That they are dues paying or dues waived DSA members in good standing as of April 13th, 2025 and for the duration of the convention.
That they are listed on the YDSA chapter’s most current membership list as recorded by the national office by April 13th, 2025
Their chapter has received a formal charter from the National Coordinating Committee (NCC), and that this charter has not expired or been otherwise nullified as of April 6th, 2025

Voting at the 2025 YDSA Annual Convention (hereafter referred to as the “Convention”) shall be apportioned on a ratio of one (1) delegate per every ten (10) members in their chapter. Each chapter may elect no more than one (1) alternate for every two (2) apportioned delegates. No chapter shall have less than one (1) delegate and one (1) non-voting alternate. (E.g. a chapter with 10 members would receive 1 delegate and 1 alternate, a chapter with 20 members would receive 2 delegates and 1 alternate, etc.) If a chapter is found to have fewer than three (3) members they will not be apportioned any delegates or alternates.
The national office will provide YDSA chapters (hereafter referred to as “chapters”) with the number of delegates and alternates they have been allocated. A chapter’s members are dues-paying or dues-waived members of DSA in good standing who have affiliated with their specific YDSA chapter in the national membership database through the Chapter Affiliation Form, or who declared their affiliation upon joining DSA by using the join YDSA form. No updates to membership lists will be accepted for the purposes of the Convention after April 13th, 2025, except in cases specified in Rule 3 Section a. No applications for chapter recognition will be accepted for the purposes of the Convention after April 6th, 2025, unless granted an extension by the YDSA National Coordinating Committee.
Chapters shall conduct and supervise their own elections of Convention delegates and alternate delegates in accordance with the applicable provisions of the YDSA constitution. Only dues-paying/dues-waived members are eligible to be elected as delegates or alternates.
Each local must report the result of its elections in writing to the national office no later than June 22, 2025. The report must include full contact information, including an email address and phone number, for all delegates. If any of the names submitted are found not to be members by the national office, that person will be issued a credential upon joining DSA before June 22, 2025, however these members will not be counted when determining their chapter’s delegate apportionment. If they fail to join DSA before June 22, 2025 they will not be issued credentials and the chapter will be responsible for determining a replacement before the registration deadline. All official chapters receive weekly membership lists.
Each Local delegation shall designate a chair who shall be responsible for official communications with the Convention Secretary.

Convention Organization

Committees

The Convention committees shall consist of the following:

a Resolutions Committee, to be appointed by the NCC, to manage all submitted constitutional amendments and resolutions. They shall work to reconcile any submissions that are out of order or beyond the scope or powers outlined in the YDSA constitution. (E.g. amendments that attempt to define powers outlined in the DSA constitution or resolutions that attempt to prescribe actions to DSA, both of which would be outside of the powers of the Convention.) The Resolutions Committee shall also work with sponsor(s) who submit similar or overlapping submissions in the interest of developing a single mutually agreeable submission for all sponsors. The Resolutions Committee may propose steps to facilitate consideration of resolutions, including but not limited to appointing small groups to redraft or combine resolutions, preferably in advance of the convention, and in consultation with the sponsors. The Resolutions Committee will structure the order in which resolutions are to be considered, the time allotted to each, and the number of speakers pro and con, taking into account the priorities expressed by the delegates in the poll (see Rule 24). They shall also submit a Consent Agenda to the convention based on the results of the poll, consisting of resolutions for immediate adoption and to be deferred to the NCC in the interest of time. A vote of 20% or more of the full delegated strength of the Convention may bring to the plenary for discussion and vote any resolution or amendment submitted by the deadlines specified in rules 19 and 23, but not recommended to the convention by the Resolutions Committee.

The Resolutions Committee will also oversee any credentials challenges. Any challenges to credentials must be submitted to the national office no later than Sunday, July 2 and will be forwarded to the Resolutions Committee for consideration. At the opening of the convention the Resolutions Committee will report on any credentials challenges and provide their recommendation concerning them. There shall be no more than one speaker for and one speaker against each credentials challenge. The delegates listed on the Temporary Roster of Delegates shall vote on the Resolutions Committee’s recommendations, except that no delegate may vote on a challenge to their own credentials. Upon acceptance of the Resolutions Committee those persons listed on the Temporary Roster of Delegates who are not subject to successful credentials challenge shall become the Permanent Roster of Delegates.

a Convention Planning Team, appointed by the NCC, which is responsible for coordinating with the national office, the DSA Convention Planning Team, and Resolutions Committee around logistics and developing a final schedule for the Convention, pending approval from the Convention itself. This includes developing the programming around plenary sessions, workshops, and strategy sessions.
a Presidium, to be confirmed by the Convention, whose duties shall include interpreting the the rules of the convention (see Rule 26 and 27), designating chairs for each Convention session, conducting the elections of members to the National Coordinating Committee and all other elections requiring a written ballot, and for making recommendations to the Convention on any challenges made to any election. The outgoing NCC may propose a slate for the Presidium for the Convention. The Convention Secretary shall be an ex-officio member of the Presidium.
a Styles Committee, to be elected by Convention, to meet after the Convention is concluded which shall be responsible for compiling all adopted constitutional amendments and drafting them into a revised copy of the YDSA Constitution as amended by the Convention. This committee’s aim is to incorporate the language of adopted amendments into the constitution in the interest of consistency and clarity. They will submit their draft to the NCC within six weeks of the conclusion of the Convention for the NCC to review and adopt. The Presidium may propose a slate for the Styles Committee for the Convention to adopt.

Recording

The NCC shall appoint rotating notetakers responsible for keeping the official record of the Convention.
The National YDSA Organizers and the Conventions and Conferences Organizer shall be responsible for convening Convention committees and act as a liaison between all Convention committees and the national office.

Voting

A quorum of the Convention shall consist of fifty percent plus one of the registered delegates and seated alternate delegates.
An accredited alternate delegate may be seated for a delegate temporarily or permanently. The permanent seating of an alternate must be reported immediately to the Credentials Committee.
Each delegate and seated alternate shall be entitled to one (1) vote on all questions coming before the Convention, except that each chapter delegation may vote its full strength provided that no individual casts more than three votes unless authorized to do so by the Convention or by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the NCC.

(Amended by the NCC 8/4/25 - A subsequent vote was taken to allow the University of Vermont and the University of California Berkeley a vote weight of up to four (4))

All questions to the Convention shall be decided by majority vote of the delegates and seated alternate delegates present and voting, except where a specified super-majority vote is required by the Constitution. A motion to suspend rules will require a two-thirds majority vote. All other procedural motions shall require a majority vote, except where otherwise provided in the Rules.
At the chair’s discretion, unanimous consent may be used to expedite business. Such motions will be considered adopted unless there is an objection by a minimum of 10 seated delegates.
No secret ballot shall be conducted. All votes other than election of officers shall be by hand with Voting Cards. The Chair of the Convention session shall determine the results of hand votes and report the results to the Convention Secretary as well as announcing it to the convention session. A vote will be recounted at the request of one-third of delegates or seated alternates, or if in the judgment of the Chair it is warranted due to closeness of the initial count. The Chair reserves the right to exercise discretion in the event of a recount. The Chair shall appoint such tellers as needed to assist in the counting of the vote.
Roll call votes shall be conducted at the request of thirty percent of the delegates and seated alternates present and voting, and shall consist of a recorded vote by delegation.

Plenary Procedure

Only delegates, seated alternate delegates, 2024-2025 NCC members, and DSA staff members may speak on questions coming before the Convention in plenary session. Speakers on all motions shall be limited to three minutes, unless the convention accepts a different limit.
No additional amendments will be accepted from the floor of the Convention. Only primary and secondary amendments submitted and distributed in advance will be heard.

Procedural Authority

Except as provided in these Rules, or the Constitution, the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall govern the proceedings of the Convention.
Presidium shall be the sole interpreter of the Convention Rules.
Any delegate or seated alternate may appeal any ruling of the Presidium. In such instances, the person making the appeal may speak for up to two minutes to advocate the appeal and the Chair may speak for up to two minutes to defend the ruling. No other debate shall be permitted. The ruling of the Chair may be overturned by a vote in favor of the appeal by a majority of delegates and seated alternates present and voting.

Submissions

The national office will hold at least one (1) informational call open to all members conducted over Zoom about the submissions process and NCC elections before June 2nd, 2025.
All proposed amendments to the constitution and resolutions shall have a sponsor and at least nine (9) additional cosponsors with at least two (2) being from outside of the primary sponsors chapter. All sponsors and cosponsors must be members. Proposed amendments and resolutions shall be submitted via a digital form to the Resolutions Committee no later than May 18th, 2025. The national office shall make the digital form for submissions available through the national website.
Resolutions should consist primarily of statements of policy or outlines for organizational activity. This may include campaign initiatives, the formation of national bodies, direction for local activity or structure, or statements of support that may help guide the NCC in their direction of the affairs of the organization.
Resolutions chartering a national priority, such as a national campaign, must be denoted as a "national priority resolution" during the submission process, with final designation subject to the Resolutions Committee. National priority resolutions are subject to Article IX of the YDSA Constitution, which denotes that no more than two national priorities can be passed by Convention.
Resolutions are required to be submitted alongside a work plan. The work plan should include a timeline of events necessary to achieve the resolution goal as well as who would be assigned to take them on (e.x. Youth Growth and Development Committee shall contact x number of chapters before month y). Work plans are intended to be templates for execution and are encouraged to be written with flexible deadlines. Work plans shall also be considered “primary submissions.”
All constitutional amendments and resolutions shall be submitted electronically to the Resolutions Committee.
The Resolutions Committee shall submit a report to the national office containing all primary submissions in time for their inclusion in the First Bulletin.
Amendments to submissions shall be submitted digitally no later than June 22nd, 2025. All proposed amendments to submissions shall require one sponsor and five (5) cosponsors. The Resolutions Committee shall work to reconcile any out of order or overlapping submissions as it sees fit under the same guidelines enumerated in Rule 7, Section A. Sponsors of the original submission may decide whether or not they consider an amendment to their submission to be friendly.
The Resolutions Committee shall submit a report to the National Office containing all primary and secondary submissions no later than July 7th for their inclusion in the Final Member’s Bulletin to be distributed at the Convention.
After July 13th, 2025, the national office shall distribute to all Convention delegates an online form listing all constitutional amendments and all resolutions, each resolution grouped together with its proposed amendments as a single item. The delegates will be allowed at least 48 hours to rank the items in terms of which should be allotted the most time for debate. The Convention Planning Team will allot greater time for debate and earlier scheduling to those with higher priority, unless a logical need to vote on some item before another demands different ordering.

NCC Elections

In order to be considered an eligible candidate for the NCC, a candidate must:

Be a member (as defined in Rule 1)
Receive no fewer than ten (10) nominations from individual members with at least two (2) being from outside of their chapter.
Be 29 years of age or younger.
Review and agree to the YDSA Collective Accountability Agreement.
Accept their nomination by submitting the NCC Candidate Questionnaire

All candidates for NCC are expected to comply with the rules outlined in the YDSA and DSA constitutions and bylaws and publicly disclose any past or current political affiliations upon acceptance of their nomination that may be reasonably considered pertinent to the conditions of their election.
Candidates who are eligible for nomination and receive the adequate number of nominations will be asked to accept their nomination in the form of a digital candidate questionnaire submitted to the national office. Eligible candidates for NCC will be asked to report how they self-identify for the purposes of parity. All information collected via this digital form will be made available to the membership. This questionnaire will also ask candidates to declare either for the office of “Co-Chair” or “At-Large”.
The deadline for submission of nominations for the NCC shall be the end of Monday, June 22nd, 2025.
The Convention Planning Committee shall be responsible for organizing at least one (1) NCC Co-Chair Candidate debate and one (1) NCC At-Large Candidate debate; these debates shall be held before the start of Convention.
The names of all candidates, along with their answers to the candidate questionnaire, will be published and distributed in the final Convention Bulletin, along with their nominations. If their nominations exceed ten (10), only the first ten (10) nominations chronologically will be published.
The national office will be responsible for confirming eligible candidates and their inclusion in the Convention Bulletin.
Contested elections for office shall be conducted by online ballots.
The election for the NCC Co-Chairs and the election for the NCC At-Large Members shall be conducted by Scottish single transferable vote. Votes shall be conducted through and counted by OpaVote. All ballots from which the voter's preference can be clearly determined shall be counted. The candidate(s) with the highest scores, after the application of all parity requirements as stipulated by YDSA constitution have been applied, shall be declared elected. Ballots are not secret.

Co-Chair and At-Large candidate elections will be held separately. Candidates who run for election as Co-Chair who are not elected may be added to the pool of At-Large candidates if they so choose. Co-Chair candidates choosing to join the pool of At-Large candidates are not eligible to give a second speech.

National Coordinating Committee Nominees

Co-Chair Candidates

Allen Dominguez, Texas State University

Self Identified Male Person of Color

Nominations (15 total):

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Cody S, University of Houston

David L, University of Oregon

Diego M, Florida International University

Dresden S, University of Texas Rio Grande

Gerica N, Hollywood YDSA

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

James H, Florida International University

Megan C, Virginia Tech

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

Ecuadorian, German, and African American. Both of my parents came to this country as immigrants. Within underfunded, overcrowded Texas public schools, I faced how multiracial working-class families and teachers are systematically failed, especially their most politically oppressed layers. I’ve always worked and lived alongside my Ecuadorian family, who live in increasing insecurity. Evident since DuBois' time, I’ve seen how the carceral state and white nationalism dehumanize Black communities at home and immigrant ones from abroad.So, within our chapter, I’m deeply proud that we have consistently been queer and femme-led, multiracial, and increasingly intentional in our approach to empower diverse member-leaders. As an organizer with a diverse background, I’ve been able to connect with queer, international, and multiracial students both as members within YDSA and the broader student movement for a free Palestine and Sanctuary Campuses. I know that the larger U.S South has so many diverse working-class leaders YDSA can develop. In the context of repressive state governments and a historic lack of organizing infrastructure, we need NCC members with on-the-ground experience in this crucial half of the country who will work to develop its leaders.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

When I first encountered Austin DSA through a Bernie 2020 rally, it was clear that DSA was the alternative. When I arrived at college, I sought out YDSA and tabled before even attending my first class. Ever since, I’ve committed myself utterly to our organizing. Our Raise the Wage campaign won $15 for three departments, but without leadership development, this win couldn’t reinforce our power, which I saw in YDSA and as a student-worker active in the Texas State Employees Union. Following this campaign, I was elected Co-Chair and spent the last two years developing members to match our growing density, and facilitating an organizing culture of big-tent democratic deliberation and shared commitment. As Co-Chair, I secured a new parent chapter (Austin DSA), funding, and YDSA participation in our DSA. Alongside other member-leaders of Texas YDSAs, we’ve begun interstate coordination. At national events, I’ve spoken about the need to combat Red State / Southern defeatism and for our chapters to orient towards worker organizing despite particular challenges. I served as a staff writer on the Activist. I’m a member of the Bread and Roses caucus for our commitment to mass organizing, focused on building the fighting capacity of everyday, working-class people.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA is unique and precious. No other youth, socialist organization is membership-funded, democratic from top to bottom, or comes close to our organizing skills and infrastructure. Y/DSA is also a “big-tent” socialist organization, which keeps us politically dynamic and whose “poles” can either serve to strengthen our tent or collapse in on themselves. As a proto-party organization, we must become THE organizers in our classrooms, workplaces, and communities building towards and constantly pointing to an independent, working-class alternative. This requires mentorship and connection at the member-to-member, chapter, regional, and national levels. The average working person in this country feels powerless and abandoned; Y/DSA’s efforts will need to scale up to be felt by the millions if we are to pull off a General Strike and/or independent socialist candidate in 2028. We’ll need to ‘dig deep’ and foster or strengthen mass organizations of the working class that have the capacity to empower ordinary people to lead their communities in struggle. In a nation replete with unmasked authoritarianism, working-class polarization, and signs of looming imperial collapse, only the training of lifelong democratic socialists engaged in mass, class-struggle can build a counter-power strong enough to reverse the tide.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?

We are reaching close to a decade of Y/DSA since its 2016 spike in membership. However, chapters are still vulnerable to falter if organizing skills are not adequately passed down and spread throughout the chapter. Similarly, many YDSA rank-and-file are not empowered to take ownership over our national organization. The NCC has the institutional knowledge and organizing “best-practice” to help chapters avoid common pitfalls, grow together, and deliver huge wins if we empower chapter member-leaders to empower their chapter.

Mentorship all the way down. If elected, I would hope to focus on red states / the South, where this problem is especially pronounced. The turn towards NCC mentorship of chapters and consistent national calls is very positive in this regard.

I want to join the NCC in this specific political moment to counter the tendency towards inward-mindedness. There are signs of hope, but it is truly dire if we cannot find unity in action amongst our growing numbers. As Co-Chair, I would seek to work across political differences to focus our national leadership on supporting dynamic organizing.

I believe our NCC should prioritize long-term campaigns focused on creating durable, fighting, working-class organizations, such as student-worker unions, student unions, and rank-and-file pipelines into strategic industries. By ‘digging deep’ and engaging our communities in mass, class struggle, I would hope that YDSA can continue to diversify its ranks and skill up the broader working class. Long-term YDSA involvement in union drives aimed at a General Strike for May 2028 as a goalpost for workers’ growing independent power.

Above all else, as a member of the NCC, I want to bring my same bottom-lining commitment I’ve given my chapter to the organization at large, and be a vehicle for our shared democratic decisions and the development of our chapters across the country.

Daniel Salup-Cid, Florida International University

Self Identified Cisgender Man and Person of Color

Nominations (16 total):

Oscar A, Florida International University

Maria F, Florida International University

Steven R, Furman University

Sara A, Cornell University

Evan M, Northern Illinois University

Seamus P, Loyola University Chicago

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Marco L, Florida State University

Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Ian M, University of Oregon

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

At my first YDSA Conference in 2023 I had four people come up to me and dauntlessly ask, “So you’re a person of color, right?” Three of those people were white.

I’m the first person in my family to be born in the United States. The son of Chilean and Cuban immigrants, I grew up in Miami, surrounded by people in the same situation as me: ESOL kids whose parents had been in the U.S. for less than a decade. In an environment where everyone was latin american, I never really stuck out. After transferring to Florida International University from a local community college, I joined my YDSA chapter. Influenced by Allende and Castro, I was a socialist; I saw DSA as the best avenue for the liberation of the working class, and by extension, the vehicle to fight for the dignity of immigrants in the U.S.

It wasn’t until I made my foray into National YDSA that I experienced the extent of gringolandia in DSA firsthand. Sure, there were the cringeworthy interactions like the one I laid out above, but I think what continues to strike me is the inaction around our lack of diversity. It seems that our lack of diversity, to many, is something real in an abstract sense .Diversity is seen as something good in principle, but many don’t see how diversity is practical too.

Recently, the practicality of diversity has been very present in my chapter mentorship regarding sanctuary campus campaigns. There have been various instances where I’ve had to invoke my background when assuring a chapter of gringos that it’s fine for them to run this campaign, assuaging notions of white guilt and pushing them not to tail identity-based clubs that are clearly just university administration in a trench coat. I’ve been able to have candid conversations with other latin organizers about navigating chapter environments, the anxiety of being a forward-facing organizer in this political moment, or the difficulty of pursuing the rank and file strategy when your parents came to this country for their kids to be lawyers, not teachers.

I joined DSA to organize and defend the communities the Trump administration was persecuting; I’m running for Co-Chair, in part, because these communities need representation on the NCC. If we want YDSA to be seen as an adequate vehicle for the liberation of the working class, we need to reflect the multi-racial, gender diverse working class.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I started organizing at Florida International University in 2022, after transferring from my local community college. Between 2022 and 2024 I took a leading role in my chapter, participating heavily in the execution of our campaigns fighting for academic freedom, trans rights, and solidarity with Palestine.

After being elected to the NCC as an at-large member, almost all of my capacity has been dedicated to carrying out my NCC duties. Throughout the term, I have mentored more than a dozen chapters across the country on how to carry out their campaigns and sustainably grow and develop their chapters; through my work on the Palestine Committee I have focused on the execution of our national campaigns in solidarity with Palestine, and recently, our campaign for sanctuary campuses; I have worked closely with our publication, the Activist, in hopes of building it into a thriving organ of political discourse and education in YDSA; and I have served as co-chair of the Youth Electoral Committee assisting chapters in navigating their forays into student and municipal government.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

DSA has a crucial and central role in creating the mass socialist party the working class deserves, with YDSA as its youth wing. For YDSA to achieve this horizon, we must complete the following tasks: work towards becoming an organization that can be inclusive of all socialist youth, not just students; perfect our campaigning apparatus to create stronger, larger and more diverse chapters; and create sustainable pipelines for the future vanguard into DSA and the labor movement.

In the short term, YDSA National must support and empower our chapters to experiment with regional formations. These regional formations must also seek to be integrated with their parent DSA chapters, to avoid the duplication of work while still empowering YDSA members to participate in the DSA ecosystem. We must perfect our campaigning apparatus by committing NCC capacity to the execution of our national campaigns, alongside establishing regularly occurring, forward-facing training on campaigning for our chapters. We must hold trainings preparing for exponential growth and tackle the issues of developing diverse leaders without tokenizing them. We must embark on organizing worker unions on our campuses, ensuring a symbiotic relationship with unions that lay the foundation for the launch of an independent socialist party.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?

As Co-Chair I intend on bringing a different approach to prioritizing work as the NCC. I’d ensure that throughout the term, the NCC is consistently reevaluating the distribution of capacity in accordance with our convention mandate and the political moment. The NCC must move past the culture of “pet projects” to avoid siloing work, and tackle things as a team.

Expanding on specific priorities, we must continue to build and expand our campaigning apparatus. Energetic and strategic campaigns are crucial for developing a stronger, larger, and more diverse YDSA. Drawing from the lessons I learned while working to execute two national campaigns this past term, I’ll push for the NCC to devote significant capacity to whatever our national priority should be. My main regret as an At-Large member this past term was not having been more vocal on the necessity to prioritize and devote more capacity towards our national campaign for Palestine; as Co-Chair, I will ensure this does not happen again.

Through the execution of an appropriately bottom-lined national campaign, I’ll ensure that the NCC is engaging in intentional leadership development, with a personal focus on developing more leaders from latine backgrounds, whose experiences and perspectives are crucial to meeting the political moment under the Trump administration. The political work of our campaigns will serve as the fuel that justifies our growth in membership; through the collective effort of the NCC, I will aim to finish the 2025-2026 year with at least 25 new YDSA chapters. I will also support chapters seeking to experiment with youth-section formations, in hopes of getting us closer to our goal of making YDSA an organization that can be inclusive of all socialist youth.

Gerica Noerdinger, Gnomon (Hollywood YDSA)

Self Identified Female Person of Color

Nominations (12 total):

Carlos C III, Cal Poly Pomona

Oscar A, Florida International University

Megan C, Virginia Tech

Guadalupe B, California State University Northridge

Ryan C, Hollywood YDSA

Saffa N, California State University Fullerton

Elliot S, Cal Poly Pomona

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

Carlo M, University of California Merced

James H, Florida International University

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

I am a woman and a second-generation immigrant (my mother immigrated from the Philippines), and it was important for me, as a growing organizer, to be surrounded by comrades who shared similar backgrounds and life experiences. Being uplifted by leaders I could see myself in made a profound difference in helping me find my voice and confidence in organizing spaces. It affirmed that I belonged in the movement. And vice versa, it felt natural and necessary for me to intentionally invest in developing other people of color and non-men, both within my chapter and across the broader Los Angeles region. Our voices are too often marginalized, even within YDSA, and I believe that building a truly inclusive and representative movement requires purposeful work to center and elevate those historically pushed to the margins.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I founded my chapter at Gnomon School of VFX, Games & Animation (aka Hollywood YDSA) in 2021, where I oversaw strike support during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes for DSA-LA’s Hollywood Labor committee’s famous “Snack List” program, as well as a direct action at the 2023 Game Awards alongside Game Workers of Southern California (GWSC) and SAG-AFTRA video game voice actors to protest against massive waves of layoffs in the video game industry during a record-breaking year for profits. In 2024, I was elected the YDSA Coordinator of the DSA Los Angeles chapter, where I advocated for financial support from DSA-LA to send our YDSA chapters to YDSA Convention, sending our largest contingent from LA thus far to vital organizing trainings, as well as performed chapter visits and developed leaders.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA has mastered the art of short-term campus campaigns, but to push the socialist movement forward, we must begin building long-lasting, democratic structures like student unions. Just as socialists fight for democratic control over workplaces, we must fight for student control over our campuses. The goal of YDSA should not only be to win reforms, but to transform how our universities function: from top-down institutions into spaces governed by the people who study, work, and live in them. Student unions give us a way to organize majorities, exercise real leverage, and build enduring power, not just to win demands like getting free laundry, but to reshape the role of universities in society. Imagine a region where multiple campuses are united through student unions, coordinating mass campaigns and threatening collective disruption when necessary. That’s the level of power we should be building toward. By organizing beyond the timeline of a semester and beyond the boundaries of a single school, YDSA can become a force that not only fights back but builds up the structures we need for a democratic socialist future.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?

As a socialist and DSA member in LA, the ongoing ICE raids hit extremely close to home. Many of us organize alongside undocumented classmates, friends, and family who are directly threatened by the violence of the carceral and deportation systems. That’s why I believe the NCC should prioritize supporting YDSA chapters in building long-term, democratic structures like student unions and investing in regional organizing that can take on campaigns such as getting ICE off entire university systems. In LA, organizing across campuses has helped us build stronger leadership pipelines, connect chapters with more experience to train smaller chapters up, and connect at-large youth who may not be students but want to organize. This kind of infrastructure is essential if we want YDSA to grow beyond isolated campus campaigns and become a force capable of transforming how young people live, work, and study across entire cities and regions.

Sara Almosawi, Cornell University

Self Identified Woman and Person of Color

Nominations (10 total):

Arjun J, Purdue University

Atakan D, Cornell University

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Jess F, University of Oregon

Steven R, Furman University

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Joel D, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Jeffrey C, Oakland University

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

My family background deeply influences my organizing. My father emigrated from Iraq, and my mother from Indonesia, because America promised life beyond the economic precarity of their home countries. But, as markets moved from one recession to the next, I followed my parents from one job to another, always struggling to understand our instability and powerlessness. College wasn’t a realistic option or expectation in my family, yet, for me, the only path to understanding the forces shaping our lives: the corporations prioritizing stocks over salaries, the bosses who spent away lifetimes of savings in one summer, and the politicians who sold themselves off to them for status. My experiences kindled a passion for social change, eventually leading me to Y/DSA. While our circumstances are better now, I still approach organizing with the same urgency and compassion I felt then towards my family back then.

Often, I’m the only person in organizing circles with any combination of my components. As a consequence, I’ve always oriented myself towards genuine bottom-up organizing: intentional leadership development; equitable divisions of labor; transparent, democratic, and accessible bodies; and, most pressingly, an internationalist horizon.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I joined Orlando DSA at the height of the 2020 protests, seeking a political alternative. Decimated by COVID, I worked as Secretary to rebuild our chapter through labor solidarity and restructuring; represented us at the 2021 Convention; and supported UCF’s development as an HGO. I joined River Valley DSA after my gap year, organizing students in solidarity with the longest nurses’ strike in history and supporting unionizing student workers at Mount Holyoke.

I transferred to Cornell in Fall 2023, serving two years as Co-Chair. I initiated our first campus referendum and employed distributed organizing tactics to direct 150 volunteers to contact 9000 students, with two-thirds voting for divestment and doubling our chapter membership. As Communications Chair, I coordinated with UAW International and Local 2300 to garner 150k post views and 130 student-worker solidarity pledges for striking workers. Now, we’re dozens-strong and on track to elect the youngest SIO in DSA history.

I joined Palestine Committee last fall, helping pilot regional networks and run national campaigns.

A DSA member since 2020, I’m proud to be the most experienced organizer running for NCC. With your vote, I’d love to continue my record of rapid growth through strategic campaigns.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

Right now, we’re in the eve of the worst oppression we might come to witness yet. DSA’s long-standing partnerships are invaluable as Palestine and domestic issues increasingly intertwine. Critically, we must lead in a coordinated front with DSA.

Nationwide, students have pushed for more democratic coalitions and organizations. While there’s no universal solution, YDSA can capture this energy if we hold ourselves accountable and distribute power downward. That means establishing workplans with realistic goals, centering listwork, and increasing NCC transparency. An aggressive communication strategy would also increase our rate of growth.

While political moments fluctuate, organizations endure. If we focus, YDSA can be a vehicle where impassioned youth become determined, life-long organizers. I aim to develop our pipeline by emphasizing long-term tactics like rank-and-file militancy, and how DSA continues the work post-grad. Unapologetically, we must agitate for our North Star: a democratic socialist society.

While we progress, we also must catch up. Our lack of diversity is a serious issue. Quotas can only go so far — it’ll take an entire cultural shift and concerted development efforts. I’ll prioritize working with the NCC, YGDC, and CHIC to diversify our national bodies across race, ethnicity, gender, class, and religion.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
As leftists, we tend to focus on what we do — our campaigns and priorities — over how we do it. On the NCC, I’ll focus on organizational changes to build capacity: a DSA pipeline, regional systems, leadership development, and strong communications.

Our relative autonomy to DSA means we have little social or structural context for them after graduation. Local and national collaboration on key campaigns — particularly ICE and Palestine — will integrate our organizations and members. I’ll fill capacity gaps with DSA resources, introducing students to their post-grad organizing network. I’ll also explore the integration of Y/DSA networks and lists with the Y/GDC.

In Orlando, a statewide DSA campaign fostered the connections and support necessary to restart labor organizing after COVID. I’ll develop regional systems that foster chapter-to-chapter mentorship, alleviating the burden on our national bodies. Proactive recruitment efforts and information calls will open up our national committees and enhance the middle layers of our organization.

Mentorship and training through WinterCon, NCC 1:1s, and the YGDC are one of our strongest practices. However, they’re often inaccessible or uncoordinated, leading to a bottleneck of knowledge and development opportunities. I’d expand our offerings with efficiency: create a database of reference trainings, consolidate trainings to increase NCC capacity, and make materials like one-pagers more accessible online.

We limit our growth without publicizing our wins and articulating a socialist alternative. We need an aggressive, engaging, and consistent media presence alongside an updated, modernized website. I’ll work with the Communications team to develop the infrastructure necessary to produce more content, like subcommittees, and use our rebranding as an opportunity to engage members nationally.

Overall, my vision is to develop the NCC from a network of chapter mentors towards an organizing body responding urgently to our moment with ambitious structural and political changes.”

Sean Bridge, University of Cincinnati

Self Identified Genderqueer Transfemme

Nominations (10 total):

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Sofia B, Rollins College

Madhu S, University of Cincinnati

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Arjun J, Purdue University

Juniper F, University of Central Florida

Atakan D, Cornell University

Trey C, University of Vermont

Steven R, Furman University

Kaz B, University of Cincinnati

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

I’m a transfeminine genderqueer anti-Zonist Jew. My identity -- whether that be gender, sexual, or religious -- is inseparable from my political vision for a socialist future. I have had multiple first hand experiences fighting against fascist Republican’s attempts to restrict access to both abortions and HRT in my home state of Ohio while the Democrats were unable to do anything due to their self-inflicted marginalization in Ohio politics. Through these experiences it is clear to me that we need a real political alternative to the two capitalist parties, one that is able to connect trans and working class struggles into one.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I joined DSA in 2021 to help found the University of Cincinnati YDSA chapter. I served as its first secretary in 2022 and then as co-chair in 2023. During my two Steering Committee terms, the chapter grew from a small core of 5 SC members to now being led and sustained by a new generation of leadership with the skills to become and stay one of the largest chapters in the country.

Prior to being elected to the NCC, I helped run the 2023 “Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy -- Never Surrender!” campaign -- YDSA’s most successful national campaign since Bernie 2020 -- and led YDSA’s comms response to the 2024 encampments as the national Communications Committee co-chair.

As an NCC member, I have served as the mentor for both Ohio and Kentucky YDSA chapters, continuing as the Communications Committee co-chair during our most successful year on social media yet. I also co-chaired the committee that planned our largest YDSA Conference since before 2020, with 350+ attendees! My priority on the NCC has been creating a cohesive national organization that is able to reach the masses of students wherever they may be and give our chapters the resources needed to do the same.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

During this period of disillusionment with the Democrats and direct attacks on the working class by Donald Trump’s far right, students are looking for a political alternative that gives real answers on how to fight back against the rising tide of fascism. This alternative is YDSA.

We cannot be cynical and think that we cannot win the masses over to socialism. We cannot retreat into front organizations. We do not need a transitional “non-socialist” organization, such as a student union. We have a mass democratic working class organization at home, and it's the Young Democratic Socialists of America.

Not every student we meet on our campuses are going to immediately be socialists, and that's okay! Few can say that we joined our chapters as fully developed socialist organizers committed to YDSA. Instead, many of us became committed comrades through participating in collective struggle with other YDSA members. We must meet our communities with campaign demands that are deeply and widely felt, and connect them to our wider socialist vision for society. We must commit to running campaigns as unapologetic socialists and show all the youth in our community that the way to fight back against fascism is to join YDSA.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?

I am running for co-chair to fix the biggest failures of this NCC: not politically prioritizing our highest national campaign, the Student Intifada for Palestine: we gave too much deference to the Palestine Committee, and as the highest elected political leadership, we didn’t take the reins as strongly as we should have. We should have been out in front of chapters quicker after convention, laying out both the political stakes of the moment and what every single chapter should be doing right now to ensure that the political priorities we voted on at convention are being achieved. National campaigns cannot just come from top-down planning but must adapt to the conditions of chapters on the ground and ensure that we are bringing every chapter together into a cohesive mass working-class socialist party.

As co-chair, I would ensure that we are better spending our time strategizing around our primary national campaign. Out of each discussion, we must take away clear action items that are responsive to the material conditions in all of our chapters.

The NCC should prioritize, above all else, giving chapters the necessary skills to meet the political moment. This means prioritizing trainings on essential organizing skills, creating resources for chapters to use while tabling and in their campaigns, and holding national mass calls that meet the political moment and prep chapters to take action within their own communities. NCC members should have clear tasks for each chapter that relate to our national priorities, and they should be followed up on in every chapter check-in.

If elected co-chair, I would ensure that YDSA is the leader of the youth resistance to Trump’s far right and the fight for a mass working-class socialist party everywhere from social media, to the news, to every campus and city around this country.

Steven Raney, Furman University

Self Identified Male

Nominations (16 total):

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Aiden M-S, University of Cincinnati

Trey C, University of Vermont

Claire I J, Furman University

Gant R, The New School

Wells F, Furman University

Berke M, Northeastern University

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Michael R, Furman University

Jack S, University of Maryland College Park

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I have served as a founding member of a YDSA organizing committee at Furman University (2022-2023), a two-term co-chair of Furman YDSA (2023-2024), a member of the Youth Political Education Committee (2023-2025), and an at-large member of the NCC (2024-2025).

In my time as a co-chair and core member of Furman YDSA, I trained numerous new socialist organizers and helped lead our chapter through regular abortion clinic defense, a BDS campaign, a raise-the-wage campaign, and aggressive recruitment that has made Furman YDSA into a powerful chapter with more card-carrying socialists per capita than any other school in the country.

During my NCC term, much of my mentorship of chapters, OCs, and new leads has focused on the Southeast, especially the Atlanta metro area, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Aside from chapter mentorship, my work on the NCC has included planning the 2025 Winter Organizing Conference on the Conference Planning Committee, serving as the NCC liaison for the YPEC, and acting as co-chair of the Program Committee and one of several authors of the bold new program we are presenting for your consideration at convention this year (see R7).

I am a member of the Marxist Unity Group caucus of DSA.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

We live in a time of crisis. The legitimacy of our political system is collapsing as the Trump administration and the genocide in Gaza expose our antidemocratic Constitution and fraudulent two-party system for the tools of oppression they have always been. Socialists must rise to the challenge and organize a mass party of the working class to crush Trumpism, throw the Democrats into the dustbin of history, and win a real democracy for the first time in this country's history. DSA is our best hope to do that, and YDSA can and should lead the way in DSA.

YDSA should lead by example, politically and organizationally. We should launch a bold nationwide campaign to win sanctuary campuses and sanctuary cities, bringing thousands of new working-class youth into our party through the struggle for democratic control of the places where we live, work, and study. We should also aim to transform DSA by spreading YDSA's organizing culture and practices to the rest of the organization. To win a new world, DSA will need a national party infrastructure that maintains a two-way organizing relationship with its many chapters, like YDSA already has. A better DSA is possible, and it looks like YDSA.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?

The NCC should prioritize work that enhances YDSA's ability to operate as the youth wing of a mass party. That includes building deep relationships with our chapters through individual chapter mentorship, shaping YDSA's membership into an army of cadre organizers through Winter Conference and by playing an active role in our national committees' training programs (like the YGDC's Essentials of Mass Organizing series), and dedicating the same time and capacity to executing national-level campaigns that we would expect of any healthy chapter running a class-struggle campaign locally.

As co-chair, my goal will be to see through the ambitious nationwide campaign envisioned in "R19: Building Socialist Sanctuaries to Win the Battle for Democracy" from start to finish. Doing so will require all hands on deck from the NCC. A large part of my job will be to organize the rest of the NCC to ensure that the escalation timeline outlined in R19 is executed. An even larger part will be facilitating the intensive, hands-on guidance and training our chapters will need for a campaign of this scale to succeed. If elected co-chair, I pledge to bottom-line ensuring that every single chapter running a sanctuary campus, sanctuary system, or sanctuary city campaign (R19 sets a goal of 36) receives an in-person training visit from the NCC or national staff, even if I have to make all 36 visits myself. These visits will consist of training and goal-setting to strengthen our chapters' ability to run campaigns that contest power and win, recruit from campaign work on a large scale, and develop members into lifelong socialist organizers who will leave YDSA stronger than they found it and transform DSA for the better.

At-Large Candidates

Aiden Murley-Schaffer, University of Cincinnati

Self Identified Non-Binary

Nominations (11 total):

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Madhu S, University of Cincinnati

Nathan S, University of Cincinnati

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Bradley S, University of Central Florida

Kai W, University of Cincinnati

Abby L, University of Cincinnati

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

Steven R, Furman University

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I first joined YDSA the spring semester of my sophomore year and quickly became involved, co-chairing the political education committee. In my time here I helped to plan and lead events such as a nature walk as well as more traditional lecture based political education events. After leaving for a few co-op rotations, I then ran for and became Co-Chair of our chapter, where over the past semester I have helped to steer our YDSA chapter into both growing in membership but also in growing a strong reputation on campus. Additionally, we have been able to develop new members into effective leaders in our chapter, and we have been able to grow strong connections across our campus.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA is the student wing of the Democratic Socialists of America, YDSA should look to first organize students into YDSA, a mass, socialist student organization. Secondly, YDSA should look to develop these organized students into the next generation of leaders of the socialist movement and of DSA. Thirdly, YDSA should campaign for issues that resonate with the student body and build a reputation for being the democratic voice of the students on campus. Fourthly, YDSA should represent socialist politics on campus and should seek to legitimize socialism in the hearts and minds of students across America. Finally, YDSA must remain committed to being unapologetic socialists as we fight against an onslaught of fascist attacks on students.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?

The primary purpose of the NCC is to both guide the organization and to serve it. As a member of the NCC, I look to help improve our organization by providing mentorship to chapters on how to establish effective organizing cultures and to how to lead by example. As a member of the NCC, I hope to help facilitate discussions that help to strengthen our internal structures and lead to improving our organizational infrastructure. As a member of the NCC, I will prioritize building a YDSA that continues to grow and build power far into the future, one that will develop our future leaders and one that wins for students.

Claire Isosaki Jost, Furman University

Self Identified Woman

Nominations (17 total):

Steven R, Furman University

Will S, Furman University

Wells F, Furman University

Moss D, Furman University

Mae S, Furman University

Korbel C, Furman University

Nithila C, University of Delaware

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Michael R, Furman University

Isaac L, Furman University

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

I am biracial and working class. I’ve been a resident of the Bay Area in California and South Carolina, so I’ve experienced firsthand the failures of the parties, and why they’re not so different at all. While I am white-presenting, I have both experienced racism and had the privilege to be a bystander to it. On one side, my family are almost entirely contractors, and on the other are Japanese immigrants who worked as indentured servants to white landowners in Hawai’i. My freshman year of college I became estranged from my immediate family because they refused to accept a queer child. I worked as a stripper for years to pay for school, I’ve crowd funded my tuition, and have had my university look for homeless shelters to place me in. I have been subjected to the carceral mental health system and crushed by debt. I know what it’s like to go hungry. And despite the chaos, my comrades were home to me when I had no other. YDSA has given me peace, direction, and hope. This is why I organize, and these experiences give me empathy for the fears, life circumstances, and troubles that YDSA members face. The elite will only ever use our suffering against us to keep us away from class struggle, and I hope to be a support for those who are growing tired from fighting.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I got involved with YDSA my freshman year of college when I was given a hard ask to join the organizing committee, after which I was elected co-chair and served in that capacity for a year. One of my proudest experiences in my chapter has been my ability to make myself replaceable in leadership. I’ve been a rank-and-file member for longer than I was on our central committee, and I’ve mentored many of our new leaders. I’m particularly glad to have supported many who don’t tend to enter leadership roles. Some of the best members and strongest leaders in our chapter are nonwhite, women, and queer. It’s also felt like a blessing to have been able to use lessons from my mistakes and victories in our chapter’s first year of life as educational tools— not only in my chapter but as part of national trainings too.

At the national level, I’ve been involved in the Growth and Development Committee this year— I’ve facilitated trainings for new members and returning ones, participated in building fall drive, and developed material to train our coaches.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

I believe in YDSA, I think we’re great organizers who run strong campaigns and make historic wins. “Young” doesn’t make us less important— it’s our world to inherit, and to win too. The political moment we’re in presents a lot of opportunity between the destruction and alienation brought about by the second Trump administration and the positive vision proven by Zohran’s wins in the NYC mayoral race, especially as many young people lose faith in a system causing genocide, war, and poverty. YDSA is not only the youth wing— it’s the fighting wing. I want us to bring our spirit not just into each other’s chapters, but to DSA and the national labor movement. By strengthening our relationship with DSA, implementing a program to foster cross-tendency cooperation, running unified national campaigns, and fighting like hell I believe that we’ll not only keep winning, but create a mass movement that can’t be ignored.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC’s responsibility is to do the behind the scenes work of making confident leaders out of every rank-and-file member, building buy-in, and ensuring that YDSA works as a unit. While the NCC does (and should!) mentor chapters and chapter leaders as individuals, ultimately it is a national organizing body and should focus itself as such. I believe that the NCC should prioritize building cross-chapter, regional, and national connections, not only within YDSA but DSA as well. The NCC must create networks, run unified national campaigns, and develop new leaders, especially in a political moment as turbulent as this next year will be. It’s their duty to effectively pass down the tools of political empowerment at the individual level, and to help coordinate the movement at the largest one. This type of organization will push us ahead as interest in DSA and socialist politics grows in the U.S. and internationally, transforming the socialist-curious into strong-hearted cadre members through inspiration, community, and action.

As a member of the NCC, I would aim to accomplish this in conjunction with my peers through setting collaborative and national goals, fostering nationwide planning and reflection, and supporting the sanctuary campus movements through the implementation of a nationwide campaign (like Marxist Unity Group’s R19). In chapter mentorship I would not only coach leaders to become better organizers, but facilitate cross-chapter camaraderie, build up nonwhite and non-cis man leadership, encourage interaction with DSA, and embolden strong chapter leaders to join national committees.

Eli Knier, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Self Identified Genderfluid/Non-Binary

Nominations (18 total):

Anatoli R, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Emerson V, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Joel D, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

William S S, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Cedar L, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Luke S, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Leo N, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Sofia B, Rollins College

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

As a genderfluid person in YDSA, it has been inspiring and comforting how much YDSA is a welcoming organization for queer people as well as the political home for queer socialists across the country. As a new organizer, it made me feel immediately at home and accepted in YDSA, making it so I could organize in a place that I saw as my political home. And when I became co-chair of my chapter I made it a priority to keep that culture of acceptance and safety so that all future queer members would feel the same. In my chapter having queer students and youth come to our meetings and feel comfortable having found a community and organization for them is something that should be standard for every YDSA. With this experience, with how much it meant for me and many other queer members at UWM YDSA we must work so that every person from a marginalized community can come to YDSA and see a home as we did.

I am running for NCC to ensure that everyone feels welcome in YDSA and that all marginalized people in America can come to YDSA and see it as the home it has been for myself and many other queer socialists.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I joined University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee YDSA in late October 2023 as Palestine solidarity organizing swept the campus. I was elected co-chair of my chapter during our encampment, leading the management of encampment logistics and negotiation with university administration. For the remainder of my 2024-2025 term, I oversaw our campaigns, including our Palestine work, where I pushed for a strong and democratic approach to our coalitions that built YDSA. Alongside other YDSA leaders in Milwaukee, I founded our regional chapter, Milwaukee YDSA, and served as co-chair from September 2024 to June 2025. As co-chair of MKE YDSA, I would mentor the other YDSA chapters, helping them develop and being available for support whenever needed.

On national YDSA I have served on the YGDC helping mentor new and existing chapters on key organizing skills like escalating campaigns that win to help them build and recruit to their chapters. On the YGDC, we often answer members’ questions before they ask them, which I have done many times through teaching chapters deep-organizing tactics as well as good practices for internal organizing. I also serve as a subcommittee chair for our upcoming 2025 Fall Drive!

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

As the Trump administration continues its unrelenting attacks against the working class, our mission is clearer than ever: YDSA has a crucial role to play in pushing the rest of DSA into creating a socialist party, with a thriving and energetic youth wing. We do this by centering our campaigning approach, encouraging the establishment of strong regional formations, and running strategic campaigns based on working-class youth demands. By winning these demands, YDSA can organize a new and diverse generation of future socialists both on and off campus, winning them to revolutionary politics, and building DSA as the future socialist party we deserve.

We must also build a strong integration pipeline from YDSA to DSA. Through purposeful cooperative organizing between YDSA and DSA on work such as joint campaigns and structures within DSA chapters for YDSA communication. We can move into the future lockstep as a party for the working class and working class youth.”

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC should continue to prioritize YDSA, both nationally and within our chapters, functioning as a strong campaigning body that delivers winnable and transformative demands. Through a strong campaigning approach, YDSA can reach disaffected youth by winning transformative demands, winning them to our politics through these wins, and cementing YDSA as the political home for youth who have been rejected and betrayed by the Democratic party and the system as a whole. With each chapter running strong, transformative, and winnable campaigns YDSA will have no problem meeting any future crises head on.

Additionally, the NCC should prioritize the development of large youth formations such as through regional chapters as we have in Milwaukee to build the youth wing of the socialist party. To build a socialist party we’ll need to win over working class youth, and to do so we’ll need strong regional formation open to both students and non-students. On the NCC I will be deeply committed to helping develop our current and prospective regional formations using my experience as a MKE YDSA founder and former co-chair. I’ve seen the benefits of regional organizing during my time as Milwaukee YDSA co-chair and in the work we’ve done with other Wisconsin chapters. With strong regional networks we can build a structure for mass campaigns for youth demands targeted at the capitalist class. We also build comradery between our chapters helping to ensure their longevity and cooperation for years to come. During my time on NCC I want to figure out how to most effectively integrate non-student youth into YDSA’s campaign and labor work. To further grow YDSA and expand nationally I will prioritize the development of more industrial rust belt and midwestern chapters, such as Pennsylvania.

James Hernandez, Florida International University

Self Identified Non-Binary

Nominations (14 total):

Diego M, Florida International University

Juno Q, Florida International University

Allan F, University of Florida

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

Reese H, University of Missouri Columbia

Allen D, Texas State University

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Michael R, New York University

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Johanna M, Hunter College

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

I grew up in Miami, FL, raised by my proud Cuban family, where my mother is a teacher and my father is a construction worker. I was raised on the idea of bringing a better life for my family, and it will be the honor of a lifetime to be part of the first generation in my family to graduate from university. My background informs my work in YDSA because the boot of imperialism and capitalism has stood on Cubans for a long time and continues to do so. My family had to move here because the embargo on Cuba created such a great degree of austerity that they had no choice but to come to Miami and try to establish better lives. This was my entrance to politics—fighting against the embargo on Cuba and many of the other oppressive foreign policy measures taken by U.S. officials. Now, with the advances ICE is making to arrest and disappear people in our communities, it is our primary task to fight back and forge solidarity with those most targeted so we can keep each other safe. This is a perspective I bring to my chapter with our sanctuary campus work and the perspective I would bring to the NCC as an At-Large member.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I joined YDSA at the height of the student movement for Palestine. Locally and nationally, I saw YDSA moving quickly to respond to the moment, particularly with the campus encampments. I was attracted to YDSA’s militancy, emphasis on protest democracy, and organizational maturity. However, my work with my chapter officially began as a Student Government elected official and in our Palestine Coalition. For the latter, I collaborated with organizers in my chapter to expand democracy in the coalition and move to reach average, disorganized students. Doing this work taught me a lot about the organizational structures and tactics that serve to build out our movement and what doesn’t work—namely, the limitations of top-down organizing. Later, I would lead on issues as a member and co-chair of my chapter, such as addressing patriarchal tendencies in my chapter, contributing to our housing campaign, proposing and providing mentorship for a winning Plan B campaign, and joining CHIC! I am a member of Bread and Roses, a political caucus within DSA, because of our strong vision for the rank-and-file strategy, our emphasis on member democracy, supporting YDSA, and mass organizing. I am excited to be running on the B&R slate for NCC!

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA needs to commit itself to serious internationalist organizing. Our internationalism should be oriented around class struggle and promote collaboration as a means of pushing the socialist movement forward, over surface-level diplomacy. During a time of increased repression, it is important to establish unity, solidarity, and share lessons with student and socialist groups around the world. These relationships should inform how we organize anti-imperialist campaigns on the ground.

YDSA should also push the socialist movement forward by creating a steady pipeline of YDSA cadres into education, healthcare, and logistics. We should encourage our members to become lifelong socialists, not only by forging connections to local DSAs but also by committing themselves to making our unions more militant, democratic, and class-struggle oriented. This begins with the student worker movement. The experience of organizing while in university should inspire organizing in post-grad, and YDSA should seek to replicate the gains of the University of Oregon Student Workers across the country.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The Trump administration is wreaking havoc in the U.S. and around the world. His administration is arresting and disappearing dissidents, ICE is raiding our campuses and neighborhoods, the attacks on trans rights have worsened, his administration is greenlighting the destruction of our environment, and so much more. Many members of the working class—even those who previously voted for Trump—are horrified. While conditions worsen for working people across the country, Democrats have not lifted a finger to defend us. Young people are noticing this, and many are flocking to YDSA as a result. This is a moment that calls for more ambitious organizing.

As the primary sponsor of R10: Building an International Student Movement, I would dedicate my time to accomplishing the goals laid out in the resolution. This includes starting conversations as YDSA about international coordination, inviting members of the student movement to our YDSA Conference and Convention, and ensuring that the NCC is similarly able to attend large events in the international student movement and bring those lessons back to our organization.

I would also mentor chapters and national committees through their work, as well as assist in diversifying chapters and national committees dominated by white non-cis men. This would include assisting chapters in establishing their own HGOs, running front-facing national programs like the Socialist Feminist Reading Group for all comrades of marginalized identities, encouraging chapters to take on work that addresses issues that disproportionately affect marginalized comrades, and mentoring chapters and national committees in addressing unhealthy internal dynamics.

Jess Fisher, University of Oregon

Self Identified Non-Binary Woman Person of Color

Nominations (12 total):

Diego D, University of Oregon

Kristian L, University of Idaho

David L, University of Oregon

Jacob P, Western Oregon University

Parker D, University of Texas San Antonio

Reece K, Oregon State University

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Sara A, Cornell University

Jack N, University of Washington

Jacob G, University of Oregon

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I've been a socialist since high school, during which I attended my local DSA chapter meetings. After transferring schools, I joined University of Oregon YDSA in Spring of 2023. Quickly, I became involved in our Medicated Abortion and Palestine organizing. That spring, the UO Palestine Coalition launched the Popular University for Gaza, which presented a list of demands to the university, including establishing a SSWANA Cultural Center and full scholarships for multiple students from Gaza. I've worked at Starbucks for the last three years, which has propelled me to become a leader in my workplace and get elected to the bargaining team for Starbucks Workers United. Through this role, I've led stores in my area on strike during the Red Cup Rebellion and have been negotiating a national contract for over a year. Last year, I served as an At-Large officer for UOYDSA Steering Committee and am dedicated to continuing the work to build our chapter. Lastly, as a woman of color at a PWI, I spearheaded the creation of UOYDSA's Socialists of Color Committee (SOCC), which has played a crucial role in diversifying our chapter and supporting the recruitment and development of POC leaders within our chapter.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA and DSA are not just part of the socialist movement in the U.S; they are its driving force. The growth of YDSA is synonymous with the growth of the youth wing of the Socialist Movement. We need to expand and strengthen our chapters through mentorship and guidance. As these chapters grow in strength, we should envision a future with more large-scale, transformative organizing—student worker unionism, tenant unionism, and academic departmental-level organizing. YDSA's continued engagement with movements such as the Palestinian Liberation Movement, Immigration Rights Campaigns, Reproductive Justice, and LGBTQ+ Rights is a testament to our broader goals. To achieve a multi-racial, multi-gender working-class movement that challenges the power of the ruling class, we must be flexible and prepared to respond to emerging new movements. In areas that lack YDSA chapters, prioritizing the development of new chapters is essential. Our ability to found strong chapters is directly linked to the skill and mentorship of our national leaders. The path ahead is long and will require immense collective struggle and development of our party. If we hope to see socialism in our lifetime, we must lay a strong foundation for the socialist youth movement now, as the contradictions sharpen.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC should prioritize organizational growth and development. This looks like having our NCC members provide proper and consistent mentorship to both already existing chapters and to new chapter drives primarily through the work of the YGDC (Youth Growth and Development Committee.) As a labor organizer, I also believe that the NCC should be dedicated to helping chapters launch new student worker labor campaigns. As a result of the successful UOSW contract campaign, multiple other union drives emerged across Oregon's higher education institutions. These drives, not just in Oregon but all across the country, are struggling significantly. The Student Worker Labor Movement is rapidly expanding and creates opportunities to radicalize countless downwardly mobile college students through direct experience with the class struggle. I have personal connections through my labor experience with SEIU and UAW, two of the largest players in the Student Worker Labor movement and could aid in identifying and building these drives at other campuses. Not all of these union drives originate from a YDSA background, but all of them could benefit from a YDSA chapter or the mentorship of experienced YDSA organizers. Building an actual Socialist Party, to me, looks like much more than just how we relate to our electeds. It's about the relationships that we build with labor unions and communities. Through labor work, both unionization and solidarity, and through social movement community organizing we grow the roots that our organization needs to prosper. This work alongside the struggle of building strong chapters as well as forming new chapters, I believe, is the building blocks of the resurgent youth wing of a Socialist Party.

Maxon Agosta, University of Cincinnati

Self Identified Male

Nominations (12 total):

Aiden H, University of Cincinnati

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Auna O, University of Cincinnati

Arjun J, Purdue University

Aiden M-S, University of Cincinnati

Trey C, University of Vermont

Nathan S, University of Cincinnati

Rhea C, University of Michigan

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

Kaz B, University of Cincinnati

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I started YDSA in 2023 as a recruitment officer, where I learned the basics of recruitment and list work. I was the chair of the racial justice working group, where I learned how to run a campaign. I then ran for the 2024 steering committee and was elected co-chair for the year, with a focus on mass recruitment and building campus coalitions. I became involved with the national Palestine committee, where we mentored chapters on divestment work and attempted to organize a student strike. I am also a member of the Youth Growth and Development Committee, where I assist with new chapter trainings, mentorship, and recruitment drives. I am now the communications officer for my local YDSA chapter. My priority over the past year has been growing YDSA as a mass organization on campus with a strong, anti-imperialist, and rooted political education, as well as strong collaboration with other student organizations. I have also focused on mentoring all members to become sustained organizers, regardless of whether they pursue leadership roles or not. I have also served the past 2-3 years as a coalition representative to build a stronger relationship with our SJP and left leaning organizations on campus.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA should mobilize, educate, and organize students towards the socialist movement through strong anti-imperialist education and mentorship to build everyone into strong organizers. Students should view YDSA as an organizing hub with numerous resources and skills to facilitate campaigns, including divestment efforts and pressuring administrators to keep ice off campuses. We should push liberal student orgs away from restricting themselves to solely electoral politics and bring their skills into our organization to educate and build a mass student movement. We should also move forward being unapologetically socialists. YDSA needs to radicalize campuses to realize that capitalism is a root issue that causes a lot of the struggles we see today. Bringing people into the socialist movement through socialist education will lead them to radicalization rather than joining a different organized group, such as a student union, which creates a new structure that is essentially verbatim to the YDSA mission and structure. YDSA should be a united campus body that brings people from all tendencies to the forefront of the socialist movement.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC should prioritize strategic campaigns and mass recruitment in YDSA. We should also establish a sustained pipeline that keeps YDSA members within the DSA ecosystem, whether they are in college or have graduated. As an NCC member, I would like to help build a strong pipeline for YDSA members to integrate and organize in their local DSA chapters. I would also like to develop and run strategic campaigns that incorporate strong political development and deliver sustained wins. As we saw this past year with the Palestine committee, there was no flexibility to move away from the student strike, and we had to allocate a significant amount of capacity and resources. To fix this, we would need a strategic campaigns committee. We also need to continue to firmly commit to the Palestinian liberation movement. National SJP should continue to be a coalition partner, and I want to establish mainstream communication with the steering committee of NSJP. This can be made possible as I have established connections in NSJP through my organizing efforts at my university and my time on the Palestine Committee.

Megan Christle, Virginia Tech

Self Identified Non-Binary

Nominations (12 total):

Megan M, Virginia Tech

Tej B, New York University

Julian R, Virginia Tech

Shayan C, Virginia Tech

Diego M, Florida International University

Michael R, New York University

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

Margot G, Columbia University

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I joined Virginia Tech’s YDSA chapter in the Fall of 2023 as a first-semester freshman. When I joined, our chapter had fewer than ten active members and was disconnected from the national organization. Since joining, however, we have impressively increased our dues-paying membership and have been crucial collaborators in multiple organizational victories, such as the 1,000+ student and campus worker We Won’t Go Back protest against DEI cuts, and calling the mass meeting which led to the establishment of the VT Gaza Liberation Encampment in April 2024. In the Spring of 2024, I was unanimously elected chair of our chapter, a position I held until the fall of 2024. While I was chair, I joined the Bread and Roses caucus, became more closely connected to national YDSA, and developed a strong dedication to instilling democracy within the student movement at VT and encouraging mass student empowerment. I continued to lead as chair until Spring of 2024, and in this time, prioritized YDSA’s engagement with ambitious, experimental organizing by leading our chapter to be one of three founding organizations that brought about the VT Students United Front, our undergraduate student union.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

As socialists, YDSA must orient itself towards the masses of students on our campuses through a strategically ambitious approach that matches the political fervor of the moment. While the far-right movement is growing not just in the US but all over the world, YDSA ought to work to organize the existing left mass movement against Trump’s authoritarian regime, which has led to the kidnapping of students and workers from their communities, extreme austerity, and violations of free speech. YDSA must maintain our revolutionary presence on our campuses, drawing in students from across the left-ideological spectrum to carry out strong campaigns and promote our unique political perspective. Additionally, we should engage with bold organizing strategies, such as student unionism, to reach the masses who are disillusioned by American politics, just as San Francisco State University did in the Spring of 2024, where their student union, established by many YDSA leaders, won divestment at their encampment. Presently, as the far right is growing and collaborating with the mega-wealthy, and the left, which opposes this reality, is disorganized, YDSA has a critical responsibility to disseminate our positive vision to as many people as possible via a militant, principled strategy.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
National leadership of YDSA must prioritize carrying out the development of chapters through strong personalized mentorship and should forward our socialist political vision on our campuses through cohesive national campaigns, and a bold investment in the budding project of student unions and student worker unions. If elected to the NCC, I plan to reshape the mentorship process to be tailored to each chapter. Having been enveloped in the culture of deep, effective mentorship built on strong relationship development by our chapter’s founder, I envision a national YDSA where this same mentorship exists. This newer process would be less standardized in terms of chapter training and advice, but centered around personalized workshopping with individual chapters, and visiting them when needed to provide mentorship on chapter-specific needs. Further, I plan to carry out the mandate on student unionism passed at the 2024 convention, continuing to support and develop student unions on campuses where they are already formed, but also locating strong chapters across the country to assist them in building this national project to defeat the right and raise class consciousness through mutual struggle. Although I understand by me that not every member of national leadership will be fully committed to student unionism, I aim to dedicate myself to striking a balance wherein YDSA chapters continue to grow and win on their campuses as socialists, whilst us, as socialists, also engage in mass movement politics through our participation in mass-struggle organizations.

Michael Ramirez, New York University

Self Identified Non-Binary

Nominations (12 total):

Megan C, Virginia Tech

Johanna M, Hunter College

Carlos C III, Cal Poly Pomona

Anthony, [Redacted]

Shayan C, Virginia Tech

Margot G, Columbia University

Molly B-E, New York University

Char B, San Francisco State University

James H, Florida International University

Tyler B, Binghamton University

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

I grew up in a socially conservative border town in South Texas, ranking among one of the most impoverished metro areas in the U.S, with an overwhelmingly Hispanic and immigrant population. Having undocumented neighbors was common, including my Grandfather, who came to the U.S on the Bracero Program. Seeing so much inequality in my daily life inspired me to feel a sense of duty to change the systems that perpetuate it. However, political corruption on the local level was common and degraded my trust in political systems until I found a real political alternative in DSA during high school. I realized we did not need to despair in our current capitalist reality that exploits the fears of many to distrust our neighbors, that allows ICE to deport them, and has driven economic inequality like in my community. Thus, these experiences in my community have inspired me to believe that YDSA should organize ambitiously and change the very fabric of the spaces that we organize in to address these societal woes, rather than resorting to incremental wins on one campus.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I’ve been a DSA member for four years and joined New York University YDSA in my first semester of college. I first became involved in helping lead our Starbucks Off Campus campaign, where NYU was a featured school on the campaign, which helped pressure Starbucks to start engaging in collective bargaining with SBWU. From there, I got involved deep inside the Palestine Student Movement, being at Columbia when their encampment started and helping organize one of the biggest encampments in the country at NYU, facing brutal repression from the NYPD. At the encampment, after experiencing undemocratic tendencies that led many to leave the camp and negotiations with the administration to fall through, I formed a pro-democracy section and fought to restore protest democracy.

The following year, I became a leader of my chapter, coordinating efforts against attacks on trans autonomy and for a Sanctuary Campus. I became an organizing committee member of the city-wide networks NYC YDSA and the New York Union of Students, fighting against NYU and Columbia’s tax evasion to instead fund the public CUNY system, which is undergoing severe austerity. Recently, I have been participating in canvassing efforts for the DSA-endorsed mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA, as perhaps the most dynamic organizing place in DSA, should not shy away from ambitious efforts. When the political moment is so dire, we need to be building up the capacity for longer-term campaigns that build up the energy to effectively meet the moment. Campaigns that not only make students' lives better but also radically change our universities. Truly democratizing them, making sure that our universities are not beholden to boards of trustees who are the same capitalists that perpetuate and get rich off of genocide and class inequality. To do this, we need to not only be the best and most militant left presence on campus running campaigns, but also to get the whole of our campuses to engage in struggle through efforts like student unionism. We should also be looking at efforts and creating relationships with students around the globe to see how else this could be done.

YDSA should also be a pipeline into the socialist movement beyond our years as students. Bringing already experienced organizers into the labor movement and getting them to engage in the rank-and-file strategy by taking union jobs in strategic industries and making unions more militant in their efforts.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC should be prioritizing the personalized mentorship and guidance that will be desperately needed to run ambitious, unapologetic campaigns, whether they be student unions, sanctuary campus campaigns, regional networks, student labor unions, or any type of campaign a chapter decides to undertake. Mentorship that extends not only to the leaders of chapters, but also to the rank and file members. This, of course, would rely on investing heavily in committees that lead mentorship efforts, such as the YDGC and YLC, but it will be well worth the effort. We should aim to bring in members doing a variety of work so that each member can be properly mentored on anything they want to undertake. This will also rely on bringing in other organizations, such as the Rank and File Project and international leftist youth groups, which can provide valuable insights. It must be ensured that we not only maintain relations with international leftist youth groups at the national level, but also that each chapter can establish genuine peer connections with individuals in these groups.

Additionally, as the primary sponsor of "R26 Building Regional Power: Organizing Regional YDSA Networks," I want to emphasize the importance of prioritizing regional networks. Not only in a mentorship capacity, as I have personally benefited from the mentorship opportunities offered by NYC YDSA, but also in a campaign capacity. These networks enable us to expand the scope of what we think is possible for YDSA. Running citywide or university system-wide campaigns that could be coordinated on the network level, just as NYC YDSA has done for the REPAIR and New Deal for CUNY campaigns.

Nolan Madigrano, Lawrence University

Self Identified Gender Fluid

Nominations (14 total):

Pierce N, University of Wisconsin Madison

Jack T, University of Wisconsin Madison

Anthony, [Redacted]

Daniel D, Lawrence University

Nathaniel L, Lawrence University

Adrian S-M, Lawrence University

Annabelle N, Lawrence University

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I am the founder of the Lawrence University YDSA chapter and have been one of its co-chairs for 3 years.

I am on the YGDC (Youth Growth and Development Committee)

While not necessarily YDSA, I am in DSA IC and am a member of the Asia-Pacific and Americas subgroups. I am currently spearheading the Canada working group after I established ties with the DSC (Democratic Socialists of Canada).

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA must lead the socialist movement forward in a number of ways. A good first step is to finally transform YDSA into a real youth wing of DSA and move away from the campus bubble. YDSA is often perceived as an organization predominantly composed of college educated champagne socialists. Expanding beyond the college campus allows us to transcend that label and expand our reach to the swathes of working class youth who do not attend college.

By doing this we can truly live up to the ideal of building a proper youth wing of a mass movement capable of rising to meet the moment and continue the fight for socialism. The more people we can mobilize to organize their workplaces, form unions with their fellow tenants, win electorally with candidates like Mamdani, create and maintain mutual aid networks, develop politically, etc. the stronger our resistance to capitalist system will become. This starts by creating a youth wing which encompasses all youth.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC primarily handles administrative work that comes with running an organization of YDSA's size. The NCC should always excel at completing the necessary administrative tasks which may seems mundane or tedious to most. We have observed from instances such as the DSA Budget crisis a few years ago that competent governance and management is just as important as vision for the organization and it's goals.

The NCC is also tasked with assisting chapters across the country and advising them. NCC members should prioritize effective communication with chapters so that we can assist them in maximizing their strengths as a chapter and doing what works best for each chapter to build socialist power.

Furthermore, I hope to successfully develop and implement the emerging city/regional chapter system alongside other NCC comrades and R&F members of YDSA. As someone who helped develop the concepts currently being experimented with by Milwaukee YDSA, and now other Wisconsin based YDSA chapters, I feel I am qualified to do so. I have direct experience and relationships with other chapters taking steps to other chapters taking steps to build regional/city chapter organizing structures that work best within their material conditions.

Sofia Baker, Rollins College

Self Identified Gender Fluid

Nominations (16 total):

Reagan B, Rollins College

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Eli C, Florida International University

Cedar L, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Joselyn P, Florida International University

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Libby S, Purdue University

Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Tomas J, Florida International University

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

As a femme organizer, I have experienced my share of sexism in YDSA. It is painful and frustrating to deal with discrimination in socialist spaces that are supposed to be fighting for a better future for everyone. My experiences with cis-male members dismissing my contributions, taking credit for my work, and treating me as an assistant left me discouraged and disappointed. During my first year as a steering committee member, I nearly left YDSA because of the treatment I received from my fellow members. This experience is not unique to me, but a common one amongst comrades who are femme or of other marginalized identities.

When we fail to create a welcoming environment for comrades of marginalized identities within YDSA, we fail to grow our membership, develop politically, or run effective campaigns because we fail to engage all facets of the working class. Discrimination and a lack of diversity in YDSA are organizational and structural problems. We cannot foster a culture of equality by simply discussing it or creating identity spaces. Instead, we must organize around issues that directly affect a community and develop members of that community into organizers and leaders. I have been committed to running reproductive justice and bodily autonomy campaigns in my chapter because the rights femme and queer people have over their bodies are under egregious attacks in Florida. These campaigns for bodily autonomy resonated with femme individuals and built up femme members of my chapter into leaders.

I am running for NCC because my experiences with sexism within YDSA are something many femme members resonate with and have experienced themselves. I want to change that by building an environment that encourages femme members to grow into leaders and confidently take leadership roles in their chapters and nationally.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I joined Rollins College’s YDSA chapter in my freshman year, while it was still in the process of getting chartered. I was elected to my chapter’s first official steering committee and have been a co-chair of my chapter from 2023-2025. I oversaw our Palestinian Solidarity work, helping to form coalitions with like-minded organizations to call for divestment and an end to study abroad programs in Israel. I’ve helped my chapter win demands such as free textbooks and free and reduced-cost Plan B, wins that will benefit students long after I leave Rollins.

At the National level, I have been a member of the Communications Committee for two years, serving as its co-chair this past term. I’ve worked to craft YDSA’s public image and communicate our politics and campaigns to a wide youth audience. I’ve hosted panels at YDSA Conference to teach chapters how to use social media in a way that grows the chapter and shows the strength of YDSA’s campaigning approach. In my commitment to growing YDSA, I have also helped create fall drive materials and served as a fall drive coach for the 2024 and now the 2025 Fall Drive through the Youth Growth & Development Committee.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

Now more than ever, it is obvious that we as socialists need our own party. The role of YDSA in building a socialist party is to be that party’s youth wing. We must look forward, seeing everything we do as a step towards building a strong, vibrant, and diverse socialist party for the working class. We must campaign strategically to grow and diversify. We achieve this by running campaigns centered on demands that resonate with working-class youth, providing them with meaningful material change while leading them to revolutionary conclusions by demonstrating that socialism is the solution to socioeconomic and systemic injustices.

To grow socialism, we must build strong pipelines from YDSA to DSA and the labor movement, connecting the work we do on our campuses to the broader socialist movement and creating lifelong organizers. We must engage in the labor movement with a class-struggle intersectional approach, uniting labor struggles to broader demands such as divestment or non-compliance with ICE. YDSA members must purposefully engage with their local DSA chapters to create an active political environment by pushing for the strategic campaigning approach beyond the campus to bring new life to the socialist movement.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC needs to prioritize building a strong campaigning apparatus. Through a strong campaigning approach, chapters can activate the disengaged to grow our membership, become a pillar of their local community, and win material changes that show people the power of socialist politics. Because campaigning is the lifeblood of YDSA, I want at least 75% of the chapters I’ll be mentoring as an NCC member to be actively running campaigns built on concrete, winnable demands.

The NCC must experiment with larger youth formations to win non-student youth to socialism. Building regional chapters is a necessary step towards YDSA becoming the youth wing of a socialist party. To further strengthen ties between chapters and build the foundations of a party, I am committed to strengthening regional connections and establishing robust channels of communication between chapters within the same area. We must be using regional networks to more effectively engage in mass campaign work by mobilizing chapters within strategic regions and states to act together to put pressure on university systems, repressive state laws, and the capitalist class.

As Communications Committee Co-Chair, I understand the importance of communications work in enabling chapters to publicize their campaigns to both engage with like-minded youth and put pressure on their campus administration. However, I see many chapters struggling to maximize the potential of communications work, missing opportunities to expand their reach and strengthen their campaign. To ensure our chapters know how to effectively use their social media presence and engage with the press through traditional media outlets, I want to establish more communications trainings for chapters to improve their social media presence and learn how to engage with traditional media. In general, national YDSA needs to host more skills-based trainings for chapters to learn organizing strategies and form connections between themselves to improve organizational health.

Stephen Sykes, University of Florida

Self Identified Male

Nominations (12 total):

Jacob F, University of Florida

Danni T, University of Florida

Kevin V, University of Florida

Tanuja C, University of Florida

Parker D, University of Texas San Antonio

Dimitris L, University of Florida

Armando D, University of Florida

Andres C, University of Florida

Jose C, University of Texas San Antonio

Qingyu Z, University of Florida

If you would like to, please elaborate on your identity and how it has impacted your experience in YDSA:

I’m ADHD and bisexual, things which have informed my outlook and led to struggles and light discrimination. I’ve only recently been clinically diagnosed with ADHD and it’s been a struggle, especially in college, to maintain focus and organization. Since learning about it I’ve been doing better. With being bi my family has made homophobic comments that make me uncomfortable, but I’ve often flown under the radar even to the YDSA due to being in a long term straight relationship.

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I joined YDSA in 2023 as soon as I got to college to make a difference. Since then, I’ve been mentored by some amazing people, led campaigns for our faculty and bus drivers unions, and served as my chapter’s treasurer and chairman. My chapter had faced a collapse in early 2024, and since then I’ve worked to rebuild it. I’m proud to say today we have over 50 dues paying members and a regular attendance of around 25 at meetings, mostly younger students (leaving room for growth). I’ve served on the Youth Labor Committee mentoring labor campaigns and helping facilitate and organize communications strategy for Red Hot Summer. I look forward to continuing my development as an organizer and a person, whether that be on the NCC or through continued nurturing of my local chapter and service on national committees.

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

YDSA, as the youth wing of DSA, must train and educate youth organizers to be able to develop others in service of the socialist movement. The youth is where the energy, time to organize, and new ideas are present perfectly to inspire change. We must show young people the benefits of socialist organizing by making changes on campus and training organizers for their eventual time in the DSA.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC should prioritize helping the regular members of YDSA to feel at home and to develop into better organizers. This means empowering key committees like communications, YGDC, and labor. It also means actively mentoring chapters and showing up when chapters and national committees need them. I hope to serve on the NCC as the next part of my development, and to create programs like the YLC’s pipeline to DSA to show YDSA members where to go next. I want to have the opportunity to nurture and mentor other chapters as I have my own, and hopefully to inspire and support them as I’ve been inspired and supported. Beyond the chapters, I want to oversee the creation of the aforementioned pipeline which I’ve been promoting for nearly a year now on the YLC. It will connect graduating YDSAers to the resources to join a union or organize their next workplaces, to continue the fight for a better future.

Trey Cook, University of Vermont

Self Identified Male

Nominations (10 total):

Stella S, University of Vermont

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Aidan T, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Luke I, University of Vermont

Robert G, University of Wisconsin Madison

Ambrose M, University of Vermont

Jack K, University of Vermont

Samuel W, University of Vermont

Steven R, Furman University

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Please describe your involvement with YDSA:

I’ve been organizing with YDSA since 2020, starting in high school, where I founded Glen A Wilson High School YDSA before bringing that experience to the University of Vermont. I've built UVM YDSA into a chapter our organization can be proud of. We’ve run winning electoral campaigns, proving young socialists can govern, and we’re currently fighting to unionize student-workers through a card check campaign. Beyond campus, I’ve taken my organizing national: as Youth Liaison to the DSA National Labor Committee, Co-Chair of the Young National Electoral Committee (YNEC), and an active member of multiple working groups, including Communications. Throughout all my work I've considered YDSA to be my political home. Now, I’m running to bring that same strategic, militant energy to the NCC

How should YDSA push the socialist movement forward?

We are in the business of making class warriors. Developing lifelong socialist organizers is the purpose of YDSA. YDSA is an investment in politicizing the next generation of workers into the socialist movement.

This does not happen when we dissolve our chapters to focus on some other side project or separate ourselves from DSA. We need to build a fighting, vibrant youth section that is more welcoming to young workers off-campus. We train and develop them by running structured, militant campaigns that move more and more people into action…and win! Sometimes, movements arise that are too large for YDSA alone. In addition to our organizers trainings and political education, building a culture of collaboration, responsibility, and democracy is how we position ourselves to lead in these coalitions and movements.

What work do you think the NCC should prioritize? What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the NCC?
The NCC should prioritize membership growth and development. Building our fighting capacity (people power) is how we can fight and win on the other priorities set by convention.

With my diverse experience across various fields and levels of the organization, I see myself as a versatile utility player, ready to step in wherever needed. However, I am particularly passionate about supporting and mentoring new chapters. Having founded multiple chapters under vastly different conditions, I feel I have valuable insights to share, especially with the newer city chapters. My background as a former chair of my local DSA chapter equips me to provide meaningful guidance and support to help them thrive.

Resolutions

R1. Towards a Growing Mass Organization: YGDC Recharter

Sponsor: Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Co-Sponsors: Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati
Aron A-M, University of Florida

Claire I, Furman University

Michael C, University of California Santa Barbara

Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Sofia B, Rollins College

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

WHEREAS, the Youth Growth and Development Committee (YGDC) was established at the 2023 YDSA Convention, and rechartered at the 2024 YDSA Convention,

WHEREAS, YDSA has consistently grown over the past several years due to the consistency of the annual Fall Drive, the Dues Drive, and the 2025 Recruitment Drive,

WHEREAS, in an organizing environment that continues to change in the post-Bernie era, which has seen the decline of many socialist and progressive organizations, including but not limited to DSA,

WHEREAS, there is a resurgence of Y/DSA membership since the 2024 general elections that requires active organization and development,

WHEREAS, DSA is a mass organization building towards the formation of a mass party and the enactment of a socialist revolution, which depends on a healthy, resilient, and growing YDSA to pursue this project,

WHEREAS, our socialism must be creative, adaptable, scientific, and versatile, not ever stagnant in the preconceptions and assumptions of the past,

WHEREAS, the YGDC has played an integral role in helping YDSA to grow and develop in service of these broader ideals and aspirations,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Youth Growth and Development Committee shall be re-chartered for another term, its mission and structure in accordance with the previously passed Resolution 4 (2023) and Resolution 11 (2024)

RESOLVED, the YGDC shall center in its work the Fall Drive, for the recruitment of new chapter OCs, and the Recruitment Drive in the spring, for the chartering of chapters and increase in dues paying members, bolstering a party-like apparatus, ahead of the annual summer YDSA Convention.

RESOLVED, throughout all aspects of its work, the YGDC will prioritize leadership development and the recruitment of dues paying members to DSA by normalizing the cultural expectation of dues as a method of sustaining the socialist movement while also recognizing the extenuating need for dues waivers, conducting this cultural transformation through organizing asks

RESOLVED, the NCC will expand its chapter mentorship program to the YGDC, and will continue to be responsible for deciding how to organize around this delegation of labor. For example: starting in the 2025-6 term, the YGDC will be responsible for coaching pre-chapter organizing committees (OCs) from the launch of the Fall Drive until remaining OCs are able to be chartered.

RESOLVED, the YGDC will, throughout the year, organize trainings for chapters on various issues, centering these criteria:

A focus on current issues for which no convention mandate explicitly exists, but which there is an extremely strong need to organize around, such as Palestine in the 2023-4 term, or ICE deportations under the second Trump administration;
Trainings which already exist and/or have able and willing facilitators already in the YGDC, in order to reduce capacity burden deriving from finding facilitators;
Expanding existing skills trainings to address the recruitment and development of International students, and Immigrant populations, people of color, women, queer and trans people, and other marginalized communities;
Cross Y/DSA committee collaboration for issue specifics training series (ex: Summer 2025 Sanctuary Campus Campaign Essentials)

RESOLVED, the NCC and YGDC will prioritize fundraising where appropriate, working with entities such as the DSA Growth and Development Committee, DSA Development Director, and DSA Fund to strategically engage in avenues to fund organizing activities like YDSA Conference, regional meet-ups, and the general fund of DSA,

RESOLVED, the adoption of this resolution will signify YDSA’s ongoing commitment to building socialism by growing our membership and developing leaders, strengthening chapters, and offering training opportunities as a unique national resource.

R2. 2025 YDSA Communications Committee Recharter

Sponsor: Sofia B, Rollins College

Co-Sponsors: Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Cedar L, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

Aidan B, Rollins College

Lee V, Rollins College

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Madhu S, University of Cincinnati

Aron A-M, University of Florida

WHEREAS, a strong, consistent, and timely online presence conveys the beliefs, successes, and reach of YDSA to a large youth audience.

WHEREAS, the 2024-25 Youth Communications Committee has significantly increased content output and engagement on our social media with 244,189 accounts reached, 661,346 views, 11,846 accounts engaged, and 1,456 net followers gained from January 2025 to April 2025 as per available Instagram data.

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters need guidance on how to best manage their digital identity and interface with traditional media outlets.

WHEREAS, the working class are posters and so too should socialists.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Youth Communications Committee will be rechartered for the 2025-2026 term to address various communications needs in YDSA, including interfacing with the press, social media, and other duties as assigned by the NCC.

RESOLVED, the Youth Communications Committee shall be led by two chairs, one co-chair appointed by the NCC, and the other being a member of the NCC. The credentials of the national YDSA social media accounts, principally Twitter and Instagram,

shall be entrusted to at least the Co-Chairs, with appropriate cybersecurity precautions taken. The NCC shall write up and approve a policy on what posts may be made on YDSA’s social media accounts without NCC approval.

RESOLVED, the Youth Communications Committee shall work with the NCC to connect directly with chapter leaders to provide guidance on effective public communications, collect images & videos from their local actions, coordinate reposting & co-posting with the YDSA national social media accounts, and generally increase the reach of chaper’s local actions to the national level.

RESOLVED, a portion of the capacity of the Youth Communications Committee will be devoted to:

Press relations, seeking to maintain and establish national press relationships for use by YDSA, as well as facilitating support for chapters engaging with the press.
Social media, seeking to create engaging posts which uplift chapter victories, engage broad youth audiences with YDSA-branded content, and inform the general public about democratic socialism and the strategic importance of engaging with YDSA,
Rapid-response communications that put out a socialist perspective on the current moment and highlight the work of YDSA members in real-time.
Provide trainings and mentorship to chapters on how to effectively use social media, send out press releases, and interact with the media
Monitoring the YDSA website to ensure we are presenting information that is up to date with our current campaigns, events, and wins.

RESOLVED, the appointed NCC co-chair will be responsible for overseeing YDSA National email newsletters to YDSA members and chapter leaders.

RESOLVED, the Youth Communications Committee, aside from the NCC, shall be the sole authority on social media posting and reposting for YDSA’s official social media accounts, and the NCC should seek to run posts by the Youth Communications Committee before posting them.

RESOLVED, YDSA design done at a national level must:

Follow the YDSA and DSA Design Guidelines, especially regarding the specific hex codes used for the color palette, and the use of Manifold DSA as the primary font.
Follow a separate branding kit for other projects or national calls (such as the Dues Drive, or using national flag colors for an international call), with the goal of having a cohesive brand for each event or campaign to give them distinct identities.
NOT use generative AI to create designs or art that would replace the work of a rank & file committee member, artist, or DSA comms staffer
Follow accessibility best practices. This shall include, but not be limited to, alternative text for images and graphics, captions for videos, appropriate color contrast, and appropriate text size.

RESOLVED, that the YDSA Communications Committee will have the following goals:

A pilot program for longer video content will be launched to experiment with videos in the 5-10 minute range. At least two of these videos will come directly from the Youth Communications Committee, with The Activist encouraged to create these types of videos for their social media with assistance from the Youth Communications Committee.
Short-form video content will continue to be a priority as it is by far the best-performing content we produce in terms of views, shares, follows, and accounts reached. At least 2-3 short-form videos will be posted per month, either directly from the Youth Communications Committee or via chapter co-posts.
Creation of a guide on what types of posts chapters should co-post with the national YDSA account to be distributed to all chapters.
Creation of a new victories/requests form that allows both chapters and committees to send report-backs and request content/assistance from the Youth Communications Committee
Communications trainings will be integrated into Fall Drive 2025 with all new chapters encouraged to attend a training to ensure their online presence is managed in accordance with best practices as determined by the Youth Communications Committee.

R3. Build Red Area Chapters Into Bases of Power

Sponsor: Nolan M, Lawrence University

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University
Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, California State University Fullerton

Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

This resolution has been updated to incorporate a friendly secondary submission from:

Sponsor: Allen D, Texas State University

Co-Sponsors: Megan C, Virginia Tech

James H, Florida International University

Diego M, Florida International University

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Parker D, University of Texas San Antonio

WHEREAS, the Young Democratic Socialists of America is committed to building the power of the entire American working class and advancing socialism across the United States.

WHEREAS, socialist organizing in areas dominated electorally and often culturally by the Republican Party poses unique challenges including increased political repression, heightened hostility by reactionary forces, and limited initial popular support. This leads to organizing conditions in campuses where student bodies are much more moderate & apolitical.

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters in conservative dominated areas often operate with significantly less fewer resources and experience much more burnout among organizers. Overcoming these roadblocks to organize in red regions requires additional support to generate systemic change.

WHEREAS, YDSA’s presence in these areas is essential to organize working class youth in areas where they normally would not be as exposed to socialist organizing, building working class solidarity across geographic and cultural divides laying the foundation for long-term growth of socialism.

WHEREAS, labor organizers in red states have prevailed against conservative conditions, including the illegality of strikes and collective bargaining. The successes of the 2018 and 2019 red state teacher revolts—from winning 20,000-teacher strikes in West Virginia and Arizona to the teacher-led takedown of a Kentucky Republican governor and beyond—are both inspirational and instructive for potential further labor organization in areas that many regard as hostile for organizing.

WHEREAS, YDSA must fully recognize the diverse working class of the South, including Black, Brown & Hispanic students as important elements when organizing in Red/Southern States.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA recognizes that the fight for socialism can not be confined to blue urban centers and is committed to building a truly nationwide movement capable of challenging capitalism by prioritizing additional support for chapters in conservative dominated areas so they may become a base of socialist power in a sea of republican red.

RESOLVED, that YDSA shall establish a Red Region Organizing Subcommittee in the Youth Growth and Development Committee composed of members from the chapters in red areas in order to develop organizing strategies tailored to conservative dominated organizing terrain, facilitate mentorship and training programs for new chapters, and develop effective practices for outreach, messaging, base building, political education, etc. in conservative dominated environments.

RESOLVED, the Red Region Organizing Subcommittee shall submit monthly reports to the National Coordinating Committee summarizing their activities, discoveries, and effective practices.

RESOLVED, the Red Region Organizing Subcommittee shall host an annual virtual convening of chapters in conservative dominated areas to share their experiences as well as to build solidarity amongst chapters of similar material conditions.

RESOLVED, that YDSA shall develop, distribute, and equip organizers with persuasive region specific political education and propaganda materials that address local concerns and are crafted to reach a broader audience in a majority republican red area.

RESOLVED, the YDSA Red Region Organizing Subcommittee will commit to hosting at least one Spanish-speaking organizing conversation training per semester in collaboration with the DSA Housing Justice Commission and the Chapter Health & Intersectionality Committee as the first step towards a multilingual national training program.

RESOLVED, funded by YDSA, the NCC and/or staff will commit to visiting red areas chapters at least once a semester to provide mentorship, as well as have conversations with members about operationalizing the rank-and-file strategy.

RESOLVED, YDSA encourages chapters in red states to take on ambitious mass organizing initiatives, including but not limited to student worker unions and mass recruitment of students who are already pursuing work in healthcare, education, and logistics.

R4. YPEC Recharter

Sponsor: Aiden M-S, University of Cincinnati

Co-Sponsors: Madhu S, University of Cincinnati
Bradley S, University of Central Florida

Steven R, Furman University

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Michael A, Furman University

Addison G, University of Central Florida

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

WHEREAS, YDSA is building the youth wing of a mass independent socialist party, and part of that task requires transforming the consciousness of large numbers of people in order to turn students and other youth into lifelong socialists, and,

WHEREAS, political education is an essential tool in the class struggle that every chapter of YDSA should integrate into its outward-facing class-struggle campaign work and its internal-facing membership development, and,

WHEREAS, the Youth Political Education Committee (YPEC) has historically struggled with recruiting and retaining active membership despite strong and consistent interest in political education demonstrated at national events like the committee’s recurring Winter Conference workshop,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Youth Political Education Committee shall be rechartered as a national committee charged primarily with training chapters and members of YDSA in the skills necessary for effective political education,

RESOLVED, the committee’s mandate for the 2025-2026 term shall include the following:

Preparing, promoting, and facilitating a national “Political Education 101” event for a broad audience over zoom during the fall 2025 semester;
Hosting bimonthly “Basics of Political Education” training calls for YDSA chapters seeking help developing effective political education programs;
Hosting bimonthly topical calls, focused on current and basic issues
Providing chapters with direct mentorship on matters of political education when requested;
Facilitating a workshop at the 2026 YDSA Winter Conference;
Through the events listed above, identifying, recruiting, and developing members with an interest in political education to create a consistent group of active committee members,

RESOLVED, that YPEC will also recruit members to the committee via the national application launched post convention and 1-on-1 follow-up with attendees of events, recommended members, and chapter leaders facilitating yPEC events,

RESOLVED, the committee will endeavor to maintain an up-to-date record of its public materials by ensuring that they are made available on the website in a timely manner and will work with the NCC in order to improve the accessibility of its resources in order for chapters to be able to effectively use these as an aid in their political education programs,

RESOLVED, the committee shall be composed of:

Up to two (2) co-chairs responsible for facilitating meetings, onboarding new members of the committee, liaising with the National Coordinating Committee and other national committees, and delegating other administrative tasks to the general membership of the committee, in addition to performing the functions of general committee members;
A general membership responsible for preparing and facilitating YPEC’s national calls, trainings, and workshops as well as identifying YDSA members to recruit to the committee.

R5. For a Robust and Revitalized National Publication

Sponsor: Rafi A, Brown University

Co-Sponsors: Amina M-M, Wesleyan University

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Vi D, Macalester College

Lily D, University of Missouri Columbia

Ambrose M, University of Vermont

Lee V, Rollins College

Tej B, New York University

Mel M, University of Michigan

Kaz B, University of Cincinnati

This resolution has been updated to incorporate a friendly secondary submission from:

Sponsor: Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Co-Sponsors: Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Allen D, Texas State University

Parker D, University of Texas San Antonio

Claire I J, Furman University

Jack S, University of Maryland College Park

WHEREAS, The Activist is YDSA’s national publication and a crucial element in the development of YDSA and its members, and

WHEREAS, in the last several years YDSA’s publication has highlighted chapter campaigns and actions from across the country, and

WHEREAS, The Activist allows members to exchange their views in a comradely fashion, contributing to a democratic culture of political debate, and

WHEREAS, The Activist is a product of dedicated editors and writers who meet weekly and regularly publish articles, and The Activist should publish the writing of and be read by many more YDSA members.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, The Activist will be published by the Activist Editorial Board; it will consist of one Executive Editor, one Managing Editor, general editors, staff writers, and an NCC member serving as liaison. The Executive and Managing Editors will be appointed as chairs by the YDSA NCC. The Activist shall be open to all YDSA members to apply via application; appointed by the NCC with consultation from the Executive and Managing Editors, applicants will be asked to include writing, editing and publishing experience alongside a writing sample.

RESOLVED, The Activist will continue to publish a variety of articles, including but not limited to: chapter reports, arguments for and against convention resolutions, campaign spotlights, and strategic analysis. Articles will feature political arguments. The goal of The Activist remains elevating well-reasoned debate and comradely discussion among YDSA members.

RESOLVED, The Activist will publish at least four articles a month throughout the school year. Staff writers will write at least one article each month.

RESOLVED, the Activist Editorial Board will publish a winter issue and a summer issue in the next year, both at least 20 pages, to be sent to as many YDSA members as possible. The issues will be distributed digitally and/or in-print depending on the logistics of distribution. The Editorial Board will work with the YDSA NCC and staff to ensure that issues are ready for national events in a timely fashion.

RESOLVED, The Activist editorial board will work to send chapters print copies of The Activist in biannual editions. These two issues will be sent out in conjunction with national events, such as the Winter Conference and annual Convention. Chapter leadership will be asked to request an amount of copies to distribute to members, and will be asked to provide an address or, preferably, an official chapter P.O. Box. Chapters will be asked to provide reports on the state of their issues for future evaluation and to encourage distribution. New chapters will receive — with their chapter applications' acceptance — a requested amount of editions issued most recently.

RESOLVED, The Activist will host a workshop focused on developing the political writing skills of YDSA members at least once a year. The workshop will be open and advertised to all YDSA members and will feature current and former editors of The Activist and potentially other major socialist publications. The goal of the workshop will be to cultivate new authors and readers for The Activist.

RESOLVED, The Activist will host a regularly occurring virtual training open to all YDSA members throughout the 2025-2026 term on how to write and submit articles to The Activist. These workshops will include broad political writing guidance and discussion with potential authors about specific pieces, and support for national committee members during the writing process for their two required yearly articles.

RESOLVED, these regularly occurring virtual trainings shall occur a minimum of once per month.

RESOLVED, The Activist will continue its independent social media page on X (Twitter), Instagram, BlueSky, and any other platform at the discretion of the board. One member of the editorial board will serve as a liaison to the Communications Committee and one member of the Communication Committee will be specifically tasked with managing The Activist social media accounts.

RESOLVED, that any article published to The Activist will be distributed to all YDSA members via the Activist’s social media.

RESOLVED, The Activist will receive a new email, theactivist@dsausa.org, where all submissions will be directed. The Activist will also develop its own website which will be linked on the National YDSA website but will allow for a wider array of formats and visualizations. The Activist will receive funding for domain and website maintenance from DSA.

RESOLVED, The Activist will receive a budget for various expenses, including commissioning art, printing, mailing, video editing, and a $350 per month stipends for the Executive and Managing Editors, due to the fact that the position has entailed the work of an internship with a rare skill set. The outgoing editorial board will create a rough budget with variables (print costs, shipping costs) to be further elaborated on by the NCC, to then request from the NPC. In the event of incomplete allocation, costs of producing The Activist shall be prioritized. Before the next year's Convention, a report on the budget's expenditures shall be submitted as part of the delegates' information booklets, to the NCC, and thereby to the NPC for review.

RESOLVED, all national YDSA committees and working groups will be required to submit at least two articles each year on the work their specific committee has done or a specific local campaign their committee has substantially supported, as well as an explanation of how that work fulfills a resolution passed at the last YDSA convention. Each member of the national coordinating committee will also write at least one article per year.

RESOLVED, throughout the 2025-2026 term the Activist Editorial Board shall be encouraged to experiment with a newsroom format; this format shall consist of:

Specialized editorial staff, such as staff focused specifically on specific “beats”, or style of articles, such as roundtable, chapter check-ins, etc. This will be alongside a DEI editor to ensure our articles are written with Diversity, equity, and Inclusion in mind.
Specialization of Staff writers into specific areas or “beats” to ensure articles are written by people with the most experience and to create the highest quality of work.
Increased recruitment efforts of editorial staff and writers to expand our capabilities and place us more in line with other small, volunteer newsrooms.

R6. Building the Path to a YDSA to DSA Pipeline

Sponsor: Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Co-Sponsors: Aiden M-S, University of Cincinnati
Joel D, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Cedar L, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Madhu S, University of Cincinnati

Mya G, University of Cincinnati

Kai W, University of Cincinnati

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

Natasha D, Oberlin College and Conservatory

WHEREAS, YDSA members are also members of their local parent DSA chapter;

WHEREAS, despite this, YDSA members often lack the knowledge or comfort needed in order to participate in their local DSA chapters;

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters are often founded by students without direct support or mentorship from their local DSA chapters, resulting in gaps in communication, collaboration, and organizational continuity;

WHEREAS, YDSA is currently lacking an established culture of participation and collaboration with their parent DSA chapters as well as lacking an established culture of members graduating into DSA;

WHEREAS, the establishment of a strong YDSA to DSA pipeline is essential for building a consistent, resilient, and diverse socialist movement at both the local and national levels in the United States;

WHEREAS, the establishment of a formal YDSA to DSA pipeline is essential in developing YDSA members into becoming lifelong socialist organizers;

WHEREAS, many YDSA members are unfamiliar with or intimidated by procedural norms, such as Robert’s Rules of Order, and other practices standard in DSA chapters, which can be a barrier to their full participation and leadership development;

WHEREAS, both YDSA and DSA chapters benefit from shared resources, including fundraising capacity and access to local DSA funds for conventions, conferences, and large-scale organizing events;

WHEREAS, DSA is a mass organization and requires a constant supply of new and varied perspectives in order to maintain organizational health and in order to strengthen its organizing strategies;

WHEREAS,YDSA chapters offer unique perspectives developed from campus organizing that DSA chapters can benefit from;

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters have demonstrated greater diversity compared to many local DSA chapters, and fostering a strong YDSA-to-DSA pipeline can help DSA grow into a more representative mass organization;”

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) shall be tasked with developing and implementing a comprehensive YDSA-to-DSA pipeline program and mentoring chapters towards establishing this as a cultural norm;

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall mentor YDSA chapter leadership to encourage and create a standard that all YDSA members are, or become, dues-paying DSA members, and educate them on how YDSA funds support local DSA chapters and the broader movement;

RESOLVED, that the Youth Growth and Development Commit (YGDC) shall mentor newly established chapter organizing committees to establish communication with their local chapters and to establish a culture of participation in their local chapters from chapter inception;

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall mentor established chapter leadership to further integrate chapter work with their local DSA chapter over summer semesters;

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall encourage chapters to establish regular communication channels between YDSA and DSA chapters, including joint meetings, collaborative projects, and shared committee work (e.g., communications, growth and development, international, etc.), to foster a culture of mutual support and integration;

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall organize and provide resources and training for YDSA members on Robert’s Rules of Order, meeting facilitation, and other procedural knowledge to make DSA meetings more accessible and welcoming to new and graduating YDSA members;

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall mentor chapters on joint fundraising opportunities between YDSA and DSA chapters, teaching chapters how to maximize the collective capacity of both organizations to support major events, conventions, and campaigns, and ensuring equitable access to these resources for all YDSA members;

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall organize and facilitate end of semester calls for graduating YDSA members in order to plug them into local DSA chapters wherever they may be moving to post-graduation;

RESOLVED, that the YGDC shall organize and facilitate a call in coordination with the National DSA Growth and Development Committee in order to provide information to DSA chapters about how they can support their local YDSA chapters and provide mentorship on how to develop strong relationships with their local YDSA chapters;

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall annually evaluate the effectiveness of the YDSA-to-DSA pipeline, with an emphasis on increasing diversity, leadership development, and the seamless transition of YDSA members into DSA roles;

RESOLVED, that the NCC and YGDC shall actively collaborate with the National DSA Growth and Development Committee to share best practices, coordinate national-local resource allocation, and jointly develop training, fundraising strategies, and leadership pipelines to strengthen the YDSA-to-DSA pipeline;

RESOLVED, that the adoption of this resolution will signify YDSA’s and DSA’s shared commitment to building a unified, diverse, and sustainable socialist movement by strengthening the pipeline between YDSA and DSA at every level.

Amendments to R6

Amendment R6-1

Sponsor: Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Co-Sponsors: Sofia B, Rollins College

Eli K, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Eli C, Florida International University

Lael L, Florida International University

Ian M, University of Oregon

New Language:

WHEREAS, YDSA members are also members of their local parent DSA chapter,

WHEREAS, despite this, YDSA members often lack the knowledge or comfort needed in order to participate in their local DSA chapters;

WHEREAS, for YDSA and DSA chapters to work together, there must be work to be done together; while the campaigning approach has taken root in YDSA, the same cannot be said for DSA chapters, who by and large, do not run campaigns;

WHEREAS, YDSA is currently lacking an established culture of participation and collaboration with their parent DSA chapters as well as lacking an established culture of members graduating into DSA;

WHEREAS, the establishment of a strong YDSA to DSA pipeline is essential for building a consistent resilient, and diverse socialist movement at both the local and national levels,in the United States;

WHEREAS, the establishment of a formal YDSA to DSA pipeline is essential in developing YDSA members into becoming lifelong socialist organizers;

WHEREAS, both YDSA and DSA chapters benefit from shared resources, including fundraising capacity and access to local DSA funds for conventions, conferences, and large-scale organizing events;

WHEREAS, DSA is a mass organization and requires a constant supply of new and varied perspectives in order to maintain organizational health and in order to strengthen its organizing strategies;

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters offer unique perspectives developed from campus organizing that DSA chapters can benefit from;

RESOLVED, that the Youth Growth and Development Commitee (YGDC) shall mentor newly established chapter organizing committees to establish communication with their local DSA chapters and to establish a culture of participation in their local chapters from chapter inception;

RESOLVED, that to facilitate the transition into an active political environment the NCC shall mentor established chapter leadership to push for the campaigning approach in their local chapters in such ways that encourage integration of the campaigns of YDSA and the DSA parent chapter; to further integrate chapter work with their local DSA chapter over summer semesters;

RESOLVED, to provide clear communication and build a stronger organizing relationship between YDSA chapters and their parent DSA chapter, chapters should advocate for the following from their parent DSA chapter

An allocation of the DSA chapter’s monthly budget in the form of a “YDSA Organizing Budget.”
Representation on their parent DSA chapter’s leadership committee, with full voting rights, through a YDSA coordinator position, that is elected by the full DSA chapter.
YDSA reportbacks at DSA General Body Meetings providing updates on YDSA campaigns, recruitment, and political development.
A joint schedule of the YDSA chapter(s) and DSA chapter’s major events to be shared with membership.
Joint posting of major YDSA events to the DSA social media and vice versa.

RESOLVED, that the NCC shall organize and facilitate end of semester calls for graduating YDSA members in order to plug them into local DSA chapters wherever they may be moving to post-graduation;

RESOLVED, that the NCC Co-Chairs shall work to bring together the DSA Growth and Development Committee (GDC) and the YGDC to host at least one joint call during the 2025-2026 term YGDC shall organize and facilitate a call in coordination with the National DSA Growth and Development Committee in order to provide information to on how DSA chapters about how they can support their local YDSA chapters and provide mentorship on how to develop strong relationships with their local YDSA chapters;

RESOLVED, that the adoption of this resolution will signify YDSA’s commitment to having its members purposefully engaging with and fighting for a place in their parent DSA chapters in the interest of building the pipeline to achieve DSA & YDSA’s shared vision: a strong, unified, diverse and sustainable socialist movement and DSA’s shared commitment to building a unified, diverse, and sustainable socialist movement by strengthening the pipeline between YDSA and DSA at every level.

R7. For a National YDSA Program

Sponsor: Steven R, Furman University

Co-Sponsors: Carlos C, Cal Poly Pomona

Addison G, University of Central Florida

Bryce A, Arizona State University

Shayan C, Virginia Tech

Megan C, Virginia Tech

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Joselyn P, Florida International University

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

WHEREAS, the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) requires a unifying socialist program that clearly articulates the political goals of the organization and meaningfully guides its local and national work in order to build the youth wing of a socialist party.

WHEREAS, the 2023 YDSA National Convention adopted A5: Programmatic Unity for YDSA, establishing acceptance of “the aims of the platform of the organization” as the basis for membership in YDSA, alongside “the aims, constitution, resolutions, and the decisions of the organization.”

WHEREAS, the 2024 YDSA National Convention adopted R18: For a YDSA Program Committee, establishing a multi-tendency committee with a democratic mandate to research and draft a national program for the organization that would “be used to unify the organization’s politics, express its ideas through chapters across the country, give coherence to campaigns, and provide the basis for literature, graphics, and messaging.”

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA shall adopt a program as the basis of its programmatic unity and practical activity, which may only be amended by the YDSA National Convention.

RESOLVED, the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) shall be ultimately responsible for making the program widely accessible to all YDSA chapters, helping YDSA members to use the program as a consistent organizational and explanatory tool, and integrating the program as a core pillar of the national organization’s messaging and campaigns.

RESOLVED, the following national committees shall be responsible for widely disseminating the program to the membership of YDSA:

The Communications Committee, by preparing social media posts announcing the new program to the membership and general public early in the fall 2025 semester;
The Youth Growth and Development Committee, by creating a high quality pamphlet version of the program to be provided to chapters in future Fall Drive kits.

RESOLVED, as per Article IV, Section I of the YDSA Constitution, membership in YDSA shall be contingent on acceptance of the general aims and principles of this program, with all members reserving the right to publicly critique and organize to amend the program.

RESOLVED, the 2025 YDSA National Convention adopts the following program drafted by the YDSA Program Committee:

Program of the Young Democratic Socialists of America

In the United States of America, we live in a country governed by a small elite of bosses and billionaires—the capitalist class—who dominate nearly every aspect of public life. They control our political institutions, most major media outlets, the education system, and every level of government, from local city halls to the U.S. Senate. The capitalists use their power to extract wealth from the vast majority of people: the working class. This capitalist system can only be overthrown by workers organizing collectively to take political power from the rich and build a new society with a new democratic constitution that puts the working class majority in control.

At every turn, the capitalist class exploits young people who work and study long hours to escape poverty, suffocating us with high tuition and rent, student debt, and unacceptable wages. Our schools are underfunded and used as recruitment pipelines for the military-industrial complex. With our school systems being hollowed out for profit and millions going without education at all, we are facing a mass literacy and education crisis. Our society has been stolen from the hands of the people who made it—stolen from us. If working people had democratic control over the vast wealth and resources of our country, we could run society and use the factories, land, infrastructure, and technology for the benefit of everyone. We in YDSA fight for that society, a democratic socialist society.

American capitalism is marked by racism and xenophobia, with Black people, immigrants, and other communities deliberately over-policed, under-employed, and systematically abandoned. Cities remain segregated, leaving people of color with unequal access to healthcare, education, and housing. This oppression in our own country does not stop at its borders. The capitalists who oppress us at home use their wealth and power to wage endless wars around the world, slaughtering countless innocents to line their pockets. When students and young people have tried to protest these wars and their universities’ complicity in them, they are met with nothing but intense repression from their administrators and the state. As we face the existential threat of climate catastrophe, the ruling powers in our society offer us only violence and despair.

The two-party political system is rigged to keep the ruling capitalist class in charge. In order to change this, the working class needs a party of its own: an organization by and for working people, where politicians are held to real standards of conduct and aren't allowed to break their promises, and where we make our decisions democratically. The Democratic Socialists of America is building that party today, and YDSA is building its youth wing. YDSA has taken important steps toward this goal by running and electing our own members to public office, supporting unions in strikes to win better pay and benefits, and fighting alongside oppressed and working people all around the country, from small towns to big cities.

As working-class youth, we can become life-long leaders in the fight for emancipation by leading class-struggle campaigns on our campuses and entering strategic industries to remake the labor movement. Together, we can build the political alternative our class needs by changing the trajectory of our peers’ lives and creating a generation of young revolutionaries capable of transforming society. Winning reforms and building a mass worker's party alone isn't enough to accomplish this. The future of our country, humanity, and the planet will be decided by which class holds power: the capitalists or the workers. YDSA is dedicated to overthrowing the rule of the wealthy few and establishing a democracy for the working class. This is our vision:

Immediate Demands

Make Our Campuses Sanctuaries. Refuse to comply with legal attacks on international, undocumented, and LGBTQ+ students and workers.
Cops Off Our Campuses. No to political repression, racist policing, and violence against students.
Freedom to Organize. Protect the right of all campus workers to collectively bargain and unionize.
Divest From the War Machine. Ban military recruiters on campus, abolish ROTC, cut all ties with military contractors, and provide a just transition for affected students and workers.
Invest in Our Campuses. Fully fund robust and engaging curricula, livable meal plans and housing arrangements, and environmentally sustainable campus infrastructure.
Open Our Schools to Everyone. Expand support and accessibility for college education to ensure everyone has an opportunity to go to college regardless of race, income, or disability.
Student-Worker Power. Establish democratic, open, and transparent governance bodies with real decision-making power for students, faculty, and staff.

Long-Term Demands

We believe there are real victories to be won here and now on our campuses, but our most hard-fought victories are in danger for as long as the power structure of capitalism remains intact. These are the systemic transformations we need to win lasting freedom for all:

Universal Right to Education: Free education for all from preschool to PhD. Wipe out all student debt. Take all private schools into public ownership.
Democratic Control of Our Schools: Elected student-worker assemblies to replace boards of trustees, presidents, and unaccountable administrators. Budgets will be made transparent and under the control of all who live, study, and work at our campuses.
A Government of the Working Class: Abolish the Senate, the Supreme Court, and all other institutions of minority rule. Create a democratic republic with a unicameral people’s assembly elected by universal, equal, and direct suffrage, alongside democratic management of workplaces.
Seize the Commanding Heights of the Economy: Nationalize major industries and medical, energy, and transport infrastructure. Bring the economy under the control of a common plan decided by the working class.
International Peace and Solidarity: End imperialist wars, close overseas military bases, abolish the standing military and police. Dismantle weapons of war and invest in peaceful, non-exploitative global development.
A Global Educational Campaign: Global funding for the establishment of peoples’ schools according to the needs of each community, freedom of movement for students and teachers, and unrestricted public access to all scholarship.
International Climate Plan: Fighting the climate crisis requires international planning within ecological limits. Universities will aid in this fight by collaborating in an international research effort to devise a plan to transform the global distribution of resources, supply chains, manufacturing, agriculture and food systems, urban planning, and humanity’s energy production and use.

Conclusion

Climate catastrophe, the rise of the far right, and the threat of world war seem to mark the end of the world as we know it. But in the end of this world, we see the possibility of another. We are not condemned to die in the same world we were born into. Through collective struggle in our schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities, we have the power to change history. A better, freer, and more humanizing world is possible. We can choose to fight for and win a world where no worker is exploited by a boss, no child is abused by a parent, no person is beaten by police, no community is annihilated by bombs: where every human being can have a dignified life and democratic society. This is the project that we have committed ourselves to, the one that we will do everything in our power to realize, the one that requires millions of us to come together toward the creation of a new world—a new humanity.

Amendments to R7

Amendment R7-1

Sponsor: Michael A, Furman University

Co-Sponsors: Claire I J, Furman University

Allen D, Texas State University

Raven M, Georgia State University

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Mae S, Furman University

New Language:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA shall adopt a program as the basis of its programmatic unity and practical activity, which may only be amended by the YDSA National Convention.

RESOLVED, the following national committees shall be responsible for widely disseminating the program to the membership of YDSA:

The Communications Committee, by preparing social media posts announcing the new program to the membership and general public early in the fall 2025 semester;
The Youth Growth and Development Committee, by creating a high quality pamphlet version of the program to be provided to chapters in future Fall Drive kits.

RESOLVED, the 2025 YDSA National Convention adopts the following program drafted by the YDSA Program Committee:

Program of the Young Democratic Socialists of America

Immediate Demands

Make Our Campuses Sanctuaries. Refuse to comply with legal attacks on international, undocumented, and LGBTQ+ students and workers.
Cops Off Our Campuses. No to political repression, racist policing, and violence against students.
Freedom to Organize. Protect the right of all campus workers to collectively bargain and unionize.
Divest From the War Machine. Ban military recruiters on campus, abolish ROTC, cut all ties with military contractors, and provide a just transition for affected students and workers.
Invest in Our Campuses. Fully fund robust and engaging curricula, livable meal plans and housing arrangements, and environmentally sustainable campus infrastructure.
Open Our Schools to Everyone. Expand support and accessibility for college education to ensure everyone has an opportunity to go to college regardless of race, income, or disability.
Student-Worker Power. Establish democratic, open, and transparent governance bodies with real decision-making power for students, faculty, and staff.
Unconditional repatriation of indigenous remains and artifacts: Full return of inventoried indigenous remains and artifacts from our universities to their original communities, regardless of federal status.
Integration of indigenous pedagogies within our universities: Incorporate indigenous learning practices and content into education in coordination with indigenous groups to promote cultural learning. Provide opportunities for indigenous students to learn and use their traditional languages in educational settings.

Long-Term Demands

Universal Right to Education: Free education for all from preschool to PhD. Wipe out all student debt. Take all private schools into public ownership.
Democratic Control of Our Schools: Elected student-worker assemblies to replace boards of trustees, presidents, and unaccountable administrators. Budgets will be made transparent and under the control of all who live, study, and work at our campuses.
A Government of the Working Class: Abolish the Senate, the Supreme Court, and all other institutions of minority rule. Create a democratic republic with a unicameral people’s assembly elected by universal, equal, and direct suffrage, alongside democratic management of workplaces.
Seize the Commanding Heights of the Economy: Nationalize major industries and medical, energy, and transport infrastructure. Bring the economy under the control of a common plan decided by the working class.
International Peace and Solidarity: End imperialist wars, close overseas military bases, abolish the standing military and police. Dismantle weapons of war and invest in peaceful, non-exploitative global development.
A Global Educational Campaign: Global funding for the establishment of peoples’ schools according to the needs of each community, freedom of movement for students and teachers, and unrestricted public access to all scholarship.
International Climate Plan: Fighting the climate crisis requires international planning within ecological limits. Universities will aid in this fight by collaborating in an international research effort to devise a plan to transform the global distribution of resources, supply chains, manufacturing, agriculture and food systems, urban planning, and humanity’s energy production and use.
Unconditional repatriation of ancestral lands to indigenous peoples and honoring of historic treaties: Return full control over indigenous territories to their respective nations so that they may be governed sovereignly. Honor historic treaties and make efforts to form new ones wherein indigenous groups are not placed under duress to ensure a just transition.

Conclusion

R8. Convention Mandates are Mandates

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B H, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

WHEREAS, the Annual Convention is the highest decision-making body of YDSA under Article VI, Section 2 of the YDSA Constitution, and policies and decisions made by Convention are above the individual personal and group decisions of the National Coordinating Committee;

WHEREAS, previous Conventions have passed resolutions with very specific mandates of action for the NCC, often specifying exactly what actions the NCC must take and when they must take those actions by;

WHEREAS, as a democratic body, the Annual Convention has the power to bind the NCC as its elected leadership, and the language of resolutions is binding and mandatory on the NCC whose job is to execute the mandates and demands of the membership;

WHEREAS, prior NCCs have disregarded or outright violated explicit requirements and policies imposed by the Annual Convention, working instead based on their own personal determinations of how the spirit of the resolution should be implemented;

WHEREAS, while Convention can and often does leave the details of implementation for many goals and objectives set by Convention resolutions up to the NCC, that practice does not excuse the violation of explicit demands made by the Convention;

WHEREAS, to protect the sovereignty and authority of the Convention to decide matters in YDSA, the Convention must reaffirm the YDSA Constitution and clearly indicate to the incoming NCC and future NCCs that it is the highest body of YDSA;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Young Democratic Socialists of America’s National Coordinating Committee is ordered by the Convention to respect that Convention is the highest body of YDSA and to treat any language specifying a requirement or directive for the NCC to execute as mandatory unless clearly stated otherwise; and

RESOLVED, that the NCC and its members, as well as any staff and/or interns assigned to YDSA, must take every practicable action to ensure that Convention mandates are executed as demanded in the applicable resolution and within any time limits specified, with ambiguities in implementations being resolved in good faith, without regard for what is politically expedient for the NCC members themselves, and in consultation with the original author(s) of the resolution; and

RESOLVED, the NCC and applicable committees shall retain the ability to decide, in good faith and without regard for personal expediency, how to implement resolutions passed at the same Annual Convention which have overlapping and/or conflicting mandates and requirements.

R9. Developing A Diverse YDSA Through Political Means

Sponsors: Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Jeffrey C, Oakland University

Co-Sponsors: Sofia B, Rollins College

Eli K, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Reese H, University of Missouri - Columbia

Carlos C, Cal Poly Pomona

Kaeden B, University of Texas - San Antonio

Ciara J, University of California Santa Barbara

James H, Florida International University

Lael L, Florida International University

WHEREAS, despite having a clear intent to organize the multiracial and gender-diverse working class, throughout Y/DSA’s history, these groups have been systematically underrepresented in both membership and leadership.

WHEREAS, the intent to diversify YDSA involves two questions: the question of recruitment and the question of retention. This debate often merges the two aforementioned questions into one, resulting in necessary yet insufficient solutions to the problem of a lack of diversity in YDSA.

WHEREAS, at the 2022 & 2023 YDSA conventions we had met, but not surpassed, the constitutional requirement that at least four members of the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) be people of color. Additionally, women were severely underrepresented during the NCC race, being entirely absent during the NCC At-Large debates. Both these instances show the need for deeper YDSA membership development pipelines.

WHEREAS, various comrades of color and femme comrades lack structured development opportunities in their chapters and insufficient support from national YDSA leadership to build long-term organizing capacity.

WHEREAS, a strong campaigning approach on issues important to marginalized communities has been shown to be a strong contender for an answer to the question of recruitment. We can see this through examples like the Plan B campaigns run by Rollins College YDSA and Florida International University YDSA; the former seeing meeting attendance increase by 100%, with 75% of new members being non-cis-men; and the latter seeing 30% membership growth, (20 new card-carrying members,) over half of which were non-cis-men. Both examples saw new and existing non-cis-men members develop politically and emerge as core leaders in their respective chapters.

WHEREAS, the creation of identity-based working groups or committees has been shown to be a strong contender for an answer to the question of retention. We have seen this through examples like the Socialist Feminist Committee and Socialists of Color Committee at the University of Oregon YDSA, which have changed chapter culture for the better by creating social spaces, running relevant political-education, and developing members to take on leadership within the chapter.

WHEREAS, the Chapter Health & Intersectionality Committee (CHIC) was chartered at the 2024 YDSA convention with the goal of helping solve the issue of a lack of diversity in YDSA. Throughout the 2024-2025 term, CHIC has taken various steps towards accomplishing these goals by mentoring various chapters in dealing with negative chapter culture and social incidents; hosting the Conversations for a More Diverse YDSA and For an Intersectional YDSA workshops at the 2025 YDSA Organizing Conference; organizing the Socialist Feminist reading group, that had participants walk away with sentiments of camaraderie with non-men and women comrades from across the country; and creating materials for chapters to use to evaluate chapter culture and address issues with racism and white supremacy culture.

WHEREAS, CHIC distributed a survey and outreach form that provided integral information on issues with culture in YDSA and found that one of the most pervasive issues regarding chapter culture in YDSA was the sidelining of concerns regarding diversity or issues that may be considered ‘identitarian.’

WHEREAS, throughout YDSA, comrades of marginalized identities, such as disabled comrades, non-cis-men comrades, and queer comrades, among others, face similar challenges in regard to organizing, recruitment and leadership development. For this reason, we need a convention-mandated consensus that serves as a helpful basis for national leaders and staff to mentor chapters, and for chapter leaders when navigating their chapter work.

WHEREAS, a socialist movement seeking to win liberation for the gender-diverse & multiracial working class must intentionally cultivate diverse leadership to effectively challenge capitalism and oppression in all its forms.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA understands that the problem of a lack of gender and racial diversity in YDSA stems from a lack of social and political credibility. YDSA can best resolve this problem politically, throughout all levels of YDSA, with a combined approach of engaging in externally-facing political work and the intentional development of comrades of marginalized identities.

RESOLVED, to tackle this problem alongside members of the NCC and staff, CHIC shall be rechartered with the task of mentoring chapters that are engaging in externally-facing work aimed at winning demands for the multi-racial, gender-diverse working class. Through mentorship, the creation of resources and materials, and year-round trainings CHIC shall build up the following skills for chapters across the country:

Being able to identify the type of externally-facing work the chapter can engage in to earn political credibility with marginalized groups on their local campuses.
Knowing how to recruit and develop members in a way that avoids tokenizing comrades of marginalized identities.
Being able to identify members of marginalized identities to develop as chapter leaders and building up their confidence to take on sectors of work in a chapter.
Knowing when and how to establish identity-based committees in such a way that emerges from a strong political foundation and develops comrades of marginalized identities into strong leaders of YDSA.
Being able to evaluate the ways which existing local structures and practices can be improved on for a more diverse, more inclusive and healthier chapter.
Being able to organically build relationships with local identity-based affinity groups.

RESOLVED, throughout the 2025-2026 term CHIC shall continue to organize reading groups and skills training for members of marginalized identities, such as, but not limited to: disabled comrades, non-cis-men comrades, and queer comrades.

RESOLVED, CHIC shall be tasked with organizing at least two workshops to be presented at the 2026 YDSA Organizing Conference. The workshops shall highlight successful examples of how chapters have built a diverse and vibrant membership. One workshop should address new member recruitment, while the other should focus on retention through intersectional membership development.

RESOLVED, CHIC will work on providing language accessibility resources nationally and mentor chapters for implementation locally. This will include translating national communications materials into Spanish and researching the implementation of Spanish language translators and ASL interpreters for large national events like the YDSA Organizing Conference and Convention.

RESOLVED, CHIC shall promote the use of Harassment Grievance Officers in YDSA, avoiding the use of their local DSA HGOs, who are often separated from chapter work.

RESOLVED, if YDSA adopts a National Priority via a Priority Resolution at the 2025 YDSA Convention, the 2025-2026 NCC shall ensure that CHIC is in communication with any bodies tasked with carrying out the National Priority. Additionally, YDSA commits to ensuring that throughout the execution of any National Priority, we are seeking to have chapters build up the skills listed above.

RESOLVED, the NCC will schedule a quarterly discussion focused on organizing with and for diverse communities, with the goal of strengthening a national program to expand representation and capacity in YDSA. These discussions will include strategic planning, support for chapter outreach, and rapid response to political attacks on marginalized communities.

RESOLVED, CHIC shall collaborate with the Youth Growth and Development Committee (YGDC) with the goal of promoting a positive organizing and social environment for new organizing committees and chapters. These themes shall be incorporated into the 2025 Fall Drive, seeking to build the skills and confidence of comrades of marginalized identities through trainings on matters such as public speaking and meeting facilitation, among others.

RESOLVED, YDSA’s public-facing communications, including those developed by the Communications Committee, will be responsive to the material conditions of students of color, and project a clear alternative to capitalism rooted in solidarity, equity, and collective liberation.

RESOLVED, chapters should avoid embarking on campaigns solely to recruit from a marginalized community, but rather should consider how their campaigns already present issues which speak to marginalized communities and bring together diverse sections of the working class against the capitalists and their bureaucrats.

RESOLVED, to build YDSA chapters into an inclusive space, chapter leaders should seek to empower comrades of marginalized identities through practical political work. By engaging in conscious leadership development and moving people deeper into the chapter core, chapter leaders can assist in building up the confidence of comrades of marginalized identities and have them be energetic architects of a more inclusive, diverse chapter and organization.

RESOLVED, all national YDSA bodies involved in training and political education will be tasked with incorporating perspectives and frameworks that emphasize issue-cutting, accessibility, and solidarity with working-class communities of color. Political education and leadership development must be directly tied to empowering comrades of color.

RESOLVED, relevant national bodies will conduct intentional list work and one-on-one outreach with the express goal of mentoring and supporting comrades of color and other underrepresented members into chapter and national leadership through structured mentorship and political development.

R10. Building an International Student Movement

Sponsor: James H, Florida International University

Co-Sponsors: Gina L, Brown University

Will G, University of Oregon

Jeffrey C, Oakland University
Michael R, New York University

Megan C, Virginia Tech

Gerica N, Hollywood YDSA

Diego M, Florida International University

Allen D, Texas State University

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

This resolution has been updated to incorporate a friendly secondary submission from:

Sponsor: James H, Florida International University

Co-Sponsors: Diego M, Florida International University

Michael R, New York University

Megan C, Virginia Tech

Margot G, Columbia University

Carlos C, Cal Poly Pomona

WHEREAS, capitalism is an economic system that exploits billions of working-class people across the globe.

WHEREAS, capitalism is a system of class exploitation. This system necessitates the exploitation of the international working class by the international capitalist class, as well as the articulation of national divisions wherein those in the imperial core exploit countries within the global periphery. However, this division does not negate that the central struggle is between the workers and the capitalists. Workers in imperialist and subjugated countries must be united in their struggles against their ruling classes.

WHEREAS, the main enemy is the one in the United States. As socialists in the belly of the beast, it is our responsibility to develop a strong international working-class movement to destroy U.S. imperialism.

WHEREAS, in a time of rising fascism in the United States, socialists in the U.S. must be able to develop a clear understanding of their own conditions and study international movements. Various international events are occurring this year, like the COP30, the Green Left’s Ecosocialism Conference, and mobilizations for political self-determination in Latin America. These events offer critical lessons that can be used to sharpen U.S. socialists’ analysis and organizing at home.

WHEREAS, Capitalism has led to the displacement of working people by being the principal force behind ecological collapse. Socialists in the U.S. must fight for a just green energy transition and degrowth in sectors most responsible for accelerating the climate crisis, like weapons manufacturing and private transportation. We must also fight for reforms like job guarantees with living wages, shorter work weeks, the expansion of public transportation, and federal job retraining programs for workers in dying sectors.

WHEREAS, the international far-right has gained strength over the past decade using xenophobic and nationalist rhetoric to attack social and labor movements, marginalized communities, and undermine democracy.

WHEREAS, Donald Trump’s election victory and reactionary agenda has emboldened far-right parties and movements around the world.

WHEREAS, comforting the threat of the far-right can not be accomplished within national boundaries alone and requires international coordination.

WHEREAS, international mobilization against Trump and far-right forces must include coordinated solidarity campaigns, protests, and shared political wisdom.

WHEREAS, students across the globe have long histories of organizing student unions, which many YDSA chapters have been taking lessons from. These lessons must be shared across the organization to improve upon what will be a years-long organizing project.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA recognizes the struggles of the international working class as freedom struggles for economic and political self-determination. We stand against any state that upholds the oppression of working and marginalized people. We also recognize that our main target is U.S. imperialism and capitalism, as they are the driving forces in the oppression of working-class people around the world.

RESOLVED, YDSA recognizes that the development of the socialist movement should first and foremost seek to unite the international working class against the international capitalist class. We recognize that this does not mean uncritical diplomatic support for states, social democratic parties, or socialist parties. Instead, we understand our primary task to be in solidarity with the working class against oppressive ruling classes.

RESOLVED, YDSA, through the YDSA Internationalism Committee, will form relationships with international youth socialist groups, student organizers, campus and youth labor organizers, and other social movement activists. These relationships will aim to share strategies and tactics, engage in political education, and collaborate on major campaigns and international events.

RESOLVED, YDSA will make efforts, where possible, to invite guests from the international student movement to the YDSA conference and YDSA convention, as well as send NCC members to important events in the student movement abroad. International guests may be eligible for funding to attend the YDSA conference through the YDSA Conference Scholarship.

R11. Victory to the International Working Class

Sponsor: Qingyu Z, University of Florida

Co-Sponsors: Giovanetta M, Hunter College

Jacob F, University of Florida

Luca D, University of California Berkeley

Ryan J, New York University

Aron A-M, University of Florida

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Stephen S, University of Florida

Parker D, University of Texas San Antonio

WHEREAS, global capitalism is based on the imperialist exploitation of workers across the world by international capital. We recognize that the unity of the working class regardless of national divisions in proletarian internationalism represents the only force that can abolish capitalism.

WHEREAS, the United States and its Empire represents the center of the capitalist world-system, and has supported the most brutal exploitation and oppression: from Zionist colonialism to the massacre of students by the Swazi monarchy. Anti-imperialism around the world is inherently linked to dismantling the apparatuses of imperialism within the United States, a task that the YDSA is uniquely equipped to support as the largest national organization of socialist youth.

WHEREAS, the decline of American hegemony has resulted in a sharpening of contradictions across the world. The reaction by the American right-wing has broken key tools of American imperialism such as the NED at the same time sabre-rattling against China has intensified. The global youth have risen up in Serbia, Indonesia, and Turkey against corrupt and authoritarian regimes.

WHEREAS, the Trump regime has unleashed a new wave of repression against anti-imperialist movements within the United States, including threats of deportation for non-citizen students such as Mahmoud Khalil and the labeling of anti-Zionist activism as “terrorism”. The regime has continued and intensified the imprisonment and deportation of undocumented migrants, including to the far-right dictatorship of El Salvador and American-occupied Guantanamo Bay.

WHEREAS, the 2022, 2023, and 2024 YDSA convention passed resolutions in support of the IC-YLC/Youth International Committee and its continued mandate to function as a joint project of the YDSA and International Committee(IC).

WHEREAS, the YIC has successfully made contact with the Linksjugend(Germany), Left Youth(Finland), Mlodzi Razem(Poland), Student Federation of India, and Swaziland National Union of Students. Through the IC, the YIC also maintains connections to parties, mass organizations and their youth wings across the world such as the Communist Party of Kenya, Workers Party of Brazil, and Anakbayan as well as other organizations of the Progressive International and Foro de Sao Paulo.

WHEREAS, the YIC participated in the activities and discussions of the broader IC while organizing YDSA specific events such as a panel of international parties at the 2025 Winter Organizing Conference.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that YDSA reaffirms our support for and recharters the Youth International Committee(YIC)

RESOLVED that the YIC will maintain its current structures:

The YIC shall be led by two co-chairs, recommended for appointment by the YDSA National Coordinating Committee, approved by the IC Steering Committee and the NPC
The membership of the YIC shall be open to all eligible members of YDSA, subject to approval of by the Youth International Committee Co-chairs, the IC Steering Committee liaison(s), and the NCC Liaison(s)
The YIC will hold internal elections within the subcommittee to choose members to act as liaisons to the other IC subcommittees to insure the YIC is integrated into projects across the IC

RESOLVED that the primary purpose of the YIC is to bring YDSA members into IC work and more broadly the international struggles against capitalism and imperialism, including both anti-imperialist work in the United States and cooperation with international comrades. Its mission will be to:

Build unity and solidarity with youth wings of foreign socialist, communist, and workers parties as well as mass organizations such as trade unions.
Organize cooperation with anti-imperialist organizations and groups within the United States to dismantle the Empire from within, particularly on anti-Zionism and migrant support work.
Collaborate with YDSA chapters to organize campaigns and work with other committees like the YPEC to produce anti-imperialist political education content.

R12. For a Campaigning Internationalism

Sponsor: Steven R, Furman University

Co-Sponsors: Claire I J, Furman University

Burke M, Northeastern University

Casey P, Georgia State University

Addison G, University of Central Florida

Michael R, Furman University

Gant R, The New School

Abhiram P, Virginia Commonwealth University

Nick C, University of Maryland College Park

Lokesh M, Northeastern University

WHEREAS, ecological collapse, global pandemics, the international rise of fascism and the far-right, and the threat of world war are international issues that only a unified global working class is capable of defeating, and,

WHEREAS, the greatest threat to the continued survival of humanity and the freedom of working and oppressed people worldwide is imperialism, led by the United States capitalist class, which dominates and exploits the entire international proletariat through imperialist warfare, military occupation, economic terrorism, and antidemocratic regime change, and,

WHEREAS, the self-destructive nature of capitalism and increasing challenges from the working class, oppressed peoples, and rival powers has driven US-led imperialism into a period of intense systemic crisis, which the US ruling class and its global allies have responded to with escalating violence, including war, border militarization, political repression, and genocide, and,

WHEREAS, the debate over internationalism in DSA and YDSA has historically approached it as a diplomatic issue rather than an area of organizing, focusing on the question of which overseas parties and youth formations to seek relations with rather than the practical challenge of organizing the working class in the US into a consistent force of opposition to US imperialism,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA adopts the following principles in the international struggle for democracy and socialism:

In the class struggle, the main enemy for socialists in the US is always at home: the US ruling class.
The international task of the socialist movement is to unify the global working class in an international movement against imperialism, colonialism, and ecocide and for worldwide democracy and socialism.
Our most urgent task towards this end as socialists in the US is to undermine our own ruling class and its government by organizing mass opposition to its foreign policy aims and its capacity to rule and oppress the imperialized world.
As participants in the student and labor movements, we oppose nationalism and all compromise with the US ruling class. We seek to organize these movements into militant vehicles for cross-border working-class solidarity in opposition to the US military-police state.

RESOLVED, the Youth International Committee (YIC) or its equivalent national committee will be reconfigured to act primarily as an organizing body and secondarily as a vehicle for establishing connections with parties and youth formations abroad.

RESOLVED, the YIC’s main work will consist of mentoring chapters on campaigns immediately related to the task of building international solidarity by undermining the US empire from within, including Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS), anti-recruitment, and “military-industrial complex off campus”-style campaigns. This mandate will include work previously housed under the Palestine Committee.

RESOLVED, chapter mentorship provided by the YIC will consist of, but not be limited to, the following:

An interest call early in the fall 2025 semester for chapters interested in running anti-militarism, BDS, or similar campaigns.
Recurring cohort calls for chapters running internationalism-related campaigns throughout the academic year.

R13. Rechartering the Youth Labor Committee

Sponsors: Atakan D, Cornell University

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Co-Sponsors: Stephen S, University of Florida

Jules M, Oregon State University

Natasha D, Oberlin College

Tyler B, Binghamton University

Parker D, University of Texas San Antonio

Aidan T, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Deya R, University of California Berkeley

Arjun J, Purdue University

WHEREAS, the working-class is the only force in society with both the interest and power to rupture with capitalism and build socialism. To realize this historical mission, the working-class must be organized and guided by a socialist vision for the transformation of society. However, the working-class today is largely disorganized, and decades of McCarthyite repression have separated the left from the worker’s movement. As socialists, our tasks are to help build a militant, democratic, rank and file led worker’s movement.

WHEREAS, the modern labor movement is still, as a whole, fragmented and weak. Union density and strike actions have steadily decreased for the past several decades. Instead of resisting this decline, larger unions are often pursuing class collaboration over class struggle, negotiating concessions, and restraining working-class self-activity. Additionally, instead of resisting the neo-liberal politics of both parties, large international unions have tailed the capitalist establishment of the Democratic party.

WHEREAS, it is the duty of YDSA, as the youth wing of DSA, to develop socialist organizers capable of working class organization. DSA is the central mechanism for leftist organizing in the United States, so YDSA must train future DSA leaders and by extension US leftists leaders. To this end, it is our responsibility to funnel youth organizers into working class movements such as DSA, EWOC, WOW, and trade unions.

WHEREAS, in the last decade, particularly in the past few years, we have seen glimpses of a resurgent labor movement. New organizing at Starbucks, Amazon and beyond has spurred the self activity of workers nationwide. Workers on the shop floor are transforming their unions and leading strike actions, which have become more commonplace.

WHEREAS, a militant fighting labor movement must be rebuilt from the bottom-up. Unions for the past 50 years have continued to become more and more docile. Politically disengaged memberships elect top-down oriented leadership who abide by a service unionism model. Even when socialist union staffers are hired, their radical ideas are curbed due to leadership’s unwillingness to put resources into fighting capital.. Re-orientation towards class struggle will only come through the politicization of the shop-floor

WHEREAS, on campus, a number of undergraduate student worker unions and organizing drives have been— and continue to be— organized, many of which have been founded, led, and/or supported by YDSA chapters and members. Currently the YLC is currently working with around a dozen organizing committees across the country seeking to organize more than 50,000 student workers.

WHEREAS, organizing a student worker union is not only a feasible task for many YDSA chapters, but is among the most significant and important tasks a chapter can take on. Student worker unions create otherwise non-existent sites of working class power and activity for working students, causing students (worker and non-worker alike) to become more class-conscious and pro-labor. Unionization campaigns themselves lead to accelerated political development and organizing experience for participants, which can build YDSA chapters and the campus left. Additionally, student worker unions form power bases that, through the threat of withholding labor, can enhance and empower other left-student demands, fight privatization and austerity, and transform higher education for the better. Beyond the campus, student worker unions can influence and strengthen the broader labor movement; Experience in a union before graduating encourages young workers to stay involved in the labor movement post-graduation.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA affirms labor work as a core task of our organization, and will continue the work of our Youth Labor Committee (YLC) in 2025-2026. The YLC shall be staffed with no fewer than three co-chairs, appointed by YDSA’s National Coordinating Committee, and shall receive consistent support from no fewer than two members of the NCC.

RESOLVED, the YLC will aid any student worker (YDSA member or not) in building student worker unions on their campus. The YLC will provide structured and ongoing training, mentorship, and support for these campaigns, and will be tasked with developing and cohering a base of YDSA members with labor experience to serve as labor organizing mentors. Building and maintaining a structured, one-on-one mentorship program shall be considered a core function of the committee.

RESOLVED, this upcoming term the YLC will continue to build out this aforementioned mentorship program by seeking to accomplish the following goals:

Formalize said mentorship program through the YLC mentorship application form
Promote said mentorship form through social media and traditional comms
Have every mentee campaign supported by at least one YLC organizer
Host bi-monthly trainings to support YDSA members interested in organizing student worker unions as well as to identify potential mentee campaigns
Promote said trainings through social media and traditional comms
Develop at least one student-worker on every mentee campaign to eventually join the YLC as an organizer

RESOLVED, the YLC will work with Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) on continuing the Starbucks Off Campus Campaign. The YLC will pair up with YDSA’s fall drive to promote this national campaign to YDSA chapters as an easy campaign to engage in and grow their chapter through. Furthermore, the YLC will develop a Starbucks Off Campus Campaign toolkit and will invite representatives from chapters engaging in this campaign to a weekly national campaign call to coordinate said campaign. No less than one NCC member will help support this campaign.

Amendments to R13

Amendment R13-1

Sponsor: Allen D, Texas State University

Co-Sponsors: Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Mae B, University of Oregon

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

Blake H, University of Oregon

Tyler B, Binghamton University

New Language:

WHEREAS, YDSA adopted the “Rank-and-File Strategy” (or ‘RFS’) as our guiding orientation towards labor organizing at our 2022 and 2023 conventions. RFS is a long-term strategy to rebuild a militant labor movement from the bottom-up and re-link that movement with the socialist movement through socialists organizing on the shop-floor as rank-and-file leaders. Rank-and-file socialist workers can build shop-floor power, reform their unions, spread socialist consciousness amongst their co-workers, and strengthen ties between their unions and mass movements as well as with DSA.

RESOLVED, this upcoming term the YLC will continue to build out this aforementioned mentorship program by seeking to accomplish the following goals:

Formalize said mentorship program through the YLC mentorship application form
Promote said mentorship form through social media and traditional comms
Have every mentee campaign supported by at least one YLC organizer
Host bi-monthly trainings to support YDSA members interested in organizing student worker unions as well as to identify potential mentee campaigns
Promote said trainings through social media and traditional comms
Develop at least one student-worker on every mentee campaign to eventually join the YLC as an organizer

RESOLVED, the YLC will work with the National Labor Commission Steering Committee (NLC SC) as well as Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) staff to explore integrating its mentorship program with EWOC. The YLC will also offer mentors to support EWOC campaigns that involve student workers and YDSA chapter members.

RESOLVED, YDSA will encourage students to get jobs in one of the RFS’s three strategic industries—teaching, nursing and logistics—to build lifelong organizers.

RESOLVED, the YLC will utilize the Workers Organizing Workers (WOW) committee and other NLC resources to build a cohesive and comprehensive pipeline between YDSA, DSA and the broader labor movement. The YLC will facilitate conversations with YDSA members about joining the labor movement after graduation and connect them with WOW training and industry mentors. Implementation of the program will be the primary responsibility of no less than one YLC Member.

RESOLVED, the YLC will utilize the Rank and File Project (RFP) for YDSA members in East Bay, New York, and Philadelphia who are able to attend sessions in-person and be supported by local organizers.

Amendment R13-2

Sponsor: Gerica N, Hollywood YDSA

Co-Sponsors: Allen D, Texas State University

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Michael R, New York University

James H, Florida International University

Will G, University of Oregon

New Language:

WHEREAS, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain has called for major labor action on May Day 2028, creating a rare opportunity to unite the working class around a concrete date for mass struggle.

WHEREAS, organizing toward May Day 2028 can help unify YDSA chapters around a shared, long-term strategy of labor militancy, and provide student workers and young organizers a tangible role in rebuilding the labor movement from below.

WHEREAS, as the youth section of DSA, YDSA has a key role to play in preparing the next generation of organizers, union militants, and rank-and-file leaders who will shape the course of May Day 2028 and the future of the labor movement.

WHEREAS, campus anti-austerity fights over tuition hikes, privatization, and working conditions for students and workers alike can be leveraged to build support for broader May Day 2028 organizing and connect local struggles to national class conflict.

RESOLVED, the Youth Labor Committee will support chapters and student worker unions in developing long-term organizing plans toward May Day 2028, rooted in workplace agitation, cross-campus solidarity, and political education.

RESOLVED, this upcoming term the YLC will continue to build out this aforementioned mentorship program by seeking to accomplish the following goals:

Formalize said mentorship program through the YLC mentorship application form
Promote said mentorship form through social media and traditional comms
Have every mentee campaign supported by at least one YLC organizer
Host bi-monthly trainings to support YDSA members interested in organizing student worker unions as well as to identify potential mentee campaigns
Promote said trainings through social media and traditional comms
Develop at least one student-worker on every mentee campaign to eventually join the YLC as an organizer

RESOLVED, the YLC will coordinate with DSA’s National Labor Commission, Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC), Workers Organizing Workers (WOW), to integrate youth and student organizing into broader plans for coordinated May Day 2028 labor action.

RESOLVED, the YLC and YPEC will develop materials such as flyers, agitational graphics, and trainings to popularize the May Day 2028 call among student-workers and other young workers, encourage student-worker unions and unions where YDSA members play an active role like Starbucks Workers United to pass May Day 2028 resolutions, and deepen campus-labor connections.

RESOLVED, the YLC will aim to cultivate a new generation of student organizers who view themselves not only as leaders of their immediate campus campaigns, but as lifelong fighters in the struggle for socialism, capable of industrializing into strategic sectors, salting, organizing, and agitating in the workplace well beyond graduation ready to bring that power to bear in May 2028 and beyond.

RESOLVED, the YLC will develop a group that identifies and coordinates between at least 5 viable student worker campaigns or unions to either strike for recognition or coordinate collective actions together during spring 2028. This group will learn together through strategy sessions and slowly build their skills throughout the next three years with the goal of successfully winning those unions and empowering new chapters to continue organizing after the moment ends. After the moment ends, this group will debrief with the YLC and think through next steps of scaling up the undergraduate/student worker movement.

Amendment R13-3

Sponsor: Lael L, Florida International University

Co-Sponsors: Sofia B, Rollins College

Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Eli C, Florida International University

Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Ian M, University of Oregon

New Language:

WHEREAS, it is the duty of YDSA, as the youth wing of DSA, to develop socialist organizers capable of working class organization. DSA is the central mechanism for leftist organizing in the United States, so YDSA must train future DSA leaders and by extension US leftists socialist leaders. To this end, it is our responsibility to funnel youth organizers into working class movements such as DSA, EWOC, WOW, and trade unions.

WHEREAS, as socialists in DSA, we must work to bring together various movements; our goal is to unite the labor movement, socialist movement, environmental movement, and the feminist movement, among others, to overthrow capitalism and win a socialist world. When engaging in labor struggles, socialists must approach the fight in an intersectional manner, highlighting the common threads of oppression and demonstrating how they have their roots in our capitalist system.

WHEREAS, as socialists engaging in the labor movement, we must avoid the opportunistic call of economism; through the construction and democratization of our unions, we must ensure we are connecting people to a broader class-struggle political approach and a socialist position. We must also seek to create a visible, socialist presence within the labor movement which leads by example and challenges anti-communist narratives. To secure working class political independence, we understand that we must build the socialist wing of the labor movement and consciously recruit from our labor interventions into YDSA.

WHEREAS, there are various unions YDSA chapters will come into contact with that are not accessible to YDSA members, such as faculty unions. YDSA chapters should not uncritically tail these unions or sideline our interests; they must also understand that our role is not to speak over workers and describe their experiences for them. As socialists, our goal is to convince workers of the necessity of socialism and engage with them candidly and meaningfully.

RESOLVED, this upcoming term the YLC will continue to build out this aforementioned mentorship program by seeking to accomplish the following goals:

Formalize said mentorship program through the YLC mentorship application form
Promote said mentorship form through social media and traditional comms
Have every mentee campaign supported by at least one YLC organizer
Host bi-monthly trainings to support YDSA members or nonmembers in YDSA’s orbit interested in organizing student worker unions as well as to identify potential mentee campaigns
Promote said trainings through social media and traditional comms
Develop at least one student-worker on every mentee campaign to eventually join the YLC as an organizer

RESOLVED, YDSA commits to the construction of a pipeline between the labor movement and DSA. To do so, the YLC shall mentor chapters on how to build a symbiotic relationship between the union or organizing committee and the chapter; the chapter can serve as a place to generate salts and the union can serve as a terrain to create more socialists. To get YDSA members comfortable with the idea of recruiting through union work, the YLC shall:

Encourage YDSA members to invite union members to the YLC’s bi-monthly trainings, thus bringing union members into closer proximity with DSA.
Hold at least one training per semester to teach YDSA members how to provide appropriate support for their local union campaigns. Without being an exhaustive list, these trainings should teach YDSA chapters how to:

Give workers trainings on matters like organizing conversations, listwork trainings, and meeting facilitation.
Provide canvassing support for union recertification or strike solidarity.
Engage with unions inaccessible to YDSA members (e.g. faculty unions) in ways that don’t uncritically tail unions and or “shout from outside the house”. In other words, the YLC should train YDSA chapters on building ties with the left-wing of these inaccessible unions in ways that advance class struggle.

Create a guide for chapters on how to hold a socialist job fairs; these socialist job fairs shall consist of union-members friendly to DSA, who can promote their jobs and recruit salts from YDSA for future or ongoing union campaigns.

RESOLVED, the YLC shall commit to training chapters on how to organize using a class-struggle intersectional approach and unite the labor movement with other social movements. Through mentorship and the creation of relevant materials, the YLC shall teach chapters how best to tie the demands of ongoing union fights to broader demands (such as ICE non-compliance or divestment), thus helping unions incorporate radical demands into contract negotiations or union resolutions.

R14. From the Campus to the Amazon Shop Floor

Sponsor: Anthony [Redacted]

Co-Sponsors: Deya R, University of California Berkeley

Luca D, University of California Berkeley

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Sasha S, Hunter College

Allen D, Texas State University

Leela M-H, University of California Berkeley

Peter T, University of California Berkeley

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Charlie M, Brooklyn College

WHEREAS, the Logistics Revolution turned the industry into the lifeblood of the economy, and became the metabolism that keeps global capitalism alive,

WHEREAS, Amazon’s business model relies on its highly efficient distribution network, which means workers have structural leverage to disrupt the process of capital valorization from the shop floor,

WHEREAS, Amazon is becoming a “regulating capital,” which will see standards for the logistics industry that are increasingly immiserating and further disorganizing for the working class, if not confronted by organized workers,

WHEREAS, Amazon is one of the largest employers in the world, and organizing it is the key struggle of our moment,

WHEREAS, YDSA has been paramount in the drive to organize student workers on our campuses,

WHEREAS, as young socialists, we should look to continue this type of deep-rooted organizing and building working class power after we graduate, especially in capital’s choke points, which at this moment is most prominently at Amazon,”

RESOLVED, the Youth Labor Committee (YLC), will look into working with the National Labor Commission’s (NLC) Workers Organizing Workers (WOW) program as well as the DSA Amazon Steering Committee to create political education materials geared towards student and youth Amazon organizing,

RESOLVED, the YLC will have at least one of its members appointed to act as the point person for Amazon organizing efforts by joining the WOW planning committee, this member will work in conjunction with the NLC’s Amazon Priority Resolution as well as the DSA Amazon Steering Committee and will be responsible for identifying and recruiting YDSA members to join the fight at Amazon, as well as helping connect chapters and members with local Amazon workers in DSA in order to build direct student-to-worker connections,

RESOLVED, the YLC will looking into working with the Comms Committee, along with those delegated by this resolution to work on political education materials, to design stickers, flyers, pins, and posters for chapters to use in order to post around areas of campus where Amazon drivers make their deliveries, which express student’s solidarity with Amazon workers,

RESOLVED, the YLC will recruit and work with WOW and Solidarity Captain Network to put together a national YDSA call on being Strike Ready for Amazon Workers, which will include how to research the ties of our universities with Amazon, identifying how students and workers on campus can exert their structural and organizational power when called upon by Amazon workers in acts of practical solidarity, and plugging students into the Amazon Solidarity Organizers network,

RESOLVED, Red Hot Summer 2026 will have a guest speaker from Amazon for its launch call, as well as an opportunity for attendees to get in contact with WOW and the Amazon Solidarity Organizers network.

Amendments to R14

Amendment R14-1

Sponsor: Michael R, New York University

Co-Sponsors: Allen D, Texas State University

Will G, University of Oregon

Margot G, Columbia University

Carolyn R, University of Oregon

Carlos C, Cal Poly Pomona

New Language:

R14. From the Campus to the Amazon Logistics Shop Floor

WHEREAS, the Logistics Revolution turned the industry into the lifeblood of the economy, and became the metabolism that keeps global capitalism alive,

WHEREAS, Amazon is one of the largest employers in the world, and organizing it is the key struggle of our moment,

WHEREAS, YDSA has been paramount in the drive to organize student workers on our campuses,

WHEREAS, due to Amazon’s hostility toward labor organizing, it is advisable to develop pipelines of more experienced cadre into Amazon to avoid burnout, and to avoid sending first time and inexperienced labor organizers into the high stakes environment of an Amazon organizing drive where there is much less room to make mistakes while organizers develop,

WHEREAS, despite the fact that union drives at Amazon have taken off since the pandemic at different worksites, these single facility campaigns have been met with the full force of union busting and divide-and-conquer efforts, thus never attaining a supermajority of workers in favor of the union nor sustaining union efforts.,

WHEREAS, during the Teamsters-led Amazon strike, striking worksites did so with at-most 20-30% of the bargaining unit at best, demonstrating the pressing need for more widespread and deeper organizing,

WHEREAS, organizing at air hubs and delivery stations has the potential for workers and unions to exercise their maximum economic, structural power,

WHEREAS, coordinated organizing industry-wide versus divided single-facility campaigns will allow workers and unions to exercise their associative power nationwide ,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA recognizes the strategic importance of taking up jobs at Amazon and organizing alongside workers there, and highly encourages its members to take up jobs at strategic Amazon worksites, with a preference towards air hubs and delivery stations, creating deep shop-floor organization at multiple worksites to force ‘sweep elections’ that can coordinate union drives and contract bargaining for the maximum results, defeating union busting,

RESOLVED, By the end of the year the YLC will have identified 5 schools with developed labor programs and relationships with a student worker or local unions to focus on recruiting shop floor leaders to Amazon. The YLC will work with the Amazon steering committee to identify the Amazon worksites for student workers to target,

RESOLVED, the 2026 YDSA Organizing Conference will include: recruitment for Amazon organizing as the top a labor recruiting priority. The YLC will build a workshop around this goal as well as table with the NLC for this goal. The NCC will look into having a DSA Amazon Organizer speak at the conference,

Amendment R14-2

Sponsor: Casey P, Georgia State University

Co-Sponsors: Steven R, Furman University

Berke M, Northeastern University

Claire I J, Furman University

Addison G, University of Central Florida

Jack S, University of Maryland College Park

New Language:

WHEREAS, the Logistics Revolution turned the industry into the lifeblood of the economy, and became the metabolism that keeps global capitalism alive,

WHEREAS, Amazon is one of the largest employers in the world, and organizing it is the key struggle of our moment,

WHEREAS, YDSA has been paramount in the drive to organize student workers on our campuses,

RESOLVED, YDSA recognizes the strategic potential to reach working class youth outside of college campuses by organizing at Amazon worksites in the vicinity of existing YDSA chapters.

RESOLVED, the 2026 YDSA Organizing Conference will include: recruitment for Amazon organizing as the top labor recruiting priority. The YLC will build a workshop around this goal as well as table with the NLC for this goal. The NCC will look into having a DSA Amazon Organizer speak at the conference, programming to train YDSA members on reaching non-student working-class youth through off-campus labor organizing, with a focus on organizing at Amazon.

RESOLVED, the YLC will looking into working with the Comms Committee, along with those delegated by this resolution to work on political education materials, to design stickers, flyers, pins, and posters for chapters to use in order to post around strategic areas of campus where Amazon drivers make their deliveries, which express student’s solidarity with Amazon workers,

R15. Promoting Transparency On and Member Access to the NCC

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B-H, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

WHEREAS, maintaining YDSA’s status as a democratic organization in between Annual Conventions requires that YDSA members are able to know what the National Coordinating Committee is doing, as otherwise members are unable to object to conduct contrary to YDSA’s policies and principles and cannot raise objections to such conduct at Convention;

WHEREAS, while the NCC has methods for YDSA members to observe meetings, information for these methods is not widely distributed to the membership, making observation of NCC meetings rare and allowing the NCC to operate essentially in private, which undermines democracy in YDSA;

WHEREAS, prior National Coordinating Committees have distributed copies of meeting minutes to the members of YDSA, but this has generally not occurred in the 2024-25 NCC term, further undermining member oversight;

WHEREAS, distributing meeting minutes and links to observe NCC meetings does not incur a substantial workload increase on members of the NCC and the YDSA support staff, making it unreasonable to not take such basic measures to promote transparency and democracy in YDSA;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Young Democratic Socialists of America’s National Coordinating Committee is directed to disseminate the means to observe NCC meetings and the meeting’s tentative agenda on the YDSA Discord and on the DSA Forums at least 72 hours prior to the start of each regular NCC meeting, or at least 1 hour prior to the start of any emergency NCC meeting, unless such meetings are in closed session due to the NCC’s consideration of privileged or confidential information; and

RESOLVED, the NCC shall make available to the membership copies of all minutes from the 2024-25 NCC term within 30 days of passage of this resolution; and

RESOLVED, the NCC shall disseminate to the YDSA Discord and the DSA Forums copies of the minutes for the meeting within three days of being approved at the following meeting.

R16. Recommitting to the Campus BDS Struggle

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B H, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

This resolution has been updated to incorporate a friendly secondary submission from:

Sponsor: Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Co-Sponsors: Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Aiden M-S, University of Cincinnati

Aron A-M, University of Florida

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

WHEREAS, the illegal genocide and occupation of Palestine by the Zionist entity continues to rage on, with hundreds of thousands having been slaughtered and millions displaced since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood;

WHEREAS, YDSA as part of the Student Intifada has played a key role in campus solidarity work and ending institutional support for the genocide in Palestine, with YDSA chapters being key parts of successful divestment campaigns;

WHEREAS, the call by the BDS National Committee for international action to cut off funding to the genocide demands not just divestment, but also boycotts and sanctions, including ethical spending policies and academic boycotts;

WHEREAS, even at universities with administrations who refuse to divest their endowments from genocide-supporting companies, YDSA chapters can win material victories by running other BDS campaigns targeting general product usage or specific campus services that are not BDS-compliant;

WHEREAS, as technology comes to the forefront of concern for the BDS National Committee due to the use of AI-based surveillance and weapons systems, YDSA chapters are positioned well to demand that their campuses change to technology stacks from companies that are not financially and materially supporting the genocide;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA chapters are directed to run whatever BDS campaigns they are able to, making gains and boycotting recognized companies wherever possible and developing ethical spending policies for universities and student governments; and

RESOLVED, YDSA encourages chapters to seek greater connections with Palestinian solidarity partners, including Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement, with the NCC working to improve relations with the national bodies of these partners to ease the establishment of organizational relationships at the local level; and

RESOLVED, YDSA calls on chapters to specifically target technology companies recognized for their role in the genocide by the BDS National Committee and No Tech for Apartheid, demanding their universities switch away from services such as Oracle PeopleSoft, Duo Mobile, and Microsoft’s school/workplace ecosystem, as well as hardware providers including Cisco, HP, IBM, Dell, and Motorola;

RESOLVED, that YDSA’s Youth International Committee Palestine Committee is directed to develop additional resources for YDSA chapters to use in planning BDS campaigns and for convincing university and student government leaders to adopt BDS policies, including explanations of how “anti-BDS” laws do not affect divestment and ethical spending policies in most jurisdictions. This work should be done in collaboration with DSA’s International Committee’s Palestine Working Subcommittee.

Amendments to R16

Amendment R16-1

Sponsor: Ethan E, Columbia University

Co-Sponsors: Margot G, Columbia University

Anna R, University of Minnesota Duluth

Arjun J, Purdue University

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Sara A, Cornell University

New Language:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA chapters are directed encouraged to, with the support of the NCC and Youth International Committee, identify and run whatever BDS campaigns that aim at a priority boycott target of the BDS Movement, such as Chevron, or another strategic target in line with a campaign of the Palestine solidarity movement, such as Sabra or Sadaf consistent with the No Appetite for Apartheid initiative they are able to, making gains and boycotting recognized companies wherever possible; and

RESOLVED, YDSA chapters can, as part of a sustained BDS campaign on campus, explore developing ethical spending policies for universities and student governments and contesting bodies that manage university investments and assets with seats for student representatives; and

RESOLVED, YDSA chapters should explore employing a diversity of tactics and approaches tailored to the organizing conditions on their campus, such as disrupting career fairs, guest events put on by their university, and orientation events and engaging in accessible political education around BDS and the centrality of the struggle for Palestinian liberation to the student movement; and

RESOLVED, YDSA encourages chapters to seek greater connections with Palestinian solidarity partners, including their campus’ chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement, with the NCC working, in conjunction with the Youth International Committee and International Committee to improve relations with the national bodies of these Palestine solidarity partners such as the Palestinian Youth Movement, USPCN, the Palestine Solidarity Working Group, and others to ease the establishment of organizational relationships at the local level; and

RESOLVED, if limited opportunities to initiate sustained BDS organizing on campus exist, YDSA chapters should explore the feasibility to support their local DSA chapter’s BDS organizing for Palestinian liberation, such as Stop Fueling Genocide or Labor for an Arms Embargo; and

RESOLVED, that the Youth International Committee, or another body designated by the NCC, YDSA’s Palestine Committee is directed to develop additional resources for YDSA chapters to use in planning BDS campaigns and for convincing university and student government leaders to adopt BDS policies, including explanations of how “anti-BDS” laws do not affect divestment and ethical spending policies in most jurisdictions.

R17. For A Strategic Campaign Committee

Sponsor: Daniel S-C Florida International University

Co-Sponsors: Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Sofia B, Rollins College

Eli C, Florida International University

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Sara A, Cornell University

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Jeffrey C, Oakland University

Jack G, Binghamton University

Anatoli R, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

WHEREAS, as seen through the national campaigns embarked on by YDSA over the past three years, a strong campaigning approach has become a staple of YDSA’s work. As the years have passed, YDSA has launched national campaigns for bodily autonomy, trans rights, solidarity with Palestine, and most recently, establishing Sanctuary Campuses, we have seen chapter buy-in for these national projects grow.

WHEREAS, campaigning is such an integral part of YDSA’s political work that during the 2024-2025 term, the existence of a campaign and its efficacy has been used as one factor among many by National Coordinating Committee (NCC) members and staff when gauging the health and strength of chapters.

WHEREAS, despite a campaigning approach being so standard in YDSA, there are no externally-facing, regularly occurring trainings on how chapters can run campaigns. When it comes to learning how to run healthy effective campaigns, chapters must wait until the yearly YDSA Organizing Conference or receive one-on-one trainings from NCC members or staff.

WHEREAS, the various year-round trainings organized and presented by Youth Growth and Development Committee (YGDC) see consistent attendance and serve as a useful opportunity to introduce new chapters and members to the sustainable, good organizing practices chapters across the country have implemented to great success.

WHEREAS, throughout the 2024-2025 term the Palestine Committee, with support from the NCC, was the body tasked with overseeing the implementation of our National Priorities around organizing in solidarity with Palestine and fighting for the establishment of Sanctuary Campuses. This body, consisting of various talented rank-and-file YDSA members eager to take on campaign work, demonstrated an existing core to draw from and spread the wealth of organizing experiences across the country.

WHEREAS, throughout the 2024-2025 term the Palestine Committee repeatedly sought out collaboration with other committees such as the Youth Political Education Committee (YPEC), the Youth Labor Committee (YLC), and the YGDC on matters where the areas of each respective body intersected. Past projects, such as the Essentials of Mass Organizing calls, set a foundational precedent of committees overcoming the issue of siloing work and have found synergy with one another.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the 2025 YDSA Convention charters the Strategic Campaign Committee (SCC) to mentor chapters on running local campaigns and coordinate local efforts to implement National Priorities and other national campaigns as directed by the National Coordinating Committee (NCC).

RESOLVED, the SCC shall organize and promote at least one regularly occurring training throughout the 2025-2026 term on campaign-related matters open to YDSA members and primarily targeted at chapter leadership. With the NCC reserving the right to amend the following list via a simple majority vote, SCC trainings should seek to reinforce the following skills for the attendees:

YDSA members are able to identify what makes a campaign and its demand strategic and actionable.
YDSA members are able to run campaigns with clear targets.
YDSA members understand that the base we are seeking to organize are disengaged youth without a political home.
YDSA members are able to construct escalation timelines and learn how to escalate a campaign in a sustainable manner.
YDSA members are running campaigns with quantifiable recruitment goals and understand how to recruit and develop members through campaigns.

RESOLVED, the SCC shall be open to all YDSA members to join via application. The SCC shall have two co-chairs, at least one of which shall be a member of the NCC. In addition to the standard co-chair responsibilities and in the interest of continuing the collaborative approach of the Palestine Committee, the SCC co-chairs shall be expected to regularly communicate with the leaders of other committees and find common projects to collaborate on.

RESOLVED, if YDSA adopts a National Priority via a Priority Resolution at the 2025 YDSA Convention, the 2025-2026 NCC is encouraged to delegate its implementation to the SCC and place bodies tasked with its implementation appropriately within the SCC.

RESOLVED, for the 2026 YDSA Organizing Conference, the SCC shall be tasked with organizing workshops related to running healthy & effective campaigns and workshops related to any National Priority campaigns. The number of workshops organized on each matter shall be left to the discretion of the SCC and the Conference Planning Committee.

R18. Recommitting to Running Strategic Campaigns as Unapologetic Socialists

Sponsor: Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Co-Sponsors: Aron A-M, University of Florida

Madhu S, University of Cincinnati

Aiden M-S, University of Cincinnati

Bryce A, Arizona State University

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Joel D, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

WHEREAS, Socialism is good.

WHEREAS, YDSA’s theory of change is good.

WHEREAS, we want YDSA to grow.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that YDSA recommits to being a mass socialist organization and recognizes that to be such an organization, YDSA chapters must be the organizational leaders of strategic campaigns on our campuses and in our communities as unapologetic socialists.

RESOLVED, that YDSA recognizes that the primary way in which chapters grow is through running and leading strategic campaigns with: demands that are widely and deeply felt among students and youth, a clearly identified target who can meet the demands of the campaign, and a strategy which seeks to move previously unorganized non-activist students into action. YDSA chapters should always be running a strategic campaign regardless of their size.

RESOLVED, that YDSA shall strive to not just be a faction of a wider mass struggle on our campuses, but to be political and organizational leaders of this struggle. Our goal should be to win a majority of students and youth over to not just Socialism, but to YDSA and our theory of change.

RESOLVED, to achieve this majority support the deep organizing tactics, which are traditionally used for labor organizing, should not just be limited to building labor unions or non-socialist “student unions” but should also be used for building YDSA directly. These deep organizing tactics may include classroom and department mapping, 1:1 conversations with fellow non-organized classmates, campaign specific mass meetings/townhalls, and other tactics to build up the density of YDSA membership within the student body.

RESOLVED, that even while participating in coalitions or other non-socialist mass organizations our chapters shall continue to have a uniquely socialist YDSA presence in these campaigns.

This presence should not just be political education or the coordination of YDSA members in the work of other organizations, but direct escalating campaign actions which seek to move the masses of youth -- not just the already existing activist layer -- into action and YDSA membership.

RESOLVED, that when there are spontaneous, and potentially disorganized, movements of students and youth for specific issues (such as spontaneous protests of students against cuts to DEI programs or against ICE), YDSA chapters will seek to give these movements an organizational, structural, and long term political backbone through the structures of their chapters.

Chapter should seek to support these movements, recruit the organic leaders of these movements into YDSA, ensure that one off spontaneous struggle can be prolonged into a mass strategic campaign to win the organic demands of the student body, and recruit those students who are activated by this issue into YDSA.

RESOLVED, that these guidelines should be provided to chapters through:

Direct chapter mentorship provided by the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) or YDSA staff
Trainings provided by the Youth Growth and Development Committee (yGDC), Youth Labor Committee (YLC), or any other applicable committees. These may be modeled off of previously offered trainings such as the Recruitment and Development Trainings, Organizing Conversations Trainings, Leadership Development Trainings, & Essentials of Mass Organizing Training Series
Relevant workshops at YDSA’s Annual Organizing Conference

The guidelines contained within this resolution should serve as the general guiding principles for training and mentorship provided by YDSA National to chapters.

R19. Building Socialist Sanctuaries to Win the Battle for Democracy

Sponsor: Steven R, Furman University

Co-Sponsors: Abhiram P, Virginia Commonwealth University

Claire I J, Furman University

Casey P, Georgia State University

Jack S, University of Maryland College Park

Gant R, The New School

Michael R, Furman University

Addison G, University of Central Florida

lynne hc, University of Maryland College Park

Lokesh M, Northeastern University

This resolution has been updated to incorporate a friendly secondary submission from:

Sponsor: Steven R, Furman University

Co-Sponsors: Addison G, University of Central Florida

Berke M, Northeastern University

Casey P, Georgia State University

Claire I J, Furman University

Jack S, University of Maryland College Park

WHEREAS, the historic attacks on the multiracial working class unleashed by the second Trump administration are the product of an antidemocratic political system designed to rule, exploit, and dominate the working-class majority, now pushed to its limits for the sake of rejuvenating the collapsing U.S. empire, and,

WHEREAS, the explosive growth of student labor organizing over the last decade and student militancy in the struggle for a free Palestine since 2023 have made campuses a major site of struggle in the wider political crisis unfolding in the United States today, raising the question of student-worker democratic control of universities in the process, and,

WHEREAS, YDSA has already begun responding to the need for organized student-worker defense against the far-right war on working and oppressed people—including deportations, abortion bans, trans bans, and repression of labor militancy and internationalism—with the National Coordinating Committee’s adoption of a “Sanctuary Campuses” national priority in the spring of 2025, and,

WHEREAS, past efforts at sustained and escalating nationally-coordinated campaigns, such as the 2024-2025 national student strike priority adopted at the 2024 National YDSA Convention, have been hampered by slow implementation at the national level and a lack of systematic integration of related work between chapters, national committees, and the National Coordinating Committee, and,

WHEREAS, if YDSA is to become a cohesive national political force for socialism and democracy, the solution to historic difficulties with nationwide campaign work must not be to abandon ambitious organizing projects like the 2024-25 national student strike, but instead to incorporate lessons learned from their mixed record and adapt to new political conditions, and,

WHEREAS, the only force capable of permanently defeating Trumpism and building a true democracy in this country for the first time in its history is a mass socialist party of the working class, and

WHEREAS, to take part in transforming DSA into such a party, YDSA must grow massively in the coming years through campaigns that offer real opposition to the new ruling-class political consensus, challenge the authority of the antidemocratic state, and make YDSA the political home of working and oppressed people on our campuses and in our communities,”

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA will expand on its Spring 2025 Sanctuary Campuses national priority by launching a nationwide “Socialist Sanctuaries” campaign to force school administrations and local governments to refuse to enforce, comply with, or emulate state and federal directives related to Trump’s reactionary agenda, with the goal of transforming our communities into sanctuaries from:

Deportation or detainment of undocumented immigrants and international students,
Attacks on the status of transgender people and their access to gender-affirming care,
Restrictions on reproductive freedom,
Repression of political freedoms, including criminalization of protest tactics, banning of left-wing or pro-Palestine organizations, and targeting of students, workers, and faculty for pro-Palestine speech
Austerity, dismantling of university departments, and attacks on workers’ freedom to organize in the workplace.

RESOLVED, the National Coordinating Committee will identify the following:

Thirty-six (36) chapters where a Socialist Sanctuary campaign around one or more of the above issues would be strategic, based on criteria such as past or ongoing experience running a sanctuary campus or sanctuary city campaign, chapter size, chapter density, and involvement in campus labor unions or other mass organizations,
At least three (3) chapters in each of the following regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West
Three (3) municipal areas with multiple active YDSA chapters where it would be strategic to run joint citywide Socialist Sanctuary campaigns,
Two (2) university systems with multiple active YDSA chapters where it would be strategic to run joint system-wide Socialist Sanctuary campaigns.

RESOLVED, to facilitate citywide and system-wide Socialist Sanctuary campaigns, the NCC will provide support for chapters in coordinating joint campaigns, including:

Joint chapter check-ins,
Guidance on building and maintaining joint lists,
Assistance in planning joint socials, mass meetings, and campaign escalations,
Mentorship in creating democratically accountable municipal or system-level coordinating structures that serve actually-existing organizing work.

RESOLVED, the National Coordinating Committee will set the following goals for the Socialist Sanctuaries national priority campaign:

By the launch of the Fall Drive, the Youth Growth and Development Committee will create an expanded version of the Spring 2025 Anti-ICE toolkit, as well as toolkits for Palestinian liberation and Trans rights expanded from materials developed for the 2023-2024 TRANS campaign and 2024 Palestine solidarity work, to include in the Fall Drive kit, featuring template escalation timelines, petitions, and campaign materials,
Starting in September 2025, mandatory sections of every NCC meeting will be set aside for chapter listwork specifically related to the campaign, with updates delivered and next steps identified for every target chapter or committed chapter,
In September, target chapters will be identified, asked to commit to Socialist Sanctuary campaigns, and assigned hard goals,
Starting in October, the NCC will host recurring cohort calls for all participating chapters,
he end of October, every participating chapter, via the cohort calls and mentorship from their NCC liaison, will be set up with

a clear set of demands,
an escalation timeline with quantifiable goals,
a political instrument for mass organizing, such as a petition,

At the Fall 2025 NCC in-person retreat, every NCC member will report on their Socialist Sanctuary chapters’ escalation plan and progress in executing it, and the NCC as a whole will strategize on next steps for each participating chapter,
By the end of November, the NCC will schedule a national day of action for the first half of the Spring 2026 semester and ask all participating chapters to commit to it,
Before the start of the Spring 2026 semester, the NCC will host a national mass call to update YDSA’s membership on the progress of the Socialist Sanctuaries campaign, strategize with participating chapters, and call on non-participating chapters to commit to solidarity actions coinciding with the Spring 2026 national day of action,
In February 2026, the NCC will coordinate a national day of action for all chapters running Socialist Sanctuary campaigns,
For the 2026 Winter Organizing Conference, the NCC will organize dedicated programming about the Socialist Sanctuaries campaign, such as workshops and/or plenary sessions, and ask chapters to commit to a second, escalating national day of action in the second half of the spring semester,
In April, the NCC will coordinate a second, escalating national day of action.

RESOLVED, to help chapters rise to the challenge of resisting ICE raids and other acts of state terror on working and oppressed people, the NCC will create a one-pager outlining best practices for emergency anti-ICE mobilizations. Guidance in this document will include:

Tips for utilizing local “ICE watch”-style hotlines where they already exist, or for establishing them where they do not,
Advice on how to facilitate escalation at protest actions while minimizing legal and physical danger to YDSA members and supporters,
Ways to recruit, include, and promote the demands of international and immigrant students while minimizing risk,
Guidelines for comms discipline,
Emphasis on the role of material and strategic support, such as fundraising for bail and legal defense funds and convening mass assemblies to democratically plan mobilizations, in establishing YDSA chapters as de facto leaders of popular resistance to ICE.

RESOLVED, the purpose of the Socialist Sanctuaries campaign shall be to explicitly challenge the legitimacy of the undemocratic capitalist state and the Democratic Party’s false opposition to Trump’s war on working and oppressed people. Through social media, internal messaging, campaign materials distributed to chapters, and earned media when applicable, YDSA national comms promoting the campaign will focus on:

The illegitimate authority of the imperial Presidency, unrepresentative Congress, and unelected court system carrying out these attacks,
The struggle for democratic student-worker control of our campuses against undemocratic administrations and police repression,
The need for an independent mass party of the working class and a new democratic political system.

Amendments to R19

Amendment R19-1

Sponsor: Reese H, University of Missouri Columbia

Co-Sponsors: Sami B, University of Missouri Columbia

James H, Florida International University

Raven T, Georgia State University

Ciara J, University of California Santa Barbara

Truman O, University of Missouri Columbia

New Language:

WHEREAS, the only force capable of permanently defeating Trumpism and building a true democracy in this country for the first time in its history is a mass socialist party of the working class, and

Deportation or detainment of undocumented immigrants and international students,
Attacks on the status of transgender people and their access to gender-affirming care,
Restrictions on reproductive freedom,
Repression of political freedoms, including criminalization of protest tactics, banning of left-wing or pro-Palestine organizations, and targeting of students, workers, and faculty for pro-Palestine speech
Austerity, dismantling of university departments, and attacks on workers’ freedom to organize in the workplace.

RESOLVED, the National Coordinating Committee will identify the following:

Thirty-six (36) Twelve (12) chapters where a Socialist Sanctuary campaign around one or more of the above issues would be strategic, based on criteria such as past or ongoing experience running a sanctuary campus or sanctuary city campaign, chapter size, chapter density, and involvement in campus labor unions or other mass organizations,
At least three (3) two (2) chapters in each of the following regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West
Three (3) municipal areas with multiple active YDSA chapters where it would be strategic to run joint citywide Socialist Sanctuary campaigns,
Two (2) university systems with multiple active YDSA chapters where it would be strategic to run joint system-wide Socialist Sanctuary campaigns.

RESOLVED, to facilitate citywide and system-wide Socialist Sanctuary campaigns, the NCC will provide support for chapters in coordinating joint campaigns, including:

Joint chapter check-ins,
Guidance on building and maintaining joint lists,
Assistance in planning joint socials, mass meetings, and campaign escalations,
Mentorship in creating democratically accountable municipal or system-level coordinating structures that serve actually-existing organizing work.

RESOLVED, the National Coordinating Committee will set the following goals for the Socialist Sanctuaries national priority campaign:

By the launch of the Fall Drive, the Youth Growth and Development Committee will create an expanded version of the Spring 2025 Anti-ICE toolkit, as well as toolkits for Palestinian liberation and Trans rights expanded from materials developed for the 2023-2024 TRANS campaign and 2024 Palestine solidarity work, to include in the Fall Drive kit, featuring template escalation timelines, petitions, and campaign materials,
Starting in September 2025, mandatory sections of every NCC meeting will be set aside for chapter listwork specifically related to the campaign, with updates delivered and next steps identified for every target chapter or committed chapter,
In September, target chapters will be identified, asked to commit to Socialist Sanctuary campaigns, and assigned hard goals,
Starting in October, the NCC will host recurring cohort calls for all participating chapters,
By the end of October, every participating chapter, via the cohort calls and mentorship from their NCC liaison, will be set up with

a clear set of demands,
an escalation timeline with quantifiable goals,
a political instrument for mass organizing, such as a petition,

At the Fall 2025 NCC in-person retreat, every NCC member will report on their Socialist Sanctuary chapters’ escalation plan and progress in executing it, and the NCC as a whole will strategize on next steps for each participating chapter,
By the end of November, the NCC will schedule a national day of action for the first half of the Spring 2026 semester and ask all participating chapters to commit to it,
Before the start of the Spring 2026 semester, the NCC will host a national mass call to update YDSA’s membership on the progress of the Socialist Sanctuaries campaign, strategize with participating chapters, and call on non-participating chapters to commit to solidarity actions coinciding with the Spring 2026 national day of action,
In February 2026, the NCC will coordinate a national day of action for all chapters running Socialist Sanctuary campaigns,
For the 2026 Winter Organizing Conference, the NCC will organize dedicated programming about the Socialist Sanctuaries campaign, such as workshops and/or plenary sessions, and ask chapters to commit to a second, escalating national day of action in the second half of the spring semester,
In April, the NCC will coordinate a second, escalating national day of action.

Tips for utilizing local “ICE watch”-style hotlines where they already exist, or for establishing them where they do not,
Advice on how to facilitate escalation at protest actions while minimizing legal and physical danger to YDSA members and supporters,
Ways to recruit, include, and promote the demands of international and immigrant students while minimizing risk,
Guidelines for comms discipline,
Emphasis on the role of material and strategic support, such as fundraising for bail and legal defense funds and convening mass assemblies to democratically plan mobilizations, in establishing YDSA chapters as de facto leaders of popular resistance to ICE.

The illegitimate authority of the imperial Presidency, unrepresentative Congress, and unelected court system carrying out these attacks,
The struggle for democratic student-worker control of our campuses against undemocratic administrations and police repression,
The need for an independent mass party of the working class and a new democratic political system.”

R20. Establishing a Red Bunnies Campaign

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B H, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

WHEREAS, DSA National and local DSA chapters have had at various times Red Rabbits teams and working groups, whose primary purpose is to train members in de-escalation tactics and to provide marshals for public events;

WHEREAS, as universities become even more at the political forefront through the Trump administration’s attacks on education, the use of university campuses by conservative and reactionary politicians and pundits as debate and publicity grounds, and the growing student movement for Palestine’s focus on institutional divestment through direct action on campus receiving violent responses from Zionists and police, students and organizers regularly face physical danger in campus protests and actions;

WHEREAS, while DSA chapters can often find internal or external safety marshals for their protests, student protests and actions often work with substantially reduced resources and an untrained student population, leading to those protests lacking trained safety marshals to de-escalate tense situations;

WHEREAS, the Red Rabbits campaign demonstrated how DSA’s bottom-up organizing model can be incredibly effective in training competent safety marshals, which YDSA chapters could substantially benefit from;

THEREFORE, that the Young Democratic Socialists of America shall form a National Red Bunnies Working Group, chartered until the 2026 YDSA Annual Convention, organized for the purpose of training students and YDSA members on how to become safety marshals and de-escalate situations at campus protests and actions; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NCC shall, within 15 days of passage of this resolution, send out on the YDSA Discord and by email a call for YDSA members to apply to join the Working Group or to become a Chair of the Working Group, with a Chair chosen within 45 days and the first meeting of the Working Group being held within 60 days and open to the membership; and

RESOLVED, that the Working Group shall create a training series, and shall deliver that training series to YDSA chapters and their members starting in the Spring 2026 semester; and

RESOLVED, that the Working Group shall publish resources for Chapters to train their own safety marshals, which shall be released by no later than June 1, 2026.

Amendments to R20

Amendment R20-1

Sponsor: Callynn Johnson, University of Central Florida

Co-Sponsors: Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Aron A-M, University of Florida

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Sara A, Cornell University

New Language:

WHEREAS, at the 2022 YDSA National Convention R8. Anti-Fascism and YDSA was passed, tasking an “Anti-fascist Committee” with creating relevant materials and trainings; and the committee failed to receive enough applicants to be sustainable - reflecting a lack of buy-in towards the project;

WHEREAS, protest safety materials are often one of the first ways young organizers encounter left-wing organizations, especially in tense political moments like the Anti-ICE/No Kings protest movement (at time of writing);

THEREFORE, the committee tasked with supporting our national priorities, including but not limited to any socialist sanctuary, palestine, campaign organizing, and/or strategic campaigns committee, will create and/or distribute protest escalation, de-escalation, and safety materials (including training students and YDSA members on how to become safety marshals and de-escalate situations at campus protests and actions) to be included as a part of the Fall Drive Digital Toolkit for new and returning chapters

RESOLVED, the aforementioned committee will provide a training to chapters on the following skills at a minimum of once per semester: distinguishing between different kinds of mass actions, strategic action planning, protest marshalling, crowd agitation, route planning, conflict de-escalation, escalation planning, risk assessment, preparing for and handling arrests, police interactions, operational security, jail support, and any other skills necessary for effective mass actions.

RESOLVED, to avoid the duplication of efforts, the aforementioned committee will collaborate with the DSA Red Rabbits to the extent that is possible and practicable, such as directing YDSA members to existing marshalling training calls.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NCC shall, within 15 days of passage of this resolution,

Direct its members to upcoming Red Rabbits training via biweekly email and, when relevant, announcement in the YDSA National Discord. send out on the YDSA Discord and by email a call for YDSA members to apply to join the Working Group or to become a Chair of the Working Group, with a Chair chosen within 45 days and the first meeting of the Working Group being held within 60 days and open to the membership; and

RESOLVED, that the Working Group NCC shall create a training series, and shall deliver those materials and that training series to YDSA chapters and their members starting in the Spring 2026 semester; and

RESOLVED, that the NCC Working Group shall publish resources for Chapters to train their own safety marshals, which shall be released by no later than June 1, 2026.

R21. Building Lasting Campus Power Structures

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B H, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters have historically employed diverse tactics to build power on campus, from establishing student unions and large action coalitions to performing student government organization interventions and attempting to get seats on college administrative/trustee boards;

WHEREAS, Resolution 21 at the 2024 YDSA Convention, Building Militant and Democratic Student Unions on College Campuses, called for the establishment of student unions within YDSA, setting the establishment of student unions as a key campaign for chapters and a focus for the NCC;

WHEREAS, while student unions have been effective at many campuses both here and abroad, such as at San Francisco State University and ETH Zürich, many chapters simply do not face the local political conditions which are conducive to establishing a student union that can be effective and take power;

WHEREAS, as mentioned by Steven R’s article in The Activist on student unions, a student union which fails to be sufficiently radical and organized around democratic socialist principles and goals will succumb to the non-socialist reform movement;

WHEREAS, while student unions are not always reasonable, viable, and effective for many YDSA chapters, it is often far more possible to establish student workers unions and other labor unions, which can work alongside YDSA chapters to win enforceable contractual victories on matters that affect students;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Young Democratic Socialists of America encourages chapters to use whatever strategies are most effective under a chapter’s local political conditions to gain and build real power on campus, including but not limited to forming student unions, building coalitions with like-minded organizations, democratizing and radicalizing student government organizations, winning power on school boards and college boards of trustees; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA chapters should continue to seek to grow their own membership and direct power, becoming the organization through which students can organize and make real change on campus, independently of any coalitions or student unions which chapters help to establish or participate in; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA National and the NCC shall end its focus on establishing student unions, and shall instead place a broader focus on assisting chapters in executing locally viable power strategies and campaigns; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA recommits to the establishment of democratic student worker unions, and commits through the Youth Labor Committee to assisting chapters in unionizing their university’s student workers, including through resources provided in partnership with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee.

R22. For Coalitions That Strengthen YDSA

Sponsor: Sofia B, Rollins College

Co-Sponsors: Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Cedar L, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Lael L, Florida International University

Eli C, Florida International University

Seamus P, Loyola University Chicago

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Ian M, University of Oregon

Tomas J, Florida International University

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters frequently form and engage with coalitions when taking part in mass campaigns, as seen with our previous work for Palestinian liberation and the establishment of Sanctuary Campuses.

WHEREAS, as YDSA continues to partake in mass campaigns and interact with a youth population that finds itself increasingly politicized, we must approach coalitions in such a way that grows and strengthens YDSA and the socialist movement.

WHEREAS, as seen through the various campaigns our chapters have taken on, all too often we hear testimonies of unproductive coalitions that harm the health of our local chapters. Usually, we see this harm take on the form of a loss of membership alongside a straining of chapter capacity.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA shall adopt the following as convention-mandated good organizing practices, to be implemented by relevant national bodies and materials, for chapters to consider when engaging in the building of coalitions for any campaign:

The Point: Coalitions are tools to be used when trying to unite working-class youth to better fight the capitalist class, organize the broader student and worker movement on campus, and bring wider layers of young people towards socialist organizing and YDSA.
Our Allies: YDSA supports united front coalitions that bring the forces of the working class together. YDSA chapters should avoid coalitions with formations that represent the interests of school administration, even when they do so in a progressive way. Chapters should prioritize forming coalitions with organizations that represent sections of the student body yet to be accessed by the chapter and whose membership is winnable to our class-struggle based political approach.
Recruitment, Mobilizing & Organizing: Our goal is to tap into the mass layer of disengaged youth and win them over to a class struggle political approach; in most cases this base of disengaged youth lies outside of the coalition. Under a united front, we are forces marching under different banners for a common cause: the coalition is a mobilizing force to exert pressure on a target to achieve a certain goal; chapters must focus on organizing the disengaged into YDSA, making it their political home.
Political Independence: The goal of YDSA chapters is to lead coalitions through principled politics, concrete demands, and efficient organizing that other organizations sign on to. YDSA chapters should avoid establishing overly bureaucratic coalitions that function as pseudo-bodies outside of YDSA that decide the direction and tactics of the campaign.
Duration: Coalitions are transient formations that are not meant to be permanent. Coalition formations come and go as political struggles start and end. Chapters are encouraged to end partnerships with other organizations if they jeopardize their health and development or current work. Participation in a coalition should be reevaluated if a coalition partner is pushing for watered-down demands for a campaign, advocating for adventurism, or encouraging any other tactic that recklessly endangers YDSA members.

RESOLVED, the good organizing practices above shall serve as a guide for national leaders, bodies, and staff alike when advising chapters on how to navigate coalition work in their local settings. It will also guide the creation or updating of materials given to chapters and members on the matter.

RESOLVED, as the elected leadership entrusted with carrying out the will of convention, the National Coordinating Committee shall be empowered to amend the list of good organizing practices shown above via a simple majority vote.

RESOLVED, the NCC shall ensure the creation of a workshop on the good organizing practices listed above to be presented at the 2026 YDSA Organizing Conference.

R23. Building Campus Consciousness, Democracy, and Militancy through Student Unions

Sponsor: Megan C, Virginia Tech

Co-Sponsors: Michael R, New York University

Margot G, Columbia University

Ben N, Cal Poly Pomona

Carlos C, Cal Poly Pomona

Allen D, Texas State University

Ali N, San Francisco State University

Char B, San Francisco State University

Carson M, Columbia University

Charlie M, Brooklyn College

WHEREAS, college and university campuses are sites of struggle between students and faculty against university bureaucrats. These struggles have the potential to radicalize masses of young people around the country, engaging them in class struggle and creating potential future socialists; and

WHEREAS, in the 2024 YDSA Convention, “R21. Building Militant and Democratic student unions on College Campuses” passed with 91%, charging the NCC to identify five schools in the next 3 years, provide NCC support, and establish mentorship committees for each of the campuses; and

WHEREAS, coalition strategies have clear limitations in their ability to engage and politicize the masses. The top-down model inherent to coalitions leaves most of the organizing and decision-making to activists, who spend most of the time organizing each other rather than their classmates; and

WHEREAS, engaging in external organizations like labor unions, where bottom-up organizing is prioritized, has grown YDSA chapters such as University of Oregon YDSA, achieving our goals of building our socialist project and YDSA as an organization. Student unions can be a similar avenue to these goals; and

WHEREAS, student unions are years-long base-building projects that will require the dedication and militancy of socialist organizers, as well as a healthy YDSA that can politicize the struggles of the student union; and

WHEREAS, so far, no campus coalition or YDSA chapter has organized department-level organization that functionally built relationships with our classmates and brought them into the supporter or activist layers of a campaign; and

WHEREAS, the student movement for Palestine, where widespread divestment was not achieved, taught us that in order to counterbalance the massive amounts of pressure that reactionary capital, university donors and politicians put on our universities in order to uphold their complicity in US Imperialism, oppression and exploitation, we must mobilize and organize beyond the existing activist layers. In order to do this, we must engage in tactics which are oriented externally towards the supporter and apathetic layers of our campuses, instead of repeatedly burning out our activist layers through higher tactics such as encampments or occupations without the necessary support of a mass movement of students and workers; and

WHEREAS, not every YDSA chapter, due to chapter capacity, health, or organizing conditions, has the means to create successful student unions, and measured steps need to be taken in organizing them; and

WHEREAS, San Francisco State University students successfully won divestment through organizing through a student union in a democratic, open bargaining process; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Tech Students’ United Front organized the largest protest in Virginia Tech’s history, with thousands of students, successfully plugging in non-engaged students into sanctuary campus organizing. This organizing has also contributed significantly to the growth of their YDSA chapter; and

WHEREAS, the Columbia University student union has mobilized hundreds of students to organizing meetings even with the state of repression on its campus; and

WHEREAS, militant student unions in Quebec have successfully mobilized hundreds of thousands in the past for student strikes, stopping planned tuition hikes, and mobilized 80k for a student strike at the height of the student movement for Palestine, successfully pulling in the broadest layers of students to their cause; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA recognizes the need to create militant and democratic student unions that are open to broad layers of students and recommits itself to creating them; and

RESOLVED, YDSA recognizes the need to take on dynamic organizing tactics that lend themselves to longer-term organizing beyond a year or semester-long timeline. In order to fight back against increasing attacks on education, organizing, and our communities, we must build an increasingly mobilized mass movement that will ensure continuity in organizing and institutional knowledge that cannot be built on small timelines. In order to change the balance of our universities, we must be ambitious, think big, and start building movements that continue and plan beyond current student organizers. Organizing student unions could serve as one of the primary avenues of this, but not the only one; and

RESOLVED, The YDSA NCC will continue identifying five campuses with healthy YDSA chapters with the potential to create student unions within the next 2 years, as prescribed by 2024 R21., taking into consideration chapters already successfully organizing student unions. The factors that could be taken into account when identifying could be:

Size and development of YDSA Chapter
Success of recent YDSA/Student pressure campaigns
Political consciousness of students on campus
The location of the YDSA chapter
Existing activist organizations
Power and credibility of current student government; and

RESOLVED, YDSA will create comprehensive political education resources about student unions tasked by NCC members and created by chapters and members that are engaging in student union organizing, including a national political education event about student unions, doing its best to also include speakers from international student union efforts in the event. Political education resources may include:

Pamphlets
Handbooks
Articles
Reading Lists
Presentations
A module in the Socialism 101 curriculum; and

RESOLVED, the NCC will work to support these chapters through:

1:1 mentorship
Political education resources
Communications support
In-person visits from NCC member(s)
Meetings with chapter leadership to generate buy-in and work with chapter leaders to bring a proposal to rank-and-file YDSA chapter members; and

RESOLVED, the NCC will attempt to connect students doing student union work through avenues like group chats and joint meetings; and

RESOLVED, summaries of these efforts to identify campuses and support chapters organizing student unions should be publicized to YDSA membership in a manner that the NCC chooses, and a report with input from those organizing student unions should be presented at the next YDSA convention.

R24. Planting New, Strong, Democratic, YDSA Chapters

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaron H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B-H, California State University Fullerton

Ibrahim M, California State University Fullerton

This resolution has been updated to incorporate a friendly secondary submission from:

Sponsor: Seamus Purdy, Loyola University Chicago

Co-Sponsors: Ethan E, Columbia University

Anna R, University of Minnesota Duluth

Jackson H, DePaul University

Yandel G, New York University

Aris T, DePaul University

WHEREAS, DSA and YDSA have always employed the bottom-up organizing style, where local chapters founded by local organizers form the basis of our respective organizations and are our main vehicles for campaigns and growth;

WHEREAS, universities in close proximity to each other often have pre-existing relationships between their students and student organizations, creating an opportunity for campuses with a YDSA chapter to help form YDSA chapters at other nearby universities;

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters that form with the support of other local YDSA chapters can receive additional local resources and support that YDSA National cannot provide, helping them in their key early developmental times to grow and establish a solid footing;

WHEREAS, chapters in the same local area can join together and collaborate on campaigns that go beyond their individual university environment, such as targeting overarching university systems or local city councils and school boards;

WHEREAS, a growing number of YDSA chapters and organizing committees have been founded on this model, reaching across school connections to help plant YDSA chapters and reinvigorate the student movement on campus;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Young Democratic Socialists of America is committed to the creation of new, strong, and democratic YDSA chapters by local, on-the-ground organizers, with support from local chapters and YDSA National; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA chapters are directed to determine whether the universities, colleges, and high schools in their surrounding communities, if there are any, have the potential to form YDSA chapters, and to work with students at high-potential schools to plant new chapters; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA chapters will engage affiliated DSA chapters in assisting with the above where desired; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA chapters are directed to work with affiliated DSA chapters to identify areas of youth outside of education institutions with high potential to be organized; and

RESOLVED, that the Youth Growth and Development Committee shall procure a list of at least ten regions with marginal to nonexistent YDSA presence to support development. This list shall be guided by the following:

DSA chapters that have the strongest presence with marginal to nonexistent YDSA presence (less than 5% of post-secondary institutions with YDSA chapters or organizing committees);

For the purposes of power mapping, post-secondary institutions shall be restricted to include universities, colleges, and technical schools.

Which DSA chapters have the most post-secondary education institutions; and
Which DSA chapters are interested in building YDSA involvement.

RESOLVED, that the Youth Growth and Development Committee shall, with assistance from other YDSA National bodies, organize a series of meetings with at least five DSA chapters to seed YDSA chapters based on the targets identified above; and

RESOLVED, that the Youth Growth and Development Committee shall build resources for interested DSA chapters to utilize YDSA seasonal recruitment drives, such as the Fall Drive; and

RESOLVED, that the Youth Political Education Committee, Chapter Health and Intersectionality Committee, and the Youth Growth and Development Committee will provide resources and trainings to YDSA and DSA chapters that are assisting new chapters in forming, as well as to new chapters on how to integrate and work with YDSA National and local DSA chapters; and

RESOLVED, that the Youth Political Education Committee, Chapter Health and Intersectionality Committee, and the Youth Growth and Development Committee will provide resources and trainings to YDSA and DSA chapters on how to organize youth outside of education institutions.

RESOLVED, that all efforts to build new YDSA chapters shall prioritize non-predominantly white institutions and public institutions; and

RESOLVED, that within seventy-five days of passage of this resolution, the Youth Growth and Development Committee shall submit a list of prepared resources and recommendations for YDSA and DSA chapters on how to run local chapter planting campaigns, which shall be distributed by the GDC and the Communications Committee within ninety days of passage.

R25. Building the Youth Wing of a Socialist Party: The Next Step

Sponsor: Eli K, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Co-Sponsors: Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Sofia B, Rollins College

Gram V-B, DePaul University

Maevi B, Loyola University Chicago

Seamus P, Loyola University Chicago

Cedar L, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Roxy S, Macalester College

Kate T, Milwaukee School of Engineering

This resolution has been updated to incorporate a friendly secondary submission from:

Sponsor: Anna R, University of Minnesota Duluth

Co-Sponsors: Seamus P, Loyola University Chicago

Ethan E, Columbia University

Peter T, University of California Berkeley

Matero H, University of Central Florida

WHEREAS, at the 2023 YDSA Convention we passed For Building the Youth Wing of a Socialist Party which committed us to become a youth organization, rather than strictly a campus organization, within six years. In the resolution a youth organization was defined as:

An organization open to all socialist young people. Young people not on campus will have the option to primarily organize in either DSA or YDSA while retaining the right to organize in both.
An organization which has both campus bodies and broader municipal bodies organized along the boundaries of DSA chapters. Campus bodies will continue to anchor the organization while young people not on campuses will be given the option to join YDSA and organize as full equal members.
An organization which seeks to build power on and beyond campus, and in the workplace, building the struggles of young people where they’re located, recruiting them to socialism, and building up their political and organizing skills and leadership.
A mass membership organization which aims to build a genuine socialist counter-culture inside and outside of campus spaces.

WHEREAS, For Building the Youth Wing of a Socialist Party also prompted us to consider the following questions throughout the six-year course:

Should we modify the age cut-off and should it differ for on-campus and off-campus members?
How do we amend our national democratic processes to integrate non-campus members into our national conventions and decision-making while maintaining the principle of one-member-one-vote?
How should DSA members within the YDSA age bracket who choose to organize primarily in DSA, not YDSA, relate to our organization’s democratic processes?

WHEREAS, early in the 2024-2025 term, the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee YDSA, Milwaukee School of Engineering YDSA, and Marquette University YDSA requested that the NCC charter them as Milwaukee YDSA, a chapter spanning the metropolitan region of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Instead of chartering them on a de jure basis, the NCC encouraged the chapters to organize as a regional chapter on a de facto basis, in a project known as the Milwaukee Pilot Program.

WHEREAS, after the 2025 YDSA Organizing Conference, seeing various chapters become interested in regional organizing, the NCC voted to defer the question of regional chapters to the 2025 YDSA Convention, as the debate carries with it “political and structural implications that need to be explored rigorously by the entire organization” and are best suited to be considered in a resolution or constitutional amendment.

WHEREAS, there are various unofficial regional formations across the country, such as Milwaukee YDSA, New York City YDSA, Chicagoland YDSA, and Los Angeles YDSA. While these regional formations vary in structure and integration with their local DSA chapters, they are united in their mission to expand the political struggles beyond just their local campuses.

WHEREAS, these regional experiments have proven to expand the scope of the struggles YDSA members are partaking in on their local campuses, and realize that they are part of a broader fight in their local community. Through the regional coordination of these chapters, they are able to understand that their struggle is shared, as seen by the chapters in Chicagoland YDSA & Milwaukee YDSA and their struggles for sanctuary campuses or NYC YDSA’s campaign for a Free CUNY.

WHEREAS, regional formations assist in preventing an atomized view of campus-based struggles; they incentivize cross-campus communication, collaboration and events that serve to have chapters build each other up as comrades and peers, thereby creating strong leaders.

WHEREAS, by expanding the scope of their struggles on a regional scale, YDSA members become more coordinated in their participation and interventions in their local DSA chapters, as seen through Milwaukee DSA and Chicago DSA which see YDSA members coordinate interventions and even be represented on the leadership bodies of their chapters.

WHEREAS, under the current political moment with far-right demagoguery running amok, as YDSA members, we must be equipped with flexible tactics. A nationwide wave of repression targeted towards students and activist organizations have seen consequences of students being detained and chapters suspended off of campus. This, in part, heightens the need to implement new strategies and find ways to have our organizing embedded not only on our campuses, but our broader community as a whole.

WHEREAS, there is a base of unorganized non-student working-class youth in metropolitan areas across the United States; by organizing regional campaigns, YDSA chapters can become a political home for all socialist youth, seeing chapters dig their roots into the broader community as a whole.

WHEREAS, through YDSA chapters organizing regionally and ingratiating themselves in the broader community, organizers on the ground are able to have a solid foundation to find leads at other educational institutions in a regional area. By building up the political credibility of YDSA, local organizers can recruit members at neighboring institutions such as four-year institutions, community colleges and technical institutions, assisting in the founding of YDSA organizing committees. YDSA organizing on a regional scope also means that we can spread capacity between YDSA formations in the same region, building up a middle-layer of leadership that assists new organizers in running their chapters sustainably.

WHEREAS, by bringing in non-student working class youth we are presented with an opportunity to not only expand the diversity of our organizers in all ways, but we also take a solid step forward to bringing forward the independent party for the working class we are building DSA to be.

WHEREAS, while chapters have been independently moving forward with their local experiments, to truly extract clear and valuable lessons from local organizing, we must ensure the regional-chapter experiment occurs in an official manner so that YDSA national can spread these lessons throughout the organization and help ensuring these experiments are carried out in a healthy and sustainable way. If we, as YDSA, are serious about becoming a youth organization by 2029, we must devote resources and capacity to continue experimenting and see how we can carry this out. For this reason, the authors present the following resolution.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, YDSA reaffirms our commitment to building towards becoming the youth wing of a socialist party. In doing so, as we enter the third year of our six-year timeline, the 2025-2026 NCC shall commit to identifying at least three strategic sites where established campus-based chapters with the same local DSA parent chapter can merge into a de facto regional chapter. With the NCC reserving the right to amend the following list via a simple majority vote, the criteria for what constitutes a strategic site for a regional chapter shall consist of the following:

There must be at least two established campus-based chapters, in a metropolitan area.
The established campus-based chapters must possess a pre-existing relationship to one another.
The established campus-based chapters must have a strong, communicative relationship with YDSA national.
The established campus-based chapters must have filled steering committees and at least partial delegations to either the most recent YDSA Organizing Conference or YDSA Convention.
The established campus-based chapters must have each chartered or successfully rechartered in the most recent year.
There must be one DSA chapter present in the region.

RESOLVED, when a de facto regional chapter is formed, the established campus-based chapters are to be understood as branches of the regional chapter. Branches shall be formed on the prerequisite that there are at least three members in a bounded constituency (e.g. a campus or workplace) continue to meet the prerequisites to be chartered as a chapter by YDSA national. The regional steering committee shall be elected by all YDSA members in good standing within the jurisdiction the membership of the regional chapter, with each branch also possessing its own steering committee. The regional steering committee, which shall be composed of members from each branch, is tasked with coordinating action across branches and allocating resources effectively. Members who do not find themselves in a branch, such as non-student youth, shall be considered at-large members of a regional chapter and shall be eligible to vote for positions have representation on the regional steering committee.

RESOLVED, when a de facto regional chapter is formed, it is essential that organizers are to build healthy and cooperative relationships with their DSA chapter in the region. The following recommendations are to be followed:

The YDSA regional chapter is to have routine communication with their local DSA chapter regarding ongoing campaign and committee work. YDSA shall encourage its members to be part of their DSA chapter, and make it clear that all YDSA members are inherently DSA members too.
The YDSA regional chapter is to maintain regular report-backs from DSA chapter organizing work to be disseminated to rank-and-file members. These reports shall function with the intent to encourage YDSA involvement in ongoing DSA chapter work.
The YDSA regional chapter is to maintain a priority focus on youth-centered campaigns. If the YDSA regional chapter wishes to conduct a campaign already being worked on by the local DSA chapter, YDSA shall take part in the existing campaign as collaborators rather than working on their own separate campaign.

RESOLVED, once the NCC has identified at least three strategic sites to form a de facto regional chapter, they shall create a cohort of de facto regional chapters to be mentored by the NCC and the Youth Growth and Development Committee (YGDC) and any other body the 2025-2026 NCC deems appropriate. Together, the NCC and the YGDC shall seek to fulfill the following goals for the regional chapters:

[REGION] YDSA has embarked on a region-wide campaign across its branches.
[REGION] YDSA has grown in both student and non-student membership and has shown an ability to develop both types of youth membership in a sustainable manner.
[REGION] YDSA has grown closer and more integrated with its local DSA chapter and YDSA membership feels empowered to participate in the broader DSA ecosystem.

RESOLVED, to properly gauge how effective the regional chapter experiment is, we not only need goals, but we require established metrics to track throughout the 2025-2026 term. For this reason, with the NCC reserving the ability to amend the following list via a simple-majority vote, the bodies mentoring the regional-chapter cohort must seek to provide answers to the following questions on a case-by-case basis:

Throughout the term, what changes has the NCC and other national bodies seen with the ability to communicate with [REGION] YDSA and its branches?
Since being established, has the regional-formation strengthened or weakened its branches?
By how much did YDSA membership in [REGION] grow?

How many new members were students vs non-students?
How does the activity level differ from students vs non-students?
Was [REGION] YDSA able to identify bounded constituencies (e.g. workplaces, neighborhoods) to reliably recruit and organize non-student youth?

Was [REGION] YDSA able to run a healthy campaign that grew and engaged membership?

What were some ways that campaigning across a region differed from strictly campus-based campaigning?
What were some non-campus spaces that [REGION] YDSA was able to identify as terrains that could be contested through the regional campaign? How did this affect the recruitment and development of non-student youth?
What were the “asks” made of non-student youth that saw them be able to engage with the regional campaign in such a way that built them up as organizers and leaders?

Were any new branches established throughout the term?

Was [REGION] YDSA able to make inroads with local community colleges or technical schools?
Was [REGION] YDSA able to build branches in non-campus constituencies (e.g. workplaces)? If so, which constituencies were they built at?

RESOLVED, to be reflective of our long-term goal of building the youth wing of a socialist party, the YGDC shall incorporate these themes into its year-round programming. For example, for initiatives like the Fall Drive or the Recruitment Drive, our external-facing message shall be based around the long term project of building the independent party the working class deserves. The NCC shall also reserve the right to incorporate this theming in any other programming they deem appropriate.

RESOLVED, on the question of delegate apportionment ahead of the 2026 YDSA Convention, as these chapters shall be organizing regional chapters in a de facto manner, delegate apportionment shall be based on membership of the established campus-based chapters. However, through a simple-majority vote, before the end of the 2026 Winter season, the NCC is expected to resolve the question of how to calculate the non-student membership a de-facto regional chapter gains throughout the 2025-2026 term.

RESOLVED, the NCC and the YGDC shall be responsible for organizing at least one workshop at the 2026 Organizing Conference to review the regional-chapter experiment thus far, share the lessons learned, and communicate next steps for the remainder of the term.

R26. Building Regional Power: Organizing Regional YDSA Networks

Sponsor: Michael R, New York University

Co-Sponsors: Gerica N, Hollywood YDSA

Allen D, Texas State University

Diego M, Florida International University

Carlos C, Cal Poly Pomona

Liam R, Binghamton University

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

Ali N, San Francisco State University

James H, Florida International University

Tyler B, Binghamton University

WHEREAS, over the past several years, several local YDSA networks have been created in places like New York City and Los Angeles; and

WHEREAS, citywide and statewide networks have sprung up organically and through trial programs, like in Milwaukee and Texas; and

WHEREAS, regionwide organizing could serve as an avenue for mentorship and coordination on campaigns that go beyond a single campus; and

WHEREAS, YDSA chapters have the opportunity to reach out to the youth activist layer not on their own campuses (e.g., community colleges, trade schools, high schools, etc.); and

WHEREAS, the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) previously passed proposals to reach out to returning chapters to ask them to table at nearby campuses where applicable and ask them if they have any contacts at nearby schools; and

WHEREAS, we’ve seen success in YDSA members organizing with different campuses (e.g., New York City), allowing them to identify potential YDSA leaders in the formation of new chapters; and

WHEREAS, the NCC passed a proposal that charged NCC members with conducting chapter visits in order to run applicable trainings, grow chapter membership, build the relationship between local chapter organizing and national YDSA, and more; and

WHEREAS, chapter visits from NCC members have shown to re-energize chapters, allowing for members to come out more focused and prepared for organizing; and

WHEREAS, the NCC has recently created and approved a document that examines the vitals of a chapter and lays out tangible metrics to determine what constitutes a healthy chapter; and

WHEREAS, past NCC members have actively worked to foster the creation of local and statewide networks

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the NCC will work to identify chapters that have the conditions to work closely together, based on distance and/or university system affiliation, with the goal of creating proper regional networks and/or system-wide networks; and

RESOLVED, the NCC will encourage the establishment of regional in-person meet-ups, calls, and group chats to foster cross-chapter collaboration, share information, and grow campaigns; and

RESOLVED, the NCC will organize formal networks of YDSA chapters in university systems (e.g., the California State University system, the State University of New York system, the University of California system, etc); and

RESOLVED, creating system-wide networks of YDSA chapters will be facilitated by the NCC members assigned as point people for given university systems to connect YDSA chapters through methods such as group chats, joint meetings, coordination on joint campaigns (i.e., student worker union organizing, fighting tuition increases across a university system, etc.), and meetings at national YDSA conventions and conferences; and

RESOLVED, priority focus will be given to public universities in the same university system so that the potential cross-system campaigns can be created and strengthened; and

RESOLVED, National YDSA will hold calls on current and future prospective regional organizing hosted by chapters that have seen success in regional organizing; and

RESOLVED, once these region-wide structures are established, they would be encouraged to create and vote upon their own region-wide constitution and bylaws; and

RESOLVED, chapters will be encouraged to focus on their campus/community-based campaigns to build and develop members before engaging in ambitious region-wide campaigns. Ideally, regional campaigns will be rooted in deeply felt issues that can form a local campaign for campus chapters; and

RESOLVED, the NCC will set a timeline to establish at least two region-wide networks & one system-wide network per academic year.

Constitutional Amendments

A1. Towards the Cooperative-Autonomous Model for YDSA Chapters

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University
Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, California State University Fullerton

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

WHEREAS, from the Young Democratic Socialists era to the modern day, YDSA and its chapters have had varying relationships with DSA and local DSA chapters, from being a simple youth wing to a functionally autonomous but integrated component of DSA;

WHEREAS, as YDSA chapters have grown and expanded outside direct campus organizing, several DSA and YDSA chapters have proposed or implemented standing rules or bylaws which treat YDSA chapters as branches of the local DSA chapter, subject to determinations of the local DSA chapter’s leadership and membership;

WHEREAS, while greater YDSA-DSA integration builds socialist power and helps coordinate resources, YDSA is a distinct entity whose autonomy has allowed it to grow and expand to new frontiers which DSA chapters have struggled to reach;

WHEREAS, the YDSA Constitution holds that Chapters are independent entities and chapters of YDSA National, providing no means by which they can be subservient to a local DSA chapter;

WHEREAS, because YDSA chapters are and can be standalone entities, it is undemocratic for the decisions only affecting them to be made by a local DSA chapter, especially when members of that YDSA chapter may live outside that DSA chapter’s jurisdiction and would not be able to vote on those measures;

WHEREAS, YDSA should seek to increase chapter cooperation with local DSA chapters without giving up chapter autonomy;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Young Democratic Socialists of America affirms that the YDSA Constitution makes YDSA chapters independent of their local DSA chapter, with the only local decisions binding the YDSA chapter being those of the YDSA chapter’s membership and leadership; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA encourages chapters to connect, collaborate, and cooperate with their local DSA chapters to grow the socialist movement and share local resources; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA requests that DSA chapters which have one or more YDSA chapters in their geographical jurisdiction develop a YDSA Liaison system, with Liaisons being directly responsible for coordinating between the chapters and potentially having a vote on the Chapter’s main leadership body; and

RESOLVED, that YDSA considers all DSA chapter bylaws or policies that define YDSA chapters in their geographical jurisdiction as components, branches, or sections of the DSA chapter as null, void, and unenforceable, with YDSA chapters being directed to inform their DSA chapters of this provision and to refuse to implement orders directed by their local DSA chapter unless the YDSA chapter agrees to implement the decision as its own pursuant to its bylaws; and

RESOLVED, that Article V, Section 1c of the YDSA Constitution is amended, to read:

Constitution Article and Section that would be changed:

Article V, Section 1c

Old Language:

Sec. 1c – To renew an established chapter’s charter, the established chapter shall submit an updated membership list with at least (3) DSA members, an updated chapter constitution, and an updated list of elected officers to the national office before the charter’s expiration. Upon the reception of the required materials, the national office shall issue a renewed charter for the chapter, given that the chapter remains in agreement with the aims and objectives of YDSA and the materials are all in order according to a set of public guidelines written and disseminated by the NCC. The renewed charter shall expire no less than a year and two months from issuance. Any established chapter whose charter has expired shall apply by petition for a charter as if they were a new chapter.

New Language:

Sec. 1c – To renew an established chapter’s charter, the established chapter shall submit an updated membership list with at least (3) DSA members, an updated chapter constitution, and an updated list of elected officers to the national office before the charter’s expiration. Upon the reception of the required materials, the national office shall issue a renewed charter for the chapter, given that the chapter remains in agreement with the aims and objectives of YDSA and the materials are all in order according to a set of public guidelines written and disseminated by the NCC. These guidelines shall include a requirement that the chapter’s materials contain no provisions making them subservient to another DSA chapter. The renewed charter shall expire no less than a year and two months from issuance. Any established chapter whose charter has expired shall apply by petition for a charter as if they were a new chapter.

RESOLVED, that in implementing the above change to the YDSA Constitution, a condition of issuance or renewal of any charter of a YDSA chapter shall be that their Constitution or Bylaws do not contain provisions making the chapter subservient to another DSA chapter, with the following language being included on any new or renewed charter:

As a chartered YDSA chapter, your chapter is an independent entity subject only to the DSA Constitution and the YDSA Constitution, as well as your Constitution and any policies you make. Your chapter is not subject to the decisions of any local DSA chapter; while we encourage cooperation between YDSA and DSA chapters, your chapter is independent and not a direct part of your local DSA chapter. Please note that this condition may not be altered or modified by your chapter’s Constitution.

A2. Fair Elections with STV

Sponsors: Jack S, University of Maryland College Park

Tom J, University of Minnesota Duluth

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Casey P, Georgia State University

Steven R, Furman University

Addison G, University Of Central Florida

Claire I J, Furman University

WHEREAS, providing chapters with delegate counts and convention information earlier will help give chapters more time to plan their delegate elections;

WHEREAS, the current YDSA Constitution does not specify the voting method for delegate elections;

WHEREAS, chapter delegations should reflect the political and ideological diversity of their chapters by being elected through a proportional voting method;

WHEREAS, approval voting and Borda count voting, which have been employed by various DSA and YDSA chapters to send delegates to annual Conventions, create a body that is not proportional in nature;

WHEREAS, in 2024 YDSA Convention overwhelmingly voted to not use Borda count for the NCC Co-Chair seats;

WHEREAS, Scottish Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a proportional voting method that is easy to implement using tools like OpaVote;

WHEREAS, Scottish STV is already used to elect the YDSA National Coordinating Committee;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, all delegate elections shall be conducted using Scottish Single Transferable Vote. The NCC will ensure chapters are given necessary financial and technical support with administering their elections;

RESOLVED, Article VI. of the YDSA Constitution shall be amended to read:

“Sec. 3 – The number of delegates for each YDSA chapter for the Annual Convention shall be apportioned at least sixty (60) days before the Annual Convention. The apportionment of delegates for each YDSA chapter for the Annual Convention shall be based on a ratio of chapter membership to delegates determined by the NCC. The delegates of each chapter shall be elected by the chapter’s membership through Scottish Single Transferable Vote. Delegates of chapters shall have speaking and voting rights at the Annual Convention. These rights shall be subject to review at the Annual Convention meeting.

Sec. 4 – An announcement of the beginning of the pre-convention period shall be distributed to all YDSA members by the NCC at least ninety (90) days before the opening of the first session. This announcement shall included include guidelines for submissions and candidates for national office. This announcement shall also include the number of delegates for each YDSA chapter.

RESOLVED, Article VII, Section 2 of the YDSA Constitution be amended similarly to read:

“The national officers shall consist of two Co-Chairs and seven at-large members. The two Co-Chairs shall be elected by ranked choice voting, and the at-large members shall be elected by Scottish Single Transferable Vote single transferable vote.”

Amendments to A2

Amendment A2-1

Sponsor: Parker D, University of Texas San Antonio

Co-Sponsors: Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

Jess F, University of Oregon

Qingyu Z, University of Florida

Luke B, Cornell University

Stephen S., University of Florida

New Language:

WHEREAS, providing chapters with delegate counts and convention information earlier will help give chapters more time to plan their delegate elections;

WHEREAS, the current YDSA Constitution does not specify the voting method for delegate elections;

WHEREAS, chapter delegations should reflect the political and ideological diversity of their chapters by being elected through a proportional voting method;

WHEREAS, approval voting and Borda count voting, which have been employed by various DSA and YDSA chapters to send delegates to annual Conventions, create a body that is not proportional in nature;

WHEREAS, in 2024 YDSA Convention overwhelmingly voted to not use Borda count for the NCC Co-Chair seats;

WHEREAS, Scottish Meek Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a proportional voting method that is easy to implement using tools like OpaVote;

WHEREAS, Scottish STV is already used to elect the YDSA National Coordinating Committee Meek Single Transferable Vote provides more accurate proportional representation than other STV methods;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, all delegate elections shall be conducted using Scottish Meek Single Transferable Vote. The NCC will ensure chapters are given necessary financial and technical support with administering their elections;

RESOLVED, Article VI. of the YDSA Constitution shall be amended to read:

“Sec. 3 – The apportionment of delegates for each YDSA chapter for the Annual Convention shall be based on a ratio of chapter membership to delegates determined by the NCC. The delegates of each chapter shall be elected by the chapter’s membership through Scottish Meek Single Transferable Vote. Delegates of chapters shall have speaking and voting rights at the Annual Convention. These rights shall be subject to review at the Annual Convention meeting.

Sec. 4 – An announcement of the beginning of the pre-convention period shall be distributed to all YDSA members by the NCC at least ninety (90) days before the opening of the first session. This announcement shall include guidelines for submissions and candidates for national office. This announcement shall also include the number of delegates for each YDSA chapter.

RESOLVED, Article VII, Section 2 of the YDSA Constitution be amended similarly to read:

“The national officers shall consist of two Co-Chairs and seven at-large members. The two Co-Chairs, and the at-large members shall be elected by Scottish Meek Single Transferable Vote.”

A3. Expanding the NCC to Meet YDSA’s Growth

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B-H, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

WHEREAS, as YDSA has grown in both membership and chapter count, the workload on the National Coordinating Committee has steadily increased, giving each NCC member less time to focus on reaching out to and developing each chapter’s leadership;

WHEREAS, for YDSA to meet the current political moment and fully utilize the growth we have experienced from students seeking to resist against the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education and immigrant communities, more working capacity is needed amongst our elected leadership;

WHEREAS, having more members on the NCC would allow for more work to be put in to national campaigns and committees, allowing us to bolster our priority and secondary campaigns to achieve real victories;

WHEREAS, a larger NCC would be better able to proportionally represent the different tendencies and geographies within YDSA, improving the NCC’s ability to consider issues affecting different chapters due to their local and regional conditions;

WHEREAS, based on pre-2024 workload levels and legislature-size metrics including the cube root law, the ideal size of the NCC is thirteen members, comprised of the two Co-Chairs and eleven at-large members;

Constitution Article and Section that would be changed:

Article VII, Section 2

Old Language:

Article VIII, Sec. 2 – The national officers shall consist of two Co-Chairs and seven at-large members. The two Co-Chairs shall be elected by ranked choice voting, and the at-large members by single transferable vote.

New Language:

Article VIII, Sec. 2 – The national officers shall consist of two Co-Chairs and eleven at-large members. The two Co-Chairs shall be elected by ranked choice voting, and the at-large members by single transferable vote

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that this change to the YDSA Constitution shall not affect proceedings of the 2025 YDSA Convention, and shall apply to NCC elections beginning in the 2026 YDSA Convention.

A4. Matching Current Practices for NCC

Sponsor: Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Co-Sponsors: Daniel S-C, Florida International University

Steven R, Furman University

Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Aron A-M, University of Florida

David L, University of Oregon

Uma C, University of California Santa Barbara

Carlos C, Cal Poly Pomona

Jeffrey C, Oakland University

Reese H, University of Missouri Columbia

Cosponsored by members of the 2024-2025 National Coordinating Committee (NCC) and Chapter Health & Intersectionality Committee, this constitutional amendment seeks to update our language to ensure that the section of the constitution describing the NCC is accurate and inclusive.

Drawing language from the Co-Chair STV rules changes passed at the 2024 convention, this year’s Convention rules, and 2024’s R12 “Responsibilities for National Coordinating Committee Members”, we seek to codify the standard practice we have followed in regard to the elections of the NCC and the work the body does.

We also seek to clarify our NCC quota language. Starting with the percentages, current language calling for 50% of the NCC to be non-men and 45% of the NCC to be BIPOC, when applied to a body of nine, leaves us with 4.5 seats needing to be occupied by non-men and 4.05 seats needing to be occupied by BIPOC; by switching the quota to whole number requirements, the language and quota is much clearer. Additionally, the use of non-men invites exclusionary interpretations that can negatively affect marginalized comrades; by specifying that 5 seats must be occupied by non-cis-men, we create language that is inclusive of trans-masculine comrades, whose unique perspectives are important to the work the NCC takes on.

Constitution Article and Section that would be changed:

Article VII, sections 2 through 7

Old Language:

Sec. 2 – The national officers shall consist of two Co-Chairs and seven at-large members. The two Co-Chairs shall be elected by ranked choice voting, and the at-large members by single transferable vote.

Sec. 2a – Candidates for national office shall have been members of the organization for at least one month prior to the date of the election.

Sec. 2b – At least 50% of the NCC must be self-identified women or gender non-binary people (including one of the co-chairs), and at least 45% of the NCC must also be people of color.

[...]

Sec. 3b(ii) – The NCC shall rotate notetakers and timekeepers monthly.

[...]

Sec. 7 – NCC members shall host office hours via conference call for the membership to directly engage with them.

Sec. 7a – The office hours shall be hosted at least four times between annual conventions, and shall be publicized to the membership.

Sec. 7b – Membership shall receive one month prior notice of scheduled NCC office hours.

New Language:

Article VII. National Coordinating Committee

Sec. 2a – Candidates for national office shall have been members of the organization for at least one month prior to the date of the election.

Sec. 2b – At least 5 members of the NCC must be self-identified non-cis-men (including one of the co-chairs), and at least 4 members of the NCC must also be people of color.

[...]

Sec. 3b(ii) – The NCC shall rotate notetakers and timekeepers.

[...]

Sec. 7 – The NCC will divide all active YDSA chapters between themselves and -- through regular meetings with chapter leaders -- will present a political vision and provide support for chapter development.

Sec. 7a – During these meetings, NCC members will discuss and advocate for strategies related to campaigns, coalition building, chapter structure, leadership development, political education, dues drive, and so on. They will also inform the representative leaders of upcoming national events and priorities.

Sec. 7b – NCC members should also conduct chapter visits throughout the year to facilitate trainings, discussions, political education presentations, and give dues pitches to members.

A5. For a Stable National YDSA Structure

Sponsor: Aron A-M, University of Florida

Co-Sponsors: Callynn J, University of Central Florida

Sean B, University of Cincinnati

Madhu S, University of Cincinnati

Bryce A, Arizona State University

Aidan M-S, University of Cincinnati

Noah L, Miami University of Ohio

Maxon A, University of Cincinnati

Joel D, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Kaeden B, University of Texas San Antonio

WHEREAS, national committees are the main structure through which work is facilitated on the national level in YDSA,

WHEREAS, at the 2023 YDSA Convention, two function-based committees, the Youth Growth and Development Committee (YGDC) and Communications Committee (Comms) were established with the mission to undertake longer year-over-year work, including the Fall Drive, Dues/Recruitment Drive, social media, and earned media work,

WHEREAS, the 2024 YDSA Convention, a function-based committee, the Chapter Health and Intersectionality Committee (CHIC), was established to build a diverse and healthy socialist culture at the national and chapter level,

WHEREAS, for many years, the Youth Labor Committee (YLC), has been a core national YDSA committee, focusing on building labor union drives on campuses, mentoring labor organizers, exploring the construction of a ‘rank and file pipeline’, and supporting strikes across the country,

WHEREAS, these four committees have important core function-based missions to YDSA, whose work plans and timelines often transcend the annual rhythm of our national Convention, such as the YGDC’s Fall Drive,

WHEREAS, it remains important that the annual work and direction of these committees is debated and discussed thoroughly at YDSA Conventions, and that the existence of a committee in the next year is not endangered by political debate around the work it carries out,

WHEREAS, YDSA can continue to thrive by committing to a structural foundation with proven function to build YDSA for the future,

Constitution Article and Section that would be changed:

Article VIII; Section 4

Old Language:

Article VIII. Committees & Working Groups

Sec. 1 – The Annual Convention or NCC shall form committees as deemed necessary to supervise specific longstanding work outlined in an annual charter adopted by Convention, or under a temporary charter until the next Annual Convention if formed by the NCC; these shall report to the Annual Convention and the NCC. The National Campus Organizer shall serve as an ex officio member of each committee.

Sec. 1a – The NCC may at any time vote to dissolve any temporarily chartered committee by a majority vote, or may suspend a Committee with an annual charter should it find it to have violated that charter or the rules, bylaws, or Constitution of the organization. Committees shall have at least 3 members, appointed by the NCC open to application by the membership, including at least one Committee Chair, tasked with coordinating the work of the Committee and a Committee Secretary, tasked with maintaining the records of the Committee and providing them to the NCC and, if requested, the DSA NPC. The NCC may dismiss a Committee Chair, the Committee Secretary, or any other officer or member of the Committee by simple majority vote.

Sec. 2 – The NCC shall appoint an Executive Editor to manage the work of the Activist blog. The Executive Editor may establish an editorial board to assist in the direction of the Activist and assign responsibilities as they see fit. The NCC may remove either the Executive Editor or any member of the editorial board by a simple majority vote.

Sec. 3 – Temporary Working Groups may be established by the Annual Convention or by the NCC and must be accompanied by a charter that determines its mission, membership, structure, and designate an expiry date of no longer than one year or until the next convention. If the charter expires and the working group is not rechartered within one month, it shall be dissolved and its records shall be transferred to the NCC.

Sec. 3a – The NCC will establish a governance structure and accountability provisions for Working Groups.

Sec. 3b – Working Groups may be dissolved by a majority vote of the Annual Convention or two-thirds vote of the NCC, except that the NCC may revoke the charter of a Working Group by a majority vote if that charter was granted by the NCC.

New Language:

Article VIII. Standing Committees, Committees & Working Groups

Sec. 3a – The NCC will establish a governance structure and accountability provisions for Working Groups.

Sec. 4 - There shall be three permanent Standing Committees overseen by the NCC: the Youth Growth and Development Committee (YGDC), the Communications Committee (Comms), and the Youth Labor Committee (YLC). As Standing Committees, these bodies do not need to submit annual charters to be approved at the Annual Convention in order to continue their work beyond the Annual Convention.

Sec. 4a - The structure and current charter of each Standing Committee shall be determined by the most recent committee charter passed by the Annual Convention, including in cases where the Annual Convention does not pass a resolution that amends the charter of a Standing Committee or makes determinations on the structure or name of the committee.

Sec. 4b - The leadership of each Standing Committee shall not be relieved of their tenure at the Annual Convention, and shall instead remain in office until their replacement is formally appointed by the NCC.

Sec. 4c - Annually, in lieu of charter renewals, Standing Committees may submit a resolution detailing a work plan and priorities for the upcoming year to the Annual Convention. If no such resolution is submitted, then the incoming NCC shall be tasked with working with the respective Standing Committee to build a work plan for the duration of their term.

Sec. 4d - A Standing Committee may be chartered through a constitutional amendment to Article VIII, Sec. 4, adding to the list of Standing Committees, but must be accompanied by the passage of a normal resolution detailing the initial charter of the Standing Committee. If a charter is passed, but the constitutional amendment is not, then the committee shall function as an annually chartered committee subject to Article VIII, Sec. 1.

Sec. 4e - A Standing Committee may have its status revoked through a constitutional amendment to Article VIII, Sec. 4, removing its name from the list of Standing Committees.

A6. Building a YDSA for All the Youth

Sponsor: Amy P, California State University Fullerton

Co-Sponsors: Bryce S, Princeton University

Aaren H, Brooklyn College

Alex R-G, Boise State University

Nolan M, Lawrence University

Conner S, Rice University

Jack H, California State University Fullerton

Khoi T, California State University Fullerton

Roman B-H, California State University Fullerton

Ibraheem M, California State University Fullerton

WHEREAS, the 2023 YDSA Convention passed Resolution 17, For Building the Youth Wing of a Socialist Party, which committed YDSA to becoming an organization for all youth - rather than just students - within six years;

WHEREAS, to respond to the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education and the interests and needs of youth, YDSA needs to adopt new strategies and become a mass youth organization;

WHEREAS, non-student youth often face additional challenges due to being on the economic margins of society, and need a place through which they can organize for youth-specific issues to improve their lives and the lives of their comrades;

WHEREAS, city and regional formations within YDSA, including Milwaukee YDSA, NYC YDSA, Chicagoland YDSA, Hollywood YDSA, and YDSA-LA, have been developed to varying degrees of success, providing coordination between YDSA chapters in a local area and giving non-students ways to get involved with YDSA’s organizing efforts;

WHEREAS, city and regional formations, as well as non-student members, currently do not receive support or recognition from YDSA National due to current interpretations of the YDSA Constitution and the lack of discussion of the city chapter question at Convention;

WHEREAS, DSA has a system of tiered chapters with the chapters in a state being permitted to form state chapters, which help coordinate between local chapters and provide a method for members not within the jurisdiction of any local chapter to get involved with organizing in DSA;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Article IV, Section 1 of the YDSA Constitution is amended, to read:

Constitution Article and Section that would be changed:

Article IV; Section 1

Old Language:

Article IV, Sec. 1 – Membership in YDSA shall be open to any DSA members who are full or part-time students, campus workers (including, but not limited to, adjunct faculty, teaching assistants, and non-traditional students), or youth, who accept the aims, constitution, resolutions, and the decisions of the organization and accept the aims of the platform of the organization. Members over 30 years of age may not hold elective office in the organization.

New Language:

Article IV, Sec. 1 - Membership in YDSA shall be open to any DSA members who are full or part-time students, campus workers (including, but not limited to, adjunct faculty, teaching assistants, and non-traditional students), or youth (as defined by Article IV, Section 6 of the DSA Constitution), who accept the aims, constitution, resolutions, and the decisions of the organization and accept the aims of the platform of the organization. Members over 30 years of age may not hold elective office in the organization.

RESOLVED, that Section 2 is added to Article V of the YDSA Constitution, to read:

Constitution Article and Section that would be changed:

Article V; Section 2

Old Language:

Sec. 1e – Chapter charters granted by YDSA may be revoked by a two-thirds vote of the NCC or the Annual Convention.

New Language:

Sec. 1e – Chapter charters granted by YDSA may be revoked by a two-thirds vote of the NCC or the Annual Convention.

Sec. 2 - Chapters within a contiguous local area may form a city or regional organizations, the primary purpose of which shall be to coordinate resources between local chapters and provide a means through which to organize youth who are not students or whose educational institution does not yet have a local YDSA chapter. The process for forming a city or regional organization shall remain the same as to form a local chapter, except that the petition for a charter shall be signed by resolutions of at least two YDSA chapters, and by a majority of chapters within the initially proposed contiguous jurisdiction. All members of the local YDSA chapter within a city or regional organization’s jurisdiction shall also be members of the city or regional organization.

RESOLVED, that Section 3a is added to Article VI of the YDSA Constitution, to read:

Constitution Article and Section that would be changed:

Article VI; Section 3a

Old Language:
Sec. 3 – The number of delegates for each YDSA chapter for the Annual Convention shall be apportioned at least sixty (60) days before the Annual Convention. The apportionment shall be based on a ratio of chapter membership to delegates determined by the NCC. The delegates of each chapter shall be elected by the chapter’s membership. Delegates of chapters shall have speaking and voting rights at the Annual Convention. These rights shall be subject to review at the Annual Convention meeting.

Old Language:

Sec. 3 – The number of delegates for each YDSA chapter for the Annual Convention shall be apportioned at least sixty (60) days before the Annual Convention. The apportionment shall be based on a ratio of chapter membership to delegates determined by the NCC. The delegates of each chapter shall be elected by the chapter’s membership. Delegates of chapters shall have speaking and voting rights at the Annual Convention. These rights shall be subject to review at the Annual Convention meeting.

Sec. 3a - City and regional organizations shall have delegates apportioned proportional to the number of members in the chapter who are not members of a local YDSA chapter. Delegates elected from city and regional chapters must only be members of their regional chapter, and not of any YDSA chapter formed on the basis of an educational institution.

RESOLVED, that the National Coordinating Committee shall identify strategic sites where chapters in close proximity could establish a city or regional chapter, based on the number of chapters in the proposed region, their connection to each other, and their collective connection to YDSA National; and

RESOLVED, that the Youth Growth and Development Committee shall, in consultation with and with assistance from the NCC, mentor new city and regional chapters, developing resources for these chapters and focusing on establishing firm democratic foundations for them; and

RESOLVED, for a city or regional chapter to receive recognition from the National Coordinating Committee, it must be organized in a democratic manner with all chapters in the region being permitted to send delegates and to elect the leadership of the chapter.

Table of Contents

Convention Timeline

Convention Rules

Delegate Apportionment and Credentials

Recording

Voting

Plenary Procedure

National Coordinating Committee Nominees

Daniel Salup-Cid, Florida International University

Resolutions

R1. Towards a Growing Mass Organization: YGDC Recharter

R2. 2025 YDSA Communications Committee Recharter

R3. Build Red Area Chapters Into Bases of Power

R4. YPEC Recharter

R5. For a Robust and Revitalized National Publication

R6. Building the Path to a YDSA to DSA Pipeline

Amendments to R6

Amendment R6-1

R7. For a National YDSA Program

Program of the Young Democratic Socialists of America

Immediate Demands

Long-Term Demands

Conclusion

Amendments to R7

Amendment R7-1

Program of the Young Democratic Socialists of America

Immediate Demands

Long-Term Demands

Conclusion

R8. Convention Mandates are Mandates

R9. Developing A Diverse YDSA Through Political Means

R10. Building an International Student Movement

R11. Victory to the International Working Class

R12. For a Campaigning Internationalism

R13. Rechartering the Youth Labor Committee

Amendments to R13

Amendment R13-1

Amendment R13-2

Amendment R13-3

R14. From the Campus to the Amazon Shop Floor

Amendments to R14

Amendment R14-1

R14. From the Campus to the Amazon Logistics Shop Floor

Amendment R14-2

R15. Promoting Transparency On and Member Access to the NCC

R16. Recommitting to the Campus BDS Struggle

Amendments to R16

Amendment R16-1

R17. For A Strategic Campaign Committee

R18. Recommitting to Running Strategic Campaigns as Unapologetic Socialists

R19. Building Socialist Sanctuaries to Win the Battle for Democracy

Amendments to R19

Amendment R19-1

R20. Establishing a Red Bunnies Campaign

Amendments to R20

Amendment R20-1

R21. Building Lasting Campus Power Structures

R22. For Coalitions That Strengthen YDSA

R23. Building Campus Consciousness, Democracy, and Militancy through Student Unions

R24. Planting New, Strong, Democratic, YDSA Chapters

R25. Building the Youth Wing of a Socialist Party: The Next Step

R26. Building Regional Power: Organizing Regional YDSA Networks

Constitutional Amendments

A1. Towards the Cooperative-Autonomous Model for YDSA Chapters

A2. Fair Elections with STV

Amendments to A2

Amendment A2-1

A3. Expanding the NCC to Meet YDSA’s Growth

A4. Matching Current Practices for NCC

A5. For a Stable National YDSA Structure

A6. Building a YDSA for All the Youth