In politics, says Republican activist Nate Walton '08, "the college setting is a good place to win hearts and minds."

He says, "Students have the energy and enthusiasm — as well as relatively flexible schedules — to give 100 percent to a cause they believe in."

In his first year at Bates, Walton was elected president of the Bates College Republicans. In that position he helped bring well-known conservatives like William Kristol and Kenneth Starr to speak on campus to help heighten awareness of diverse political views.

In 2005, 2006 and 2007 Walton was elected chairman of the statewide Maine College Republicans. During the 2007 College Republican National Convention, the College Republican National Committee recognized the Maine College Republicans for the second time in three years as the "Best State Federation in America."

At Bates, Walton, a native of Marblehead, Mass., is a politics major focusing on U.S. political processes. "I've always felt it's important to place actions before words," says Walton, whose entry into politics was an internship with Mitt Romney's Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign in 2002. "I believe the best way to effect real political change is to roll up your sleeves and get involved at the grassroots level."

"Bates has been a particularly good setting for this," Walton adds, "because the college's egalitarian philosophy of supporting political clubs based on activism, not ideology, allows groups of all political persuasions to flourish."