UF College Republicans regain charter after support from local Republican leaders

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The UF College Republicans (UFCR) are back on campus under a charter from the Republican Party of Florida, six months after a federal judge dismissed the club’s claim that UF’s deactivation of the club was due to viewpoint discrimination.

The University of Florida announced on March 14 that it had deactivated the club because the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR), the organization that licenses the College Republicans name, revoked the club’s charter. At that time, the club lost the privileges extended to official university student groups, and although they sued to regain their standing, Federal Judge Mark Walker ruled on June 12 that there was not enough evidence supporting the claim that viewpoint discrimination was UF’s reason for deactivating the club.

Alachua County Republican Executive Committee intervenes

Alachua County Republican Party Chair Tim Marden told Alachua Chronicle that the county-level party leadership has the authority to charter clubs if at least two of the three officers agree — the Chair, the State Committeeman, and the State Committeewoman. In this case, all three — Chair Marden, State Committeeman Stafford Jones, and State Committeewoman Raemi Eagle-Glenn — signed the application, granting the charter.

Marden said a state-level signature is not required, but Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power also approved the application.

Meanwhile, FFCR chartered a club at UF with the name “University of Florida College Republicans,” so both clubs — with similar names — are currently recognized as College Republican groups at UF.