Registration for the inaugural CSAmerica National Convention is now open!

Join college students from across the country in Washington, DC on February 9, 10, and 11 to debate and discuss issues that are prevalent in the political dialogue today.

Early registration is now open! Take advantage of special early registration rates and group discounts.

Visit the National Convention web site at http://events.csamerica.org for registration details and more information about how you can get involved at the convention.

By Courtney Elizabeth Lenz, University of Wisconsin-Madison


Each May, hundreds of high school seniors leave their political clubs. After four years of the same group and ever-changing topics of debate, they are left with nothing but great memories, a vengeance for political apathy in all its forms, and one question: Now what?

I was one of them. I essentially found myself through the political clubs my school sponsored. In fact, I used to even joke with my friends that I had considered being a “super senior” if only to steal one last year of our super-charged debates. As I considered college, the one thing I knew I would miss about high school would be having a strong bi-partisan political club. While College Republicans and Democrats provide a great opportunity to mingle with like-minded individuals, I have never respected anyone for sharing my beliefs and reserve my highest regard for those, liberal or conservative, that express the most reasonable and rational arguments.

Therein lies the beauty of CSAmerica. As the political arena and even our small microcosm of campus political organizations become increasingly polarized, the Collegiate Society of America stands as one of the only organizations that encourages thoughtful dialogue and tolerance. I recently started my chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Anyone who has ever been here knows that we are notorious for our strong political activism and left-leaning ideals. Whether to provide a forum for discussion or simply to end the cynicism of young voters about their effect on the vote, I can’t wait to see how CSAmerica changes the political landscape of my campus.

Now each May, hundreds of high school seniors will leave their political clubs knowing that in just four months the debates will start all over again.

At many schools midterms have come and gone and the school year is in full swing. So you may think that it’s too late to start a CSAmerica chapter at your school this semester and attend our first national convention in February. However, this is not even close to the case. You still have plenty of time to start a CSAmerica chapter this semester. Starting a chapter is easy to do and we have seen many chapters get up and running in just three weeks!

Here are a couple tips for starting a chapter in less than a month:

1. Start a Facebook group for your CSAmerica chapter. Invite all of your friends and other people who you know who may be interested. You should even invite people who you don’t know who have politics listed as an interest in their profile or are members of other campus political groups. This is a great way to build a quick chapter membership base and scout potential leadership
2. Hold a callout meeting. Advertise around campus and create a Facebook event. You may not get a ton of people at your first meeting, but you usually get a strong leadership team to help the chapter get running.
3. Have a leadership meeting. Go out to lunch or dinner with those interested in leadership. Start planning your meetings and ways to get more people involved.

You can easily do all of these things in a month. Before you know it your chapter will have grown and be successful. As always, we are here to help you every step of the way with advice and ideas for activities as well as solutions for any problems that may arise.

email: info@csamerica.org

phone: 1-877-848-5169

web: http://www.csamerica.org