If you walk into Hillcrest 103 at 8 p.m. every other Wednesday or Axinn 229 at the same time on alternating Mondays this semester, you’ll find students taking a break from their busy academic and personal schedules to discuss current events, the latest news out of Washington and American popular culture — and eating free snacks.
Enter College Democrats and College Republicans. Led by students for students, these two organizations are on-campus clubs that aim to promote student involvement in politics, spanning local, regional and national levels of engagement.
Though primarily discussion-based, the two clubs have been increasing their programming in light of the upcoming presidential election, and have hosted events like phone-banking sessions, post-presidential debate debriefings, organized door-knocking excursions and trips to rallies. The two clubs also plan to host joint discussions and debates in the future, after the election and into the spring semester.
For Norah Khan ’27 and Madeleine Kiblinger ’26, current co-presidents of College Democrats, the club first became appealing because they were seeking spaces to discuss American politics and be exposed to a variety of different viewpoints.
Khan and Kiblinger discussed their paths to joining College Democrats and becoming club leaders in an interview with The Campus.
“I wanted to have a space where I could share that and talk to people, not necessarily because they think the same way as me, but I just wanted to hear what other people think and engage in some of that conversation," Khan said.
Kiblinger echoed Khan’s sentiment, adding that the political composition of her home state did not often allow her to discuss politics openly and that College Democrats offered a compelling space for this.
“At first, I just came and I just listened — it was a good way for me to just hear the highlights. 'Okay, this is what's going on right now, and I can freely ask questions.' It was really good. I'm from South Carolina, so my hometown was super red, and I've always had this burning need to talk about politics that I've kind of repressed in my hometown,” Kiblinger explained.
As an organization, College Democrats has seen an uptick in participation and attendance this semester because of the election, according to Khan.
“I would say we've had more engagement this semester so far compared to the last few semesters, given that it is a really important time in the year. Everyone's anticipating the election, and it's provided us with a unique opportunity to have an array of discussions surrounding certain topics. And we get to see new faces,” Khan said.
College Republicans, resumed and led this year by Joseph Jacobson ’27 after a two-year hiatus, has also been engaging with the election and Vermont politics more locally. Jacobson spoke to his motivations for reinstating the club and bringing it back into active campus life.
“I just wanted to make sure that there were two sides of the political spectrum present on campus. I felt like there was a void that just needed building to bring the campus back to the middle, and we could have diverse ideas, beliefs and a more vibrant intellectual community,” Jacobson said.
For Jacobson, recruiting members to College Republicans was a gradual process of speaking to people after class, in the dining halls and in his other extracurriculars to get them interested in the club’s offerings.
“It's mainly just talking to people. Going up to people after class and saying 'Hey, would you be interested in this?” Jacobson said.
Like Kiblinger and Khan, Jacobson hopes to provide an open space where interested students can discuss political events without reservation and share opinions of all stripes. Especially at Middlebury, where the political allegiances of students trend overwhelmingly to the left, Jacobson believes in the necessity of establishing forums for conservative expression.
“It's a space where ideas that may be not entirely appreciated on campus can be talked about in an open debate setting. We'll talk about things from the perspective of the Republican Party or conservatives in America, which includes many diverse perspectives. We've talked about the conflict in the Middle East, we talked about free speech on campus, and then we will also give updates to the members and everything about events we're doing and advocacy stuff,” Jacobson explained.
Looking beyond the election, both College Democrats and College Republicans aspire to keep political involvement up throughout the remainder of the semester and into next year.
College Democrats is in the process of planning a networking event for members in order to connect them with Middlebury alumni who work in Washington, D.C., according to Khan and Kiblinger.
Jacobson emphasized that, for College Republicans, the focus has been and will remain to ensure the on-campus presence of conservative and Republican political discourse. He explained that, while the election has been discussed in College Republicans meetings, their primary frame of reference is always in relation to the college and to Vermont.
“There is a significant group of people who are not necessarily interested in focusing on the presidential election, even though we talk about it, of course, but in terms of what we really want to fix — we want to focus on free speech on campus and helping elect Republicans in Vermont,” he said.
Editor's Note: Norah Khan ’27 is an Arts & Culture editor for The Campus.
Cole Chaudhari ’26 (he/him) is a Managing Editor.
Cole is a managing editor at The Campus, where he has previously served as a news editor, copy editor, and staff writer. He is a junior, and is studying history and literature.
