With election year tensions heating up, many students are becoming involved in political student organizations to find a group of like-minded people where they can discuss current issues.
Students have myriad options, from the Texas Aggie Democrats and Texas A&M College Republicans to many smaller groups for more diversified political ideologies. Some of these other organizations, including the Young Democratic Socialists of America, or YDSA; Allied Scholars for Animal Protection, or ASAP; and Citizens’ Climate Lobby, or CLL, help students find their unique political niche.
Campaign chair and food science and technology senior Angel Chumpitaz said YDSA is about personal growth and safe spaces as members discuss challenging issues.
“One of our community’s things is mutual aid and just having people who … care about your well-being … and just there to listen,” Chumpitaz said. “But also you learn from each other a lot. We’re constantly questioning ourselves and each other. There’s a lot of growth and development in the org and also just being able to speak your mind and your opinion in a safe space.”
One important aspect for students is YDSA’s focus on advocacy for both global and local concerns and making sure students can exercise their right to vote.
“We’re focusing on things like Palestine … and health equity with … gender-affirming care getting taken away from our students here,” Chumpitaz said. “We’re just advocating constantly and also educating on a topic … and just making sure our students have a voice. We do have some [volunteer deputy registrars] in our org[anization] that are helping people to vote.”
YDSA community chair and chemistry sophomore Kelsea Bancroft said the goal of the organization is to give like-minded people a sense of community.
“Our name is Young Democratic Socialists of America, but we’re open to anyone who is a progressive thinker,” Bancroft said. “As long as you have progressive thoughts, you’ll find people in our org that share your beliefs and have a good time.”
Allied Scholars for Animal Protection, or ASAP, claims to give vegetarians and vegans a community to discuss animal rights. It was for its purpose of advocacy and discussion that ASAP officer and philosophy senior Courtney Breezley joined the group.
“We are mostly to promote animal protection and animal rights,” Breezley said. “It’s an organization to kind of get people interested and aware of veganism and vegetarianism and the impact it can have for animals as well as for the environment. … The purpose is really educational, informational, and to … talk to people and promote animal protection.”
Though ASAP is not a partisan organization, the group does urge voters to be informed about important issues related to animal rights.
“With the upcoming election cycle and everything, it might just be important for us to push thinking about how certain policies may … impact the environment,” Breezley said. “Our food system … can be impacted by certain policies put in place. … That is something to consider when you’re voting.”
Breezley has noticed many stereotypes around vegetarianism and veganism and believes the way to foster understanding is to focus on peaceful education.
“The main question I get asked is, ‘Why are you vegan?’” Breezley said. “It seems like a ludicrous … choice because a lot of people aren’t aware. When it comes to that I just try to keep everything calm, keep level-headed, focus the conversation on education rather than, ‘I’m right, you’re wrong,’ ‘You’re right, I’m wrong.’ … Everyone can make their own choices in life, so I definitely try … just creating understanding.”
Citizens Climate Lobby, or CCL, is another small political organization on campus that aims to bring awareness of both local and national environmental issues. Environmental and geosciences senior and CCL founder and president Taylor Leeder decided to create the A&M chapter of CCL after attending a regional conference with two friends and co-founders.
“We went to this conference, and we thought it would be a really good idea to bring to A&M,” Taylor said. “A&M not only is such a … different political landscape than a lot of other colleges, but we also have the Texas meteorologists, we have our advisor, Andrew Dessler, who has been very well-known in talking about reducing climate change misinformation … so there’s a lot of opportunities here to do this kind of work.”
CCL does not advocate for any political parties, instead encouraging students to become informed before they vote.
“One thing we’re doing is this postcard project just to get people out and vote, people that don’t normally do it, and especially in areas where environmental problems are prevalent … but we’re not pushing for a candidate,” Leeder said. “Of course, we would love if they would choose … candidates that … are environmentally conscious across the board … but just getting more people involved in the political process is our main goal this election year.”
Through its advocacy activities and community discussions, the values of respect and understanding form a central part of CCL’s purpose.
“People just need to understand that we’re all looking for a common goal, and our goal at CCL is just to improve the environment,” Leeder said. “One of our slogans, I may be saying it wrong, but it’s, ‘Making a positive change in a friendly way.’ So it’s just understanding people have different opinions and … respecting that people are coming from different backgrounds.”
