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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

GW at the millennium: Activism surfaces in GW political groups

If GW is a magnet school for budding politicians, as some believe it is, then it is only fair to say the University is rife with students who believe in improving the world, even if some dream of their own political careers in the process. Because so many of these student idealists have chosen politics as their venue for change, it is impossible to define activism at GW without including the two major student political groups on campus: the College Republicans and the College Democrats.

Today, both groups thrive on campus. The CDs and CRs are responsible for bringing some of the most important political voices of this generation to speak at GW and launching a variety of public affairs education programs on campus.

They have initiated voter registration campaigns and raised the awareness of the entire school community by demonstrating the personal relevance of issues of national significance.

We do our best to bring in speakers and have programming that reflects what the students are thinking, says Anjan Choudhury, president of the GW CDs, which has been the largest chapter in the nation for the past several years, and one of the oldest.

The political clubs also devote enormous energy to getting students out into the political world either through internship placements, attending national party meetings or riding on campaign trips, where students canvass districts for candidates in need of support. For all of these reasons, the CDs and CRs, boasting 600 and 300 members respectively, are two of the most influential forces for activism at GW.

Combating student apathy is a problem, says CR Chairman Brad Murphy. But it’s our job to help students understand that these issues will affect their lives, so they need to start caring about them.

-Gayle Horwitz

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