Resolution: The Foundational Series and a pathway to membership

Passed by membership: January 29, 2026

Whereas:

Political education is fundamental for new and prospective DSA members to have a basic understanding of socialist theory and Rhode Island DSA’s program.

Rhode Island DSA emphasizes a democratic centralist approach to political education in order to maintain unity and stability in member ideology and strategy. As such, it is essential for members to share a common curriculum that is approved by and developed for the chapter.

The Foundational Series offered by Rhode Island DSA reflects the theoretical and political direction of the chapter, and thus the chapter seeks to encourage and incentivize all members to go through its curriculum.

Rhode Island DSA also seeks to encourage members to participate in chapter committee and working group meetings in order to put theory into practice.

New or prospective DSA members may need additional assistance towards paying membership dues. An additional option that can help cover membership dues provides a positive benefit for new and prospective members, and can thus be offered as an incentive to increase attendance of the chapter’s Foundational Series and committee/working group meetings.

National DSA encourages and supports gifting memberships, and includes instructions on how to gift memberships on their official FAQ.

Be it resolved:

New and prospective members who have attended at least five unique Foundational Series classes offered by Rhode Island DSA and two Rhode Island DSA committee or working group meetings within a one-year period will be eligible to receive a one-year DSA membership, paid for by Rhode Island DSA.

Those eligible for receiving a one-year DSA membership will include prospective DSA members and new DSA members as of September 1st, 2025 or later.

Claims for the one-year membership may only be submitted and claimed in the same year as the claimant took the above-mentioned Foundational Series classes and committee or working group meetings that they are using to fulfill their claim.

The one-year membership may only be redeemed one time per person.

Those meeting the criteria defined above may submit a claim to receive the one-year DSA membership to the Rhode Island DSA Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will approve or deny claims based on a majority vote. The Executive Committee reserves the right to reject a claim for any reason. If the total number of approved claims during a calendar year exceeds 75, for the remainder of the calendar year the Executive Committee may process each additional claim by either fulfilling the claim or choosing not to fulfill the claim, in which case they may also ask the claimant to resubmit their claim at a later date. Upon approval of a claim, the Executive Committee will coordinate with the claimant in order to grant the one-year DSA membership. The Executive Committee will take no more than 30 days to process a claim.

Existing RI DSA members or supporters may donate funds to help cover the costs of gift memberships: If a donation contains specific instructions that the funds may be used for gift memberships, the Executive Committee may use the donation to pay for gift memberships. Additionally, a member or supporter may coordinate with the Executive Committee for the purpose of gifting a one-year membership to a specific eligible claimant. In such a case, the Executive Committee will delegate the supporter to gift and pay for the one-year membership to the claimant in lieu of the Executive Committee paying for it. Any gift memberships that have not been paid for by supporters or donations in the above methods will be paid for from RI DSA chapter funds.

The one-year membership dues to be granted for valid claims will have a value of no less than $12 for one year, or $1 per month for 12 months.