Fall 2013 Interest Meeting: Kicking Off the New Semester!

What a great turnout!  After a successful Student Organization Fair on August 23rd, twenty-five potential new members attended our Fall 2013 interest meeting the evening of Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013.

The magnitude of interest in YAL@VU this year has been staggering and inspiring, but comes as no surprise, considering our mission as an organization, our impact on campus, and our dedication to issues and principles that resonate especially well with young people. 

After the interest meeting, old and new members enjoyed smoothies, coffee, and good conversation at Au Bon Pain. 

Check out more photos of the meeting on our Facebook page!

If you were unable to make it to our interest meeting, worry not!  Here's a short recap of what was covered:

1. We welcome libertarians, classical liberals, and small-government conservatives, and those who want to learn more.  You don't have to agree with us on everything.  Diversity of opinion is a beautiful thing!  As YAL@VU, let's work together on issues upon which we do agree.
   
   Our key issues include...
• protecting civil liberties, 
• increasing personal freedom, 
• ending corporate welfare, 
• increasing government transparency, 
• reducing government waste and abuse, 
• lowering taxes, 
• promoting a peaceful and diplomatic foreign policy, 
• and promoting private charity.
  
2. General body meetings will be Tuesdays at 7:00pm.  Meetings will range from socials to discussions to planning to speaker events.  We also go to regional, national, and international conferences, and this year, we are hosting a conference here at Vandy! Check out the schedule below for details.
3. Schedule of events for Fall 2013
4. Subscribe to our email list, join on AnchorLink, and like us on Facebook!  To take it even a step further, become a dues-paying member at yaliberty.org and get a free t-shirt!  Drop in on any of our meetings or events -- we are delighted to have you.  

If you have any questions feel free to contact Emily Crowe, or anyone else on the executive board!

2nd Annual "End the Drug War" Bake Sale

On April 19, YAL@VU held our 2nd annual "End the Drug War" Bake Sale to show support for an end to the war on drugs! We tabling on Rand Wall and gave out delicious brownies along with free swag from the Marijuana Policy Project, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Foundation for Economic Education, and Students For Liberty. We signed up over 20 new members while tabling that day. To follow-up, the next week we hosted a screening of Breaking the Taboo, a 2011 documentary about the global war on drugs.

Thomas Schwartz: A Historical Look at America’s Position in the World

Thomas Schwartz, Professor of History, Political Science and European Studies at Vanderbilt, addressed a special meeting of Vanderbilt Young Americans for Liberty on April 9th as part of YAL's national Generation of War event series.  Speaking on the history of the military involvement of the United States, Professor Schwartz outlined the increasing role for our armed forces in world affairs since the nation's founding.  Dr. Schwartz described the changing foreign policy doctrines of the executive branch and their lasting effects, specifically linking US action in the Caribbean during the the late nineteenth century to the much earlier Monroe Doctrine and our current commitments in Western Europe and South Korea to the Cold War doctrine of containment.  After concluding his remarks with a list of potential issues and questions for the future of US foreign policy, Professor Schwartz opened the floor to a lively Q&A and discussion session.

Professor Schwartz's primary research interests are the foreign relations of the United States, modern European history, and international relations.  He recently received the 2013 Madison Sarratt Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Professor Schwartz has been teaching at Vanderbilt since 1990 and was previously on the faculty at Harvard University.  Vanderbilt YAL extends the greatest thanks to Professor Schwartz for sharing his time and his expertise with our organization.

Vanderbilt YAL promoted Professor Schwartz's lecture and participated in the national Generation of War campaign by tabling on the major Vanderbilt thoroughfare of Rand Wall.  YAL members engaged their fellow students in discussions of the impact and costs of the interventionist foreign policy of the United States.