On Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Lincoln Southwest Young Democrats will have its first meeting in A200 after school from 3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. It was founded by sophomore Aiden Schrader and senior Spencer Krenk with staff advisors Ms. Susan Cornish and Ms. Rosanne Navas. 

“We see that youth voter rates are much lower than that of older generations. We want to encourage people to support progressive policies,” sophomore Aiden Schrader said. “We would like to work with some local elections coming up in April and May. April is the primary (election), so are some city council races. We would like to work with both the Young Democrats Organization of Nebraska as well as the Nebraska Democratic Party. We will maybe write postcards or attend events, and maybe we will host a voter registration drive.”

According to the official website of the national organization, Young Democrats of America was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1932, and is the largest youth-led partisan political organization in the United States with over 20,000 members. As the official youth caucus of the Nebraska Democratic Party, the chapter’s mission is to increase student engagement in elections and give students a chance to support the causes that they are passionate about. 

“Youth engagement is really important because we are going to be leaders of tomorrow and when in the next 10 years, 20 years, we are going to be shaping and voting on policies that are going to affect millions of different people,” freshman Henry Fuller said. “I do think it’s also important to express your political views and express causes that matter to you, especially in our current climate. I think that we need to have more avenues at Lincoln Southwest to stand up for what you believe in.”

Students can reach out to the staff advisors at [email protected] or [email protected], or directly message @silverhawkyoungdems on Instagram for questions. Starting on Feb. 19, meetings will be held every other Wednesday after school in A200.