NACHMANY

September 17, 2016

Chair of NY College Republicans Resigns After Cornell Expulsion Backlash

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A day after the Cornell Republicans filed an administrative appeal with the College Republican National Committee, demanding to be reinstated to the New York Federation of College Republicans, Chair Eli Nachmany — who had called for an abrupt executive board vote to expel Cornell’s chapter — resigned his post.

Nachmany is currently working for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and according to the federation, he stepped down to focus his efforts on work for the candidate. The former chair did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“We at the Federation would like to say goodbye to Eli Nachmany, who has resigned as Chairman in order to focus on getting our party’s nominee elected in November,” the NY Federation wrote in a post on its Facebook page Friday.

The post additionally said that Cornell’s status in the federation will be determined by the new board after it is approved.

“All questions relating to the current situation with Cornell will be discussed and decided after the Standing Committee approves the new executive board,” the post said.

The Cornell Republicans’ attorney, Ronald L. Kuby J.D. ’83, had drafted an appeal arguing that in expelling the Cornell group from the federation after their endorsement of Libertarian Gary Johnson, the organization had violated the club’s constitution and due process rights, The Sun previously reported. The letter also accused Nachmany of violating campaign finance laws in his work for Trump, in addition to broader principles of free speech.

Kuby warned that if the national committee did not act to reverse its decision within 10 days, the group would proceed with litigation.

When asked if Cornell Republicans would drop the impending law suit now that Nachmany has resigned, Olivia Corn ’19, chair of Cornell Republicans responded, “If we are reinstated yes, if not, we will proceed with litigation.”

“Make no mistake, [Nachmany] did not resign to help the Republican party: he resigned because he did not read the Federation’s constitution before he made a decision with massive ramifications,” she said. “He jeopardized the 527 status of the federation by making his decision as a paid Trump staffer.”

Corn also said the Nachmany may have made this decision in order to “clean up his image.”

“Over the phone he whined to me that we were ruining his political career,” Corn said. “No Eli, you did that all by yourself; as much as I would like to take the credit, that one’s on you.”