Seventy-five students left campus March 14 to travel to Washington, D.C., for the Conservative Political Action Conference.
The College Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom collaborated to organize Hillsdale’s presence at the three-day conference. Students will miss classes for the opportunity to hear speeches from and meet big-name conservatives such as former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Ky.).
“CPAC educates, brings together and energizes thousands of attendees and all of the leading conservative organizations and speakers who impact conservative thought in the nation,” said the CPAC website.
Nathan Brand, president of the Hillsdale YAF chapter, said he wants to take on the apathy of the student body toward politics. Although people come to Hillsdale excited about the political world, they tend to get stuck in their studies and clubs and lose touch with reality, Brand said.
“I want students to come back and be motivated to get involved,” Brand said. “Students aren’t as tuned into politics as they should be.”
All of these opportunities were made available for only $20 a student, Brand said. The process of collecting this money, however, was not easy, according to junior Ryan Bolyard, president of College Republicans.
Brand complimented Bolyard’s hard work in finding funds for the 75 students attending CPAC. He said YAF is new to campus and their parent organization does not have as much money as that of the College Republicans.
“We brought the students, they brought the money,” Brand said.
The total cost of the trip is $5,500 Bolyard said– about $75 per student. Originally, College Republican’s parent organization, The Michigan Federation of College Republicans, promised to fund their hotel and bus accommodations.
But when College Republicans told them they had 75 students sign up, they were told to cut the number to 30 students, because the parent organization could not fund all 75 students.
“We couldn’t do that,” Bolyard said. “We couldn’t just pick names out of a hat.”
Instead, Bolyard found new ways to fund the trip. The Michigan GOP provided funds, and $2,100 came from private donors. YAF and College Republicans matched the students $20 to pay for the $40 conference fee.
They were still short for money, however, to transport students from Hillsdale to Lansing and Ann Arbor where D.C.-bound buses would pick up the students. After presenting their dilemma to Student Fed, they gave YAF and College Republicans $480 to cover the last of the transportation costs.
“I was able to finally get a full night’s rest when all the funding came through,” Brand said. “We were able to make real gains in our fundraising efforts, and ultimately accomplished our goals.”
Brand and Bolyard told students who were struggling over missing classes, to have their professors talk to them in order to explain the important opportunities CPAC offers.
“This provides an excellent opportunity for students to network and learn about what it means to be a conservative,” Bolyard said.
The students left Wednesday afternoon and will return on March 16 after the three-day conference closes.
