Carson Cruse

Carson Cruse is a New Orleans activist.

Cruse defense rally

According to Silas Gillett, on Thursday, February 20, 2025, around 30 Loyola students and New Orleans community members rallied in front of Loyola University to demand that university administration drop the semester-long suspension of student activist Carson Cruse. The action was organized by the Liberate and Unite New Orleans Students for a Democratic Society (LUNO SDS).

Cruse was set to graduate in May, but if his suspension is maintained, he will be set back from graduating for another six months, if not longer.

Cruse told the crowd, “We understand that students will get absolutely nothing that we are not willing and organized to take. Through protracted campaigns and direct action, we can unite around our common needs as students to demand administration do their jobs for once!”

Several current and former students at Loyola gave speeches. Nat Arredondo with Liberate and Unite New Orleans Students for a Democratic Society pointed out that the resources used to prosecute Cruse could have been better spent on stopping sexual abuse. “Since my freshman year I have lived in the same dorms as sexual abusers, I have watched friends come out with disgusting testimonies that the administration heard and punished them for. But the abuser? They get to walk free,” stated Arredondo.

Loyola 'Teach-in'

Members

Loyola University New Orleans YDSA leading members 2023.

• Carson Cruse Primary Contact
• Jenna DeLucia
• Natasha Iniguez
• Pablo Zavala

Shutting down Trump fundraiser

On July 25, 2023 over 30 people marched on a mansion in the New Orleans metro area to disrupt a fundraiser for Donald Trump. Joe Canizaro, a wealthy retired banker in Old Metairie, hosted Trump’s campaign event.

Demonstrators began in a shopping center by Canizaro’s neighborhood, then marched up to the mansion. The Secret Service stopped them across the street from the fundraiser. It was clear that the protesters outnumbered the Trump supporters gathered nearby. Demonstrators ranged from students attending their first protest to older community members expressing their discontent with Trump and his supporters.

The protest organizers began the march by emphasizing the danger LGBTQ people face if left to the mercy of the right wing.

“No matter how many laws and attacks they throw at us, it is important that we draw a line and say this reactionary movement can’t go further, because if Trump is the president, if Landry is the governor, then they can easily attack our rights to protest, they can throw more of our movement in jail,” said Quest Riggs, an organizer with Real Name Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group.

Metairie, a suburb that lies just outside of New Orleans, has long been a conservative stronghold in the region. Despite this, protesters received more support than condemnation from the community. Evidently, pressure from the demonstration was too much for Trump and his wealthy supporters. According to local news sources, Trump stayed in the city until midnight for his previous 2019 fundraiser. This year’s fundraiser called for guests to arrive between 7 and 8 p.m., but Trump, Landry, the attendees, and their dance troupe left by 7:40 p.m.

Chants from anti-Trump demonstrators like “Lock him up!” “No hate, no fear, Donald Trump ain’t welcome here!” and “New Orleans hates Trump!” drowned out pro-Trump jeers. Some Trump supporters turned on their car alarms, but protesters chanted to the beat of the horns and the event grew louder. One neighbor activated his sprinklers on the sidewalk that the protesters stood on to deter them.

“This mansion and the $23,000 photoshoots show the lie in Trump saying he represents the working man. It’s the mass movements for justice and equality that represent what working people want and need in this country!” yelled Serena Sojic-Borne, an organizer with Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Although Trump allegedly raised $2 million from this event, this came far short of the over $4 million from his last fundraiser at Canizaro’s mansion in 2019.

“Although Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination, DeSantis is rallying the right wing towards even more oppressive policies. The Tampa 5 are an example of what our movements will suffer under a Trump or DeSantis presidency. We must dare to struggle against these reactionaries! Our comrades in Tampa may be suffering, but that hasn’t stopped us from rallying to their aid. I know they’d do the same for me. Justice for the Tampa 5!” declared Carson Cruse, a member of Loyola University New Orleans YDSA, an affiliate of New Students for a Democratic Society.

Tampa 5

On July 12, 2023, a dozen activists representing several organizations gathered on the steps of New Orleans City Hall to demand justice for the Tampa 5.

The protesters connected the struggle of the Tampa 5 to their own struggles in New Orleans to defend against right-wing attacks on education, LGBTQ rights and racist political repression.

“We were called on by Students for a Democratic Society all across the nation to do a day of solidarity for the Tampa 5, so we are standing in solidarity with them here,” said Carson Cruse of Loyola University New Orleans YDSA, an SDS affiliate.

“While claiming to represent the American people’s values, the Florida Republicans can’t even uphold the most basic freedom of expression and assembly. But students like the SDS in Tampa and the courageous Tampa 5 had the support of the people when they stood against DeSantis’ racist, sexist, homophobic and bigoted policies,” said Raven Ford from the YDSA.

Quest Riggs of the Real Name Campaign pointed out that the charges against the Tampa 5 are part of a “string of nationwide right-wing attacks against LGBTQ and oppressed people generally” by a “far right, neo-fascist movement that is trying to attack all remaining institutions of democracy that we’ve fought for since the 60s. Everywhere our rights are under attack and Ron Desantis has put his face at the front of that. We have to say, ‘We will stand up and fight back!’ Repression is just an invitation for further struggle!”

Antonia Mar from New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) pointed out, “Policing is the number one issue when it comes to repressing the movement for Black liberation and for democracy” across the whole nation. “We need a say over how our police, police us, and in how accountability goes when it’s done,” they added. The crowd responded with chanting, “Protesting is not a crime!”

Finally, Toni Jones of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) spoke on how this attack by Desantis-appointed prosecutors is an attempt to criminalize the movements represented by the participating organizations and demanded “a clear and concrete outcome: Drop the charges now!”

The action was hosted by SDS affiliates Students United at University of New Orleans and YDSA Loyola, Real Name Campaign, and the FRSO. Loyola University New Orleans YDSA is a Louisiana affiliate of Young Democratic Socialists of America.

Protesting Florida Bill

The Loyola University New Orleans YDSA, along with other organizations, protested Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ House Bill 999 outside of the Danna Center on March 28 2023.

House Bill 999 prohibits state college funding and backing for courses and activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as limits on gender, queer, and racial studies and prohibits the use of critical race theory in hiring.

Sophomore Maya Davis, founder of NOLA Youth Action Network, one of the protesting organizations at Loyola, said they were trying to protect the rights of minorities.

“It’s really important that we stand up for this because if this happens in one state, especially since we’re in the South, it’s definitely something that could happen here,” Davis said.

Carson Cruse, the Loyola University New Orleans YDSA’s president said the organizations were also standing in solidarity with the students in Florida, referring to the “Tampa four,” which are the four students arrested on felony charges at the University of South Florida for protesting the same bill.

Open Letter from RWU to the President

In November 2022 Carson Cruse Loyola University New Orleans YDSA, signed the Open Letter from RWU to the President .