Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Education

President of Michigan's College Republicans Resigns Over Obama Comments, Interview

October 06, 2009 04:46 PM ET | Jeff Greer | Permanent Link | Print

The University of Michigan's College Republicans are searching for a new leader after President Gordon Chaffin resigned Sunday. Chaffin told the Michigan Daily that he quit on his own accord.

Chaffin caused some "internal strife" among College Republicans when, on Facebook, he expressed support for President Obama's healthcare reforms. Chaffin also agreed to be interviewed by the Michigan Independent—which, according to the Daily, is a "left-leaning" magazine on Michigan's campus—without getting permission from the College Republicans, the Daily reported. He further ruffled feathers over his comments to the Daily Sunday, when he told the paper of his "forthcoming impeachment" before any impeachment hearings had taken place.

But on Sunday night, as members ambled in for a club meeting, Chaffin ended any suspense by saying, "Don't worry—no drama."

"A couple of hours ago, we decided to resolve the situation," he told the Daily . "I decided to resign. I feel that it is the best way to move forward for the health of the club. I apologize officially and now to you each individually."

Chaffin's Facebook profile didn't have any sign of his pro-Obama comments, but it did contain countless messages of support. And it also had plenty of status updates similar to this one: "Gordon Chaffin will make his life's mission to end up more like George Will, David Brooks, and Peggy Noonan ... than Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck."

At Sunday's meeting, he told his fellow club members why he was resigning.

"There were just some serious disagreements between myself and all of you as to how I should express my personal opinions in public," he said. "That is something that I won't cave in on, and I respect all of your rights to disagree."

The club's board members accepted Chaffin's apology and said they'd be happy to keep him in the club, just not as its president.

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Tags: colleges | Barack Obama | University of Michigan

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Reader Comments

More Troops

I believe that if President Obama has put in charge of the troops in Afghanistan, and the general has asked for more troops, the president should honor the request and without further delay, send the amount requested if our country is to win the war on terror.

Chaffin Resignation

AS depressing as it may be, it seems you have to resign from the Republican party if you are a moderate in national affairs

Chaffin's resignation

Too bad others in Republican leadership positions won't stand up to these media whack jobs like Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck who have shanghied the Republican Party for the last two decades. They are an embarrassment to conservatism and are whores of the intolerant religious right.

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