Bulldog Party
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The Bulldog Party is a student organization at Truman State University, Missouri.
The Bulldog Party's mission statement is to "work towards securing a student voice and student empowerment with the guidance of the student body. The party's values are defined as: "Improving conditions of the students to make authorized decisions; and: Ensuring and securing a student voice."
The party in its current incarnation was formed January 24, 1999 in a meeting of ten individuals organized by then Truman State University students Christopher Ross and Keith Ziegelman. It is claimed to be a reincarnation of a previous student organization by the same name; the origin of the name is unknown (the Bulldog, though, is the school mascot), but there was already a student organization known as the Bulldog Party by the 1950s. During this time, student senate elections were dominated by a party system, which would remain for much of the university's history. The organization took different names over the years, such as the Independent Bulldog Party for a period of time, but had faded from existence by the mid-1990s.
The party's primary issue has been securing a voting student representative on the governing board of the university; this issue dates back to at least the 1970s. This issue and other positions are stated in the organization's platform. The Bulldog Party seeks action on the platform throughout the university but primarily through the student government. As a result, the party supports slates of candidates for election to various student positions within the university.
The Bulldog Party has inspired the formation of other student organizations on universities throughout Missouri, most notably the Bearcat Voice at Northwest Missouri State University and the Student Progressive Party at Lincoln University (Missouri).
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[edit] Electoral history
The Bulldog Party has participated in student elections since its incarnation. Its first presidential nominee Keith Ziegelman was defeated in the 1999 student election. Under the leadership of Amanda Brink, Derek Spellman, Chris Ross and John Hilton the party carried on surviving this initial setback to compete in the Spring 2000 election. Bulldog presidential nominee John Halski missed winning the 2000 election by three votes out of over 1100 cast.
In 2001 Matt Brooker and John Hilton were decisively elected president and vice president, respectively and the party won majority control of the student senate for the first time. The party would suffer setbacks in the 2002 election when it failed to win any of the executive board races although it did retained the senate majority. In the 2003 election the party did not nominate a presidential candidate but did endorse an alternate ticket called the Action Party led by presidential candidate Rory Roundtree and included three other Bulldog Party candidates running for executive board. The 2003 election resulted in another setback at the polls. From the Action ticket only Bulldog Party vice presidential nominee Stephanie Amick would be victorious. The party also lost the senate majority for a time, winning only 8 of 20 voting seats but would regain the majority over the course of the term.
In 2004 the party was successful at the polls when its nominee Laura Keck was elected student body president and party again won a majority in the student senate. The 2005 election was also successful for the party. Bulldog presidential nominee Mark Kirtland was elected student body president with 74 percent of the vote, and the party won eight of 15 student senate seats open. During the fall 2005 election, the party won 9 of 10 open seats.
The spring election of 2006 brought a unprecedented election victory for the party. All ten Bulldog Party candidates won their respective elections and claimed a third consecutive presidential win with the election of Angela Crawford as student body president with a 500 vote lead over her opponent.
[edit] Bulldog presidential nominees
| Election year | Result | Nominees and office-holders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Term | ||
| 1999 | Lost | Keith Ziegelman | |
| 2000 | Lost | John Halski | |
| 2001 | Won | Matt Brooker | 2001–2002 |
| 2002 | Lost | Justin Kempf | |
| 2003 | Lost | Rory Roundtree[1] | |
| 2004 | Won | Laura Keck | 2004–2005 |
| 2005 | Won | Mark Kirtland | 2005–2006 |
| 2006 | Won | Angela Crawford | 2006–2007 |
[edit] Student Association of Missouri
During the 2001 student presidency of Matt Brooker, Bulldog Party members Bethany Ordaz and Wayne Yocum, acting through the student senate, helped organize a successful convention of Missouri colleges at the State Capitol Building in Jefferson City, Missouri which resulted in the formation of the Student Association of Missouri which also advocated lobbying the Missouri government on securing a voting student representative on the governing board of all Missouri universities.
