Northwestern Students for Life has been growing over the last few semesters and this growth is starting to be noticed!

Above is a screenshot of the Daily Northwestern article highlighting the growth that Northwestern Students for Life (NSFL) has experienced.

This article is not the result of a public relations push by the pro-life students. They didn’t send out a press release. They didn’t lobby friends at the paper. None of that.

They grew in number and impact on campus and it was noticeable. So noticeable that the Daily Northwestern decided to assign a reporter to write a story on it!

The headline – seen above – “Northwestern Students for Life sees increased attendance” shows that the wider campus has taken note of the great work that Northwestern Students for Life is doing!

We are very proud of all the pro-life students at Northwestern for all of their hard work and outreach on campus!

We are thankful to Diana Martinez took over the group and gave it new life when it was about to die out a few years ago after attending the Students for Life of Illinois leadership retreat.

In the Fall of 2011, the SFLI Campus Mentor Program began mentoring the NSFL leadership.

We are thankful to past president Laura Rollick who welcomed our campus mentor. We are thankful to David Young, the outgoing president and past SFLI intern for his great leadership in building momentum on campus!

David and his team have done a great job in gaining traction on a difficult campus. As David graduates and moves on, Will Garrison is taking over as President of NSFL and we know that he will continue that momentum!

Northwestern Students for Life is a part of our Campus Mentor Program. They have been very open to our help and guidance. The combination of our Campus Mentor Program and the students’ hard work is a formula for success!

I’m not just tooting the SFLI horn here. Outgoing NSFL President David Young agreed when he posted this story on facebook:

You can be a part of this success by helping us continue to grow the campus mentor program!

Click here to make a donation now.

It’s always sad to see this sort of thing happen. It’s easy to get angry at those who are trying to suppress the pro-life message. But, we must remember that many people who vandalize pro-life displays have been involved in an abortion. The display brings back a lot of pain for them and so they lash out.

Should we stop doing pro-life displays?

Absolutely not.

The truth must get out there.

But, instead of looking on the perpetrators with anger, we should look on with pity that they are trying to cover up the immense dignity of the unborn child. They probably need healing…

Here’s the story:

The DePaul University Young Americans for Freedom chapter hosted a Flags for Life Project to mark the 40th anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. YAF club members set up 500 flags at 7:00AM Tuesday morning on the DePaul campus (half blue, half pink) to symbolize just some of the lives lost every day due to the injustice of abortion in our nation.

At about 5:00PM Tuesday evening the DePaul YAF chairman, Kristopher Del Campo, along with other executive board members, went to remove the flag display. But what they found was startling; the flags had been removed and stuffed into trash bins inside and outside the entrance to the DePaul library.

Del Campo contacted the DePaul Public Safety, who are reviewing videotape evidence that 3-4 females removed the flags around 4:30PM. The incident is still under investigation.

“It is a sad thing to see that liberal minded students aren’t more tolerant, and don’t respect the views of those who respect the lives of the unborn”, stated Del Campo. “Especially on a campus of one of the nation’s largest Roman Catholic institutions, such as DePaul University.”

Despite being 40 years since Roe, the abortion culture is still alive and well. Let’s get back to work defending the dignity of all people and spreading the truth about abortion!

The Future of the Pro-Life movement in Illinois was on display in Peoria at our second annual Central Illinois fundraising banquet.

This event was meant to raise money to support our new mentorship program. The goal was $13,000, which is the estimated cost of having a mentor at one campus for one year.

Why is the Mentorship program needed?

• College-aged women are victims of abortion more than any other age group.
• Young and impressionable students, who are away from the support of home for the first time, are being impacted by the pro-choice culture on campuses. “I’m afraid to say that I’m pro-life.”
• The pro-life movement needs young, new leaders to continue the movement.
• Campus mentors guide student leaders to grow groups at unparalleled and exponential rates.

Kevin Grillot, the Director of the Campus Mentor Program, spoke about its importance. He shared compelling statistics and moving stories of his experience as a campus mentor in Chicago since August of 2011. One story featured David Young, the President of Northwestern Students for Life.

Our Impact on Northwestern Students for Life

Kevin first met David Young half way through the academic year when he had just returned from studying abroad. Curious about the group, David came to a Northwestern Students for Life meeting in January. At the time, he was unwilling to even identify himself as “pro-life”.

Intrigued by the 4 students at the meeting, David kept coming back. Throughout the next few months Kevin mentored him in his educational growth and commitment to living actively pro-life.

By March, David ran and was elected President of Northwestern Students for Life. Looking back, David told Kevin, “hearing about the things that you did made me realize that it is possible to make a difference.” Instead of returning to Maryland for the summer, David stayed in Chicago to intern with SFLI where Kevin taught him how to guide a group and recruit members.

“I really appreciated that Kevin took the internship as an opportunity not only to develop my work with SFLI, but also to continue his process of mentoring me as a leader with Northwestern Students for Life. In the tasks I was given…I knew I was always learning things directly applicable to my role at Northwestern,” said David.

This school year, David put that guidance into action. At the activity fair, he recruited 3 times as many interested students as any previous year. With David as the leader, active membership has tripled from 4 to 12 members.

Our Impact on Bradley Students for Life

Mary Kanowsky, President of Bradley Students for Life, gave a very moving testimony about the role of SFLI in her growth as the leader of the revitalized pro-life group on campus.

She was moved to tears when referring to the fact that women leave college more pro-abortion than when they come to campus. The college campus is a very dangerous place to be. The pro-choice ideology can negatively affect the best of us.

Mary provided guests with an idea of the challenges pro-life students face on college campuses.

Anne Marie Dust was recognized for her courage. As a graduate of Bradley University, Anne Marie was set on going to Nursing School. Vanderbilt was where she would go…but it wasn’t so easy. She soon realized there was a problem with the school’s policy for all nursing students: Every student must commit to performing abortions as part of their training.

Anne Marie, a devoted defender of life, did not accept this. Risking her future as a nurse, she challenged this. In fact, she found an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund to help her.

We are proud to report that Vanderbilt changed their policy and no longer requires nursing students to help with abortions!

Peoria’s Investment

The banquet was a great success. Those who attended were very generous. With just over 100 adults in attendance, we raised nearly $10,000 in net contributions. Since the event, we received a generous $3,000 gift to help us reach the goal!

Without the generosity of some select individuals and organizations, we would not have reached this mark, particularly:

Anne Smith and Darin LaHood. Knox County Right to Life, Thomas More Society, and Illinois Family Institute

If you have not invested in us yet, but think this might be a good time to, please click on the donate button on the right of the screen. Help us continue to grow the pro-life voice on campus!

We look forward to hosting next year’s banquet again in November at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria.

If you’d like to attend it and/or host a table next year, please contact our Associate Director, David Avignone: [email protected]

Last year’s banquet (the first one we ever did) was a huge help to SFLI. It helped us turn a dream into reality. That dream? The Campus Mentor Program.

Last year’s banquet gave us the financial means of getting this program off the ground by bringing on a new team member: Kevin Grillot

We had the vision for this new and innovative program, but we didn’t have the staff to make it happen. Well, the funds raised at last year’s banquet enabled us to find the right person for the job.

What has the campus mentor program done?

More Student Involvement: We have seen an increase in membership in the pro-life groups at all of Kevin’s campuses.

More Student Action: Combined these three schools did 45 events to reach out to their peers with the pro-life message.

More Pro-Life Leaders: Most importantly, we have seen an increase in committed pro-life leadership. The total combined committed leadership when Kevin started was merely 4 committed student leaders. One academic year later, there are 14 committed student leaders at Loyola, Northwestern and DePaul!

With a little help and guidance from SFLI, these students are a powerful force for good!

I say a little, guidance, but the truth is that Kevin does quite a lot. Since August, Kevin has met with students to mentor, educate, train or build up the student pro-life community more than 200 times!

I could go on about the Campus Mentor Program, but let’s see what some of the students are saying about it’s impact as implemented by Kevin this first year:

Your gift towards this year’s banquet will allow us to keep Kevin going strong with the Campus Mentor Program and it will help us to expand this program to new campuses in the future!