BERKELEY — The leadership of the UC Berkeley College Republicans is getting a shakeup that could alter the trajectory of the club’s future.

Related Articles Bitter feud divides Berkeley College Republicans as the club’s future hangs in the balance

Milo’s 15 minutes in Berkeley cost university $800,000

Free speech controversy spreads to Stanford On Thursday, sophomore Bradley Devlin unseated senior and club president Troy Worden to take the helm of the student organization, which has garnered national attention — and criticism — in the last year for inviting right-wing speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter to campus.

Those invitations have not come cheap. In the last year, the school has spent more than a million dollars policing club events, which have drawn sometimes-violent protesters to campus and disrupted student life.

Devlin, who had been serving as the club’s secretary, said during a phone interview the club would be “recommitting” to traditional conservative goals like electing more Republican officials and registering Republican voters.

Worden did not respond to a request for comment.

Devlin and some of his supporters had been disappointed in what they saw as the club’s rightward lurch under Worden’s leadership. Worden and his allies, they worried, seemed to spend more time maligning the university for allegedly limiting conservative speech and posting photos with alt-right instigators like Kyle Chapman, who goes by the name Based Stickman, than on teaching students how to advocate for conservative causes.

In an October interview with this news organization, Worden said he was excited about what he saw as a rightward shift among young conservatives toward more cultural conservatism, but denied allegations he expressed extremist views.

“I’m very proud to have grown this club and really educated people on the dangers of the far left,” Worden, who was recently elected administrative vice chair of the executive board of the California College Republicans, said at the time.

In mid-October, Devlin had attempted to stage a surprise impeachment of Worden but Worden disputed the results, posting online that he was still president and accusing Devlin of stacking the room with his fraternity brothers. The pair agreed to Thursday’s follow-up election, which Devlin said was proctored by a third party.

Although he was victorious and plans to refocus the club’s efforts, Devlin promised to continue “fighting for free speech” and said the club plans on “exercising these rights in order to forward Republican causes to the dismay of a university administration committed to stonewalling our efforts.”