Kevin DeAnna, All Grown Up, Steps Down as YWC President
has stepped down as president of Youth for Western Civilization, the ultraconservative student group he founded in 2006 and has run ever since.
鈥淐omrades, I'm extremely proud of everything YWC has accomplished over the last few years,鈥� the 28-year-old wrote in a letter posted on the group鈥檚 website Feb. 17. But, 鈥渇or various personal (namely, I'm old) and professional reasons, I will no longer be in charge of YWC. For those of you who know me, I'll still be working in the conservative movement but I'll be doing different things and won't be associated with what YWC will be doing after this.鈥�
Those 鈥渄ifferent things鈥� appear to already be happening. Recently, DeAnna changed his Twitter profile to describe himself as 鈥渕arketing coordinator鈥� for , a far-right online publication best known for its anti-Obama 鈥渂irther鈥� propaganda. Apparently, he鈥檒l also be serving as a reporter: His first item, a fawning interview with white nationalist pundit Pat Buchanan, appeared Sunday on WND.
He is also still employed as a regional field director for the Leadership Institute, a well-funded organization that claims to have trained close to 100,000 鈥渇uture conservative leaders鈥� 鈥� including Karl Rove and Ralph Reed.
DeAnna in his letter outlined plans to change YWC, splitting the blog and 鈥渋nstitutional elements鈥� of the organization, redesigning the webpage, and creating new 鈥渞esources, information, and opportunities for YWC members and other patriotic activists.鈥� Noting that the group has been 鈥渟omewhat coy鈥� about the number of chapters it has, he explained that some students have had trouble starting official chapters and claimed to 鈥渉ave active groups and members at a far larger number of campuses than we鈥檝e said.鈥�
鈥淲e want every single person who believes in our mission to have a way to be involved at whatever level they choose,鈥� he wrote.
The letter contains little indication of who will oversee the planned changes. The group鈥檚 vice president, , is currently living in Romania, and, according to DeAnna, unnamed 鈥渙thers鈥� will be running the website and group administration in his absence.
鈥淲e ask the patience of our members and donors as we facilitate this transition,鈥� DeAnna wrote. 鈥淵WC 2.0 will be able to build on our foundation to recruit more members, create more activism, and launch more careers in the conservative movement under this new direction. 鈥� With your support, YWC and the West can win this thing.鈥�
