In a flood of posters and scrambling students, a wall of red, white and blue covers the back corner of the club fair.
Young Democrats Association (YDA) is the first politically-focused club at Bryant. Its president, junior Julia Nall, hopes to spark political conversation among the student body.
“Young Democrats Association is a national-level club including state charters that promote the Democratic campaigns and teach individuals how to be leaders,” Nall said. “We want to educate the seniors on how to vote and get [them] interested in politics.”
With an upcoming presidential election in 2016, vice president junior Emma Goad hopes that seniors will take initiative and learn more about politics.
“I want YDA to bring awareness to students and for them to form their own opinions,” Goad said. “I want them to find their voice, not just go along with what other people have told them. Politics is something people are opinionated on one way or the other, so we want them to be educated in their decisions.”
After a two-day application process with principal Dr. Jay Pickering, YDA gained sponsorship from English teacher Shawn Regan. Despite Regan’s leadership role, he is giving full control to the YDA officers.
“(Most teach) about government by telling students how it works, but not truly showing them the Democratic process,” Regan said. “I believe if this club helps encourage young people to get involved and have a voice, then it has been successful.”
YDA focuses on freely sharing political opinions with other students.
“My family is not into politics, but I am,” Goad said. “The club is a place for me to talk about my beliefs freely with others instead of people saying ‘I don’t want to talk about that’ and blowing me off.”
Despite the club’s name, YDA invites members of all political parties to participate in meetings.
“The club is not exclusively for Democrats,” Nall said. “For Bryant, the atmosphere of this club is going to be more for political conversation so students can voice their opinions. It’s not as much who you support, but more the involvement in politics and interest [in] America you have.”
As election time grows closer, Regan hopes that YDA can help him display the importance of government to teens before they begin fulfilling their civil duties.
“Young people are faced with many choices, decisions, and issues that adults are faced with and they do not have a voice in the decision making until they reach 18,” Regan said. “Hopefully, this club will not only help them understand the national and international issues that we face as a country, but to also help them decide how they will vote in the future.”
