During my first Democratic National Committee youth council meeting, a leader of the DNC told us to stop waiting for the Avengers to show up and save us all because the Avengers that will move the party and nation forward were in that very room. He was pointing to us, the youngest leaders of the party. This meeting was just two months after Democrats came off a devastating election season, losing their majorities in Congress and the presidential election. The Democratic Party no longer felt like it was capable of delivering on its promises to Americans. To change the direction of the party, we need a new generation of younger leaders who understand and can address this growing disillusionment.
Lucky for us, this generation is already hard at work. Leading the College Democrats of America has shown me how powerful collective organizing can be. We’ve helped secure victories for youth-driven policy priorities, increased youth representation in party leadership, and elected members of a new generation of public servants. College democratic organizers’ wins show us that young people can make their mark on the party.
Young people are often not taken seriously as stakeholders of our party and nation, and are seen instead as symbolic participants. The culture of Democratic politics is built on seniority and often takes the youth vote for granted, while failing to meaningfully integrate youth organizing into the party’s core strategy and empower young leaders. College Democrats of America alone represents over 100,000 members across 500 college campuses and functions as a crucial grassroots organizing force for the Democratic Party, registering voters, knocking on doors and making calls. Yet we are not recognized as anything more than a bullet point on national party organizing agendas, be it resource investment or partnership. In a century where voters’ policy priorities are rapidly evolving, young people’s perspectives in the party are being sidelined instead of being prioritized.
But what I’ve come to love the most about my generation is that we are impatient and hungry for change. Young people and college students have often been at the forefront of social and political movements throughout our nation’s history, and the present is no exception. Through competitive and strategic endorsement processes, peer-to-peer outreach, and tireless mobilization efforts, we have helped elect trailblazing young leaders like Zohran Mamdani and others to various levels of the Democratic Party apparatus and to public office.
The New York College Democrats endorsed Mamdani early on, and local branches of the organization in New York City, including New York University and Fordham University, echoed their endorsement. They led canvases and phonebanks with their members, creating momentum for a young candidate who promised a new and improved vision for the city that resonated with younger New Yorkers. Groups such as Brown and Yale Democrats also joined these efforts, traveling to New York City last fall to canvass for Mamdani, which was crucial for his victory.
Similarly, the turnout for Proposition 50 in California to fight back against Republicans' extreme gerrymandering in Texas was also largely a youth-driven victory. The California College Democrats had their local College Democrats clubs set up tables on their lawns, getting out the vote for the proposition. And it worked: 80% of young voters were in favor of Proposition 50.
I remember in February 2025 when it was announced that the Democratic National Committee had voted to elect 24-year-old David Hogg, as the youngest DNC Vice Chair in history. Hogg, a youth organizer and well-known gun violence prevention advocate, had been outspoken about the party’s faults and concrete ways to address them. I was there in National Harbor, Maryland, as applause and cheers broke out, and I beamed, knowing I had mobilized other DNC members to vote for him and grateful that a voice echoing the sentiment of my generation was finally being represented at the highest level in the party. Although Hogg was later pushed to resign from his post to focus his efforts on building his PAC Leaders We Deserve, a vehicle dedicated to electing young progressives, his election and the momentum behind it affirmed my belief that the young people in positions of power within the party apparatus are crucial for it to win back young voters.
These wins show us that the Democratic Party doesn’t have to be stuck in 2024, and voters don’t have to stay disillusioned — not if new leaders are willing to step up and chart the course for a Democratic Party that they feel represented by. But this is just the start. The Democratic Party’s path to victory will require continued and relentless courage and initiative on the part of young Democrats.
Having been a national leader in democratic youth organizing for years now, I’ve soberingly realized that if we just waited to be given a seat at the table, we’d be waiting forever. If we want to materialize the change we hope to see, we must make room for ourselves at the tables where decisions are being made.
At Brown, that means organizing — whether it’s phonebanking with the Brown College Democrats, checking in with your friends if they’re registered to vote ahead of the midterms or even taking the leap to run for public office in your community someday. Change doesn’t start in Washington — it starts with young people such as Brunonians.
Sohali Vaddula ’27 is the National President of College Democrats of America. She can be reached at sohali_vaddula@brown.edu. Please send responses to this op-ed to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
