Georgetown University College Democrats will honor former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Terry McAuliffe (LAW ’84) as Alumnus of the Year on Monday.
Before entering politics, McAuliffe, the 2013 Democratic nominee for governor of Virginia, worked in the private sector as a businessman and entrepreneur. He was the co-chairman of former President Bill Clinton’s (SFS ’68) 1996 reelection campaign, served as chair of the DNC from 2001 to 2005 and ran unsuccessfully for governor of Virginia in 2009.
The GUCD executive board chose to honor McAuliffe because of the work he has done for the party and the prominence of his gubernatorial campaign.
GUCD President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) said McAuliffe has advocated on issues important to Georgetown students and specifically pointed to his positions on the environment and women’s health.
“We try to find someone who has done a lot for the Democratic Party and who is a leader on a lot of issues that we find important,” Tezel said. “Because of Terry McAuliffe’s status as a former chairman of the Democratic Party and as well as his recent name being in the news running for governor, we thought this was a great way to engage students and get them interested in looking forward to the gubernatorial election come the fall.”
Members of College Democrats will organize trips to campaign for McAuliffe in the fall semester, before the election in November.
“In alum of the year, we look for a Georgetown alum who has served the Democratic community and we try to make it also relevant,” GUCD Events Director Audrey Denis (SFS ’15) said. “The fact that Terry McAuliffe is running for governor of Virginia made it seem appropriate for him to be our alum of the year.”
Last year, the College Democrats honored Ron Klain (COL ’83), a professor in the government department who formerly served as chief of staff to Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Al Gore.
After Tezel presents McAuliffe with the award, the candidate will address and take questions from students in attendance.
“One of the big reasons that I like the alum of the year is that we have a lot of students who are very interested in politics and who want to get involved post-Georgetown,” Tezel said. “What we can do with the alum of the year is showcase an example of a Georgetown student who went on to get very involved and become very successful in the realm of politics.”
Denis is excited to hear McAuliffe speak before she campaigns for him in the fall. Tezel said he hopes McAuliffe discusses topics relevant to education and students.
“I would also be very interested to see what he has specifically to say about us as college students and how he would [advocate] and thinks we should be advocated for when it comes to a lot of issues of importance to us,” Tezel said.
