Whether students are new to politics or have experience and wish to get more involved while in college, MU offers multiple resources for students to utilize, between partisan and nonpartisan organizations and internships.

Mizzou College Democrats President Nick Benham sees his organization as a resource for connecting students with the ideas and principles of the Democratic Party.

“I feel that college students are vitally underrepresented and that (students’) views aren’t as realized as they should be in politics,” Benham said. “And I feel like we play a role in fighting back against that, in equipping young, progressive, awesome people with the knowledge and the tools and the connections they need to go out and make a difference in Missouri politics and wider politics.”

The Mizzou College Republicans stand to educate students about the Republican Party and politics in general, president and MU sophomore Skyler Roundtree said.

“I want to let people know that the decisions government and government officials make directly affect our future and the decisions they’re making are going to directly affect us and our kids,” Roundtree said.

Both the College Democrats and Republicans offer opportunities for students to intern for politicians at the local, state and national level. Both organizations also often host local and state politicians to speak at their events and meetings.

A newer group on campus, the MU Socialists, classify themselves as an “umbrella leftist group who care about social activism” and equality for all.

“We just are generally comprised of leftist people who are very involved in leftist politics, with a very activism-centered social justice organization on campus,” organizing member and MU senior Jenny Herman said.

All three groups, while partisan, are open to students of any political affiliation or background. They said they especially care about students educating themselves, no matter their viewpoint.

“We want open-minded people; it doesn’t matter if you see yourself as independent or Democratic or whatever – we just want to get open-minded people to talk about our issues,” Roundtree said.

MU also houses nonpartisan organizations, such as the Associated Students of the University of Missouri. ASUM is a University of Missouri system lobbyist organization that lobbies the state legislature every session and offers an internship program for students that allows them to directly interact with state legislators and lobby for issues that impact students.

“You’re actually meeting with upwards of 20 legislators and trying to convince them to support things that students care about,” said Steven Chaffin, ASUM Legislative Director and former intern.

The Civic Leaders Internship Program also offers an internship for students looking to get involved with politics. CLIP allows students to earn academic credit while working either part-time or full-time as a legislative intern at the state capital, according to their website.

Former ASUM president Ben Levin said that CLIP is a unique opportunity.

“People generally do it their junior or their senior year in the spring semester, so it’s definitely something I would recommend,” Levin said. “Just (be on the) lookout for the applications. It’s definitely something worth doing.”

Tigers Advocating for Political Participation is a non-partisan organization housed under ASUM that works toward raising awareness about various political issues and starting campus conversations by hosting events about different political topics.

“Sometimes we have professors who come speak or experts in a certain topic come speak and that’s a kind of view of a certain topic that you’re not just going to get from the news,” TAPP president and MU senior Helen Bass said.

Chaffin said students who are in the process of developing their political views should research and consider all points of views, but encouraged students to not think too much about labels.

“Do your homework,” Chaffin said. “Do your research. Read from a variety of sources. Don’t pigeonhole yourself in terms of partisanship. Develop your views and then develop your partisanship.”

Benham said he encourages students to get involved.

“It can sound all technical and bureaucratic, but at its most fundamental, politics is a chance for everybody to make their voice heard, to gain some influence, to get what you want out of society,” Benham said.

Herman said reading is key to understanding politics and forming an educated opinion.

“Read different news sources, from political ideologies from different countries,” Herman said. “Get as least of a biased view as you can. Don’t really take anything for granted.”

The Mizzou College Democrats meets Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in Strickland 209. The Mizzou College Republicans meet Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in Strickland 114. The MU Socialists hold their meetings on Mondays at 7 p.m., starting September 14, in a location to be determined. TAPP will hold their first event September 10 at 6 p.m. in Strickland 117. Students should check the organizations’ Facebook and Twitter pages to stay updated about details of meetings and events.