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College Democrats is an organization located on several college campuses. Their main focus is to electDemocratic Party candidates and provide networking and leadership opportunities for student members. The chapters have served as a way for college students to connect with the Democratic Party and Democratic campaigns, and has produced many prominent liberal and progressive activists.
Many of these chapters are organized under theCollege Democrats of America, the official youth outreach arm of theDemocratic National Committee, which claims over 100,000college anduniversity student members from across theUnited States. Other chapters are organized under theYoung Democrats of America and its College Caucus.[1]
Immediately leading up to election day, chapters are expected to participate inget out the vote (GOTV) activities, both on-campus and in surrounding communities.
Other activities are not centrally determined, and thus vary from chapter to chapter. Typical activities might include inviting guest speakers (often elected officials or party activists) to campus, organizing issue advocacy and lobbying efforts (like letter-writing campaigns orphone banks), and arranging service activities for members to attend.
College Democrats chapters also often organize social events (like sporting competitions withCollege Republicans chapters) and other recruitment activities.
During the election season, campus chapters typically partake in campaign work. These efforts generally includevoter registration drives anddorm storms to register youth voters that have just gainedvoter eligibility. They also include providing youth manpower to campaigns forcanvassing and phone banks. During presidential election years, chapters have organized proxy debates and run mock elections.
Many chapters of the College Democrats took part in the2016 Democratic Primary between SecretaryHillary Clinton (D-NY) and SenatorBernie Sanders (I-VT). In the run-up to the campaign's launch, many students participated inReady for Hillary PAC's efforts to build support for Clinton. The statewide organization in California actively supported the PAC and recruited supporters while many chapters hosted the PAC'sHillary Bus on their campuses to build support for Clinton.[2][3]
