President of College Democrats resigns

A conflict over the governance of one of the newest publications on campus, The Idealistic Nation, has led to a turnover in the leadership of the College Democrats.

Dareious Nowrouzi '04 resigned from his position as president of the University chapter of the College Democrats after a meeting of the organization's executive committee Sept. 30.

Owen Conroy '05, vice president of the College Democrats, has assumed the role of president.

Nowrouzi said his resignation followed discussion in a meeting about whether communication between the editors of The Idealistic Nation and the president of the College Democrats should be mandatory.

The College Democrats' constitution states that the president has the power to oversee all organization activities.

"I felt that we were just willy-nilly going to discard parts of the constitution," Nowrouzi said. "[Some editors] felt I had no authority to judge what would be put out in the organization's name."

The editors did not show him a copy of the second issue before it went to press, Nowrouzi said.

The College Democrats founded The Idealistic Nation this past spring to provide, "a voice for democratic/liberal thought on campus," said Clint Wallace '04, coeditor of the magazine since its inception.

So far, there have been two issues of the monthly magazine and a third is due out tomorrow.

Conroy and Wallace both declined to comment on the specifics of the meeting after which Nowrouzi resigned.

"I think we're all surprised," Conroy said. "I don't think there were any issues on the table that warranted this turn of events."

In a letter to the editor of the 'Prince,' Nowrouzi said, "I urge anyone who considers [himself] or herself a member of the Princeton College Democrats to demand that the executive committee hold a review of the organization's charter in front of the general membership."

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"Political parties and all such organizations exist within the context of a democracy and above all must adhere to the principles of democracy . . . Even in Russia, the days of the Politburo are over."

Nowrouzi said he had been active in the College Democrats since his freshman year, and was elected president last January.

The meeting which led to Nowrouzi's resignation sparked personal fighting, Nowrouzi said, and at one point he proposed to remove Wallace from his position as coeditor of The Idealistic Nation.

Wallace said personal relationships did not "come into play" in the conflict and that the group was "sad and surprised" to see Nowrouzi leave.

"Ultimately the decision was a personal choice," he said of Nowrouzi's resignation. "We as a group had very little experience with what producing a newspaper entailed."

Conroy said he and Nowrouzi maintain an "amicable relationship," and that they would "like to have Dareious still there."

Conroy said the change in leadership of the College Democrats has been smooth.

"We're still on track, we're doing the same things we would have done with Dareious as president," he said. "We're still pursuing the same goals as we were previous to this."

The College Democrats have had many activities this fall, Wallace said, citing regular group meetings and the voter registration drive, which has registered about 100 people.