The University of Dallas Young Americans for Freedom chapter was named 2024-25 Chapter of the Year after only one full year on campus. “To have our small school go up against all those massive colleges and win? It was really a David and Goliath moment.” said sophomore, Lucy Ruse. The award recognizes the exemplary efforts of the University of Dallas’s YAF members towards conservative political activism on campus.
UD YAF hosted seven major speakers in the past year year, including Chloe Cole, Yeonmi Park, Gov. Scott Walker, and Dr. Abby Johnson — whose talk became UD’s largest student organized public policy event ever. The chapter also organized an advanced screening of Matt Walsh’s Am I Racist? and participated in national initiatives like the 9/11: Never Forget Project (planting 2,977 flags in remembrance of the victims of 9/11) and Freedom Week (a week spent spreading awareness about the ever present threat of socialist Ideologies, and remembering our veterans who fought so hard to protect our liberty).
Going above and beyond what is expected of a first year chapter, let alone any chapter, they created new activism initiatives, such as a Second Amendment day with Lt. Col. Allen West. Emily Boulet speaks on UD YAF’s dedication: “Aside from the obvious—we’ve worked very hard to host spectacular speakers, advertise, attend as many conferences as possible—a part of the reason UD won Chapter of the Year actually has to do with how small we are. Because UD is up against schools with ten or twenty times as many students, we knew each of us had to be 100% onboard. As Shakespeare would put it, though the chapter was but little, we were fierce!”This award was duly earned in part because of the superior education that UD offers.
A UD education provides a foundation in faith, reason, and the liberal arts, giving students the tools to think clearly and live with purpose. But education alone is not enough; it takes initiative and courage to put that formation into practice. That is where YAF complements UD’s mission. By supporting students as they host controversial speakers, launch national initiatives, and engage in cultural debates, YAF challenges students to take ownership of their convictions and step boldly into the public square. UD shapes minds and hearts, and YAF ensures that this formation does not stay theoretical but becomes a reality. Together, they prove that the right education, combined with initiative, can bring UD values to fruition.
The fruit of this was clear at the YAF summer conference, where UD’s mission came alive through its students and even some of its most inspiring speakers. Speakers like Mary Margaret Olohan and Isabel Brown emphasized classical learning, faith, and leadership, values that UD instills, while urging students to act on them. Looking up to these inspiring and devout Catholic women and many other proud Catholic Conservatives such as Justice Clarence Thomas and Daniel Di Martino, UD students did exactly that.
Junior Emily Boulet turned her research and writing skills as an English major and her interest in the current administration’s policy into influence by publishing an article with The Daily Wire this summer, titled Hungary Shows How The Big Beautiful Bill Will Help American Families. This summer she also became a Fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Heritage Academy’s Online Public Policy Fellowship and the Leadership Institute’s Top Graduate. Sophomore Sam Korkus spent the summer pursuing his interest in professional journalism writing for The Daily Wire on hot-button political and cultural issues — covering GOP budget fights, immigration crackdowns, state-level power struggles, and controversies over education, gender ideology, and free speech for Daily Wire through the National Journalism Center’s internship program. Liam Ritter, chairman of UD’s YAF chapter, stepped into leadership, speaking at a number of YAF’s conferences thereby forming future leaders from around the nation. My own involvement in UD YAF inspired me to gain firsthand experience in conservative advocacy through my internship with the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women this summer.
These examples show how UD’s education gave these UD YAF members foundation, and how on their own initiative they put it into action. The Chapter of the Year award is not just a recognition but a reminder: with the right education and the initiative to pursue opportunities like those that YAF provides, students can become principled leaders and joyful witnesses who shape culture with clarity, courage, and conviction.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the work we did over the past year,” said chapter chairman Liam Ritter. “UD YAF is staunchly committed to advancing the Conservative Movement and elevating conservative voices, and we can not wait to continue our mission this coming year.”
The achievements of UD YAF also serve as a reminder of what can be lost if a UD education is not acted upon. The University of Dallas forms its students not only with intellectual rigor but with a Catholic vision of the human person, a grounding in natural law, and a perpetual search for the truth. These gifts provide an uncommon clarity in a political world often marked by confusion and relativism. Yet, like the talents in Christ’s parable, this formation can be wasted if it is hidden or left unused.
One could argue that it is our Catholic intellectual sphere that gives us a decisive advantage in contests like the YAF Chapter of the Year. Our school’s vision equips students to cut through the noise, speak with courage, and lead with conviction. But education alone is not enough; it calls for stewardship and bold initiative. UD YAF has shown how students can take the treasures entrusted to them and multiply them—bringing the clarity of their Catholic formation into the public square, where it is most needed not only for ourselves but for our universal calling to be the light of Christ and promoter of real Truth.