From Dr. Scott Kjar, a Campus Libertarian advisor at Georgia Perimeter College:
Here are some things that campus libertarian clubs can do, and suggested appropriate times to do them.
September 15-30
1) Hold OPH booths on campus
2) Have speakers give "Intro to Libertarianism" speeches in the evening after you do OPH
3) Officially create your own club on campus - talk to the student government or student life folks about how to do it
October 1-151) Contact your local or state Libertarian Party. Ask if they have any candidates who need some volunteers. Offer to go door-to-door with flyers and brochures.
2) Show liberty-themed movies. Depending on your membership and campus, these could include WACO:RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, or any Cheech & Chong film, or HARRY'S WAR, or a Ron Paul video, or whatever suits your fancy. See
www.MissLiberty.com for more ideas. Have a 3-minute presentation before the movie explaining WHY it is a liberty-themed movie (just so the movie-goers get the point!).
3) Start a club web site
4) Invite the Campus Dems and Campus GOPs to a tri-partisan debate. Pick a couple of key topics -- War on Drugs, Draft, Social Seurity, whatever is hot on your campus.
5) Hold a club fund-raiser. Invite some local bands that need exposure and will play anywhere for free (there are ALWAYS a few of those on campus!).
Find an outdoor venue, perhaps a field outside of town that someone's friend or family owns. Have a several-hour concert. Charge people by the carload instead of by the person, to encourage car-pooling and designated drivers.
6) Invite a charismatic libertarian candidate to speak at your club. (MAKE SURE THE SPEAKER IS CHARISMATIC. Dull speakers will kill any future interest in your club!)
October 16-311) Go door-to-door for your candidates.
2) Have the Tri-Partisan Debate with the Dems and GOPs.
3) Have another candidate speak.
November 1-15
1) Election Day! Do E-Day work for your candidate (work at the polls, make calls, drive people to their voting locations). Attend the E-Day party that evening!
November 16-30Thanksgiving Break. It will be hard to organize campus activities.
December 1-15Sponsor a FINALS STUDY BREAK somewhere on or near campus. Offer "free" coffee, donuts, and conversation. Put out a TANSTAAFL box for donations. (TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch). If your club doesn't have any money, ask the local or state LP to cover the cost. Have some libertarian flyers handy.
December 16-31Your campus is probably on break. It is hard to organize campus activities for this time period.
January 1-15Your campus is probably on break. It is hard to organize campus activities for this time period.
January 16-311) Hold OPH booths on campus
2) Have speakers give "Intro to Libertarianism" speeches in the evening after you do OPH
3) Officially create your own club on campus (if you did not do so in the Fall semester)
February 1-151) Movies, Debates, Speakers
2) Begin thinking about Next November! Perhaps your club could run ITS OWN CANDIDATE! The campus is in a State Representative district, and these tend to be reasonably small (except in places like California). Identify a Sophomore or Junior in you club who looks good, is articulate, and might make a good candidate. Begin making plans to run.
February 16-281) Movies, Debates, Speakers
2) Researach the Ballot Acess Laws for your candidate. Do you need to do petitioning? Pay a fee? Get nominated by the Libertarian Party?
March 1-151) Begin planning your BIG SPRING EVENTS!
2) Affirmative Action Bake Sale. Sell cookies, cake, etc., but have different prices for white males, white females, black males, black females, asians, hispanics, etc. Caution: this will surely piss off a lot of people, so be prepared for backlash. Be ready to spin the resulting controversy to your favor.
3) Start making brochures, writing speeches, and creating a web site for your candidate.
March 16-31Your campus is probably on break. It is hard to organize campus activities for this time period.
April 1-151) April 15, Income Tax Day. Organize a demonstration at the local Post Office for last-minute tax filers. Acquire some of the LP's "Million Dollar Bills" to hand out -- they are always a hit! There are libertarian tax protests at post offices all over the country on this day. Be sure your candidate is here to shake hands.
April 16-30
1) April 20 (4-20) Hemp Rally. There are hemp rallies all over the country
on April 20. Be sure your candidate speaks.
2) Planter's Festival. To tie in with your Hemp Rally, hold a concert fund-raiser. ALL the local bands will volunteer to play for free for Hemp Rally -- even it is is specifically a campus libertrian event. Be sure your candidate speaks, and walks through the crowd shaking hands.
May 1 - 15Sponsor a FINALS STUDY BREAK somewhere on or near campus. Offer "free" coffee, donuts, and conversation. Put out a TANSTAAFL box for donations. (TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch). If your club doesn't have any money, ask the local or state LP to cover the cost. Have some libertarian flyers handy.
NOTE: You can do most of these things at any time. You can ALWAYS do an OPH, you can ALWAYS invite a speaker, or show a movie. You can always contact the local LP and see if they have activities in which you can participate.
Some events, like 4/15 and 4/20, occur at the same day everywhere, so you will want to be sure to tie in to those, since they generate media attention on their own. There will be an April 15 story on EVERY SINGLE TV NEWS PROGRAM IN THE U.S.! If you are there with signs, banners, and activists, you just might end up on TV, thereby extending your demonstration into everyone's living room!
I hope that this has been helpful to those who want to get things started, but just don't have any ideas about what to do.
- Scott Kjar
