For the past two years, I’ve served as President of the College Libertarians of Towson.  When I first met Ms. Amy Triplett, the former President of the CLT, I was disappointed to find that there was essentially no Libertarian group on campus, as the CLT had ceased holding meetings, and had not even re-signed up with the SGA.

I took over the reigns of the group and, along with Ms. Alesha West, participated in the Student Involvement Fair.  That day, we got fifteen people to sign up to join the club, and I personally was feeling very positive about our efforts.  However, at the following CLT meeting, the only attendees were myself and Ms. West.  I was dumbfounded.  How can, out of fifteen registered members, only the President and Vice President show up?

Jump ahead to the Fall 2005 Semester.  The group at this point was essentially me, and I resolved to try again.  I’d received supplies from Mr. Roy Meyers, the then-Executive Chair of the Libertarian Party of Maryland.  I had bought a professionally-made banner for approx. $125.  We (myself, Ms. Lauren Bodie, and a young woman who was working with the state party) attended the Student Involvement Fair.  We sent out information for our first meeting in the Daily Digest, Towson’s daily email to students and professors.  I’d been in contact with a gentleman by the name of Mr. Jason Cochran, who had created a Facebook group for Libertarians at Towson.

And it was a success.  We had members, a new executive board, and, before long, an official meeting room.  We were once-again SGA affiliated.  After wrangling my way through Towson’s bureaucracy, I was able to gain access to the CLT website, which had been originally set up back during the Triplett Administration.  We also changed the title of Mr. Cochran’s Facebook group from Towson Libertarians to College Libertarians of Towson, and adopted it as our official Facebook group.  Mr. Cochran at the time was our Vice President, and had no problems with this change.

Throughout the year, I attended the meetings of the other three political groups on campus, establishing connections with those groups, as well as learning what I can do to improve our own meetings.

Serving as the CLT President this past year has been amazingly-fulfilling.  This past Wednesday, Mr. Paul Kelly was elected to be the new CLT President, and I wish him the best of luck in helping the group to continue growing.

I would suggest to all future administrations of the CLT, as well as all other College Libertarian groups around campus, to make friends with Facebook.  It’s a great way to find other Libertarians on campus, as well as to advertise events for your group.

I would also suggest building strong connections with the state party, including other College Libertarian groups in your state.  Learn what other Libertarians in your state are planning, and keep them informed of your activities, too.  The state party can also supply much-needed materials, such as brochures, ballot-access petitions, and voter registrations.