Abbreviation | YAL |
---|---|
Formation | 2008 |
Type | Student Organization, 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4) |
Purpose | Political Activism |
Region served | United States |
CEO | Lauren Daugherty |
Affiliations | Students for Ron Paul, Campaign for Liberty, Youth for Ron Paul, Students for Rand |
Website | http://www.yaliberty.org |
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in the United States |
---|
Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) is a libertarian student activism organization headquartered in Austin, Texas. Formed in 2008 in the aftermath of the Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign, YAL establishes chapters on high school and college campuses across the United States, for the purpose of "advancing liberty on campus and in American electoral politics." [1]
YAL is active on nearly 400 college and university campuses, representing thousands of students. [2] [3]
YAL was founded in 2008 at the end of Congressman Ron Paul's first presidential campaign. Paul's candidacy inspired students to organize on-campus under the banner of Students for Ron Paul. After the 2008 presidential election in November, the movement continued, soon becoming Young Americans for Liberty. [4] [5]
On May 23, 2019, YAL announced it would be moving its headquarters to Austin from Arlington, Virginia, saying that the group "doesn't belong" in Washington, D.C. due to its "toxic environment," and that it was a "rapidly growing organization" that needed more space in its headquarters. [6]
In January 2021, YAL removed its president, Cliff Maloney, for serious allegations of sexual misconduct towards YAL employees. [7]
In May 2021, Lauren Daugherty became YAL's new executive director. [8] Former Maine State Senator Eric Brakey assumed the role of senior spokesperson, while Sean Themea became YAL's chief of staff. [9] [10] [11] [12]
In March 2011, 78 YAL chapters across 32 states organized a student protest of the national debt. Each chapter constructed a 40-foot debt clock and placed it in the middle of their campus. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
In April 2014, two YAL students at the University of Hawaii filed a federal lawsuit after they were prevented from handing out copies of the US constitution. [20]
Beginning in 2009, YAL hosted annual National Conventions in Arlington, Virginia. More than 300 students attended the 2014 convention. [21] Speakers included U.S Senator Rand Paul and former U.S. Representative Ron Paul, with a video address by Glenn Greenwald. [22] [23] Speakers at the 2016 convention included speakers Ron Paul and U.S. Representative Justin Amash, Judge Andrew Napolitano, and David Boaz of the Cato Institute. [24]
In September 2016, three YAL students passed out pocket constitutions on a public walkway at Kellogg Community College (KCC) in Battle Creek, Michigan. [25] The students were approached by Drew Hutchinson, the school's Manager of Student Life, and told to shut down the event on grounds that it violated the school's "speech permit policy." [25] After refusing to do so, the students were arrested by campus police and jailed for over seven hours. [26]
YAL and the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) subsequently filed suit. [27] Meanwhile, KCC's speech restrictions remained in place until August 2017, when the school was ordered to pay $55,000 in damages and attorney's fees. [25] Additionally, the school agreed to adopt a new Freedom of Expression policy, "[making] it clear that any individual or group can engage in non-commercial expressive activities, including speeches, demonstrations, vigils, and the distribution of informational materials, in common areas on the campus during periods that the College facilities are open to the general public." [25]
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, YAL has pushed back against government mandates that "[infringe] on civil liberties." [28] The organization's Hazlitt Coalition, a network of 178 legislators from 37 states, introduced dozens of bills opposing proof-of-vaccination requirements. [28] According to Themea, "The idea of having to carry around your health papers to go to the grocery store is something out of an Orwell novel." [28]
In May 2021, YAL helped organize a protest against the COVID-19 vaccine requirement at Rutgers University. [29] Organized by Rutgers junior and YAL state chair Sara Razi, the protest brought together hundreds of "medical freedom activists." [30] [31] The Rutgers protest was covered by CNBC, Forbes, The Guardian , and other news outlets. [32] [33] [34] That same month, YAL and the ADF threatened legal action against Skidmore College after a YAL chapter was not approved on campus for political reasons. [35] [36] Skidmore student Hannah Davis claimed to be the victim of a "cancel culture campaign", which led YAL and the ADF to accuse Skidmore of violating consumer protection law. [37] [38]
In total, YAL has fought COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates on 23 college campuses, such as Rutgers, Virginia Tech University, and the University of Colorado Boulder. [39] [40] YAL has circulated petitions opposing COVID-related rules on different campuses, such as Virginia Tech. [40] According to the YAL, the organization "is not anti-vaccine, but rather anti-vaccine mandate at taxpayer-funded academic institutions." [39] Several students affiliated with YAL have spoken to the mainstream media, arguing for vaccination as a "personal choice." [41] [42]
YAL is an outspoken critic of gun-control legislation, such as "red flag" laws proposed by President Biden and other Democrats. [43] [44] The organization also opposes "Critical race theory" education at public schools. [45] YAL is active on social media, often attacking Democratic Party officials. [46] The organization also publishes a quarterly magazine called "The American Revolution." [47]
In a Facebook post perceived by YAL chapter leaders as an official blacklisting of Breitbart News tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos in May 2016, YAL National Field Director Ty Hicks urged chapter leaders not to invite the conservative firebrand to speak at their events. This came as a result of the YAL chapter at the University of California, Santa Barbara defying a regional field director's instructions to prohibit Yiannopoulos from promoting presidential candidate Donald Trump when he spoke at the university – which she believed could jeopardize the national organization's 501(c)3 non-profit status. The event proceeded with Yiannopoulos asking audience members to address a cardboard cutout of Trump, and chapter members wearing pro-Trump clothing as they hand-carried Yiannopoulos into the event. YAL's president at the time, Cliff Maloney, said Hicks' post did not represent an official YAL position and that "our relationship with Milo remains unchanged." [48] The group's association with Yiannopoulos and others caused Wichita State University to reject the formation of a YAL chapter on campus. [49]
In February 2017 at Students for Liberty's International Students for Liberty Conference (ISFLC) in Washington, D.C., several students affiliated with YAL chapters organized to bring white supremacist Richard Spencer to the hotel where the conference was being held. Spencer and the YAL chapter members were confronted by conference attendees and were removed from the conference. [50]
In 2018, the Iowa State YAL chapter invited the white nationalist figure [51] Nick Fuentes to speak at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. [52]
A few YAL members and chapter leaders have been involved in the American Identity Movement, formerly known as Identity Evropa. In June 2019, Right Wing Watch ran an article noting that university student Richard Golgart Jr. was an "officer" of the University of Nevada, Reno's YAL chapter. [53] An article later in the year by the school newspaper, The Nevada Sagebrush, confirmed the story. [54] An exposé by Sludge found that another Identity Evropa member, Derek Magill, served as president of the YAL chapter at the University of Michigan. [55] The same report also revealed that Alex Witoslawski, another well-known white nationalist activist, "spent six months as the Illinois state chair of Young Americans for Liberty." [55]
On January 8, 2021, several women came out with allegations of sexual misconduct while at YAL. [56] [57] [7] As a result of the allegations, YAL subsequently announced that Cliff Maloney had been terminated from employment within the organization effective immediately after a decision by the board of directors. [58] On April 26, 2022, Cliff Maloney was arrested and arraigned in Pennsylvania on charges of drugging and raping a woman on University of Pittsburgh Johnstown's campus in 2013. [59]
In 2018, YAL launched Operation Win at the Door. [60] [61] Maloney claimed that the project's goal would be to "build the bench" by electing 250 state legislators by the end of 2022. [62]
YAL's "Hazlitt Coalition," a network of libertarian state legislators around the country, oversaw more than 170 members from nearly 40 states in 2021. The coalition filed 25 bills defending people's rights against COVID-19 protocols. [63] [64]
As of November 2022, there are more than 300 Hazlitt members in the coalition, many of them under the age of 40. [65] The Hazlitt Coalition doubled in size between 2021 and 2022. [66] One of the coalition's policy priorities is COVID-19 vaccine choice, in addition to free speech and gun rights, among others. [67] [68]
Rutgers University, officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States, the second-oldest in New Jersey after Princeton University, and one of nine U.S. colonial colleges that were chartered before the American Revolution.
Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is a conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960 as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians on American college campuses. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the chapter affiliate of Young America's Foundation. The purposes of YAF are to advocate public policies consistent with the Sharon Statement, which was adopted by young conservatives at a meeting at the home of William F. Buckley in Sharon, Connecticut, on September 11, 1960.
Liberty University (LU) is a private evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns as Lynchburg Baptist College, Liberty is among the world's largest Christian universities and the largest private non-profit universities in the United States by total student enrollment. Most of its enrollment is in online courses; in 2020, the university enrolled about 15,000 in its residential program and 80,000 online.
Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study.
Kellogg Community College (KCC) is a public community college based in Battle Creek, Michigan, with sites in Battle Creek, Albion, Coldwater, Hastings and in the Fort Custer Industrial Park. It serves approximately 8,400 students annually via five campuses, customized training, and online coursework.
Jeffrey Albert Tucker is an American libertarian writer, publisher, entrepreneur and advocate of anarcho-capitalism and Bitcoin.
Houston Methodist Hospital is the flagship quaternary care hospital of Houston Methodist academic medical center. Located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, Houston Methodist Hospital was established in 1919 during the height of the Spanish influenza epidemic as an outreach ministry of Methodist Episcopal Church. Houston Methodist comprises eight hospitals, an academic institute, a primary care group, and more than 300 locations throughout greater Houston.
Students for a Libertarian Society (SLS) was an activist organization for students in the United States seeking to promote libertarian ideals on college campuses. Currently active libertarian student groups include Students for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty.
Youth for Western Civilization (YWC) was a far right student group registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States. The group became a corporation in 2006 and began actively organizing in 2008. Kevin DeAnna founded the organization. Its honorary chairman was former Colorado US Representative Tom Tancredo.
Students For Liberty (SFL) is an international libertarian non-profit organization with origins in the United States. Formed in 2008, SFL grew to a network of 1,000 student organizations worldwide by 2014.
Milo Yiannopoulos is a British far-right political commentator. His speeches and writings criticise Islam, feminism, social justice, and political correctness. Yiannopoulos is a former editor of Breitbart News, an American far-right news and opinion website.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes conservative thought on college campuses.
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses. It was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery. TPUSA's interconnected affiliate groups include Turning Point Endowment, Turning Point Action and TPUSA Faith. TPUSA has been described as the fastest growing organization of campus chapters in America, and according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, is a dominant force in campus conservatism.
The 2017 Berkeley protests were a series of protests and clashes between organized groups that occurred in the city of Berkeley, California, in the vicinity of the University of California campus. Violence occurred predominantly between protesters opposed to then-President Donald Trump, including activists such as antifa groups and socialists; and pro-Trump groups such as Republicans, members of the alt-lite and alt-right, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists. The majority of the participants on both sides were people who wanted to listen to the speakers peacefully, and peaceful protesters against the speakers.
Charles J. Kirk is an American right-wing political activist, radio talk show host, and internet personality who often espouses views rooted in conservatism. He founded Turning Point USA with Bill Montgomery in 2012, and has served as its executive director since. He is the CEO of Turning Point Action, Students for Trump, and Turning Point Academy, Turning Point Faith, president of Turning Point Endowment, and a member of the Council for National Policy. Kirk has written four books.
Bret Samuel Weinstein is an American podcaster, author, and former professor of evolutionary biology. He served on the faculty of Evergreen State College from 2002 until 2017, when he resigned in the aftermath of a series of campus protests about racial equity at Evergreen, which brought Weinstein to national attention. Like his brother Eric Weinstein, he is considered part of the intellectual dark web. Weinstein has been criticized for making false statements about COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, and for spreading misinformation about HIV/AIDS.
Kaitlin Marie Bennett, also known as the Kent State gun girl, is an American gun rights activist and conservative social media personality. She received media attention in 2018 for open-carrying an AR-10 rifle at Kent State University after graduating.
The COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. state of Indiana on March 5, 2020, and was confirmed on March 6. As of July 12, 2021, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) had confirmed 757,904 cases in the state and 13,496 deaths. As of July 3, 2020, all 92 counties had reported at least 10 cases with Pike County being the last to surpass this threshold.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Boston was part of an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Massachusetts city of Boston. The first confirmed case was reported on February 1, 2020, and the number of cases began to increase rapidly by March 8. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency on March 10. Mayor Marty Walsh declared a public health emergency on March 15. By March 21, more than a hundred people in Boston had tested positive for COVID-19. Most early cases were traceable to a company meeting held in late February by the biotechnology firm Biogen in Boston.
There have been several COVID-19 protests in New Zealand held since 2020, where people protested the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, in particular the lockdown measures in place in March–May 2020, August 2020, and August–November 2021 and the later vaccine mandates. Most politicians both within and outside of Government and the vast majority of people have condemned these protests and view them as grandstanding by the organisers, and fear they may have spread the virus.