College Republicans is one of the mainstream party-affiliated organizations on Tulane’s campus. This year, the club’s leadership has decided to focus on two main goals: growth and political activism.

Although College Republicans has not hosted or sponsored many events on campus in the past, club president Carson Neeves said he wants to change that. 

“I’ve really wanted to focus on more broad term events that focus on history, philosophy, and politics,” Neeves said. 

Those events may center on topics like American foreign policy, women’s rights and civil rights. 

Off campus, members of College Republicans are involved in congressional politics through internships and campaigning. Neeves is also pushing for members to get involved with issues that are facing the New Orleans community as a whole. 

One of those issues involves Gordon Plaza, a neighborhood built on top of a former landfill. Residents of the neighborhood say their living conditions are poor, and Neeves hopes to raise awareness about this issue among College Republicans members. 

“We’ve been thinking about actively advocating for the betterment of people living in Gordon Plaza and maybe the moving of them to places elsewhere,” Neeves said. 

Another goal of the club this year is to create a more open environment for people of any political background. Neeves said Tulane has an issue with political advocacy, with low levels of political participation overall. But he said the 2020 presidential election could change that. 

“It’s probably going to be really easy, compared to the last three years, to have a very active political base on campus.”

In his role as president, Neeves said he wants the organization to make a positive contribution to politics on Tulane’s campus. 

“I want this organization to be a place where we can actually have a discussion between College Dems and College Republicans,” he said. “I’m a deep believer in bipartisanship and using that to work out problems.”