4/23/15

The Year in Review and Election Results

The 2014-2015 school year for the University of Tennessee College Democrats has been one of growth and development. We’ve seen our membership grow exponentially thanks to a dedicated group of new freshmen and sophomores. And with the increase in membership came more opportunities to help students on campus and the Knoxville community at large. 
We started the fall semester off focusing on the 2014 mid-term elections. We hosted numerous voter registration drives on campus with the help of another student organizations. We door knocked and phone banked for District 7 State Senate candidate Cheri Siler and District 13 State Representative Gloria Johnson. We also worked alongside our Planned Parenthood friends and helped with the No On 1 campaign to ensure the failure of Amendment One which would remove constitutional protections for the right to an abortion in the state of Tennessee.

UTK College Democrats also held our second annual Traditional Marriage Day protest, this time with the help of VolOut. We asked students on campus to give us their definition of marriage and we got some fantastic answers.

Over fall break, we embarked on our annual trip to Washington, DC, a trip that would not have been possible without the help of the Knox County Democratic Party who fundraised over six hundred dollars for us to put towards the cost. During the trip, we received a special tour of the Capitol Building from Senator Harry Reid’s office.

For the spring semester, we focused more on individual issues. We held meetings discussing equal partner benefits for UT employees, the future of reproductive rights in the state, environmental sustainability and food deserts in the southeast United States. All of this with the incredible work done by our committee chairs.           
We ended the semester with elections for the executive board who will lead the group during the 2015-2016 school year. The new exec board includes:
President - Mitch Thompson 
Vice President - Caroline Cranford 
Secretary - Feroza Freeland 
Treasurer - Reid Guthrie
Campaign Liaison - Alex Colbeck
Communications Director - Beth Borromeo
Membership Director - Mandy Dean
Events Chair - Kate Stamper 
Senior Advisers - Christina Gore, Ryan Thompson 
We look forward to an even better school year come fall and we hope that you will join us.

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