Early Days of College Republicans United

This page serves as an archive of our first year of activity. 

Founded in 2018, College Republicans United started as a single independent chapter from Arizona State University. The club’s name was branded by ASU Faculty, Donald Critchlow, to designate the MAGA members infighting against the rino establishment within the CRNC.

What was supposed to have been our launch party for the club, Milo Yiannopoulos, the event was scrubbed due to ANTIFA [1] and interference from ASU. This conflict later caused Critchlow to step down as an advisor and side again with the CRNC.  Thankfully we were picked up by Dr Charles Loftus who served as our primary advisor for years to come. 

Despite early setbacks, College Republicans United was commended by grassroot conservatives for our passionate volunteers and many speakers brought to campus. View all speakers here.

Shades of Red Debate

On February 6th, the club hosted a debate with the Young Americans for Liberty over immigration and drug policy. 

Vista Community Council Debate

On February 21st, College Republicans United was invited by the Vista Community Council to participate in a debate about civility in political discourse. The Socialists and College Republicans United got into a heated exchange over how to conduct protests respectfully and whether “no platforming” should be tolerated by the University. Fundamentally the Socialists believe they have the right to disrupt with violence if necessary.

MAGA in the Park

On March 13th, College Republicans United attended the largest grassroots Trump event in the Valley since the 2016 election. We reserved a table and had one of our own speak in front of a crowd of several hundred people. The rally was met with ANTIFA protesters but were too few and ineffective to stop the rally.

Dick Heller at Arizona State University

College Republicans United and Young Americans for Liberty care about out constitutional rights, including the 2nd Amendment. Together, we hosted an event on March 29 with guest speaker and gun-freedom advocate Dick Heller, whose assertion of his Second Amendment rights led to a landmark 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which struck down provisions of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975.

The 5-4 ruling affirmed the right of an individual to possess firearms for lawful purposes such as self-defense within the home. It also meant that individuals do not have to keep their rifles and shotguns unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock. Heller said the Second Amendment cannot be destroyed as it is the “backbone of the concept of freedom and an underlying principle that keeps the leaders from power.”

Heller said recent proposals to strengthen gun control, such as raising the minimum age to buy firearms and intensifying background checks, would damage that backbone and create a slippery slope that would eventually lead to the full repeal of the Second Amendment.

But the biggest problem of all is the lack of compromise. President of College Republicans United and education senior Richard Thomas said guns are not the problem, but rather that the left and right should focus on “common-ground solutions such as identifying early signs of mental illness in children and young adults. Any person who wants to amend the Bill of Rights is not an American,” Thomas said. “When you mess with the first ten amendments, you are fundamentally changing this country away from the foundation structure that made this land possible.”

Paradise Valley Republican Women’s Club

College Republicans United was invited by Judith Lawrence of PVRW to attend their meeting on April 14th. Three of our members took to the podium to speak about the hardships of being conservative on a college campus and the bias we consistently face in the classroom. Often times older generations fail to realize conservatives do exist in the Universities and that we should be empowering them to educate their peers. 

Sheriff Joe Apraio Fundraiser

College Republicans United was invited to attend Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s fundraiser at  Phil’s Filling Station Grill at 16852 E Parkview Ave, in Fountain Hills.  Candidate for Fountain Hills Mayor Cecil Yates. In total five members of College Republicans United were present at the event.  It was a fantastic networking opportunity for members looking for summer jobs. 

2nd Amendment Rallies at ASU

In cooperation with Patriot Movement AZ, College Republicans United marched on the Hayden Lawn at ASU on multiple days to speak with students and faculty members about our constitutional rights to own firearms. We also distributed flyers honoring Kate Steinle and other American citizens who were killed due to Democratic negligence. During our walk through we were approached by members of ANTIFA, which inevitably lead to a confrontation. The result of this incident lead to the arrest of one of their thugs.

March for our Rights

College Republicans United was invited to speak at the AZ Capitol about our constitutional rights, specifically the Second Amendment. MFOR is a non-profit organization which hosted rallies in 13 cities across the country. Members braved the heat in temperatures of 111F. AZCentral interviewed College Republicans United here.

California Crusade

From June 7th – 13th, members of College Republicans United traveled to California to promote the club and seek out new allies. With the occasional tourist stops, we traveled over 1,500 miles in 25 hours in 6 days.  From Phoenix to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and back.

On June 8th College Republicans United met with Mike Cernovich with an open invitation to visit Arizona State University. After hearing our history and mission for the club he accepted our offer with a wonderful twist. 

Cernovich will be at ASU this fall semester on September 18th. College Republicans United will be the first test audience to view his new movie ‘Hoax: The Media’s War on Truth.’ a full-throttle visual plunge into the history and future of fake news, uncovering their techniques, unveiling their agenda, chronicling the rise of the New Media, and showing you how to fight back against their lies. Mike Cernovich will then host a Q&A session after the film. Exact time & room location pending. 

 By June 9th the California College Republicans  had become embroiled in a scandal involving it’s Federation Chairwoman Ariana Rowlands and dozens of chapters over the dechartering of San Diego.

The controversy started June 3rd when San Diego Chair Mikaela McNally voted to decharter with California College Republicans. Many reasons for the vote were given, they all can be summed up to discontent and unhappiness with the direction of the Federation and College Republican National Committee. This follows after the Channel Islands and Fullerton who had already disassociated with Ariana’s Federation. California College Republicans responded to this threat by taking over social media accounts from the San Diego’s board and restructuring the club around three members appointed by Ariana. This new executive board then posted a press release denouncing the previous actions of San Diego and Mikaela specifically.

By the 9th, chapters across California and within the Federation began to denounce Ariana’s coup with a joint press release of their own. UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, UC Merced, Central Coast RVC, California Lutheran College Republicans, and others began to call for the impeachment of Ariana and others involved with the plot. 

On June 10th, Ariana made another statement downplaying her involvement in the coup and blamed the accusations on outside sources. 🙂 Members then began posting screenshots of her scheming and non-related banter against her character.  

From an outsider’s perspective, what’s unfortunate about this situation is that Ariana was once a powerful force for good in challenging the establishment and sticking up for the MAGA agenda in California. When College Republicans United split off from the RINO Club at ASU our members looked up to Ariana as she fought her own war against the establishment. Since her reelection this previous year however, she had turned on her long time allies and supporters. Many suspect in effort to pander for a future political career. 

On June 12th College Republicans United met with the President of the Santa Cruz College Republicans. Although neutral in the ongoing conflict, he was sympathetic to San Diego. We shared the similar story of how College Republicans United came to be and agreed that cooperation between chartered and non-chartered clubs was possible.

GOP Day of Action

On September 15th, College Republicans United answered the call to attend the GOP’s Day of Action. A country wide event were an army of grassroots supporters knocked on doors and spoke to neighbors about how important the 2018 mid-term elections are for this nation. Nine of our members split their efforts between Scottsdale and Chandler. 

College Republicans United formed two teams:

  • Scottsdale, lead by Michaella Brassfield, Rick Thomas, Kevin Decuyper, Bret Musil, Jonathan Rigney

     

  • Chandler, lead by Brigette Maggio, Joshua Bernard, Mark Grigoriev, Chase Smith

In addition College Republicans United volunteered for Maria Syms, Frank Schmuck, Wendy Rogers, and others throughout the fall semester leading to the November elections. 

Results: 

– Hundreds of doors knocked
– Hundreds of brochures distributed
– Countless conversations about Kavanaugh, Trump, McSally, and Ducey with the community. 

Emergency Protest Against Jeff Flake

Jeff Flake was one of four Republicans who were on the fence to confirm Brett  Kavanaugh.  Earlier in the week he indicated he can only support Kavanaugh after an FBI investigation for fake rape accusations made against him. Critics said the FBI would not provide any more information that hasn’t already been discovered by the Senate hearing, that this only served to further delay the process. Current committee chairman Chuck Grassley invoked Joe Biden by quoting:

‘The next person who refers to an FBI report as being worth anything obviously doesn’t understand anything. The FBI explicitly does not — does not, in this or any other case, reach a conclusion. Period’
– Senator Joe Biden on the Anita Hill hearing 1991.

(Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual assault)

On September 28th on Friday, ASU College Republicans United member Jonathan Rigney proposed an emergency protest at Senator Flake’s office to urge Flake to confirm without delay. The protest was held Saturday morning at Jeff Flake’s Phoenix office. At the gathering, participants signed their names on a petition written by College Republican United President Rick Thomas. A pdf scan of the document and signatures was emailed directly to Flake’s official account at Senator@flake.senate.gov

Roaming Millennial – Lauren Chen

On October 22nd, Lauren Chen, better known as Roaming Millennial, is a Canadian YouTube blogger, social commentator, and BlazeTV host. She began as a YouTuber just over two years ago, and has since gained over 20 million views on the platform and hundreds of thousands of followers. She has also appeared on Fox News, The Daily Wire, Rebel Media, PragerU and The Rubin Report.

The topics Roaming is most passionate about include individual liberty, gender equality, and issues surrounding race. She was born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in Middle East Studies and Arabic. She is a Leonberger owner and enthusiast.

Central Republican Women of Phoenix

Kenya Rodriguez is a High School student at Tempe Union school district. She has been attempting to start up an after school program to discuss conservative viewpoints with fellow students. The school already has several left wing organizations but refuses to entertain any right wing alternatives. Kenya has been coordinating with College Republicans United to hold her school district accountable and provide an alternate meeting place for her friends. 

On November 1st Alice Lara invited College Republicans United to attend the CRWOP to discuss Kenya’s hardships and gain support from the community. 

Protest against AZGOP Chairman
Jonathan Lines

Matthew Northway arrived at the Church of the Nations around 7:20 AM and walked with Mark Grigoriev from the parking lot to the front of the church grounds. They stood with their protest signs and yellow vests on at that location for about half an hour until approached by a gentleman wearing a pro-Lines sticker. This gentleman read our signs and asked who we were with. Mark responded, “Republicans United” while Matthew was beginning to say “College….” The gentleman (Douglas Yelin) finished his sentence and told us we weren’t allowed to protest on church grounds. Mark asked him where we could go, and Mr. Yelin mentioned “around the back by the dumpsters.” 

Mark and Matthew then left the location and walked towards the rear of the building. They stopped where other anti-Lines protesters were located and spoke with a pro-Ward supporter. Mark and Matt told her what happened, and she went inside to ask for clarification. She returned to us with another unknown individual verifying that we couldn’t protest on church grounds.

Mark and Matt moved away towards the opposite side of the church, then was approached by Jonathan Lines himself who said, “You can’t be here, see the Sergeant-at-arms. This is a private event.” Barbara Medal was walking behind Jonathan Lines and saw him telling us to move and was asking him questions as he was walking into the building. Mark and Matthew then moved off church property after speaking with Alice Lara (Chips ‘n Salsa). As we were walking away from the church, Matthew caught a verbal confrontation between Lyle Tuttle and an SC named Alberto Gutier III where Lyle asked why we couldn’t protest on the grounds. Alberto got frustrated saying, “I’m resigning from the Party! This is why I’m resigning!” After this exchange, Mark and Matthew protested on the sidewalk opposite the church building until Rick Thomas arrived.

Rick went back onto the property and spoke with several pro-Lines teens carrying signs asking who organized them, their opinions on Jeff Flake, Romney and other RINOs. None of them were confident to talk about why they were there or anything else beyond the pro-lines rhetoric they were told to say. Rick then spoke with another group of Anti-Lines protesters and informed them what took place with Matthew and Mark. This individual encouraged College Republicans United to return back to the property and group up to prevent harassment from Jonathan Line’s henchmen. 

Rick was then approached by what appeared to be one of the organizers for the teens. The individual then berated Rick on his anti-lines views, made insults on Rick’s “Faggy” Air Force Boots, Jacket, and choice of clothing. When asked why he hated the AirForce he replied that he use to be an Army Ranger so it was ok. The man was visually unhinged, but what made the situation worse was the Teens who accompanied him who started to echo his insults. The man eventually scurried away. Our side was later reinforced by Joshua Bernard and Kevin Decuyper. The rest of the day went on without further incidents.

After Kelli Ward won the vote. Jonathan Lines walked past our group, full of hatred and vile, saying “It takes alot of balls to yell at me from a distance” Rick quickly shot back, “Have fun in court with Maria Syms.” The sad little man got into his car with his family and drove away.

Juanita Broaddrick

On February 28th 2019, College Republicans United hosted Juanita Broaddrick at Arizona State University

In 1999, Juanita Broaddrick burst into the public consciousness when she accused President Bill Clinton on national television of raping her in 1978 when he was the Arkansas Attorney General and running for Governor. She was a registered nurse and nursing home owner at the time. The NBC Dateline interview was suppose to air during President Clinton’s impeachment trial, but was held by NBC until the hearing was over.

She has now written a book, “You’d Better Get Some Ice On That”, telling her story of survival from the assault at the hands of the future President to the veiled threats by a seemingly complicit presidential wannabe, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Juanita lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She has been interviewed numerous times in the last two years by Sean Hannity, Judge Jeanine Pirro and Laura Ingraham of Fox News, Jake Tapper and SE Cupp of CNN and Aaron Klein of Brietbart. She was also a guest of President Donald Trump at the 2nd presidential debate in 2016, along with other victims of Bill Clinton.