The Fordham University Young Democratic Socialists Association (YDSA) is running dual campaigns for bodily autonomy and against club censorship after being recently told that they could not gather on campus. In the last few weeks, YDSA has tabled outside Walsh Gate and Faculty Memorial Hall (FMH) to distribute Plan B and gain signatures for their free speech and club approval petition, “Democratize Fordham!”
YDSA is a chapter of the nationwide Young Democratic Socialists Association but is not officially recognized as a club at Fordham. They have been active on campus since 2023 and have been pursuing official club status since last December. Recently, the YDSA tabled on Oct. 25 distributing Plan B and encouraging students to sign their petition. A follow-up tabling was held Nov. 1 outside of FMH.
Matthew Smith, FCRH ’27, co-chair and founder of the YDSA, says that the club provides a space for left-wing students who feel out of place with the two-party system.
“Fordham doesn’t have any left-wing groups besides the Fordham [College] Democrats. Democrats don’t represent the left-wing,” said Smith. “That’s why we’re here. We want to offer an alternative to people who don’t feel like they’re represented by the Republicans or the Democrats.”
Currently, YDSA is advocating for bodily autonomy, which, according to Smith, includes a push for contraceptive distribution and comprehensive sexual education. In line with the Catholic Church’s teachings, Fordham does not distribute birth control.
“We should be allowed to distribute contraceptives on campus,” said Smith. “Currently, Fordham prohibits the distribution of contraceptives on university property. That means that if I were to go on campus with a box of Plan B, I’m not able to give it out to people.”
At the time of this interview, which was before the presidential elections, members of the YDSA were concerned about this lack of access in purview of conservative policies that might be made law.
“It’s crazy that in 2024, I’m not allowed to give out contraceptives like condoms and Plan B to college kids when we have our rights being threatened by a possible fascist being in office,” added Smith. “The Fordham administration decided it’s better to prevent their students from having access to bodily autonomy and having access to reproductive rights.”
Members of YDSA also noted that contraceptives are neither available at nor distributed by the Fordham Health Center.
“At the nurse’s office, people should be allowed to get birth control. They should be allowed to get access to reproductive care, to condoms, for free,” said Smith. “But Fordham has decided that they’re not going to let their health workers give students access to reproductive care.”
Smith also added that Fordham is lacking in comprehensive sexual education beyond discussions of consent.
“At orientation, a lot of what we learn about is consent — very important,” said Smith. “That’s only one part of the picture. We need much more comprehensive sexual education on safe sex practices, like using condoms, birth control, Plan B, how and when to use it, what is a safe dosage — all of these things should be readily available to students, especially when they’re coming into college.”
On Oct. 23, YDSA were told that they could not hold meetings on campus. According to emails obtained by The Fordham Ram, the Oct. 23 notification follows a verbal notification from administration on Sept. 10 that YDSA could neither recruit nor distribute media on campus.
“Dean McGlade came when we were on campus, talking to students about the organization. She came and shut us down,” said Smith. “While we were having a conversation with her, we told her our frustrations with not receiving any communications and we requested that she or Mark Less, [assistant director for student organizations and programming], email us with more information about the club process.”
The “Democratize Fordham!” petition is addressed to Assistant Dean of Student Involvement Catharine McGlade and Less and cites Fordham’s national free speech ranking. The petition seeks to allow unrecognized groups of students to host gatherings and distribute media, to streamline the process for club recognition and to require administration to respond to clubs within five business days. Since this article’s publication, McGlade has been in contact with YDSA regarding further steps.
The Fordham Ram reached out to McGlade and Less via email for comment but did not receive a response.
Smith cited Fordham’s national free speech ranking and the student arrests during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment as examples of Fordham’s censorship. He also noted issues with the administration’s requirements to hold demonstrations on campus. According to the Student Handbook, students must coordinate demonstrations with the dean of students (Christopher Rodgers at Rose Hill and Jenifer Campbell at Lincoln Center) and receive approval before proceeding.
“They love to claim that they’ve never denied a protest, they’ve never denied a gathering — which is a complete misrepresentation of what happens.,” said Smith. “When you submit a request to hold a rally, a gathering, a protest, whatever it may be, you give them exactly what’s going to happen, what you’re putting up, and what they can do is strike out individual aspects of the protest or the gathering.”
“It’s just their way to get around a PR nightmare. Nobody wants to say that we’re not going to allow a protest to happen, so they’re going to do everything they can to prevent that protest from happening without saying that,” he added.
Smith noted that other left-wing campus groups have faced censorship from administration. “It’s not just an us thing. This is a systemic issue,” he said.
According to Smith, the free speech and bodily autonomy campaigns run in tandem.
“It’s all intertwined, it’s all one struggle,” said Smith. “A core tenet of [socialism] is that your liberation is incomplete without the total liberation of all people. We can’t separate issues here.”
