End-of-semester update
[Today’s blog post is by our friend Phil E., the Northeast Regional Coordinator for Students for Life of America.]
The Fall 2011
semester has ended, and what a semester it has been!
semester has ended, and what a semester it has been!
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| Pro-life students at Houghton College connect mothers in need with life-affirming resources. |
The Northeast is a rather hostile area for pro-lifers
compared to other parts of the country, but that hasn’t stopped students across
the region from boosting their pro-life involvement these past few months. It’s a trend that has been mirrored
nationwide, as we’ve tracked more events this semester than any in the past,
and the number of pro-life student groups has increased to a whopping 678
unique organizations in operation!!
compared to other parts of the country, but that hasn’t stopped students across
the region from boosting their pro-life involvement these past few months. It’s a trend that has been mirrored
nationwide, as we’ve tracked more events this semester than any in the past,
and the number of pro-life student groups has increased to a whopping 678
unique organizations in operation!!
In New York and New Jersey, the number of student groups
qualifying for our highest activity ranking has almost tripled, and I fully
expect that number to triple again by the end of the next semester!
qualifying for our highest activity ranking has almost tripled, and I fully
expect that number to triple again by the end of the next semester!
There have been some fantastic achievements that individual
groups made, and I thought I’d take the time to highlight a few of them.
groups made, and I thought I’d take the time to highlight a few of them.
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| University of Buffalo Students for Life have overcome adversity. |
- Fordham University hosted a pro-life conference in October that drew students from nine schools in the region, and organizers remain determined to quadruple attendance next October!
- At Houghton College, almost two hundred students
have taken part in the L.I.F.E. group’s activities. - Pro-life students at
Hofstra University and Felician College started their efforts in October, and
since then have performed or hosted almost 40 activities and events between the
two of them! - University of Buffalo’s Students for Life group
expanded from a few people to dozens of interested pro-lifers, most of whom are international students! UB SFL received
national media attention when their pro-life “Cemetery of the Innocents”
display was vandalized by not one, not two, but twelve abortion advocates! - Rebecca Purdy and her merry band of activists at
The College of New Jersey faced an uphill battle as Planned Parenthood has a
clinic right there on campus. This
hasn’t deterred them, though, and the group (which is just now turning one year
old) had sixteen pro-life actions this semester alone!
I had the pleasure of visiting 22 colleges and universities
these past few months, and witnessed the birth of thirteen new pro-life student
groups at schools across New York and New Jersey – including six high school
groups!
I’ve also had the privilege of meeting so many wonderful
people that are involved in their local pro-life movement, and want to thank
several of them for their support this semester:
Calire in Buffalo; Nancy Monette and Mary Skillan in Plattsburgh; Celeste
Broyles on Long Island; Natalie and Laurie at NYS Right to Life; and Christine
DiNovo and the entire CNY Network for Life team (especially Lisa Hall!) in
Syracuse.
people that are involved in their local pro-life movement, and want to thank
several of them for their support this semester:
Calire in Buffalo; Nancy Monette and Mary Skillan in Plattsburgh; Celeste
Broyles on Long Island; Natalie and Laurie at NYS Right to Life; and Christine
DiNovo and the entire CNY Network for Life team (especially Lisa Hall!) in
Syracuse.
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| Pro-life students at the New Jersey Institute of Technology bring female pro-life voices to the largely male campus. |
A fitting finale to my semester in the field was spending
Monday afternoon canvassing at New Jersey Institute of Technology with Rebecca
Madrigal. She’s a junior at NJIT, and
her passion for life has spurred her on to form a new pro-life group there on
campus. I remember telling Rebecca
beforehand that chances are most of the people signing up would be female, but
she reminded me that the campus is mostly male….well, according to Wikipedia
the school’s male to female ratio is 4:1, but 4/5ths of the students that
signed up were women!
Monday afternoon canvassing at New Jersey Institute of Technology with Rebecca
Madrigal. She’s a junior at NJIT, and
her passion for life has spurred her on to form a new pro-life group there on
campus. I remember telling Rebecca
beforehand that chances are most of the people signing up would be female, but
she reminded me that the campus is mostly male….well, according to Wikipedia
the school’s male to female ratio is 4:1, but 4/5ths of the students that
signed up were women!
This was a rough semester for everyone in the Students for
Life family, after a violent
car crash took the lives of Jon, Kortney, and her baby Sophy. But it’s been heartening to hear so many
people tell us that even though they may never have met Jon or Kortney, they
still took inspiration from them, and I think that inspiration has been key to
the successes the pro-life student movement has seen these past few months.
Life family, after a violent
car crash took the lives of Jon, Kortney, and her baby Sophy. But it’s been heartening to hear so many
people tell us that even though they may never have met Jon or Kortney, they
still took inspiration from them, and I think that inspiration has been key to
the successes the pro-life student movement has seen these past few months.
So take some time to rest up this holiday season, because
we’re going to keep this momentum going into the next semester. I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be the
year that the pro-life student movement makes monumental gains in the
Northeast!
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