Friday, September 16, 2005

V6 College Kickoff!

Massachusetts college students are more excited than ever to elect Democrats!

Last night we kicked off the college arm of the Mass Victory '06 (V6) Campaign. More than 20 college Democratic leaders met with me, Kennedy Campaign Mananger Marty Walsh, V6 College Coordinator Matt Harutunian, and other V6 and Kennedy Campaign staff to discuss their involvement.

Grant Woodard, National President of the College Democrats of America joined the meeting by phone and emphasized that it is so important for college students to get involved in the V6 Campaign to elect Democrats in November '06, and not just another bitter primary battle that divides the party. He also said that the main purpose of the CDA is to help elect Democrats. Also at the meeting were Justin Galacki, President of the College Democrats of Massachusetts, Emily Amick, VP of the Mass organization, and a number of other Democratic leaders from schools throughout Massachusetts.

College activists will play a major role in the V6 Campaign, and with more than 500,000 college students will be a major voting block as well. We began setting strategy and goals such as getting 10 volunteers by Oct. 1 of this year (in 2 weeks!) at each of the schools that are already active, and recruiting a V6 Chair person at each of the 186 colleges in Massachusetts. Also, every Wednesday night will be a college activism night from 5-9pm at Mass Democratic Party state headquarters in Boston, where students will work hard to elect Democrats and be rewarded with pizza and soda (and of course a great sense of accomplishment as well!)

We also talked about holding a state-wide college organizing rally in the coming months. We will be continuing the discussion with Galacki and Amick at a follow up meeting on Monday, Sept. 26.

We want to thank the College Democrats for taking an active, leadership role and look forward to continuing the energy, enthusiasm, and results!