See this story's original coverage in The Crimson.

The political feuds over the direction of the national Republican Party today may strike a familiar chord with returning members of the Class of 1957.

A half-century ago, members of the Harvard Young Republican Club (HYRC) were split over the political direction of their party.

In 1956, Morton Korn ’57 decided that the HYRC’s extreme right-wing stance was not representative of the general party. At the time, Korn told The Crimson that the HYRC’s actions were “detrimental to the name of Republicanism.”

Frustrated by its monopoly on Republican politics at Harvard, Korn fought for a more centrist voice on campus and created an entirely separate group called the Eisenhower Republican Club.

Korn’s decision to break from the HYRC sent shockwaves through the Republican establishment on campus. The HYRC was affiliated with the national Republican Party, and student leadership at the time wanted to preserve the club’s exclusive status as the party’s sole representative at Harvard.

When the Eisenhower Republican Club received official recognition from the Student Council, the HYRC challenged the schism at the Massachusetts Republican Committee, a state branch of the national charter that was in charge of overseeing the Republican collegiate network.

The state committee ultimately forced the club to omit the “Republican” from its name, and the Eisenhower Republican Club became the Eisenhower Club.

The Eisenhower Club did not last very long, however, and when Korn became too absorbed by his senior thesis, the club shut down.

Fifty years later, Korn believes the issue of party identity is just as important.

“It’s interesting because surely we see the same struggle in both parties today—is there a center?” Korn said in an interview. “What happened to the center in America?”

Current Harvard Republican Club (HRC) President Jeffrey Kwong ’09 insists that a split like the one in 1956 would not be possible within the HRC today.

“The Republican Party is a living party and we change with time,” Kwong said.

There are internal disagreements over policy issues and the exact direction of the country, but it seems there is a general consensus on campus today for only one Republican club, Kwong added.

With the various Republican presidential hopefuls pulling the party in different directions, Kwong is confident of the party’s ability to adapt and embrace multiple conservative perspectives.

“The [Harvard Republican] Club exists as a catch-all organization,” said Kwong. “We have libertarians, conservatives, religious conservatives. It’s a big tent organization and we exist to support Republican candidates no matter how diverse.”

—Staff writer Charles R. Melvoin can be reached at cmelvoin@fas.harvard.edu.