Members of Dartmouth's Young Democrats always make two sets of signs before any political demonstration.
One set, paid for with donations from various Democratic organizations, may bear the names of specific candidates. The other, paid for with money from Dartmouth's Council of Student Organizations, can only address non-political issues.
The Young Democrats and members of other politically-oriented student organizations must walk a fine linebetween advocating educational and political objectives, due to a federal law that prohibits Dartmouth, a non-profit institution, from engaging in political advocacy.
Specifically, Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code states that Dartmouth may not "participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office," according to Robert Donin, Dartmouth's general counsel.
Donin also said that, despite this law, the IRS allows certain activities that "educate students about the political process."According to Kathleen Reeder '03, former president and a member of the College Republicans' executive board, the College Republicans can "receive COSO funding for bringing in political activists, pundits or other prominent figures because it's essentially educational."
When members of the College Republicans travel to political rallies or do campaign work, they must either rely on donations from outside groups or pay their transportation costs themselves, Reeder said.
"I wish we had a way to raise money, because it's always a challenge to put on events," Reeder said. "If you want to be a COSO-recognized organization, you've got to play by the rules. It's a fine line to walk."
Some organizations seek creative ways to circumvent the gray distinction between permissible and impermissible College-funded activities.
Brian Stults '02, recognizing the legal difficulties posed by Dartmouth's funding of student groups, attempted during his tenure as a student to establish a separate organization called the College Democrats that would not be recognized by COSO throughout the 2000 campaigns and that would act, in effect, as a shadow fundraising arm.
"The idea behind the concept was to create a structure to make the division between Dartmouth and 'other' political activity more concrete -- precisely so we wouldn't run any risk whatsoever of running into problems," Stults explained.
According to Stults, the project proved too difficult and never moved beyond the planning stage.
Stults' efforts, unsuccessful though they were, appear to be entirely legal under gradually loosening Federal Election Commission guidelines.
In 1997, the FEC ruled that the executive director of a nonprofit trade association, along with four other individuals, could form an officially unrelated political action committee. That decision followed a 1984 ruling that a college's board of regents could start its own unconnected PAC, even based on college property.
Nonetheless, the IRS code continues to influence campus groups. Dartmouth's chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy experienced significant organizational setbacks because of the federal law.
Ian Kyle '05, a member of SSDP, said the chapter cannot specifically advocate the changing of laws using money from Dartmouth, but that the group has used COSO funds to circulate information that advances the organization's cause.
COSO originally recognized SSDP but later withdrew its recognition because the group was too specifically issue-oriented and thus seemed to violate federal law, according to Kyle.
Kyle said that some members of SSDP have discussed changing the name to something less explicitly issue-oriented to regain COSO affiliation, but that the organization had not decided what to do at this point.
None of the student leaders who spoke with The Dartmouth objected to the laws governing their activities.
"The regulations are fair, and they make us look at both sides of the issue," secretary of the Dartmouth Green Party Kate Schuerman '05 said.
Josh Marcuse '04, a current member of the Young Democrats, said that his experiences walking the fine line between educating other students and engaging in political activities will prepare him well for a possible future working with the intricacies of campaign law.
"I consider this a simple extension of my political education," he said.
