By JACKIE TAYLOR | March 11, 2026

Party debate

There are several schools of thought concerning standing for what you believe in. Those schools include, but are not limited to, “Pick a hill you’re willing to die on,” proverbially, of course, “Put your money where your mouth is,” and “Stand for what you believe in.”

Well, I did such a thing the other day when, as the newly appointed President of the Linn County Federation of Republican Women, when I worked with our executive committee to fix something that I’ve felt was incorrect in how we dispersed money for scholarships each spring.

In the past, our scholarship brunches were open to any student that walked through the door; this year, we’ve changed the rule that students, or the family of the student if she isn’t registered to vote, must be Republican.

I’ve gone to LCRW meetings for years; I’ve donated at each meeting I’ve attended to the scholarship fund. Then, one year, at a scholarship brunch, I watched a staunch Democrat family be chosen to receive one of our Republican scholarships. It’s not about the student; she went on to do great things.

I have lots of friends that are Democrats, it’s not a personal issue – it’s one of “choose the hill you want to die on” and I felt that a Republican Women’s group should be true to the name and give money to students who have the values our party tends to rely on and fight for.

One comment made on the contrary of changing the scholarship was that students don’t know what party they are when they are seniors in high school. Well, maybe that’s why our liberal university professors can mold student’s pliable brains like silly putty and create mini-Bernie Sanders in four years.

I remember sitting in Civics class in Loveland, Colo. looking at a side-by-side comparison chart of what the Democrat Party versus the Republican Party believed; at that point I knew I was a Republican.

I think most 17- to 18-year-old students have a direction in which way they lean, whether they’ve learned it from family or at school. 

As the president of an organization that receives money from local Linn County Republicans, I felt it was my duty to make sure our organization gives money to students that, at this point, exude the Republican beliefs the Party stands on.

I believe that the Linn County Democrat organization gives out a scholarship; if a student needs that money to further their education, they have a choice. I’m pretty sure the Democrats would draw the line on giving a scholarship to a Republican student – maybe I’m wrong. Again, put your money where your mouth is and move on.

The reason this Pulpit is coming now is a letter was already sent to area high schools announcing the scholarship without the change explaining who is eligible. A follow-up letter was sent to each of the three high school counselors in hopes they would disperse the scholarship to student bodies so students can make up their minds where they stand.

The LCRW Scholarship Brunch is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 10 a.m. at the La Cygne Library Community Building. Republican students from area schools are welcome to register to vote if they haven’t or simply attend the brunch; they are welcome to put their name in a bag to potentially be drawn for one for each of the three district $400 scholarships.

This pulpit was somewhat self-serving, but in light of the change in eligibility, I felt it was necessary. We are either Republicans with a platform or we are Jello bending to whatever swish comes along. I choose to stand on our platform and let people of like mind join us.