NYRA-NYU experienced a great increase in activity over the past few months and has held three successful events as well as being approved as a full NYU club for the 2011-2012 academic year. For National Youth Rights Day, the chapter held an event on campus titled “Activism 101”, which taught a group of interested students some basic tactics and strategies to keep in mind when getting started in grassroots or nonprofit work.
At the end of April, NYRA-NYU joined with the Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth to hold an awareness event about the troubled teen industry called “American Gulag”. They screened the documentary “Tranquility Bay” and invited NYRA member and CAFETY board member Siobhan Lynch to speak on the structure of the industry and on her experiences in an abusive facility. The highly-publicized event caused shockwaves in the NYU activist community and attracted the attention of many other groups, including the ACLU, NYU College Libertarians, and Law Students for Human Rights.
Last weekend, NYRA board member and NYRA-NYU president Usiel Phoenix spoke to the Queens County Libertarian Party about the youth rights movement. Her speech was very well received, which will go far in helping the chapter to establish local political connections.