Life after ULM is becoming more politically active for two former Student Government Association presidents. Brook Sebren and Hannah Livingston kicked-off the Northeast Louisiana Young Republican’s club this month.
The Northeast Louisiana Young Republicans is a group to engage young people in politics. It is open to members of any political party or no party at all.
Livingston, who graduated from ULM with a masters in business administration in 2011, said her experience as SGA president was vital in the forming of the political group.
“Because I was involved in SGA throughout college, I knew about politics, but I also knew what we needed to be successful. My experience in SGA was useful in making the constitution (for the group),” Livingston said.
The skills required in chartering this political group were paramount, she said. With seven of the 10 chartering members being former SGA members, the group is no stranger to organizing skills.
Sebren served as an intern in Washington, D.C. after he graduated from ULM, and said it was the young Republican group there that inspired him to activate conservative youth back home.
“When I got back here I was bored,” Sebren said. “I was president of every organization I was ever in. That’s because I’ve always been a bored person. I like to do things.”
He said Northeast Louisiana has the most conservative base of anywhere else in the country. He thought there was no reason to not have something for young conservatives to join.
Sebren first tasted the spicy gumbo that is Louisiana politics while lobbying for higher education in Baton Rouge with the SGA. Ever since then he has been an active member of the Republican Party and continues to advocate conservative principles.
Livingston said it was her passion for SGA, which carried over into politics, that was her motivating factor in forming the group.
“We want people who are dedicated. All of us have a kind of passion for it, and for me that passion comes from my time as SGA president,” she said.
Sebren said the group is meant to be used as a tool for networking and making connections with people who share the same interests.
The Northeast Louisiana Young Republicans will hold another event at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday at the Field House in Monroe.
