Political Clubs

Trinity College Democratic Club

The Trinity College Democratic Club first appeared on campus in 1868, and has had many different chapters and reformations since. Typically, the club forms during election season in order to organize support for the Democratic candidate in the Presidential elections.

During the election season, the club attends and organizes rallies, finds ways to get involved in the general and Presidential elections, and attends intercollegiate conferences with other Democratic groups. The club allows students interested in politics to get involved at both national and local levels.

Trinity College Grant Club

The Trinity College Grant Club was formed for the political campaign of 1868. The group included the quote “I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer” along with a list of their officers in a Trinity Tablet paper posted July of that year.

Political Science Club

The Political Science Club officially formed in 1913 as a way for students to study and talk about current affairs and encourage participation in civic work. The constitution drawn by its founding members stated that the club was open to any students that had taken at least one course on the American Government or in Political Science. The original club limited its membership to only 12 students. The constitution also had an article that outlined how political discussions at meetings would be structured and how they could later be published by the executive committee of the club.

During meetings, the club holds mock debates, reads papers concerning different topics, and discusses current affairs relating to Political Science. The club would also regularly sponsor speakers to give lectures during meetings that were open to other students to attend. Speakers included principles of colleges, local governors, and even the Dutch nobility. The topics of these lectures greatly varied. For example, the Dutch nobility talked about the politics and economy of the Netherlands. In 1962, a prominent leader of the American Communist Party came to campus to talk about communist tactics in the United States. Multiple lectures took place in 1964 debating the apartheid happening in South Africa.

The club was also cited as being important during war time. In 1918, the club was sent literature pertaining to World War I by the government that they redistributed to the entire campus. The club eventually donated 17 books about the war to Trinity's library.