A Florida A&M University student is struggling to re-establish a College Republicans chapter at the HBCU because she can't find an advisor to sponsor it, NBC News reports.
Charisse Lane, a FAMU senior and registered Republican, is trying to reboot what would be the only active chapter of College Republicans at an HBCU. However, FAMU guidelines state that registered school organizations need at least 10 members and a faculty advisor.
“I’ve reached out to professors,” Lane said.
“The two that responded said they couldn’t do it,” she added. “So it’s not like I’m not trying.”
The College Republican National Committee has student groups at roughly 2,000 campuses across the country. As recently as 2016, the GOP group could be found at several HBCUs including Howard University, Morehouse College, Central State University, and FAMU.
However, College Republicans currently have no active presence on any HBCU campus.
Lane said she and three other classmates have met multiple times in an unofficial capacity and attended a presidential debate watch party with Florida State University’s College Republicans. The FAMU senior said she's frustrated that she's been unable to form the organization on campus. The HBCU has consistently housed an active chapter of College Democrats.
“I believe that Black people are needed on both sides,” Lane said.
Lane noted her conservative views are heavily shaped by her Christian upbringing and not necessarily reflective of the voices currently at the forefront of the GOP.
Felicia Barnes, assistant director of student organizations at FAMU, said College Republicans would be welcome back on campus.
“They’ve been here before, so it’s not like it hasn’t been the organization here,” she said.
Lane recognized that she's seen as an anomaly as a self-identified pro-Black conservative at an HBCU.
“From Republicans I get called a Black supremacist and sometimes they say that I race bait, and then, from the Dems, sometimes I get called an Uncle Tom," she said.
“Sometimes you don’t fit in with either side when it comes to your opinions.”
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