Marc Dunkelman, a Columbia College junior and political science major, is co-president of the CPU.

A once little-heard student political organization has made a noisy entrance onto the campus stage this semester thanks to a plucky group of undergraduates with a vision and the plan to realize it. The Columbia Political Union (CPU), a non-partisan group founded four years ago, launched an "Anti-Apathy Campaign" in January, the results of which are the dusting off of the University's reputation as an important forum for political debate and the awakening of Columbia-student interest in American politics.

Coverage by The New York Times and the Associated Press of senator and former presidential aspirant John McCain's (R-Ariz.) April 10 speech in Roone Arledge Auditorium, an event produced by the CPU, as well as headlines in the Columbia Daily Spectator proclaiming "CPU Takes Columbia By Storm" and editorials commending the organization "for its Anti-Apathy Campaign . . . [that] successfully brought much needed political discourse to Columbia" attest to the triumph of an initiative that risked remaining forever a sketch on the group's drawing board.

"Since the beginning, the CPU only made plans without really doing anything," said junior Marc Dunkelman, CC'01, CPU co-president. "We decided early this winter that it was time to walk the walk, not just talk the talk."

The group planned in late January to sponsor a long-weekend trip to New Hampshire so Columbia student-politicos could participate in the first presidential primary. It proved a catalyzing event for the CPU. With next to nothing in their coffer, the group's members were forced to scramble for funds. A tenacious appeal to every possible source of funding--including the student council, the president's and the provost's funds, the Office of the University Chaplain and groups at Barnard--turned up $2,000 in just 48 hours of hard lobbying.

After finding a good deal on a bus owned by a Harlem gospel group, the CPU sent the word out it was going north for the primary. The response was overwhelming. "Until the trip to New Hampshire, people didn't know who their comrades were on this campus," Dunkelman said. "That was when we saw the potential we had."

The Columbia Political Union members pictured are, seated from the left, Todd Surden, GS/JTS'01, chair of the Student Governing Board of Earl Hall; Yoni Appelbaum, CC'03, Democrat; Ishwara Glassman, CC'02, president of the campus Democrats; Nora Simpson, CC'02, Democrat; Sandra Capel, SEAS'01, president of the campus Republicans; standing, from the left, are Bergin O'Malley, GS'01, Democrat; Marc Dunkelman, CC'01, Democrat; and Republicans Kraig Odabashian, CC'00, Michael Ricci, CC'01, Scott Imberman, CC'02, and David Segal, CC'02.

It, too, revealed to the group that its vision of a Columbia again at the forefront of campus political activity and debate could be achieved. Indeed, it was Columbia's reputation as a locus of student political expression--a reputation not only rooted in '68 but in its entire history reaching back to its pre-Revolution founding--that settled Dunkelman on the school when only an eighth grader in Buffalo.

Dunkelman explained that one of the CPU's models is the Kennedy School at Harvard where a constant stream of leaders political and otherwise passes through to speak with students. Their appearances enhance the students' education, the reputation of the school and the life of the community, he said. "It's odd, what with all the politicians and leaders of every field who come through New York, that Columbia isn't the focal point of policy debate--we'd really like to see that change."

Infused with new-found confidence, the CPU set about galvanizing Columbia's diffuse political energy through the Anti-Apathy Campaign. With simplicity its watchword, the campaign aimed to untangle the knots of information surrounding four issues of relevance and concern to the C.U. community. The issues were education, campaign finance reform, welfare reform and health care.

The spring semester was divided into four "sessions" of approximately two weeks each during which an issue was tackled one at a time. A pamphlet with a non-partisan presentation of the issue, the Democratic and Republican Parties' stances on it and the views of the major presidential candidates was written and stuffed into every student mailbox. Supplementary briefs and partisan literature on a session's particular issue were also disseminated. Finally, two public events were scheduled to further elucidate an issue's intricacies.

A session usually culminated with a speech and question-and-answer period by a politician or political commentator. New York State Assemblyman Ed Sullivan, a democrat from Manhattan's Upper West Side who chairs the higher education committee, spoke on education; Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) came to campus to speak on welfare reform and progressive politics; writer and commentator Arianna Huffington discussed campaign finance reform, and McCain wrapped up the Anti-Apathy Campaign by addressing a welter of topics, including student cynicism about politics and New York's race for the Senate between Rudolf Giuliani and Hillary Clinton.

To support the campaign, the CPU hustled for funds throughout the spring semester, eventually raising $10,000. Dunkelman calls the CPU's lack of funds and its incessant need to find them the greatest impediment to the group's future success. He hopes an endowment will be created one day to alleviate if not eradicate the problem.

But for now, the group plans to take advantage of the momentum gathered this semester by continuing the Anti-Apathy Campaign into the next and expanding its base of student support by enticing Columbia graduate students to join. Dunkelman also expects the CPU to come up with new programs and events to keep the political scene at Columbia a vibrant one that helps "to make this the most exciting place for students to be." A place where the students walk the walk.