College Democrats is an organization located on several college campuses. Their main focus is to elect Democratic 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.
Immediately leading up to election day, chapters are expected to participate in
get 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 or
phone banks), and arranging service activities for members to attend.
College Democrats chapters also often organize social events (like sporting competitions with
College Republicans chapters) and other recruitment activities.
During the election season, campus chapters typically partake in campaign work. These efforts generally include
voter registration drives and
dorm storms to register youth voters that have just gained
voter eligibility. They also include providing youth manpower to campaigns for
canvassing and phone banks. During presidential election years, chapters have organized proxy debates and run mock elections.
Presidential Primaries
Many chapters of the College Democrats took part in the
2016 Democratic Primary between Secretary
Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator
Bernie Sanders (I-VT). In the run-up to the campaign's launch, many students participated in
Ready 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's
Hillary Bus on their campuses to build support for Clinton.[2][3]