It was less than five years ago that Western Washington University had an active chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), which boasts over 92,000 members in chapters throughout all 50 states, according to the Democratic Socialists of America website. At the beginning of 2021 though, the campus chapter abruptly ceased activity.
Now, a small group of students new to Western this year has revived it in a matter of months. Aiden Cox, Eddie Church and Lilly Sterling are members of the new chapter's steering committee.
Cox attended a Whatcom DSA meeting in January of this year and soon after was inspired to start a coalition at Western.
Western’s YDSA chapter's first meeting on April 28, 2025, drew 40 attendees. On May 1, many joined Western Academic Workers United (WAWU) for an International Workers’ Day rally in Red Square. A number of students involved in the new chapter are student employees.
“I was attracted by the action-oriented side of the DSA, not as much the theory or ideology of democratic socialism,” Church said.
Church is a graduate student and a member of WAWU. They began attending protests as a first-year student at the University of Kansas and were involved in the youth-led climate action and justice-focused Sunrise Movement there.
“Colleges historically have been such a place for organizing. I think people are on the lookout more for opportunities to do it,” Sterling said.
Sterling said they were the youngest person in a group of middle-aged people in their hometown’s DSA before coming to Western.
Jim Shaver, treasurer of Whatcom DSA, expressed a different sentiment. Before moving to Whatcom County four years ago, Shaver knocked on doors for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in 2020.
“I’m a little older than the average DSA person; I’m 39,” Shaver said. “I think it’s fair to say younger people get involved with DSA and older folks get involved with the Democratic Party. That’s been my experience.”
Democratic Socialists of America has existed as a political and activist organization since 1982, but has roots in the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement in the early 1970s.
“We try to be coalition-based,” said Gwen Pritchard, vice chair of Whatcom DSA.“A lot of my role has been trying to develop relationships with other organizations.”
Pritchard volunteers with Whatcom and Skagit County-based Community to Community Development and Community First Whatcom. The Whatcom County chapter, formed in 2018, maintains a relationship with the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, Trans Survival and Bellingham Occupied Protest.
“Socialism is the transition from a capitalist and income or money-based social economic system to one that’s owned primarily by the workers,” Pritchard said.
Church, Sterling and Shaver all sought to dispel negative perceptions of the DSA and its members.
“I don’t think progress is a radical thing,” Shaver said. “People like me get labeled as pie in the sky — we just want free pie — radicals. I don’t think it’s wrong to say every generation should do better than the last.”
The national YDSA outlines social justice issues like immigration rights, climate change and healthcare reform as focuses.
Socialism means “making sure everyone has a say in how their lives are governed,” Sterling said.
Cox said registering students to vote may be a goal of the YDSA in the future.
“Youth and students really are the backbone of progressive politics,” Cox said.
Voters aged 18 to 24 have historically had the lowest voter turnout of any age group in primary and general elections. Cascade PBS News reported 64% of registered voters aged 18 to 24 cast ballots in the 2024 general election – an 8.5% decrease from 2020.
“It’s a shame that 18 to 25-year-olds are the lowest voting demographic,” Cox said. “If we could get a lot of 18 to 25-year-olds to vote, I think we could really make a lot of change.”
The chapter’s second meeting, on May 5, 2025, consisted of discussions of potential organizing opportunities, including an upcoming town hall meeting on May 19 and advocacy for operational student employees. Attendees wrote letters to local politicians demanding the release of prominent Whatcom County farmworker organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino from ICE detention.
“I think there’s a misconception that socialism is militaristic or scary or something violent,” Church said. “Socialism to me is making sure all of my neighbors have enough to eat.”
Attendees mingle at the second meeting of the Western Washington University chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America in Bellingham, Wash. on May 5, 2025. The slideshow details the plan for the hour, including small group discussions and letter writing. // Photo by Josh Hernandez
“Free Lelo!” postcards picturing Whatcom County farmworker organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, detained by ICE on March 25, 2025, stack up at a meeting of the Western Washington University chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America in Bellingham, Wash. on May 5, 2025. Meeting attendees addressed letters on the postcards’ backs to local lawmakers, calling on their support for Zeferino’s release. // Photo by Josh Hernandez
Josh Hernandez (he/they) is a campus news reporter for The Front this quarter. He is a third-year journalism news/ed major. Outside of journalism, his other interests include literature, geography, and music history. You can reach him at joshhernandez.thefront@gmail.com.
