Defunct American political youth organization
| This article needs to be
updated
.
Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
(
December 2022
)
|
Youth for Western Civilization
|
Abbreviation
| YWC
|
---|
Formation
| 2008
; 16 years ago
(
2008
)
|
---|
Dissolved
| 2012
; 12 years ago
(
2012
)
|
---|
Type
| Youth
activist group
|
---|
Legal status
| Inactive
[
citation needed
]
|
---|
Purpose
| Anti-
multiculturalism
(Pro-
West
)
|
---|
Staff
| Roughly 10 members at each chapter
|
---|
Youth for Western Civilization
(
YWC
) was
[
specify
]
a
far right
[1]
student group registered as a
501(c)(3)
non-profit organization
in the United States.
[2]
The group became a
corporation
in 2006 and began actively organizing in 2008.
[3]
Kevin DeAnna founded the organization. Its honorary chairman was former
Colorado
US Representative
Tom Tancredo
.
[4]
[2]
The group opposed what it viewed as "radical
multiculturalism
,
socialism
, and
mass immigration
" and a "poisonous and bigoted leftist campus climate". It also opposed
affirmative action
on college campuses.
YWC was a more
conservative
and issue-specific alternative to groups such as the
College Republicans
(CRs),
[5]
although many of its leaders and members were also involved in the CRs; the YWC was represented at the 2009 National CR Convention.
[6]
Critics considered the YWC to be
white nationalists
.
[7]
Founder DeAnna later became an
alt-right
activist.
[8]
[1]
YWC was organized on at least seven university campuses. According to its website, the group hoped to inspire Western youth on the "basis of pride in their American and Western heritage", defeat "leftism on campus", and create a right-wing subculture as an alternative to what it calls a "poisonous and bigoted" campus climate.
[3]
It said its mission was "to organize, educate, and train activists dedicated to the revival of
Western Civilization
".
[9]
Chapters
[
edit
]
YWC had chapters at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
,
Vanderbilt University
,
American University
,
Elon University
, the
University of Connecticut-Storrs
,
Liberty University
,
Boise State University
,
Bentley University
, and
Towson University
; there was also a chapter at
Providence College
recognized by the national organization but not by the school.
Logo
[
edit
]
The imagery and rhetoric employed by YWC have also contributed to concerns. The group's web site featured, in black and white, a hand gripping a hammer. YWC members say it's meant to symbolize
Charles Martel
, who stopped the impending
Islamic expansion into Europe
during its early years. However, the logo was criticized by some who say it closely resembled a
fasces
.
[5]
Activism
[
edit
]
YWC members engaged in a range of activities, including protesting a performance of
The Vagina Monologues
, and bringing speakers such as
Tom Tancredo
,
Robert Spencer
, and
Bay Buchanan
to university campuses. They also invited white supremacist
Richard B. Spencer
at Vanderbilt University in 2010 and
Rhodes College
in 2011.
[10]
[11]
On October 5, 2009, the Vanderbilt YWC chapter protested at the site of a
Wachovia Bank
in
Nashville
because of Wachovia's affiliation with the now-defunct
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
(ACORN).
[12]
Matthew Heimbach
founded and led one YWC chapter.
[13]
Tom Tancredo incident
[
edit
]
On April 14, 2009, campus police at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill used
pepper spray
and the threat of
tasers
against protesters outside the room where Tom Tancredo was scheduled to speak to YWC against in-state tuition benefits for illegal immigrants. The group's president, Riley Matheson, attempted to introduce Tancredo but was shouted down by protesters. When Tancredo appeared, he was
booed
with shouts of "
racist
" and "
white supremacist
". He attempted for several minutes to speak but was repeatedly shouted down.
A window was smashed a few feet from Tancredo.
[14]
Two protesters held a sign reading "No Dialogue with Hate" in front of Tancredo's face. Tancredo was eventually escorted out of the room by the police.
[15]
Tancredo later claimed that a police officer accidentally broke Tancredo's middle toe by stomping on his foot, as the officer attempted to escort the speaker through a crowd of protesters.
UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor Holden Thorp and
UNC System
President
Erskine Bowles
called Tancredo to apologize for the incident.
[14]
The head of the
American Civil Liberties Union
in North Carolina said that the video of the incident was "chilling" and "de facto censorship".
[14]
Tancredo returned to UNC-Chapel Hill on April 25 to speak, again at the invitation of YWC. During his second appearance, Tancredo gave a brief speech entitled "Is Western civilization worth saving?" He was interrupted once, when two thirds of the audience stood up, chanted "No human being is illegal" and filed out of the room. Tancredo finished his speech and took questions while protesters rallied in the Pit outside.
Cramer resignation
[
edit
]
On September 18, 2009, Elliot Cramer, the faculty adviser for the University of North Carolina branch of the YWC, resigned after writing in an e-mail that he had a gun and knew how to use it. The e-mail came in response to brochures opposing the organization and had Cramer's photograph, home address and telephone number. It said in bold letters, "Why is your professor supporting white supremacy?"
Nikhil Patel, president of the university's chapter of the YWC, sent an e-mail to Cramer notifying him of the brochures and saying that he was concerned for his safety. Cramer responded to the e-mail with "I have a Colt 45 and I know how to use it. I used to be able to hit a quarter at 50 feet seven times out of 10." Cramer also sent Patel's letter and his reply to the chancellor of the university, Holden Thorp.
Thorp then contacted Cramer, expressing concern that this e-mail might be used against the university and ultimately asked him to resign from the faculty adviser position. He said Cramer's statement was "highly inappropriate and not consistent with the civil discourse we are trying to achieve". Cramer explained to the chancellor that this was not meant to be taken seriously but that the chancellor should know about the distribution of these brochures.
[16]
Three advisers were appointed to replace Cramer.
[17]
Kevin DeAnna
[
edit
]
Kevin DeAnna led YWC throughout its existence. Earlier, as a student at the
College of William & Mary
, he led the campus chapter of
Young Americans for Freedom
and helped edit a libertarian-leaning student paper,
The Remnant
.
[18]
After graduating, he took a job at the
Leadership Institute
, founding YWC soon after.
[19]
After leaving YWC in 2012, DeAnna left the Leadership Institute for
World Net Daily
, where he wrote many articles over the next five years, mostly without a byline.
[19]
At the same time, DeAnna wrote hundreds of articles for white nationalist publications (including
Radix Journal
,
Counter-Currents
,
American Renaissance
, and
VDARE
) under the
pen names
James Kirkpatrick and Gregory Hood.
[20]
He was a member of the
Wolves of Vinland
at one point.
[21]
In 2020,
Buzzfeed News
reported that DeAnna had met with
Peter Thiel
in the runup to the 2016 election.
[22]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Peter Thiel Met with the Racist Fringe as He Went All in on Trump"
.
BuzzFeed News
. 11 September 2020.
- ^
a
b
Youth for Western Civilization.
"About Youth for Western Civilization"
. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2011
. Retrieved
July 5,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Right-Wing College Group Riles Students on Campuses Nationwide"
.
Fox News
. April 29, 2009. Archived from
the original
on March 23, 2013
. Retrieved
July 5,
2021
.
- ^
"Youth for Western Civilization Group at Vanderbilt Stirs Furor"
.
The Tennessean
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
a
b
Stripling, Jack (April 21, 2009).
"Western Expansion"
.
Inside Higher Ed
. insidehighered.com
. Retrieved
August 16,
2017
.
- ^
Youth for Western Civilization.
"YWC Represented at College Republican National Convention"
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-28
. Retrieved
2009-07-17
.
- ^
"Is conservative student group preaching white nationalism?"
.
NBC News
. 12 May 2011.
- ^
"How Kevin DeAnna Orchestrated the Alt-Right's Approach to Conservative Institutions"
.
- ^
"Our Mission"
. Retrieved
2009-06-29
.
- ^
"Richard Spencer: A Symbol Of The New White Supremacy"
.
Anti-Defamation League
. May 14, 2013. Archived from
the original
on August 20, 2017
. Retrieved
August 20,
2017
.
In 2010 and 2011, leaders of the now defunct racist student group, Youth for Western Civilization, invited Spencer to speak at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and Providence College in Rhode Island.
- ^
Liebelson, Dana (October 15, 2016).
"Man Who Held 'Better To Grab A P***y Than To Be One' Sign At Pro-Trump Rally Has Ties To White Nationalists"
.
The Huffington Post
. Retrieved
August 20,
2017
.
In 2010, Saucier's group invited Richard Spencer, a white nationalist who has since become a prominent member of the pro-Trump "alt-Right," to speak.
- ^
Devin Saucier.
"Wachovia ACORN Protest"
. Youth for Western Civilization.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Matthew Heimbach"
.
- ^
a
b
c
DeConto, Jesse James (April 16, 2009).
"UNC leaders apologize for speech fiasco"
.
Raleigh
News & Observer
. Archived from
the original
on April 20, 2009
. Retrieved
July 13,
2009
.
- ^
Hoxworth, Laura (April 15, 2009).
"Protesters Stop Speech"
.
The Daily Tar Heel
. Archived from
the original
on May 20, 2009
. Retrieved
May 27,
2009
.
- ^
Chronology of events
- ^
Harrell, Andrew (2009-09-18).
"YWC adviser steps down at Thorp's request"
.
The Daily Tar Heel
. Archived from
the original
on November 26, 2009
. Retrieved
2009-12-06
.
- ^
"How Kevin DeAnna Orchestrated the Alt-Right's Approach to Conservative Institutions"
.
Southern Poverty Law Center
.
- ^
a
b
"Kevin DeAnna"
.
Southern Poverty Law Center
.
- ^
"Kevin DeAnna"
.
Southern Poverty Law Center
. Retrieved
2023-12-01
.
- ^
"A Former Alt-Right Member's Message: Get Out While You Still Can"
.
BuzzFeed News
. 2 May 2019.
- ^
Gray, Rosie (11 September 2020).
"Peter Thiel Met With The Racist Fringe As He Went All In On Trump"
.
BuzzFeed News
.