After 20 hours of driving on buses, $4,000 of fundraising, three sleepless nights, and a failed engine, the Hillsdale College students who demonstrated at March for Life last weekend said they do not expect to see any policy changes.
“We’ve been marching since 1974. But how much change has occurred?” said March for Life coordinator, junior Eric DeMeuse.
Instead, DeMeuse said the protest is an affirmation of hope.
“We go based on solidarity rooted in hope,” he said. “We may not see the fruit, but we hope for it.”
One hundred ninety-four students traveled on three busloads Sunday night to join an estimated 200,000 protesters in Washington, D.C., for the 39th annual march. Another 98 people were involved in prayer back on campus during the march, including Dean of Women Diane Philipp and Michael Murray, executive director of career services.
All in all the effort united more than 10 percent of campus.
Hillsdale’s Students for Life raised $4,000 for the event and Student Federation representatives allocated $1,000 to the event – this year.
“Student Federation’s support is a testament to how much the college is supporting the event,” DeMeuse said.
The event began at noon when protesters gathered on the national mall to hear members of Congress, pastors, and pro-life leaders deliver two-minute speeches over loud speakers.
The Hillsdale group assembled in the pouring rain around a white and blue banner in front of the Smithsonian museum of natural history. The Hillsdale group was one of many clusters arrayed under banners and flags like tribes, ranging from a group under a “Ron Paul is Pro-life” flag to 100 protesters with a “Yoopers for Life” banner.
The Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) was among those to address the thousands of pro-life activists.
“With your help, this bipartisan majority is standing up for life and working to restore the damage of Roe v. Wade,” he said.
After 1 p.m., the crowd shuffled toward Constitution Avenue en route to the supreme court building with a kaleidoscope of thousands of umbrellas, hoods, and signs to help them endure the steady drizzle.
An estimated 50 counter-protesters waited in front of the supreme court.
Following the march, Hillsdale students packed into the Alan P. Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, in order to hear Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) speak.
“[Abortion] is a great wound in the soul of America,” Fortenberry said. “The march gives us strength. We draw from that in order to change the law and the culture.”
After a day of pouring rain and non-stop events, Hillsdale students headed home, only to have one of the three buses break down at 10:30 p.m., stranding nearly 50 students on the side of a Pennsylvania road.
The group’s chaperones decided to turn the remaining buses around and divide the luggage and passengers between them. This left nearly 20 students cramped on the bus floor for much of the 10-hour trip back to Hillsdale Monday night.
Marianna Ernst, a junior from Minnesota, said she attended this year for the first time in order to find encouragement for her pro-life beliefs.
“It’s important for me to look around and see how many people care. It motivates me to tell people about it,” she said.
However, she was less optimistic about the immediate effect of the protest.
“Right now, this is not being covered by the media. Until everyone sees the movement and understands, we won’t be making any progress in America.”
“If you change even one person’s opinion, slowly, you can change the law,” said Mandy Smith, who said her mother chose to have her in high school instead of getting an abortion.
But senior Garrett Wells from Wisconsin said he endured the trip to strengthen his personal faith, instead of expecting to see legal change.
“When I’m coming here, I’m not necessarily expecting any changes in the short run,” he said. “We as humans cannot know all the implications of this march. We just have to put our faith in God that we’re having some effect.”
