Congressman Kevin Kiley, Former Assembly Leader and candidate for California’s 47th Congressional District Scott Baugh, and numerous county chairmen and individual delegates.

The College Republicans also polled 234 random Party delegates in July, finding that 87% of respondents were likely to support their permanent charter.

How You Can Help the College Republicans

“I’m tremendously grateful for all the support we’ve received so far, and I’m asking all Party delegates to join us and endorse our bylaw amendment and consider contributing to our efforts to bring College Republican members to CAGOP convention this Fall — we can’t do this without your help,” Chan concluded.