The Young Women for America (YWA) chapter at Liberty University is designed to train and educate college women so they can promote biblical and conservative principles in their community.
Located in Washington, D.C., the public policy organization Concerned Women for America (CWA), founded YWA in 2011 as their collegiate initiative.
The president of Liberty’s chapter, senior Emma Dayton, explained how YWA was founded to help women have a voice in the political arena.
“CWA was founded in 1979 … to combat the feminist movement and to be a Christian alternative to some of the progressive values that were getting pushed during that time,” Dayton said. “Beverly LaHaye founded CWA in 1979, and then in 2011, the organization was really looking for a way to train up young women at universities across the country, and to train them up to be voices in the public sphere for biblical values.”
Dayton said that the leadership team at YWA trains young women on how to effectively converse with legislators and testify before committees at the Virginia General Assembly.
YWA sends representatives that testify on many bills that are proposed at the Virginia General Assembly. The protection of women’s sports and the sanctity of life are two major issues that YWA advocates for during sessions.
After YWA members are trained to testify, the state director for CWA, Teresa Pregnall, reaches out to the leadership team asking for representatives to testify.
YWA hosts different events throughout the year. Every event they host flows out of CWA’s seven core issues: the sanctity of life, family, education, religious liberty, national sovereignty, combatting sexual exploitation and supporting Israel.
Previous events relating to their core issues have included the March for Life, a prayer vigil for Israel at the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack and a discussion on immigration from a biblical perspective.
“This past semester in January, we took about 10 girls to the March for Life in D.C., and our national organization, YWA, was able to cover the cost of them attending and pay for their hotel for a couple nights,” Dayton said.
For some events, YWA collaborates with other campus clubs. Recently they collaborated with Students for Life, the Freedom Center Society and Young Americans for Freedom to contribute to political discussions being had on campus.
Together they sponsored the “A Journey to Freedom” session Feb. 27, featuring North Korean refugee Grace Jo. Jo discussed how she escaped the North Korean regime and the importance of human rights.
Not only have these events contributed to the culture at Liberty, but they have also impacted the local community, including Virginia’s legislative sessions, and inspired young women around the United States.
“The more you’re involved in the political culture, it can always be discouraging to realize … we’re dealing with this constitutional amendment, and we’re dealing with men competing on women’s sports teams and taking our medals,” Dayton said. “But I will also say the Lord does not call us to sit on the sidelines.”
Because of this conviction to contribute to cultural and political issues, YWA takes on many controversial topics and is devoted to training young women at Liberty and across the nation to proclaim the gospel through advocacy.
For more information about YWA or to get involved, visit their Instagram at @ywalibertyu.
Ganoe is a feature reporter for the Liberty Champion.