Make no mistake: Ryan Clumpner is out to make the country a better place. The antithesis of his apathetic generation, this UC Davis sophomore is on the move to bring his vision to life. Unlike other politically motivated 20-year-olds, he has the ways and the means to meet his goals.

Born and bred in the liberal leaning college town of Davis, Clumpner says he has always been a Republican. Party values stuck with Clumpner throughout his life, motivating him to major in political science and take on the helm of the Davis College Republicans. Having served a full term as chairman of the group, Clumpner starts his new position as executive director of the California College Republicans at the end of April.

Now on the frontline of what radio talk show host Mark Williams calls the "new GOP genes…coming to the rescue," Clumpner could become the face of the new Republican Party—one to court the MTV generation.

It’s a daunting task, but Clumpner says he was born to assist the GOP.

"I always had an interest in politics and always considered myself a Republican, but as I entered [Davis] High School during an election year [2000], I decided to start watching the news to see if I really was a Republican and why," he said. "It was somewhat of a necessity given the fact that I spent eight hours a day surrounded by kids of liberal professors. I found that I strongly identified with the Republican Party’s values of family, strong national defense, and limited, performance-based government."

The move to join the Davis College Republicans (a smaller collegiate counterpart to the more liberal College Democrats), came naturally to Clumpner. First joining the group to strengthen his conservative values among "the monolithically liberal university atmosphere," the young Republican began making political connections, working on campaigns, and soon chairing the organization and directing communications for the larger state organization, the California College Republicans.

Now heavily involved in the political scene (having helped organize and host April’s "Operation Academic Freedom," a large rally on the steps of the Capitol), Clumpner says it’s important for all young people to participate in their government.

"It is important for everyone to be politically active. However, it is especially important for young people to get involved. We will never have more time or energy to put into the cause than we do now," Clumpner said. "We are in a learning environment every day, and there is a tremendous amount to be learned by anyone who is serious about being involved in politics. There is no better time to start learning how to be an effective political operative than when you are in school."

Taking to heart the motto "think globally, act locally," Clumpner’s College Republicans are working to change the space around them in order to affect change throughout the state.

"The Davis College Republicans are always focused on bringing balance to the political debate on campus and battling academic bias," he said. "We do this by bringing guest speakers, showing conservative films and hosting policy debates, among other things."

Along with bringing political balance to college campuses, Clumpner said his organization is active in supporting such issues as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reform initiatives. According to Clumpner, Davis College Republicans consistently gather 100 signatures every Saturday afternoon to help reach the required 600,000 signatures needed to put each of the governor’s initiatives on the ballot.

"Specifically, College Republicans are extremely supportive of redistricting reform. Besides simply being responsible public policy, it will have an enormous on electoral politics in this state for years to come," Clumpner said. "We want competitive races in which we can work for Republican candidates. This will only happen rarely until the method of redistricting in California is fundamentally changed."

With the success of the recent presidential election (for which Clumpner led groups to register new voters) and the heavily attended Operation Academic Freedom, the young Republican hopes to move onto law school and enter the political world as soon as he can.

"I have a feeling that after my undergrad I’ll want to throw myself into the political arena for a little while before taking on another degree. We are going to have an exciting presidential election cycle beginning just as I’m finishing school," he said. "As far as long term ambitions, I’m keeping an open mind."

Outside of supporting the Gov. Schwarzenegger, President Bush, and the state GOP, Clumpner spends his free time with his Davis-based parents, Greg and Laurel, and two sisters.

But time away from his duty as a College Republican is rare. Remember, he is trying to make the country a better place.