Young Communist League chapters have been formally recognized at Arcadia University, and New York University over the past few weeks, with YCL chapters in formation at American University and UMass Boston as well.

Clubs named for CPUSA leader Claudia Jones have been formed at Howard and American University. Howard’s club  now has over 30 members  who have participated in sit-ins and other on-campus forms of activism. At NYU, the YCL has organized 18 young Marxists into a book club that meets once a month and reads Communist Party USA classics from figures such as Gus Hall, Henry Winston, Claudia Jones, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and Ben Davis. Acadia University, located outside Philadelphia, has also organized a local YCL campus chapter and hopes to host an upcoming national youth conference for democracy in the spring.

How can you build a YCL chapter on your campus?

1. Check out what the guidelines are to form a campus/student organization at your university or community college.

2. Get together a group of 3–5 friends/classmates to solidify the campus club. This group will be responsible for organizing the meetings and gaining the signatures/participants needed to get the club to be officially recognized on campus.

3. Find a progressive and/or left-leaning faculty advisor to oversee your club’s recognition as an official campus organization.

4. Schedule regular tabling events, social events, book clubs, and/or movie nights to bring interested students and campus workers into the club.

5. Host monthly meetings no longer than an hour and a half to discuss theory (educational), organize protests/demonstrations, plan for voter registration or other tabling initiatives, etc.

We call on YOU to organize a Young Communist League chapter on your college campus. Contact youngcommunists@cpusa.org for more information and guidance.

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