Washington, D.C., is a popular place for Hillsdalians: to study and to sightsee, to work and to play. But in January, a group of Hillsdale students will be piling into buses at 4:30 a.m. and driving to D.C. not to study Supreme Court rulings, but to protest them.
Since the year following Roe v. Wade, pro-life advocates have gathered on the anniversary of Supreme Court’s controversial decision to protest and petition Congress for redress.
The event, known as March for Life, began 40 years ago, with 20,000 people gathered on the west steps of the Capitol building, but since then, the protesters have grown more than 10 times in number, with many a Hillsdale student among them.
Students for Life, Hillsdale College’s pro-life organization buses students to join the march each year. Last year, the organization took over 150 students to D.C. to listen to pro-life politicians, fellowship with others, and march to support their cause.
While 150 may seem statistically insignificant, Hillsdale’s contribution to March for Life comprises a good portion of the Michigan collegiate representation.
“We take more people than Michigan State and the University of Michigan combined,” said junior Emmaline Smith, vice president of Students for Life.
Hillsdale’s representation combines with other pro-life groups from across the country, Smith said.
“It does start to speak volumes. It’s such a big number of people, and it’s such a passionate number of people, and such a prayerful kind of people.”
Smith has attended the march 10 times, but, she said, she has found each successive experience rewarding.
“Every single time I’ve gone, I find that spiritually I grow, and emotionally I become more compassionate, and mentally I become more set in my beliefs and my arguments. So every time you go it sort of fortifies you more,” she said.
Junior Matthew Duquette, the chairman for March for Life, said that for Hillsdale students, the March for Life should not be just a field trip.
“This trip is a pilgrimage, a prayerful action describing how we feel,” Duquette said. “Everyone should go on a pilgrimage at some point in their lives.”
This year, the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, students will have the opportunity to attend church services and the National Right to Life Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and attend a rally on the National Mall, in addition to participating in the actual march.
Students will leave on Jan. 24, and will be returning to campus on the morning of Jan. 26. The cost for the trip is $80. Registration will be open in the Grewcock Student Union during lunch hours through this Friday.
Freshman Clare Williams said that she is very excited to attend March for Life and support a cause that is important to her.
“Every day, 4,000 more babies are aborted, and every day that passes, 4,000 more die, and we cannot wait any longer,” she said.
