College Republicans return to roots

This weekend, members of the Penn College Republicans will be attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.

The conference is the largest annual gathering of the American Conservative Union, “America’s Oldest and Largest Grassroots Conservative Organization,” founded in 1964, according to its website.

College Republicans Vice Chairman and Engineering sophomore Peter Terpeluk is one of the students who will be attending this weekend’s event. He said the conference exhibits many big-name speakers and embodies an attitude that is usually more right-leaning overall than the Republican Party.

He added that the conference serves as an important platform for conservative politics, which is why many candidates seeking GOP nominations are speakers.

This year, the conference will feature prominent conservatives such as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, author and commentator Ann Coulter and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

The keynote speaker will be commentator Glenn Beck, who recently referred to Penn on his cable television show as “the trailer park of the Ivy League.”

Wharton freshman and College Republican Laura Brown, who will also attend the conference, was a little offended upon hearing this remark and called Beck “a little outrageous, especially on his Fox show.” However, she said she still agrees with his basic ideologies.

Brown said these ideologies are part of the “Republican roots” to which the party needs to return. She said such ideologies include being pro-life, supporting traditional views of marriage and supporting fiscal policies of “lower taxes, smaller government and individual responsibility.”

Terpeluk said he expects the conference to be an optimistic one, citing recent Republican victories as reaffirming the idea that conservative ideas win.

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