Young Americans for Liberty

YAL was founded in 2008 at the end of Congressman Ron Paul's first presidential campaign. Paul's candidacy inspired students to organize on-campus under the banner of Students for Ron Paul. After the 2008 presidential election in November, the movement continued, soon becoming Young Americans for Liberty.[4][5]

On May 23, 2019, YAL announced it would be moving its headquarters to Austin from Arlington, Virginia, saying that the group "doesn't belong" in Washington, D.C. due to its "toxic environment," and that it was a "rapidly growing organization" that needed more space in its headquarters.[6]

In January of 2021, YAL removed its president, Cliff Maloney for serious allegations of sexual misconduct towards YAL employees. [7]

YAL activists at the University of California, Los Angeles (2018)

In March 2011, 78 YAL chapters across 32 states organized a student protest of the national debt. Each chapter constructed a 40-foot debt clock and placed it in the middle of their campus.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

In April 2014, two YAL students at the University of Hawaii filed a federal lawsuit after they were prevented from handing out copies of the US constitution.[15]

Beginning in 2009, YAL hosted annual National Conventions in Arlington, Virginia. More than 300 students attended the 2014 convention.[16] Speakers included U.S Senator Rand Paul and former U.S. Representative Ron Paul, with a video address by Glenn Greenwald.[17][18] Speakers at the 2016 convention included speakers Ron Paul and U.S. Representative Justin Amash, Judge Andrew Napolitano, and David Boaz of the Cato Institute.[19]

In September 2016, three YAL students passed out pocket constitutions on a public walkway at Kellogg Community College (KCC) in Battle Creek, Michigan.[20] The students were approached by Drew Hutchinson, the school's Manager of Student Life, and told to shut down the event on grounds that it violated the school's "speech permit policy."[21] After refusing to do so, the students were arrested by campus police and jailed for over seven hours.[22]

YAL and the Alliance Defending Freedom subsequently filed suit.[23] Meanwhile, KCC's speech restrictions remained in place until August 2017, when the school was ordered to pay $55,000 in damages and attorney's fees.[24] Additionally, the school agreed to adopt a new Freedom of Expression policy, "[making] it clear that any individual or group can engage in non-commercial expressive activities, including speeches, demonstrations, vigils, and the distribution of informational materials, in common areas on the campus during periods that the College facilities are open to the general public."[25]

In a Facebook post perceived by YAL chapter leaders as an official blacklisting of Breitbart News tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos in May 2016, YAL National Field Director Ty Hicks urged chapter leaders not to invite the conservative firebrand to speak at their events. This came as a result of the YAL chapter at the University of California, Santa Barbara defying a regional field director's instructions to prohibit Yiannopoulos from promoting presidential candidate Donald Trump when he spoke at the university – which she believed could jeopardize the national organization's 501(c)3 non-profit status. The event proceeded with Yiannopoulos asking audience members to address a cardboard cutout of Trump, and chapter members wearing pro-Trump clothing as they hand-carried Yiannopoulos into the event. YAL's president at the time, Cliff Maloney, said Hicks' post did not represent an official YAL position and that "our relationship with Milo remains unchanged."[26] The group's association with Yiannopoulos and others caused Wichita State University to reject the formation of a YAL chapter on campus.[27]

In 2018, the Iowa State YAL chapter invited controversial figure Nick Fuentes to speak at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.[28]

A few YAL members and chapter leaders have been involved in the American Identity Movement, formerly known as Identity Evropa. In June 2019, Right Wing Watch ran an article noting that university student Richard Golgart Jr. was an "officer" of the University of Nevada, Reno's YAL chapter.[29] An article later in the year by the school newspaper, The Nevada Sagebrush, confirmed the story.[30] An exposé by Sludge found that another Identity Evropa member, Derek Magill, served as president of the YAL chapter at the University of Michigan.[31] The same report also revealed that Alex Witoslawski, another well-known white nationalist activist, "spent six months as the Illinois state chair of Young Americans for Liberty."[32]

On January 8th, 2021, Addyson Rae Garner and others came out with allegations of sexual misconduct while at YAL.[33][34][35] [36]As a result of the allegations, YAL subsequently announced that Maloney had been terminated from employment within the organization effective immediately after a decision by the Board of Directors.[37]

In 2018, YAL launched Operation Win at the Door.[38][39] Maloney claimed that the project’s goal would be to "build the bench" by electing 250 state legislators by the end of 2022.[40]

• Official website
• Young Americans for Liberty Foundation: Organizational Profile – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)
• Young Americans for Liberty, Inc.: Organizational Profile – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)
• Young Americans for Liberty at Curlie