National SDS Structure

SDS' primary bodies are its chapters, but there's also a national structure that coordinates work that allows SDS to have communication, media, money, campaigns and event coordination at a national level. All national working groups are open to any SDS member, and all are non-hierarchical.

National work is immeasurably important - without it, SDS would be a bunch of groups of people working independently without a united agenda or goals. Just like a chapter is bigger than the sum of its members, our national organization can have bigger influence when our chapters work together. Having communication between chapters, national campaigns, national media coordination and fundraising, as well as events like the National Convention and Action Camp are essential to SDS being a powerful student/youth network.

National SDS can be categorized into a few major groups:

National Working Groups
Big Picture Administration
National Events
National Campaigns
Caucuses and Auxiliaries

National Working Groups

National working groups are staffed with members of chapters, and anyone can join! Look through these descriptions of the different groups to see what you're interested in working on. Each group has a listserv and a representative on the NWC who you can contact for more information.

To join a working group listserv or get more information, check out:

Alliance Building
The Alliance Building WG works to create alliances with other like-minded organizations.
Anti-War Working Group
The Anti-War WG coordinates national mobilizations against U.S. imperialism.
Chapter Communications
Chapter Communications keeps in contact with the over 120 SDS chapters to ensure clear communication between chapters and with the national structure.
Fundraising
The Fundraising WG raises money so SDS can do what it needs to do!
Media
The Media WG handles all national media for actions, conventions and stories news outlets want to do about us!
National Convention Organizing
The National Convention Organizing WG organizes the annual SDS national convention.
News Bulletin
The SDS News Bulletin puts out a bi-monthly publication with articles, art and news by and for SDSers.
Student Power for Accessible Education Campaign:
The SPFAE WG helps chapters coordinate their SPFAE campaigns and carry out national actions.
Training Working Group
The Training Working Group organizes internal SDS trainings and action camps for SDSers to build new skills giving and receiving workshops.
Visibility Project
The Visibility Project works to make national SDS work visible so everyone knows what's going on and how to plug in!
Website Working Group
The Website WG designs and maintains the SDS website.
Welcoming Committee
The Welcoming Committee helps people who want to start chapters get their groups off the ground.

Big Picture Administration:

For its first two years, SDS had no national oversight body, and it led to a lot of problems - namely that because work needed to be done, people were doing it informally with no accountability to chapters or members. People who wanted to get involved in national work didn't know how to unless they knew someone who was already doing it. Eventually, a group of people who wanted to grow the national leadership formed the Visibility Project. They created a website so that people could get involved in national working groups and projects. The Visibility Project also asked each working group to choose a point person for people to contact if they were interested in getting involved in the group. Those point people give reports to the Visibility Project on what work their group was doing. In addition, the Visibility Project set up a National Calendar with meeting announcements for all the working groups on it, and began sending out a National Digest every two weeks with information and announcements about national work and events.

At the 2008 National Convention, SDS voted to implement an national oversight body, the National Working Committee (NWC). The NWC is SDS' premier national decision-making body, charged with specific responsibilities - primarily oversight of other SDS national working groups and projects and the creation of new programs to meet the needs of SDS. The NWC basically functions as a committee of elected or delegated representatives from different parts of our national structure. There are representatives from geographic regions, national working groups, and caucuses. The number of representatives a geographic region has corresponds to the number of chapters in the region. Currently, the Midwest has 3 representatives, the Northeast has 5, the Northwest has 2, the Southeast has 3, and the Southwest has 1. Each regional rep has one vote on the committee. National working groups have one representative each on the committee, and each rep gets one vote. Each Caucus also has one voting representative on the committee.

National Events:

National Conventions
The National Convention takes place annually, usually around the end of July. The first one was held in Chicago in July 2006. The main purpose of the first three conventions was to establish a national structure for SDS. We also passed vision documents, and at the 2008 National Convention we chose our first national campaign. In addition to making decisions, national conventions are a time for SDSers from all over the country to meet each other and share the work they're doing locally. It's also a time for caucuses and auxiliaries to meet, and for people to run and attend workshops on subjects like campaign strategy, organizing basics, media training, and emotional support.
Summer Action Camps
SDS has held two national action camps, one in August 2007 and another in August 2008. Action camp is a place for SDSers to hang out and in some cases literally camp out together, while going to workshops during the day to improve their organizing skills. The action camp is a four day event with workshops on anti-oppression, organizing basics, media, emotional support, consent, campaign strategy, and more! It is very informal and gives participants a chance to bond and form close relationships with SDSers from far away.

National Campaigns:

Student Power for Accessible Education
At present, SDS has one national campaign: Student Power for Accessible Education (SPFAE). Having a national campaign allows SDS to really harness its power as a national organization by having coordinated targets and days of action. The SPFAE Campaign is about fighting for student control of schools, about reducing student debt, and improving the quality of education. The SPFAE Campaign is creating a space for students to make our voices and demands clearly heard on our campuses. We are educating ourselves while working with our administrations and others to build popular support for an educational system that is open to all who wish to learn. Weâ€™re also working for decision-making power over what we learn and how our schools function. Instead of merely getting skills and training for future jobs, we believe our schools should be places that help us reach our full potential, where we can participate in making our society better.

Caucuses and Auxiliaries:

Caucuses and Auxiliary groups are one way SDS practices anti-oppression within the organization. A caucus is a group of people who face a common institutional oppression in our society, such as racism, sexism, or classism. At national events, caucuses will meet to talk about how they are experiencing oppression in SDS, whether it be in their chapters, at the event, or in a national working group. It is a safe space for SDS members to confide and name the problems they face. Caucuses are empowered to make demands of their auxiliary groups. Auxiliary groups are people who do not face the specific oppression of a caucus. For example, a white working class heterosexual woman who's in college would be a member of the Womyn's Caucus and the Working Class Caucus, the White Privilege Auxiliary, Non-Transgender (Cisgender) Privilege Auxiliary, Hetero Allies Auxiliary and the Age Privilege Auxiliary. Auxiliaries meet whenever caucuses meet. It is the responsibility of auxiliary members to take in active role in not practicing oppressive behavior as well as actively supporting the leadership of caucus members.

To join a caucus or auxiliary listserv or get more information, check out: