Columbia University College Democrats

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The Columbia University College Democrats is the arm of the Democratic Party at Columbia University in the City of New York. The group is an official chapter of the College Democrats of New York and, by extension, the College Democrats of America and the Democratic National Committee.

1 Organization
2 Leadership
3 Major undertakings
4 External links and references

[edit] Organization

The general body is served by an executive board, elected annually by the entire body of membership at the end of the Spring semester. The Activist Council is responsible for planning and leading an annual campaign trip during the November election season, an annual lobby trip, and other on- and off-campus public events. Additionally, several "Umbrella Groups" function semi-autonomously within the organization.

[edit] Leadership

Currently, the board consists of the following eleven positions:

President: Michael Nadler
Vice President: Josh Lipsky
Treasurer: Chris Daniels
Secretary: Margaret Mendenhall
Membership Director: Nimit Mehta
Outreach Director: Rachael McMillan
Political Affairs Director: Josh Lipsky
Public Affairs Director: Jacob Taber
Speakers Coordinator: Elyse Ross
Freshman Representative: Jim Downie
Freshman Representative: Kevin McKenna

The Activist Council is led by four Lead Activists:

Jessica Blakemore
Stephen Cox
Sarah Leonard
Jonathan Backer

[edit] Major undertakings

The most notable undertaking of the CUCD during the past three years has been the annual campaign trip, begun in 2004 by Seth Flaxman and Elizabeth Brown. In that year, then-Representative Sherrod Brown sponsored a large group of students to work on the John Kerry presidential campaign in Lorain County, Ohio. The following year, the group traveled to Virginia to work on the successful gubernatorial bid of Tim Kaine. During the 2006 election, the group returned to Ohio to work on Sherrod Brown's successful senatorial campaign in Cuyahoga County^[1].

CUCD will host the 2007 state convention of the College Democrats of New York from April 14-15, 2007. In addition to speakers and other programming, the convention is held to elect a new executive board for the state organization. The current president of CDNY, Josh Bolotsky, is a Columbia University student and past Public Affairs Director of CUCD.