The number of students planning to attend the March for Life this Friday surged to 89 from 55 in December, after Hillsdale College for Life received additional funding.
“By attending the march, we are commemorating the many lives lost to the horrors of abortion, and we are showing our support for the beautiful movement that works tirelessly to make abortion unthinkable and unlawful,” said Katherine Vander Wall, secretary of HCFL.
In previous years, about 120 students have joined the trip to Washington, D.C., according to Vander Wall.
The March for Life is an annual pro-life event in which thousands of people have marched against abortion since 1974, following the Supreme Court’s decision to recognize a constitutional right to abortion its Roe v. Wade decision. While Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe in 2022, the event continues marching to make abortion unthinkable, according to the March for Life website.
“With the role of the states being more important, we are also growing a strong state march for life initiative quickly. However, we will continue to march every January at the national level until a culture of life is restored in the United States of America,” the website states.
Students will leave Thursday night and arrive in D.C. Friday morning. They will have Friday afternoon and most of the day Saturday to explore D.C. before they depart for campus late Saturday afternoon and arrive in Hillsdale early Sunday morning, Vander Wall said.
Previous trips have been condensed, and students have had less time to enjoy the city, according to Vander Wall.
In past years, Hillsdale Student Federation has funded the trip with $20,000, but this year it funded $6,000. The remaining funds came from students, parents, and donations, HCFL President Grace Marks said at the pre-trip meeting Jan. 20.
“We are paying with a combination of this $6,000, the money received from each student paying a ticket price, and some generous donations: one from the father of a student, another from a student and their parents, another from a local pro-life organization, and more from the uncles and extended family of a student,” Marks said in an email to The Collegian.
Vander Wall said this year’s March For Life will be different from previous years because it will begin at the Washington Monument, proceed down Constitution Avenue, and circle around the U.S. Capitol building. Previous marches have passed the Supreme Court, instead of the Capitol.
Sophomore Jillian Barclay will attend the march for the first time and said she is excited to meet the people who support women and support life.
“I am going to the March for Life to celebrate the work of the people who support pregnant women throughout their pregnancies, to draw attention to the support that is out there, and to recognize the innocent lives that have been lost to abortion,” Barclay said.
Barclay said she is familiar with the pro-life movement from some canvassing work and personal stories.
“It broke my heart when I saw a close friend consider an abortion. She eventually decided to keep her baby in the midst of pressure from her family and from her boyfriend at the time,” Barclay said. “These success stories need to be told from those who have experienced this and those close to these women. This is a real issue that college-aged women face, and it’s our job to draw attention to it and support these women.”
Junior Andrew Winter said he is excited for the trip with friends and to visit friends currently living in D.C. for the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program. He said attending the march is an important stance for young men and women to take.
“I have always been so inspired by those signs that say ‘I am the pro-life generation.’ I firmly believe that someday abortion will be outlawed nationwide, and the march is where we begin to realize that goal on the ground, in the trenches,” Winter said. “Going to the march as a college student shows the world that the younger generation still believes abortion is a world-class evil, and we are going to end it.”