Throughout the 2025-26 academic school year, Fordham University student activists involved with various political organizations have canvassed for Zohran Mamdani across New York City and other surrounding areas. These groups include the Fordham Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), which is not an officially recognized club at Fordham, and the Fordham College Democrats.
According to YDSA co-chair Matthew Smith, FCRH ’26, their initiatives have centered on developing the backbone of support for Mamdani’s socialist ideals. Similar to YDSA, the College Democrats have conducted door-to-door canvassing to promote Mamdani’s campaign. Atacus Jarrett, FCRH ’28, treasurer of the Fordham College Democrats, shared his experience with canvassing.
“Political canvassing, regardless of what party you’re in, is one of the best ways for any young person to get involved in their community and in their political community,” Jarrett said. “It’s also just fun because you pretty much get to see people from all walks of life and all experiences.”
On Oct. 18 and 19, members of YDSA spent their weekend canvassing for Mamdani throughout the neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights. Smith said that Fordham’s chapter of YDSA has been advocating for Mamdani since the 2024-25 academic school year, when Mamdani launched his mayoral campaign.
“YDSA has supported Zohran Mamdani for years. including before he was running for mayor and was simply one of our DSA members elected to the state assembly,” Smith said in an email. “Being a Democratic organization, we began to support his mayoral campaign as soon as the NYC-DSA membership voted to run him. His campaign moved past the normal democratic/liberal policies of pandering to the capitalists, hoping they will help working people, and instead proposed real socialist reforms like city-owned grocery stores, social housing and public safety not centered around policing.”
Smith said that YDSA has previously canvassed in Parkchester and Inwood, along with tabling at Fordham. He also said that people have largely been “very receptive” to Mamdani’s message.
“People like to claim that socialism is scary but his message has inspired so many people that we talked to at the doors,” Smith said.
Earlier this semester, members of the College Democrats participated in door-knocking on the Upper West Side through Mamdani’s campaign and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Jarrett described door-knocking as “one of the best ways to get involved in your community.”
“It is the simplest way to connect with the largest number of people you can,” said Jarrett. “It is a safe and historic way of taking a political stance in this country and doing what’s right.”
According to Jarrett, canvassing is not solely about convincing people to vote for whichever candidate they endorse; it is about educating people on voter registration and community involvement.
“You’re not always just trying to change someone’s mind. A lot of times, you’re just trying to make sure they vote and make sure that they know how to vote,” Jarrett said. “Many people aren’t informed about where and when they can vote, and whether or not they’re even registered.”
According to Jarrett, the DSA is one of the largest canvassing groups, which he believes gives insight into the current political atmosphere.
“This is really indicative of the shift in American politics, especially New York politics and Democratic politics, where young people are not afraid of the word socialism anymore,” Jarrett said. “And not even just the word, people aren’t afraid of the policies of socialism. Because we’ve seen what neoliberal capitalism has done to our society. We understand that it has its positives and negatives.”
Jarrett emphasized the importance of talking to people one-on-one in order to preserve the American democratic system.
“And at the end of the day, talking to people and communicating one-on-one is just the purest form of connecting with other people. It’s essential for preserving our democracy,” Jarrett said.
