Hunter Weathers elected as new Chairman of College Republican Federation of Alabama
Hunter Weathers was elected as the Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama. “I was thankful to be elected the Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama!” Weathers said on Facebook. “A group of University of Alabama College Republicans and I spent the day in Montgomery at the State House and Capitol. We watched the CRFA’s financial literacy bill pass unanimously, met with some legislators, and attended the annual CRFA convention. Looking forward to making 2023-2024 Alabama College Republicans’ strongest year yet!” The Alabama Republican Party congratulated Weathers for his election victory. “Please join us in welcoming Hunter Weathers as the new Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama,” that ALGOP said on Facebook. “He was elected at their organizational meeting earlier this week. We would also like to offer our thanks to outgoing CRFA Chairman Chris Mayer for his service to the Party and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!” “Congratulations to the rest of the new team, and I can’t wait to get to work!” Weathers added. Weathers was previously the group’s Vice Chair. The financial literacy bill, House Bill 164, was sponsored by Representative Andy Whitt. “As college students that are fresh out in the world, we have experienced the struggle of understanding how the financial system works,” said Weathers on why the group was supporting Whitt’s financial literacy bill. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Alabama leads nation in eliminating Chinese Communist Party influence in higher education
Lawmakers hailing from both sides of the aisle in Washington are shifting their focus to an increasingly relevant threat towards national security and academic freedom: Confucius Institutes. Funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), these institutes have expanded to over 67 individual university campuses nationwide, with an additional 500 Confucius Classrooms at K-12 schools. Ambiguously labeled as cultural centers, Confucius Institutes have simultaneously proven themselves to be a vehicle of China’s political agenda through propaganda and intelligence gathering. Within these classrooms, historical events are only permitted to be discussed through a rosy lens towards the Chinese government, while documented events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, or the current human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, are prohibited from the entirety of classroom discourse. During a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the FBI has observed China use “nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting” to engage in espionage and will continue to take “investigative steps” at Confucius Institutes. Additionally, the U.S. Department of State designated Confucius Institutes as “an entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K-12 classrooms.” The state of Alabama has hosted two Confucius Institutes in its history; with established institutes at Alabama A&M University, Auburn University at Montgomery, and Troy University. Alabama A&M University’s Confucius Institute successfully closed in April 2021 after receiving notification of a potential loss of eligibility for federal funds. Other key actors in the state who advocated for the closure of Confucius Institutes include groups such as the College Republican Federation of Alabama as well as legislators Congressman Mo Brooks and State Representative Tommy Hanes (R-Bryant). Congressman Mo Brooks, a member of Alabama’s congressional delegation, was one of the initial Washington lawmakers to bring attention to the influence of Confucius Institutes. Brooks has served as an original cosponsor for the Higher Education Transparency Act, the Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act, the Foreign Influence Transparency Act, in addition to bipartisan effort, the Concerns Over Nations Funding University Campus Institutes in the United States (CONFUCIUS) Act. While the state of Alabama has made national headway in approaching the closure of Confucius Institutes within its state, not all of Alabama’s leading figures are zealous to join the national movement to limit foreign influence in the U.S. education system. Alabama House Bill 9 and Senate Bill 280, respectively, intended to cease funding of Confucius Institutes and were both opposed by Chair of the House Education Policy Committee, Terri Collins (R-Decatur), and Senator Jim McClendon. It was later revealed that Senator McClendon embarked on a 2015 Confucius Institute-sponsored trip to China. A number of former Alabama legislators, including a Troy University board of trustees member, also participated in the same Confucius Institute-sponsored international trip. Troy University continues to defend its relationship with its Confucius Institutes in a written statement, “Troy University’s association with the Confucius Institute has been positive, and we have seen no evidence of undue political influence from the Chinese government nor has there been any evidence of intellectual theft.” Time will tell if the state of Alabama will continue to lead the nation in defending national security and preserving academic freedom through the closure of the state’s last remaining Confucius Institute at Troy University.
Alabama College Republicans unanimously call on Robert Bentley to resign
The College Republican Federation of Alabama (CRFA), consisting of 17 member chapters across the state’s colleges and universities, unanimously called for Gov. Robert Bentley to resign in light of the multiple recordings alleging an affair between the second-term governor and his longtime aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason. “Whereas Governor Bentley has brought shame and embarrassment to the State of Alabama by means of local, state, and national news, as well as social media through his own self-admitted devious, immoral, and possibly illegal actions involving his married female senior top aide, not only of the sexual nature, but regarding her compensation as well as a non-state employee yet making key decisions in the governing of the state, coupled with the very questionable firings at the ALEA, all of which will likely hinder future trust in the state government of Alabama, the Republican Party, and all its branches…” Though far from the first to call on Bentley to step down, CRFA’s resolution is the first Republican group to call decisively for the action. There are 24 members of the CRFA executive board, made up of the chairmen of each chapter, plus seven constitutional officers. CRFA State Chairman Cole Lawson says the members of the board met via a conference call Monday evening, and the resolution was considered as new business during a regularly scheduled meeting. “There wasn’t much discussion on it,” Lawson told Alabama Today. “It was voted on with less than two minutes of discussion. There was no fight or anything, there was no dissent. It was a unanimous resolution. I think that probably explains how we and our constituents at Alabama’s colleges feel about the situation.” Lawson said he hopes CRFA’s action will be a catalyst for other Republican groups to act, but came short of calling on them to do so. “The College Republican Federation of Alabama is just not willing to sit by and take a ‘seat behind’ position on this,” he said. “We all feel that the governor has certainly done a disservice to not only the state, but the Republican party, that by extension we are a branch of, and it’s this sort of thing in elected officials where we can go out and talk about how the Republican party is the party of morality, trust, and integrity, but then we have the governor of our own state right here on our home turf turning that upside own on its head, that’s just unacceptable to us.” “We encourage him to trade in his Republican card for a Democrat card if that’s how he’s going to act,” he said. While a request for comment from the Alabama GOP was not immediately returned, Chairman Terry Lathan said in a statement last week the organization is “very disappointed in the news that unfolded this week concerning Governor Bentley’s personal conduct. The public expects our elected officials to act in an honorable manner. Governor Bentley’s apology to our state was the minimum action needed to begin a healing process for us all.It is up to him now to earn back our trust, not in words but in actions.” “While we do not know if this storyline is finished,” she continued, “we do know that Alabama deserves the best from all who volunteer in public service, take an oath of office and ask for our support. Nothing less will be acceptable.” With Bentley maintaining he has no intention of stepping down, and no statewide recall mechanism currently in place, short of a felony conviction, it would remain in the hands of the Alabama State Legislature to remove the governor from office.
