Republican group at SMC recruiting members
By LEE RAJSICH Special to the Daily Press
A recently established conservative club at Santa Monica College accuses the school of asserting a liberal bias, and the young Republicans plan to fight it.
At the outset of the fall 2003 semester, seven students with a common political ideology formed the Santa Monica College Republicans Club in response to feelings that leftist faculty and unchallenged leftist clubs have created an oppressive liberal bias on the 74-year-old campus.
“It is a well-known fact that at least 90 percent of the faculty at this campus is registered in either the Democratic or Green parties,” said club president Chris Haas.
According to a press release issued by the club, several faculty members have encouraged liberalism in their classrooms while oppressing conservative viewpoints — from paralleling President Bush to fascist dictator Adolf Hitler and docking students’ grades for moderate or conservative perspectives to awarding extra credit for participating in leftist demonstrations and watching liberal films, such as Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine.”
SMC spokesman Bruce Smith said although he can’t speak to whether those claims are true, he has witnessed numerous rallies and discussions on campus that engage both political sides’ viewpoints, specifically after the Iraq war broke out.
“In my experience at Santa Monica College through communications and forums that have been held, there is a broad cross section of viewpoints expressed by students and faculty,” he said. “The discussions have been on both sides of the issues.”
The club members say that a notable portion of the political climate at SMC comes from a leftist majority among other clubs and the college’s 25,000 students. There are currently four political clubs that lean to the left and, with the formation of the SMC Republicans Club, only two leaning to the right — the other being the Republican Youth Majority, which, according SMC Republican treasurer and sophomore Brian Jacob, was relatively passive until last semester.
The alleged liberal sentiment at SMC is “something we want to combat,” said Josh Dalin, a sophomore and recent addition to the club. “We want to make it okay to be conservative on a liberal campus.”
According to SMC Board of Trustees member Nancy Greenstein, who works at UCLA, many campuses are housing the same kind of activity among political clubs. “We hear the same thing at UCLA,” she said.
Greenstein also believes that SMC provides an environment prone for “healthy debate,” an important component to the educational process.
Flyers and word-of-mouth advertisements coupled with a club-sponsored American Red Cross fundraiser during Thanksgiving week — that raised more than $105 to aid victims of the California wildfires earlier this year — have been the main focuses for recruitment by SMC Republicans.
“We have 30 members, and we’re growing each day,” Haas said.
The club is predicted to swell to 100 during the spring 2004 semester, according to Jacob.
Contributing a majority of their efforts toward launching the club, drafting their constitution and amassing enough members to create a palpable influence on campus, the club has not yet been fully active on issues or held demonstrations. However, plans are underway. Club members participated in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign rallies.
The group meets twice a week to debate issues and discuss the efficacy of their efforts in the public arena. Jacob said the club’s first major campaigns will involve the 2004 presidential election and the gay-marriage issue.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 5, 2004. Read the original PDF.