Student initiatives geared for national and statewide elections are nothing new in today’s political world, but when “Students for Ron Paul” exploded onto the scene during the 2008 presidential cycle, no one expected a national youth movement dedicated to protecting constitutional freedom to blossom from a mere student coalition.
That movement is Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), and with over 26,000 student activists and more than 220 chapters, it has certainly become a force to be reckoned with.
Supporters of “conservatarian” candidate Ron Paul formed YAL to “cast the leaders of tomorrow and reclaim the policies, candidates, and direction of our government.”
According to its mission statement, the libertarian-oriented YAL welcomes conservatives, classical liberals and libertarians who believe that government is the negation of liberty, that private property is fundamental to a peaceful society, that violence is only acceptable in defense of one’s property and that individuals must be responsible for themselves, among other things.
“We work across the political spectrum,” says YAL Communications Director Bonnie Kristian, who notes that YAL happily partners with other conservative organizations like Americans for Prosperity, The Young America’s Foundation, and the Leadership Institute.
Social conservatives and those more hawkish on foreign policy issues often disagree with the certain YAL positions, but according to Kristian, “we have not really encountered any hostility from groups with differing opinions.”
There has been some conflict, however. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2010, for example, there was tension between a social conservative activist who called out YAL leaders by name for being de facto supporters of gay marriage. (The activist was mistaken, and was actually responding to a speech given by a different libertarian group.)
YAL spearheads several major initiatives for campuses each semester and individual chapters have at times created quite a controversy as a result of American universities’ affinity for political correctness. One chapter at the University of North Texas caused a commotion when they protested a school smoking ban by handing out free cigarettes. YAL activists have raised awareness about and robustly protested against the wars in Iraq and Libya, the outrageous national debt and, my personal favorite, the increasingly invasive TSA.
Currently, YAL has three major initiatives: “The Price is Wrong for Big Government,” which proposes a Price is Right-style game on campus to explain the high price of government programs like Obamacare; “Visualize the Debt,” which involves creating a 40-foot debt clock; and “Occupy the Honor Roll,” which is a petition to “end GPA inquality” by calling for GPA redistribution.
Kristian says that for each official initiative sponsored by the national YAL, they usually have about 50-100 campuses take part. “We expect good turnout and participation across the country for these three current projects,” she notes.
Perhaps one of the most impressive feats of YAL is getting students to work within their own campus environments to bring these initiatives to fruition.
“Although there is some minimal financial assistance for events and speakers on campuses,” Kristian says, “these initiatives are all funded primarily by money raised by individual YAL chapters.”
Kristian believes the key to YAL’s rapid growth and popularity is simple and straightforward.
“Young people are really interested in the idea of liberty…and don’t want to hear about it just from what either party establishment tells them.”
Regardless of where one stands on foreign policy or social issues, clearly YAL is doing an incredible job educating students on constitutional freedoms and liberties. With their upcoming national convention this summer and the recent launch of their PAC to “get more candidates into office to defend the Constitution,” as Kristian puts it, and their creative campus initiatives – the future is certainly bright for pro-freedom activists.
