The student political organization at Grand Valley State University once known as the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) released a statement on March 20, 2024 ending their long-standing YDSA association, and announcing their sole affiliation with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
GVSU SDS is a chapter of the national group New Students for a Democratic Society, which defines itself as a “national, student and youth led, action-oriented, multi-issue activist organization.”
Owen Frassetto, the club’s vice president and risk manager, was inspired by the case of the “Tampa 5,” in which national SDS organized around dropping the charges of five protesters from the University of South Florida’s SDS chapter. In September 2023, Frassetto raised the vote to change GVSU YDSA’s affiliation, in which the chapter settled on having two affiliations, with both SDS and YDSA.
The club’s president, Jessica Koerkel, raised the vote a second time in March 2024. 80% of the chapter was in favor of ending affiliation with YDSA, solely becoming associated with SDS and changing their name from YDSA to SDS.
“Part of it (the vote in March) was that in the future, we were going to have to pay dues again to the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America),” Frassetto said. “But, members who liked to pay dues were graduating out, and there weren’t enough people that really wanted to because they didn’t see the value in the DSA affiliation as compared to the SDS one.”
SDS is focused on uniting its chapters to build national movements, while national YDSA fights for democratic socialism.
According to GVSU SDS’s statement, “Many of our members and leadership remain dedicated to socialism, but we are trying to build a mass progressive student movement to win gains at GVSU.”
Although SDS and YDSA are structured differently and hold distinct sentiments, the GVSU student organization’s mission remains the same.
“We have no intention of changing how we actually conduct our work or interact with other groups,” Koerkel said.
This shift is not just about changing a club name, but aligning with a mass organization that can mobilize on a national scale, while still addressing local campus issues.
Frassetto said the approach of SDS aligns with their campaign values more than YDSA. For instance, members of SDS at GVSU remain focused on making changes on campus, such as organizing around GVSU housing overflow.
“Say someone in the housing issue comes to us and they really like what we’re working on, but they’re not a socialist,” Frassetto said. “SDS says, ‘That’s okay.’ We’re trying to build a movement to win gains on campus, so you organize with us.’”
GVSU’s SDS chapter is not the first college organization to change their title from YDSA to SDS. Loyola University New Orleans has a chapter of SDS that was also formerly affiliated with YDSA.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if more YDSA (chapters) become aware of SDS (and) eventually switch that affiliation,” Frassetto said.
The trend of chapters shifting from YDSA to SDS may gain momentum as more student activists recognize the broader, “more inclusive” approach of SDS. The cases of GVSU and Loyola University New Orleans may indicate a growing preference for an organization that focuses on mass progressive movements and the role of SDS in these movements.
