The Yale political scene: left, right, center

BY AMSALU DABELA

Many Yale alumni who have become United States congressmen, senators, and presidents got their start in the active political scene on campus. Whether you are a radical liberal, diehard conservative, or staunch monarchist, there are plenty of arenas for broadcasting one's ideology and for getting involved in political action.

LIVIA DEMARCHIS/YH Ralph Nader, Green Party founder and presidential candidate in 2000, spoke to Yale students this past year about the importance of third parties.

The Yale Political Union (YPU), modeled on the Oxford and Cambridge debating societies, is the umbrella organization that encompasses six individual parties that debate issues from across the political spectrum. This year, the YPU entertained such guests as Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who spoke on the importance of third parties, and former presidential candidate Bill Bradley, who talked about his campaign. Business mogul Steve Forbes, former Independent Council Ken Starr, and Hustler founder Larry Flynt have also visited in previous years.

YPU members have heard speakers address such subjects as "Resolved: That Bill Clinton is the Best President of the Past 50 Years" and "Resolved: The West Has Made Russia Into Our Worst Nightmare." Afterwards, the high-profile guests often engage in debates with students and listen to student speeches. The YPU also organizes its own discussions and plans to debate Yale's moral obligation, due to its medication patents, to alleviate the AIDS crisis in Africa.

Each YPU member is affiliated with one of six smaller debate organizations: the Liberal Party, the Progressive Party, the Independent Party, the Tory Party, the Conservative Party, or the Party of the Right. The members of these parties hold their own debates and meet for community service projects, dinners, and other activities. Topics range from the philosophical to the silly; the Conservatives have debated, "Resolved: Great Minds Do Think Alike," while the Progressives have considered "Resolved: It's Not the Sex, It's the Lies." The Party of the Right and the Progressives are known to bring ample amounts of port and Bass Ale, respectively, to events.

The Yale College Democrats (YCD) and Yale College Republicans (YCR) are dedicated to direct political action. They try to register voters and work on political campaigns. YCD describes itself as "an undergraduate organization that works with the College Democrats of America and the Connecticut Democratic Party to promote the ideals and candidates of the Democratic Party." YCD also hosts an annual New England conference for college Democrats.

YCR, though smaller than YCD, also has an active campus presence, meeting with presidential candidate Bob Dole during his 1996 bid and campaigning prominently for President George W. Bush, DC '68 during the 2000 elections. YCR also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.

The Yale College Student Union (YCSU), founded in 1998 by former YPU members Marc Lindemann, SY '98, and Matthew Rothman, BR '00, has dedicated itself exclusively to hosting prominent speakers. Former CIA director James Woolsey, LAW '68, political cartoonist Gary Trudeau, DC '70, and ABC News' John Stossel are among the organization's recent guests.

In addition to these organizations, Yale is home to the Conservative Forum, the Yale Black Political Forum and the Women's Center, each of which brings its own speakers to campus. Yale also has a strong activist community. Students participate in groups like the Student Labor Action Coalition, which supported Yale workers during the 1996 dining hall strike; Students Against Sweatshops, which has campaigned strongly for the past two years to increase Yale's accountability for the labor practices of its apparel suppliers with a much-publicized camp-out on Beinecke Plaza; the Student Legal Action Movement, which highlights inequalitites in the justice system by holding rallies and hosting prominent speakers; and the Student Alliance to Reform Corporations, a group, founded at Yale, dedicated to fighting abusive corporate practices that has since established itself on campuses nationwide. When it comes to politics, it truly can all begin at Yale.

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