By Julia Agos

As the New York state primary races came to a close last week, College Democrat clubs around the state were looking for ways to unify their students for the general elections. For Fordham College Democrats, this meant forgoing the endorsement of a candidate.

In an age of polarized politics, some student Democrats experience a divided party. Many upperclassmen in Fordham College Dems can recall some heated moments amidst the 2016 election, as the rift between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters was particularly fiery on college campuses.

Fordham College Democrats are faced with a new challenge this year. With competitive fields in many primaries and the loss in 2016 still stinging, the College Democrats had to represent a variety of views within its own party.

In 2016, one end of the spectrum was the more moderate, establishment wing of the party, which Hillary Clinton catered to. And on the other end were the Bernie Bros and anti-establishment members who felt the party needed to move further to the left in order to combat Trumpism.

This trend has continued into the 2018 midterms. The New York Democratic primaries were a good example of wide-open fields with candidates battling over issues like Medicare for all, the abolition of ICE and marijuana legalization. These issues highlighted the divide between a moderate party establishment and the progressive left wing candidates.

The New York state primaries were the first time since the 2016 election that New Yorkers got to take that debate to the ballot boxes. Going into the primary elections, many wondered who the Fordham College Democrats would endorse. However, the College Democrats decided not to endorse anyone, saying that they did so for the sake of party unity.

Sophia McMaster, FCRH ’19, president of Fordham College Democrats, said she does not want people to feel that they don’t belong if they do not agree with the candidate the club endorses.

“I think it’s good for us to welcome all people and still be able to have conversations about the primary,” she said.

Samantha Hardy, FCRH ’21, secretary for Fordham College Dems, agreed. She said the club should be a place where people with varying perspectives can come together to have a discussion.

“This is an open space where we can discuss your ideas,” she said, “Even though we have a lot of similar values and people might feel certain ways about certain candidates. We don’t want to shut down that conversation.”

The club agreed that it was not necessary to endorse candidates when it may only do more to divide the party.