In March of 2021, YAL South Dakota State Chair Anton Mirzayants performed one of the quickest policy changes to date. When Mirzayants was informed by YAL’s Free Speech Director JP Kirby that there were poor policies on BHSU’s campus, but no YAL members there to help change it, Mirzayants immediately began recruiting the next Free Speech Champion. In less than a week, Mirzayants had identified and recruited a brand new student leader at the school.

Student Leader, Madison Russell, sent a letter from YAL to the BHSU administration, informing them that their current policies violated student rights. The school immediately agreed to a meeting and the Director of Free Speech connected Russell with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). FIRE’s staff produced a Policy Memo that broke down the school’s current policies and suggested Constitutionally Compliant changes. Less than a month after being informed of the problematic policies, Mirzayants and Russell had secured YAL’s 73rd Free Speech Victory.