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.

Election Time in Tennessee

2014 is an important election year for all areas of government, from the federal level to the local. Early voting for State Primaries and County General Elections has already begun, ending on August 2nd. Election day for state primaries and county elections will be August 7th.

The last day to register to vote in the State General Election is October 6th. Early voting begins on October 15th and ends on the October 30th. Election day for the state general election is November 4th.  

As summer turns into fall, the intensity of these races picks up making it a great time to volunteer. Every campaign is in need of volunteers to help with phonebanking and door-to-door canvassing. If you wish to volunteer for any of these candidates, feel free to check out their websites for information. We encourage everyone to get involved with these great campaigns and the civil process. Volunteer and make a difference in your community.

Democratic County Candidates (Election Day: August 7th)

Knox County Clerk - Mike Padgett

Knox County Trustee - Jim Berrier

Knox County Circuit Court Judge, Division Two - Harold Wimberly, Jr

Knox County Circuit Court Judge, Division Four - Daniel Kidd

Knox County Chancellor, Division Two - Daryl R. Fansler

Knox County Criminal Court  Judge, Division Three - Leland Price

Knox County General Sessions Judge, Division Three - George Underwood

Democratic State Candidates (Election Day: November 4th)

State Senate District 7 - Cheri Siler

State House District 13 - Gloria Johnson

State House District 15 - Joe Armstrong

US Congressional Candidates

US Senate - Terry Adams

US Senate - Gordon Ball

US House of Representatives, Second District - Bob Scott

The Thing About Stacey Campfield

Last year, “Sex Week at the University of Tennessee” made its debut to mixed reactions. State Senator Stacey Campfield was among the loudest to complain in opposition about Sex Week--as he put it, “If someone wants to dress up like a duck, God bless them. But I shouldn’t have to pay for it.” The President of the University of Tennessee system, Joe DiPietro, however, told legislators,  “In my professional opinion, it is very, very important on a university campus to have some sex education going on.” He further stated that he would support Sex Week even if it would prevent only one sexual assault or unwanted pregnancy.

Sen. Campfield’s made threats to revise the University’s budget to withdraw all public funding, if the event received any money from the University. Consequently, all University funding for Sex Week was pulled in 2013.

During the current legislative session, Sen. Campfield has put forth two pieces of legislation, SB1608 and SB2493, that would change the way state universities currently allocate funds from student fees to student organizations. In SB1608, he proposes that funding from student fees should be distributed to student organizations proportionate to their membership. In SB2493, Sen. Campfield proposes that public universities and colleges should not use revenues to pay for speakers.

These bills would create a system that does not allow for a free and open public debate and limits students liberties on campuses across Tennessee. Student organizations at our public universities and colleges have long been forums for students to learn outside the classroom about a wide variety of subjects and from people with differing worldviews. Students would no longer be free to use student government to allocate fees to organizations, instead the legislature would now have a say.

Despite the Senator’s presumed intention, the language of the bills are in conflict with each other. On one hand, SB1608 sets forth the student fees allocation for speakers, while SB2493 prevents the use student fees or any institutional revenues to pay for speakers.

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Chancellor, Jimmy Cheek, has come out against these bills, as well as the President of the University of Tennessee system Joe DiPietro, UTK Student Body President Jake Baker, and various other UT administrators.

The UTK Student Government created a petition against the proposed legislation regarding student fees, which currently has over 1900 signatures from students and teachers in public universities and colleges across the state.

Importantly, these proposed bills do not define membership. Without a formal definition, there will be no system of accountability and no way to calculate the amount of funding that each organization should receive. This creates a system that is unpredictable and potentially unjust. Ironically, Sex Week would likely receive the largest amount of money because it is one of the most widely attended events.

Earlier this month, Sen. Campfield offered to speak to the UTK College Democrats as a part of his constituents listening tour. The UTK College Democrats extended an invitation to speak with University of Tennessee students, which the Senator accepted--the event was later co-sponsored by the College Republicans. Shortly thereafter, the College Democrats published an event on Facebook that described the event as a “town hall” with Sen. Campfield. After a conversation with the Senator’s executive assistant, the College Democrats became aware of Campfield’s objection to the idea of a town hall event. Subsequently, Campfield, College Democrats, and College Republicans agreed to change the event to a moderated discussion that would pose any reasonable and relevant student provided question to Sen. Campfield.

The College Democrats and College Republicans prescreened and submitted 18 questions to Campfield for review. Sen. Campfield returned eight questions that he refused to answer, on the grounds that they were “‘Do you beat your wife?’ questions.” Among the allegedly unreasonable questions were the following: “[I]n what ways are you involved in your community?”, “Is there any precedent for state legislation regarding student fees?”, and “How do you define ‘membership’ to a student organization?”.

When asked in a phone call with the College Democrats Executive Board why he would not take a question about the definition of membership, Campfield responded “It would take ten minutes to explain.” Eventually he conceded that there was no definition for membership.

In an effort to maintain the integrity of the event, the College Democrats declined to allow Campfield to choose his own questions. Campfield refused to comply. Later that day, however, he called for negotiations to begin again. He proposed three options for the event: a speech without any opportunity for questions, a debate with Democratic primary candidate Cheri Siler, or only answer his desired questions from the original submissions and nothing further. Prior to his request for a debate with Cheri Siler, Campfield originally refused to be in the same room with Cheri Siler.

The College Democrats and College Republicans countered with a proposal that would allow him to reject the eight questions he originally denied, in addition to taking five questions from the audience that would be screened by his executive assistant.

The parties could not reach a final agreement and Campfield effectively pulled out of the event. Though College Democrats and College Republicans received a lot of backlash for hosting the event on campus, the organizations ultimately believed educating student voters was the right course of action. College Republicans were asked to cosponsor the event to make it as clean, fair, and bi-partisan as possible, however none of this satisfied Senator Campfield. He was uncooperative and negligent of his official responsibilities. It is a true shame that he would not come speak to his constituents directly.

Trip of a Lifetime

UTK College Democrats hit DC for President Barack Obama's inauguration.  The energy of the city was unbelievable.  The ceremony was beautiful and truly inspirational.  It was an experience I know none of us will ever forget.  We even ran into Knoxville's Mayor Madeline Rogero!  Our trip was a great way to kick off the new year and semester.  There are only great things to come.  Four more years!

Voter Registration!

         (pictured above: our president Jennifer Baldwin counting voter registration forms)


The presidential election is creeping up on us, and like the Obama campaign, UTK College Democrats are showing no sign of slowing down.  This past week, we registered more than 400 college students to vote!  Several members of UTK College Democrats, camped out on pedestrian walkway (on campus) from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm last Friday, to get the word out about registration.  We are hard at work getting ready for a second term with President Obama and also hot on the local campaign trail as well.  Many members of UTK College Democrats have also been working on the campaign of Gloria Johnson (State House District 13).

Check out our Facebook page for more information on our events and ways to get involved!

College Debate

College Democrats participated in a debate last Wednesday, April 4th, with two representatives from College Republicans, and We the People (a Libertarian group on campus).  Andy Vickers, our president, and Hunter Threet, our treasurer, represented us in the debate.  The debaters tackled topics ranging from social issues, foreign policy, and more.  Congratulations to Andy and Hunter for an excellent performance!

Left to Right: Andy Vickers (second) and Hunter Threet (third)

A Special Guest

We Were honored to have Mayor Madeline Rogero attend our meeting last Monday, as she celebrated her 100th day in office.  Mayor Rogero gave us a brief overview of her experience working for Governor Bill Haslam (former mayor of Knoxville) and her big plans for Knoxville's future.  Mayor Rogero expressed she has seen many monumental changes take place since she began working in Knoxville around 20 years ago and is working to keep the momentum going.  Mayor Rogero said her biggest goal coming into office was to assemble the right team for the job (a team with balanced personalities and skills), and now that she has assembled her dream team, tackling issues like budgeting, land preservation and more.

Mayor Rogero shared with us one project in particular that she is excited about.  Working with the Legacy Parks Foundation, she is hoping to make Knoxville and surrounding areas in eastern Tennessee, a more beautiful place.  Sustainability and preservation are her goals.  Eastern Tennessee is a great place for recreational outdoor activities and she wants people to be more engaged.  There are plans to open an outdoor adventure center that will provide all the information one would need to explore the area and rentals of the equipment needed as well.  A website has been launched, OutdoorKnoxville.com, that also provides information about outdoor recreation.  The site provides everything you would need to know.  It provides information on where to go, different outdoor exploration events, interest groups for different activities, and a general overview of all outdoor recreation Knoxville has to offer. 

It sounds like Mayor Rogero is off to a great start.  We were thrilled to have her at our meeting and are excited to see what's in store for Knoxville's future. 

CDA Conference

The spring semester is in full swing and we have hit the ground running.  What's next for UTK's College Democrats?  We will be headed to the Windy City for the 2012 Winter CDA (College Democrats of America) Conference.  The conference takes place on March 9th though the 10th.  This is an awesome opportunity that will provide our members with training sessions hosted by CDA and for the first time, YDA (Young Democrats of America).  With the 2012 elections around the corner, this opportunity to join forces with other Democrats is very important.  We are ready to fight and keep Obama in office!

Congratulations Mayor Rogero!

Fellow Democrats,

Today is a truly historic day in the city of Knoxville. Madeline Rogero, a long-time friend of the UTK College Democrats, was elected mayor. She is the first woman ever elected to the office of the Mayor in Knoxville and the first female Mayor elected to one of the major cities in the state of Tennessee (She was also endorsed by the UTK College Democrats back in the spring semester).

Knoxville can be proud of itself today. The future is bright in Knoxville.

The UTK College Democrats would like to thank Mark Padgett as well. He was a strong democrat and represented himself and this city with class and dignity. He too has been a great friend to the College Democrats and we hope this is not the last time we see his name on a ballot.

One last shout out to Finbarr Saunders; congratulations on your well deserved victory and we can't wait to see all the great things you will do on the City Council.

On behalf of all the College Democrats, we would like to thank every candidate who ran on a Democratic platform for representing the party with class and making us proud to be Democrats. Turning a conservative area blue is a challenge and it doesn't happen overnight, but you helped advance our purpose more than you will ever know. Thank you: Bill Owen and Gloria Johnson.

Until Next Time,

Vote Democrat

Phonebanking, Fundraising, and Voter Registration

Fellow Democrats,

Sorry for the latest hiatus, but lets be honest it isn't like you all are following this blog religiously anyway. So, in case you've missed out on our latest endeavors, we have had a couple of meetings and have been busy trying to get the information out about the city election. We put on a full court press to register as many students as we could for the city elections before the deadline passed and we successfully registered nearly 100 voters along with the College Repubs.

In addition to that, the Knox County party declared First Friday "College Dems Day" and we were able to bring in quite a bit from fundraising that will allow us to order over 60 shirts to be ready before the election!

Along those line, the attendees were very kind to us and asked if we could help phonebank for Gloria Johnson's State Senate campaign (free food provided) and we accepted. We made over 1000 phone calls in a 3 hour time frame and we got a free meal out of it so it worked out well for us.

Stay tuned for an updated calendar of events as soon as we get around to it and keep watch on facebook as that is where we spend most of our time advertising events.

And lastly, just a reminder that we have t shirts and to qualify for a free shirt, you must have been present for at least 3 of our events (we have had a lot of them and we have a record of who was at what).

That's it! Until next time,

Vote Democrat!

Meeting 9/6/11

All,

Well we had another great turnout for our second meeting of the semester.  I know I speak for the entire Exec Board when I say thank you!

This meeting was very productive.  We added a new member to the Exec Board: Tom Overton who will be serving as Freshman Representative to the Exec Board.  We would like to thank all the members who ran for that office and congratulate Robin Lovett and Abel Tahirkheli in becoming their respective dorm hall representatives.

We also spoke more about the caucuses and shared a events quota that needs to be met with the hope that each caucus will have some issue-specific suggestions for filling those quotas.  We will all discuss and vote on which events we will put on the calendar this year so bring your best ideas!

We also announced a new social event for next Monday, Sept. 12.  The College Dems will be headed to listen to Jay Jonas speak at the Issues Committee sponsored event and then head down to Mellow Mushroom for dinner afterward.  We hope to see you there!

Bill Owen also gave a great talk about his vision for the future of Knoxville.  Check out our facebook page for links to his campaign and volunteer opportunities.

Hope to see you Monday, and be sure to check out our calendar of events on the menu above for more information about upcoming events.  Also, be sure to join the facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/284597231554453/

Until next time,
Vote Democrat

Tennessee Federation of College Democrats Convention

Fellow Democrats,

As many of you might or might not have known, last weekend was the Tennessee Federation of College Democrats Convention at Lipscomb University in Nashville. I know I speak for everyone on the Exec board when I tell you that we appreciate those of you who woke up at the crack of dawn to drive to Nashville and support our candidates.

Before we get too far into the process, let me give you a brief description of the convention. This is the first convention that the University of Tennessee had ever attended in my memory and I have been on the exec board longer than anyone except Clare and Carrie. So we honestly had no idea what to expect. The Federation is supposed to be the last step between our chapter and the nation wide College Democrats. They are responsible for helping grow the number of chapters and supporting the growth of current chapter's memberships. They also have a small pool of money that they can use to help other chapters.

Included in their perks is a vote with the Executive committee for the state democratic party. Essentially this means that they have a say in the direction of the state party.

We hadn't been able to get into contact with the Federation for a very long time and finally we were told about this convention in the later part of last year and we organized a contingency to represent us.

The convention itself was fairly small with only 21 people attending (8 from the University of Tennessee). The only schools in attendance were Belmont, Union, Lipscomb, UT Chattanooga, Tennessee State, University of Tennessee, and MTSU.

Needless to say, we were the largest contingency and we also found out that we are the largest chapter in the state of Tennessee!

After a brief strategy session and a guest speaker from Organizing for America, we held elections and the University of Tennessee claimed 3 spots on the Exec board. Jennifer Baldwin took Secretary, Erica Perry took Minority Affairs Director, and Bobby Patton took Membership Director.

We are all very proud of our Exec Board representation. We hold 1/3rd of the Exec Board of the Federation, more than any other school. Be on the lookout for big things that will be coming out of the Federation in the next year!

Sidenote:

Our next meeting will be Tuesday night at 7:30 in HSS. The room number is to be announced and so is the speaker. We have lots to catch up so we hope to see all of you. Remember that the Freshman Representative to the Exec Board will be voted on next meeting as will the appointment of Residence Hall representatives! So be ready to politic your fellow members!

Until next time,

Vote Democrat

Fun-Raiser

Fellow Democrats,

For those of you who participated in our "fun-raiser" social event last night, thank you so much.  It was a smashing success!  We brought in $178 in donations which is a substantial sum of cash to put in our coffers.  It looks like we will be throwing several more "fun-raisers" before the semester is up so if you missed the last one, don't fret.  You will have plenty of opportunities to network with other like-minded individuals.

Next week we really don't have anything planned, but stay tuned as we may organize something yet.

Don't forget that Saturday is the Federation of College Democrats convention and we have a great ticket of Bobby Patton and Jennifer Baldwin who are running for President and Vice President, respectively.  We need to have a big showing of support for them to show how powerful our chapter is and how dedicated our members are.  Also, Erica Perry, our Membership Director, is running for Minority Outreach Chair so she will need our support as well.

Here's the bad news though...  Because of the time and location of the convention, the carpool leaving for Nashville is leaving at 4:30am.  If you want to join in, just be in the TRec's parking lot by then and you too can join the fun.  The dress will be business casual.  Post on our facebook wall if you need help or have questions.

Until next time,
Vote Democrat

A New School Year

Hello out there!

Sorry for not updating the blog over the course of the year. We got busy... Or we forgot...

Either way, a new school year means a new resolution to blog more! So lets review what we accomplished last year and talk a little about what is coming down the pike for this year.

Last year we had a banner year for the college democrats! We organized a mayoral forum, a state senate forum, several voter registration drives, football tailgates, and even a bake sale! Yes we were busy bees all last semester and we aren't stopping for the coming year. We have plenty already planned this year from a city council forum to possibly another mayor's forum.

The Exec board has also decided to try bi-weekly socials which we are kicking off with a "fun-raiser!" This just so happens to be at Bobby's house and the party kicks off at 8:30 on 8/25. It also happens to be that Bobby double booked his house so there is also a party going on in the next room that is completely unaffiliated with the college democrats. The things we have to deal with I guess... We will just have to make the best of it... ;)

We have already held the first meeting of the year on Monday in case you missed it, and we have scheduled the next meeting on Tuesday, September 6th at 7:30. Be there! I think we might have pizza for this one too and we will also be electing the freshman representative to the exec board so feel free to politic your fellow members beforehand!

Until next time,

Vote Democrat

Latest Meeting

Hey all!

Well school is in full swing and I think everyone is looking forward to fall break already. But a new school year also means College Dems meetings.

Our first meeting of the semester was yesterday (8/30) and it was a great introduction meeting. We would like to thank everyone who attended. If you missed that meeting then don't fret because we will be having bi-monthly meetings so you can catch the meeting for next Tuesday which will be September 14th.

I don't have the official minutes of out last meeting, but we basically had an introduction to what we're about and the things we will be involved with this semester and a little bit of what we will be involved with for next semester.

To begin with we will be having an impromptu meeting on Friday September 3rd at the UC auditorium. Mike McWherter will be speaking to us and answering any questions we might have in a pseudo-town hall style format.

Next up, we will be tailgating on Saturday September 4th for the UT Martin game. We will likely begin at around 2 and will be going up until game time. The tailgate will be located at the base of Hodges Library on the Pedestrian Walkway across the street from the Business building. Mike McWherter will be stopping by as will many of the other local candidates. We look forward to seeing you there.

Lastly, if anyone is headed to Boomsday on Sunday, please send an email to Jeremy Walker at Walkerja20@gmail.com

He would like to hand out Randy Walker for State Senate T-shirts for you to wear. Randy Walker is running against Stacey Campfield in a local election.

Other than that, I think I've covered everything. The next speaker will be announced shortly for the 14th meeting. You should seen meeting times posted around campus as well.

Until next time,

College Dems

Our New Blog!!!

Welcome supporters and Democrats alike!

The University of Tennessee College Democrats now have a blog. We will begin posting regular updates as soon as school starts. If you would like to be a contributer, contact us via email and we will see what we can do.

Until then,

Vote Democrat