A month after Barack Obama’s historic presidential victory, the University’s chapter of College Democrats has started shifting gears.

Instead of campaigning for candidates like they did for much of the term, group members are now focused on drawing attention to and advocating for progressive policies.

“People think we’re just a campaign group,” College Democrats Chair Nathaniel Eli Coats Styer said. “Our members are interested in a wide variety of issues that go beyond election years.”

During a year in which the College Democrats saw a record number of students join, Styer said the group is looking to bring “tangible activism” to campus through the creation of new committees to address political issues. The group recently formed a health care committee, which held its first meeting Nov. 18. The group’s women’s issues committee will meet tonight for the first time.

Styer said the committees would help the group better connect with the community.

“Sometimes we as Democrats can be caught up in a lot of our own ideas and speaking to ourselves,” he said. “And what we’d like to do is have our members working in the community and reaching out to other students groups and community organizations.”

At tonight’s meeting of the newly formed women’s issues committee, group members will discuss the role they’d like to serve on campus, LSA senior Ashley Wiers said.

Wiers, the committee’s founder, said the group will likely address topics like reproductive rights, sexual assault, equal pay, sexism and the way women are portrayed in the media.

“Women's issues don't always get a lot of attention on college campuses,” Wiers said. “There tend to be more women on college campuses than men so people don't see that these issues exist, but they do.”

The group will likely host speakers and discussion forums, work with Planned Parenthood to support legislative projects and hold events to support progressive organizations. Styer said he’d like to see the group volunteer on campus and in the community with women’s shelters and empowerment groups.

Wiers said she hopes to work with other feminist groups on campus, including Students for Choice, the Michigan Student Assembly’s women’s issues commission, the F-Word and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center.

Wiers said the group was created as a result of conversations she’d had throughout the campaign season. Wiers, who supported Obama throughout the Democratic primary, said some members who supported Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination were bothered by sexism in the media. She said members were also concerned by the prevalence of sexual assault and unequal pay for women.

She said the committee is a logical addition to the College Democrats as the group expands.

“A few years ago, College Democrats really wasn't the group that it is now,” she said. “It’s generating new ideas and getting fresh input as it expands every year.”

College Democrats is also piloting a committee to address health care issues. Public Policy junior Rachel Friedlander, one of the committee’s chairs, said the group would hold educational events on campus and work on legislative advocacy.

About 10 to 15 students came to the committee’s meeting — a number Friedlander said she was excited about. She credited the interest to the focus on health care issues during the Democratic primary and the general election.

“The campaign definitely highlighted the issue,” Friedlander said. “I definitely think we’ll see some of that excitement turn into off-season advocacy. So far so good, at least.”