Two-Minute Warning

Campus Report ^ | March 6, 2009 | Daniel Allen

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Two-Minute Warning

by: Daniel Allen, March 06, 2009

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held February 26th through the 28th, thousands gathered in Washington D.C. to inspire one another and reignite the conservative movement.

In order to spark ideas among young conservatives working at the grassroots level, CPAC hosted a panel entitled “Two-Minute Activist: Conservative Victories across the Nation,” featuring 20 conservative activists who had achieved unique victories in their communities through their own efforts.

The paths these activists have chosen to spread their ideals vary greatly. Chris Malagisi, President of the Young Conservatives Coalition (YCC), spoke about his desire to prepare young conservatives for their roles in politics and answer key questions like, “What does it mean to be a Conservative in the year 2009?” The YCC, he explained, is “dedicated to leading the next generation of the conservative movement by organizing and mobilizing young Conservatives across the country.”

Ryan Sawtelle, the President of College Republicans at Pepperdine, discussed his role in organizing the Fallen Heroes Fund. Sawtelle managed to raise thousands of dollars for a memorial to 9/11 victims by hosting the first of what would become an annual motorcycle rally.

Pat Casten shared his experience combating liberal bias on his campus at Lake Forest College. Casten found out that a conservative speaker had not come to his campus in over five years, and decided to confront the institution about this. He applied for “diversity funding,” being a conservative on a campus where only 20 percent defined themselves as such. He won, and was able to start bringing conservative speakers to campus.

By far the biggest success among CPAC audiences was Jonathan Krohn, the 13-year-old author of Define Conservatism....

[Marysecretary]

Krohn is an amazing young man. I wish I could get him here. I should try to find out who our republican kids are on campus and see if we can bring him to campus.