This month I got to sit down with the president of the Young Democrats Club here on OSUM and MTC campus, Kai Meade, to ask him some things about the club and what someone could expect to learn at one of the meetings.

Dani Miller – “Can you tell me what the goals are for the Young Democrats?”

Kai Meade – “We want to include as many people as possible. We want to get the message out about who we are and the ideas that we have. We also offer options to become active in community and to learn what the Democratic party is about.”

DM – “Who is in leadership of the Young Democrats?

KM – “There’s myself, as the club President, Jared Gandelot as the Vice President, Renee Altman as our Treasurer, and Ashley Keener, in charge of Membership Outreach.”

DM – “How often do the Young Democrats meet and when?”

KM – “We meet once a month on Wednesdays from  12:30pm. We’re usually in Morrill Hall Room 200 99% of the time because it can fit everyone. Depending on the year, we could meet more often to help get ready for the election.”

DM – “If someone wanted to get involved with the Young Democrats, how would they go about that?”

KM – “We try to make our meetings as public as possible so we can get a large crowd. If you miss one of the meetings, you can contact with our leadership people. If you want to get in touch with the community, we can help you get in contact with the right people for whatever it is that you need.  If you want to get involved with politics more, we are more than willing and happy to help you do that. There’s just something for everyone with our club.”

DM – “Do the Young Democrats have any events planned?”

KM – “Planned? We have a fundraiser for the local Democratic party on March 4th if anyone wanted to come to that. As for what we’ve done so far, we participated in a protest in Bucyrus January 26th. We’re kinda in the off season right now.”

DM – “Do the Young Democrats have a mission statement?”

KM – “We just want our voices to be heard and to help everyone learn about politics.”

DM – “Who should join the Young Democrats?”

KM – “Anyone interested in politics in general. You can be a Democrat, or anyone else from a different political background. We welcome everyone at our meetings.”

DM – “Do the Young Democrats have any big accomplishments?

KM – “We had a book drive on campus partnered with Let’s Read 20 here in Marion. You may have seen the boxes and bins spread around campus to collect the books. They looked like the little yellow school buses. Because of that drive, we were able to collect 350 books for kids in our community.”

DM – “Do you know how long has there been a Young Democrats club here on campus?”

KM – “Umm, I can’t be too certain of that. I want to say sometime in the Fall of 2015, maybe even 2014.”

DM – “Is there anything else you would like the students to know?”

KM – “Even though it isn’t election time, we still need people and for them to be as involved as possible in politics. Just stop by one of our meetings and see what we have to offer. Our door is always open.”

If you would like to know more about the Young Democrats, you can contact Kai Meade, Jared Gandelot, Whitney Franklin, or Professor Nathan Wallace via their Ohio State University E-Mail, which can be found through the directory.

This month, I am featuring the Arabic Club on OSU Marion.  The Arabic Club is dedicated to serving awareness of the Arab world and culture, the ties into Islam, and working with the Muslim Student Association to help dispel negativity in the Arab community.  The officers for the Arabic Club are Julio Romero, club President, Ayah Said, Vice President, and Ish Shalash, Secretary.  The club is advised by one of our senior lecturers in Arabic and French, Zuheir Alidib.

One of the wonderful things that I was able to learn about the Arabic Club when I sat down with President Julio Romero was I didn’t need to be a student in the Arabic class.  If someone is interested in joining the club, Romero said that they could just come to one of the meetings and sign up.  Students don’t need to have any prerequisites to join, that the club is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the culture and it’s open to anyone that is wanting to be a citizen of the world.

I asked Julio if there were any events or activities coming up for the Arabic Club in the near future and he said that they will be participating in the A Taste of Culture International Festival in the Spring 2017 semester.  Romero also told me that the most recent event they hosted was the Muslim Student Panel.  Romero says this panel was the club’s greatest accomplishment because it brought in students who came from Arab nations, or were even home grown American citizens.  The students answered questions that the general public may have had about the Muslim community.  Romero feels that the panel was successful and achieved its mission.

At the end of my interview with Julio, I asked him if there was anything else he would like the students to know about the Arabic Club.  He responded that if you’re interested in the club, just stop by and see what they’re about.   The club members would all like to see more members in the club and their club door is always open.  The Arabic Club meets every Tuesday in Room 290 Morrill Hall from 12:30pm-1:30pm.  You can contact either Zuheir Alidib or Julio Romero via their OSU email, which can be found through the directory.