An even greater ideological rift between the two Republican groups appeared over the winter as the race for the Republican presidential nominee heated up.

HRC is committed to following the national party's platform, which means that club members would therefore support any Republican who emerged as the victor of the nationwide primaries.

Members of HRRA say they would not necessarily endorse the party's nominee, citing candidates such as political commentator Patrick J. Buchanan as possibly too "extreme."

"I think Pat Buchanan threatens to lead the Republican party in the entirely wrong direction," Zerhouni says. "His message of division, hatred and pessimism has no place in respectable politics."

Despite the fact that the two groups travelled separately to New Hampshire, Zerhouni concedes the groups may eventually unite temporarily to support Sen. Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.).

Scathing Accusations

In addition to open disagreement with each other over political stances, the two groups have also traded barbs over more mundane items.

Just as the HRRA attacked the 1995 HRC elections, HRC members questioned the way in which this year's HRRA elections were conducted.

In a series of e-mail messages, the HRC alleged that "serious procedural errors" marred the election.

"Mr. Zerhouni has begun a campaign of exclusion against members of the HRRA who disagree with him on issues of management," one message stated.

At the time, Zerhouni discounted the e-mail message and concluded it was the only way the HRC could hope to save its declining membership.

The two organizations can not even agree on how many members they have.

The HRRA currently claims to have approximately 40 paying members and 60 associate members, while the HRC says it has more than 60 dues-paying members.

"[The HRRA] can't even produce a membership list, so they haven't produced proof of their numbers," says Dickerson.

HRRA says not only that the count for the club's membership is accurate but also that the numbers give an indication of its popularity on campus.