Rice Young Democratic Socialists organize for engagement
A new chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America started at Rice this semester. With several hundred chapters across colleges, Young Democratic Socialists of America is the student and youth section of the larger DSA organization.
Solomon Ni and Conner Schultz are co-chairs and founders of the chapter. They wanted to start a club, they said, that focused on mutual aid and anti-capitalist action on campus.
“There was this space on campus to have an organization like this to advocate for students, for workers and for people that are typically not represented, and generally we wanted to give people that space to figure out what issues are important to them,” Ni, a Jones College senior, said in an interview with the Thresher. “I think that the student government here is great, but they can’t do everything. And as the former student body president, I think that organizations like this need to exist for us to be a better part of the community and also make students’ lives better.”
Schultz, a Will Rice College freshman, said that some of the organization’s work will also focus on nearby areas of Houston. On Nov. 1, they organized at a Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone board meeting, which was open for public testimony about a Montrose Boulevard redesign plan.
“They’re remodeling the streets there and rather than putting a pedestrian island in the middle, like they originally intended, they want to place a 12-foot wide flat road,” Schultz said. “So that’s gonna be really damaging to the businesses and community in Montrose.”
As co-chairs, Ni and Schultz said they hope to get more involved with the Houston community. They recently connected with the Houston DSA for materials and help with their first meeting.
“We want to collect blankets and bed linens that students aren’t using anymore, and donate them in collaboration with Food Not Bombs,” Ni said.
Ni said that the organization is currently working on student engagement.
“We’re gauging what student interests are in the first place, and also reaching out to the affinity groups and other [organizations] on campus that we align with, and seeing how we better can support them,” Ni said.
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