The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) student organization held a meeting at UF’s Anderson Hall on Thursday, March 6th, with approximately 20 participants in attendance. Through careful deliberations of both national and local news, the members of YDSA elicited knowledge on and passion toward a wide array of policy issues, expressing their grievances and discussing strategies that may extend their ultimate goals.
Ranging from a presentation by a United Faculty of Florida representative to state immigration laws, here are some of the contemporary events pressing the students of YDSA:
United Faculty of Florida
The meeting began with a lecture by Marilyn Wende, the Vice President, Senator and membership committee chair of the United Faculty of Florida-University of Florida (UFF-UF). Professor Wende explained that she had encountered one of the YDSA officers at a previous event and coordinated her presentation to the club after they discussed mutual goals relating to labor unions in the United States.
Holistically, the UFF is a labor union representing the staff of all public Florida universities, colleges, community colleges and lab schools. UFF-UF, on the other hand, refers to the University of Florida’s chapter of the state coalition. Wende’s attendance at the YDSA meeting, while representative of the national organization, pertained to a UF-specific crisis: lack of membership.
Currently, as explained by the professor, UFF-UF is at 33 percent membership, while requiring 60 to remain afloat. Wende encouraged the attendees of the meeting to reach out to their professors (if appropriate) to encourage them to become more informed on the importance of labor unions and to urge potential faculty to join the organization’s chapter.
As explained by the Vice President, if their membership goals are reached, the constituents and leaders of UFF-UF will continue to fight toward a “respect for academic freedom” and the end of educational attacks in the state of Florida, a mission the YDSA participants appeared to align with.
Living Learning Communities
The University of Florida’s Living Learning Communities (LLCs) were known to be “interest-based communities of students that live together within residence halls.” However, following recent UF policy changes made to abide by the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against affirmative action, the housing arrangements now fall under an “academic-based” category, thus effectively halting activities in six of the school’s LLCs.
Four of the six affected LLCs were hubs for minority communities, including Black and LGBTQ+ students, a fact the YDSA members viewed as a top concern. As stated by the presenting officer, for example, due to the new policies, transgender students may now be paired with a transphobic roommate, a contentious match that the existence of non-academic LLCs previously prevented.
To argue against the erasure of the safe spaces, YDSA began a petition to pressure UF to reinstate non-academic living-learning communities, ultimately contending that the school’s multiculturality is and will continue to be threatened if students allow these regulations to persist.
The petition may be found here. 500 signatures are needed to achieve the club’s goal.
Immigration Services
Under the sweep of the Trump administration, fear has been imposed on cities throughout the country to urge compliance with the President’s crackdown on immigration. In Gainesville, the Alachua Sheriff’s Office and the Gainesville Police Department recently settled an agreement to solidify its obedience under ICE which empowers the local agencies to carry out “street-level immigration enforcement.”
Opposing the federal and local governments’ anti-immigration policies, and understanding the danger such measures pose toward undocumented Gainesville residents, YDSA has proposed that UF hire an immigration attorney for Student Legal Services. Costing less than one percent of student government funds, the members of YDSA believe that the legal figure could facilitate international students’ changing visa statuses and overall provide more security to all immigrants attending UF.
The petition to hire the attorney may be found here.
YDSA meets on UF’s campus every Thursday, each week covering additional issues and plans to contribute to the political and social community of the university and Gainesville. The club’s Instagram account may be accessed here for more information on how to become involved.
While not addressed at the meeting, YDSA also currently has a petition to establish a student abortion fund. Click here for more insight.