One of Elizabethtown College’s greatest features is the diversity of clubs that students can participate in. This week’s club feature is the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), which is a political-based group. The Etownian was able to interview the club’s cabinet for information on what they do and stand for. The cabinet consists of President Haley Bateman, Vice President Jordyn Dutko, Treasurer Gabe Karl, Secretary Julie Cooper, Community Outreach Director Kayli Hose and Volunteerism and Mutual Aid Director Megan Fleming.
YDSA is a relatively new club, created only three years ago. The club was started with the intention of providing a safe space for conversation regarding what socialism and leftist ideology is. Since starting the club, a few members have expressed how some people don’t really understand socialism.
“I’ve had at least two people say they really didn’t understand what socialism was until they had it explained to them by the club and our members,”Bateman said.
The club has also struggled with differentiating themselves from the College Democrats. Despite the political differences between the two groups, they are often conflated as the same thing to people.
“We’ve definitely got the question of what’s different between the two clubs,”Karl said.
When it comes to YDSA’s activities, they have quite the repertoire. One of the main activities YDSA hosts are information nights where they discuss various topics like big pharma and socialist feminism. They’ve also done informal PowerPoint nights at certain events to help educate.
The YDSA prides themselves on political and civic action, so their club activities often involve just that. The club volunteers around once or twice a year at the Elizabethtown Community Housing and Outreach Services (ECHOS). They also participate in the yearly Into the Streets event, assisting wherever the community needs help.
One of the biggest achievements of YDSA has been assisting in the raising of the campus minimum wage. This occurred just recently in 2022, only a year or so after the club’s creation. YDSA worked alongside the former Student Senate and the college administration to better the wages for all student and service workers.
Like most of the campus clubs, YDSA has gone on trips outside of the campus community. Some of the trips include traveling to Philadelphia to attend a youth folk rally, the recording breaking Palestine protest in Washington D.C., plus a few trips to Harrisburg.
When asked about what their favorite activity they’ve done with the YDSA was, a few cabinet members responded.
“My favorite was the social feminism night. A lot of people showed up, and we had a lot of professors show up,”Cooper said.
“My freshman year we screened ‘Parasite’ in Gibble auditorium, and we got an OSA award for how many people attended,” Karl said.
“One of my favorite memories was when we went to Harrisburg for a pro-choice protest regarding codifying abortion into Pennsylvania’s constitution. We got to talk to a few of the Pa. representatives,” Bateman said.
Since becoming a club, YDSA has partnered with other groups on campus to host events. They’ve worked with the Asian Cultural Student Association, Our Bodies and the NAACP to show a film about Malcom X.
When asked about what message the YDSA would like to give to the campus community at this time, they responded with political encouragement.
“If you’re feeling disillusioned with this election and not going to vote based on that, you do not want to live in a future where you did not vote,” Bateman said.
“Your voice matters,” Fleming said.
For any questions or inquiries regarding YDSA, email them at ydsa@etown.edu or message them on their Instagram account @etownydsa.
